Oregon and Washington Fishing Guide » Washington fishing guide

How to Troll For Spring Salmon on the Columbia River

Marvin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:25:20 +0000

Here is how Marvin’s Guide Service trolls for Spring Salmon on the Columbia River.

I use 30# test tuf line on my reel. On my line I put on a barrel swivel then 2 or 3 beads, this swivel will be for your sinker it will be a sliding sinker. Then tie a bead chain to the line, tie a piece of line to the bead chain about a 2 foot piece of line than snap a flasher to that bead chain, now I like my hooks to be 3 or 4 feet from the flasher.

You can troll with a spinner or hearing, Whatever you like. I just troll down river and make sure you are hitting the bottom, you want to bounce on and off the bottom.

Remember you can only keep hatchery salmon.
Good luck.
see my salmon page

How Marvin Pulls the Anchor Safely

Marvin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:06:04 +0000

We did a post on how to anchor safely, on the Columbia river and Willamette River a few days ago.

I had a few emails about how to pull your anchor up safely.

I hope this will answer all of your Questions.

Fist of all you should put on a life jacket. I always have a knife at the stern of the boat and one in the bow of the boat.

The first thing I do is turn my steering wheel all the way to one direction, Wait a few seconds and let the boat swing that way, Then I start going forward not real fast, make sure you swing around your buoy and keep it away from the prop.

Keep going and as the buoy gets farther behind the boat, keep an eye on the rope. Keep it away from your prop.
When you see the anchor is up next to the buoy, turn the boat toward the buoy and take the boat out of gear, now as you drift back you can pull the rope in.

Remember, this is how Marvin’s guide service pulls his anchor, there are other ways but this is what works best for us.
Good luck out there and be safe.

Columbia River Shad Fishing

Marvin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:58:55 +0000

shad fishing on the Columbia River Starts in mid May. There are lot of places to shad fish on the Columbia River.
Lets talk about a few. You can fish just above the mouth of the Sandy River. The water is fast, but that makes for good fishing. I prefer a depth of 12 to 20 feet of water.

You can also fish on the Washington side of the Columbia River just above the Washougal River, Again in 12 to 20 feet of water.

My favorot spot on the Columbia River is up by the Dam ,where the locals call the “shad Rack” The water is is very fast,but I believe this just might be the best place on the Columbia River to fish for Shad.

I like to use light gear for shad, they range in size, from 2 pounds all the way up to 5 and even 6 pounds..
I anchor my boat in the current, and then i tie my line up with a spreader and a Tripleteaser.
Just let it out and let the current do the work.

When the Shad hits it like having a salmon or Steelhead hit, they are great fighting fish for there size, some people call them the “poor man Steelhead”.

Shad fishing is great for kids because there is plenty of action in May and June.

I don’t like to eat Shad. Some people might but not me. I use the shad for Sturgeon bait. I think shad is the best bait you could have. I also use Shad for crab bait it is great.