Reports indicate that there’s been an uptick in Springer activity in the Willamette river and the Multnomah channel this week. The recent rains may have pushed a fresh batch of Spring Chinook into the system and it’s not surprising given that April is generally a good month for fishing. Much to my surprise, I’ve received reports that 360 flashers and spinners are catching fish. I generally wait for warmer temperatures before switching to hardware but I can’t argue with using something that’s working.
The river conditions are changing and that could help or hurt the bite this weekend. See the charts above. The temperature is dropping. With colder water consider using herring as your first choice but don’t completely give up on 360/spinners because it’s been somewhat productive over the past week or two. The river discharge is increasing so this will push fish to the bottom in the faster moving sections of the river and the channel. The turbidity jumped to nine today which is a wild card. Some people believe that the Willamette fishes a little better when it’s “dirty” but we’ll have to see how that plays out in the next few days. With higher turbidity it’s recommended that you use a “shorter” leader. Last but not least, the river level is slightly increasing. Generally, a rising river turns off the bite but this is such a small rise that it shouldn’t affect us in the next couple of days.
If you catch a fish, please send a picture and any related information (your choice). I want to keep my picture section free of comments/likes/dislikes and just allow viewers to appreciate your Spring Chinook catch. Kudos to Anthony and Tara for sharing pictures and the details of the gear they used this week. They indicated that they hope to pass on information so that others can catch fish too.
Happy fishing!!!
Fishing With David Pyle 