Fastwin
Well-known member
I hit the water at 7:10AM and was relieved to see a 20,000 CFS flow after spending the last three weeks battling a 80,000 and 50,000 flow. By my average observations, the water rises or falls 2 feet per 20,000 CFS through the Gorge.
The first three hours I fished with a Lucky Craft TN Shad 100, a Texas rigged 7" pumpkin/watermelon worm in the rod holder, and a Rapala Shad Rap. The fish were about 20 feet away from the shore and 10' down holding above structure. I never saw any schools of bait fish the entire day.
Last week, a chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap was very productive so I tied it on and within 10 minutes caught a plump 2-pound spotted bass, a few minutes later I caught a 1.5-pound spot, then a 1/2-pounder. Sadly, a few minutes later the 'trap was lost forever when I snagged it on something. I tied my last one on hoping to make it through the end of the day but it became snagged about 20 minutes later as well and I had to break it off. I tied on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 American Shad and I never saw another fish for the rest of the day.
About noon-time a strong westerly wind started to pick up so I moved against an east facing slope to block it, which worked for a little while but once the wind really started to pick up there was no hiding. The swells were getting rather big and the wind was making my boat difficult to drive so I headed back plowing through wave after wave that soaked me entirely. It was fun though. A few times I managed to dig my bow down into the next wave which was an interesting experience. As I continued onward I felt like I should be fishing for Alaskan Crabs given the conditions emoLaugh
I saw a few other boats huddled together behind objects to block the wind and the bass boats which were under way appeared to be having just as much trouble as I was.
At 1:00, I called it quits and pulled out of the parking lot hoping that tomorrow will be a less windy day.
The first three hours I fished with a Lucky Craft TN Shad 100, a Texas rigged 7" pumpkin/watermelon worm in the rod holder, and a Rapala Shad Rap. The fish were about 20 feet away from the shore and 10' down holding above structure. I never saw any schools of bait fish the entire day.
Last week, a chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap was very productive so I tied it on and within 10 minutes caught a plump 2-pound spotted bass, a few minutes later I caught a 1.5-pound spot, then a 1/2-pounder. Sadly, a few minutes later the 'trap was lost forever when I snagged it on something. I tied my last one on hoping to make it through the end of the day but it became snagged about 20 minutes later as well and I had to break it off. I tied on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 American Shad and I never saw another fish for the rest of the day.
About noon-time a strong westerly wind started to pick up so I moved against an east facing slope to block it, which worked for a little while but once the wind really started to pick up there was no hiding. The swells were getting rather big and the wind was making my boat difficult to drive so I headed back plowing through wave after wave that soaked me entirely. It was fun though. A few times I managed to dig my bow down into the next wave which was an interesting experience. As I continued onward I felt like I should be fishing for Alaskan Crabs given the conditions emoLaugh
I saw a few other boats huddled together behind objects to block the wind and the bass boats which were under way appeared to be having just as much trouble as I was.
At 1:00, I called it quits and pulled out of the parking lot hoping that tomorrow will be a less windy day.
