Northwest Fishing Reports

Is anyone ready for Shad fishing this year? I missed it last year and would like to give it a try this year. It sounds like fun!

Not something you should miss if you can avoid it... I sure miss shad fishing used to be my favorite time of the year as a kid:)

Its a good way to beef up the crab bait for me. Shad are fun to catch and ehhhh to eat. I prefer Shad Roe to eat. Fry them babies up and yummy.Get you Shad darts now cuz most everywhere will sell out soon like in previous years.

Yea, I'm not going to miss it this year. I was busy with work last year to head out to the dam. But I'll take some time off this year to atleast get out there once or twice. What kind of gear do I need? Is it some kind of lure that I can buy?

I hope to make it this year, and i've been saying that for 5 years now..

I like the new picture Jens. That tiger-striped chum was ugly

bionic_one wrote:I like the new picture Jens. That tiger-striped chum was ugly

It was actually a Fall King. It was chrome when I first caught it. Sat in the river all morning..

I'll probably make it out there once, most of the time I head down there once every year, it's fun catching them on ultralight gear and those dick nites.

jbball50 wrote:I'll probably make it out there once, most of the time I head down there once every year, it's fun catching them on ultralight gear and those dick nites.

Do you usually fish Bonneville or Oregon side? What is your set up with the dick nites? I checked it out last year and it was so crowded down on the Bonneville. I ended up not fishing for them and I found a sweet honey hole for Smallies.

I fished it once by the Bonneville Dam, I forgot where it was exactly, it's was a spot I believe it was some sort of park in between Beacon Rock and the Dam, pretty much just a bunch of people that were fishing for sturgeon there. Other place I have no idea where it is, it's some dock we fished off of a few times with my dad's friend and his kids, most of the time I'm sleeping on the drive there. Off the dock place all we did was put enough weight where it would keep us a few feet down and drop it down so it was about 5-8 feet down. At Bonneville we had to kind of plunk it, kind of made it hard to tell when you had a fish on but the water was too fast to put a light weight on, would've been a lot better if the flow wasn't so fast and easier to fish. Now I just looked at googlemaps too, looks like there's a slough right there that might be nice for some smallies hah. If i get down there again this year I'm probably going to try this little fly jig that I've been using for panfish this past year, I'm sure it'll catch a few shad.

jbball50 wrote:I fished it once by the Bonneville Dam, I forgot where it was exactly, it's was a spot I believe it was some sort of park in between Beacon Rock and the Dam, pretty much just a bunch of people that were fishing for sturgeon there. Other place I have no idea where it is, it's some dock we fished off of a few times with my dad's friend and his kids, most of the time I'm sleeping on the drive there. Off the dock place all we did was put enough weight where it would keep us a few feet down and drop it down so it was about 5-8 feet down. At Bonneville we had to kind of plunk it, kind of made it hard to tell when you had a fish on but the water was too fast to put a light weight on, would've been a lot better if the flow wasn't so fast and easier to fish. Now I just looked at googlemaps too, looks like there's a slough right there that might be nice for some smallies hah. If i get down there again this year I'm probably going to try this little fly jig that I've been using for panfish this past year, I'm sure it'll catch a few shad.

The only dock that I can think of that you are talking about is at Beacon Rock. The best spot I have found for shad is across The Bridge of the Gods on the Oregon side at the Cascade Locks. That is where I first witnessed the shad frenzy. Not a lot of friendly anglers from what I remember.
There a lot of sloughs up and down Hwy 14 that you can find Smallies.

jens wrote:

jbball50 wrote:I fished it once by the Bonneville Dam, I forgot where it was exactly, it's was a spot I believe it was some sort of park in between Beacon Rock and the Dam, pretty much just a bunch of people that were fishing for sturgeon there. Other place I have no idea where it is, it's some dock we fished off of a few times with my dad's friend and his kids, most of the time I'm sleeping on the drive there. Off the dock place all we did was put enough weight where it would keep us a few feet down and drop it down so it was about 5-8 feet down. At Bonneville we had to kind of plunk it, kind of made it hard to tell when you had a fish on but the water was too fast to put a light weight on, would've been a lot better if the flow wasn't so fast and easier to fish. Now I just looked at googlemaps too, looks like there's a slough right there that might be nice for some smallies hah. If i get down there again this year I'm probably going to try this little fly jig that I've been using for panfish this past year, I'm sure it'll catch a few shad.

The only dock that I can think of that you are talking about is at Beacon Rock. The best spot I have found for shad is across The Bridge of the Gods on the Oregon side at the Cascade Locks. That is where I first witnessed the shad frenzy. Not a lot of friendly anglers from what I remember.
There a lot of sloughs up and down Hwy 14 that you can find Smallies.

I don't think we were that far up the Columbia at the dock we fish at, I don't even think we were past Camas. I've never tried fishing on the Oregon side before or tried the sloughs for bass down there, might have to do it one of these days sooner or later.

You peeps that want to fish for shad remember to get your $8.00 license fee for fishing the Columbia and or its tribs.

The endorsement card is only needed if you're fishing for steelhead or salmon, I already have one either way.

the dock you folks are talking about is the Steamboat Landing dock in Washougal.

As for lures, shad darts are best at Bonneville. Plunking dick nites is best at the Steamboat Landing dock.

If you go to Bonny, bring a lot of darts. You will easily lose 20 or more lures in a day.

The tackle stores are the most expensive place to buy darts. You'll be spending about 50-70 cents a piece.

I bought a bunch of unpainted darts online from Ebay (about 500 darts). Cost about 5 cents each, and then just spray paint them with chartreuse paint or brush with paint.

Little 1/16 jig heads with green jigs are killer. Red and white bodies work good also... If anybody was looking for another lure:cheers:

Shad -eating is correct. Take alot of darts with you. Youre bound to lose quite a few.I got darts at Oe or Wally world.

Thanks for all the input fellow friends!

What kind of fishing line is good at the dam? I was thinking of 6 pound line so I can easliy break the line when I get snagged. Most of the shad are 3-5 pounds. I was also going to switch to pencil lead instead of bank sinkers. I only caught one last year from a total of 2 trips. I am hoping for more sucess this year.

returnofthefish wrote:What kind of fishing line is good at the dam? I was thinking of 6 pound line so I can easliy break the line when I get snagged. Most of the shad are 3-5 pounds. I was also going to switch to pencil lead instead of bank sinkers. I only caught one last year from a total of 2 trips. I am hoping for more sucess this year.

I use 10 lb test or 12lb test.

Nicking all those rocks will do a number on your 6 lb test.