Since kayak fishing on the Columbia River for salmon and steelhead is no longer an option, we are trying to figure out how we are going to spend the last few kayak fishing weeks of the year. The weather is generally cooler and wetter every day, but as long as the wind isn’t too bad and there isn’t too much rain, there are some fishing opportunities before it’s too cold to fish.
There is only one local Columbia River tributary that is a possibility for more salmon fishing. The late season coho fishing is usually pretty good, but it has not been very good so far this season. All the rain we’ve been having has got the river running high and fast. The water is also pretty dirty from runoff, that does not help the fishing either. On top of that, it’s the only place left to fish for salmon so anybody that wants to go salmon fishing is going to be there. Fifty boats on the Columbia River is one thing, fifty boats on a river that is no wider than twenty yards(18m) wide, is something else altogether different. Throw in kayak fishermen, float tubers and bank fishermen and it doesn’t sound like a fun fishing day.
The water in the Columbia River is about 60°F, warm enough to do some smallmouth bass fishing. Usually, the salmon fishing winds up the fishing season, but things are different this year. If the weather cooperates, we may try out the fall bass fishing. Never done it before so I don’t really know what to expect. We might be able to get a couple more fishing trips in before the kayaks are packed up for the year.