I know alot of members are planning to fish the Columbia River for the prized Springer soon. I have only done this twice and not on my own boat. When do you guys plan on going and what part of the river do you like best. I know that outgoing tides mean backtrolliing with Kwikfish wrapped with sardine. On the incoming tide fish with herring and troll. Beyond that I would like to hear some stories.

Get em before the nets do this year!

Gramps

On the outgoing anchor up and fish your kwikfish or spinners.

You can find good spots to ambush springers just about anywhere from Cathlamet to the willamette. I prefer to fish around Longview. Lots of fish are caught in the St.Helens area as well. Longview is just a shorter drive for me. I know a few guys that fish out of Kalama and do well. I don't think you can go wrong anywhere as long as your in less that 30' of water. Look at a chart and fish the narrower sections of the river in the shallows.

Good Luck
kris

Grandpa2, Yes they are coming and i'm very excited, Not alot of fish in the river now, the netters hardly got any so they are not in the river this whole week. If i fish the Columbia i usually fish the tides on anchor, K13...no wrap....or spinner, and if i'm in a trolling mood...i will go twirl some herring in the Willamette. I miss that Juicy...oily...tasty springer Not long though

Louis

I'll be down for a couple 2-3 day trips. Plan on spending one of them at Sand Island camping and fishing the Lewis and MC, the other time downriver in Cathlamet. A couple of you reading this, you know who you are, are coming with me this time! I cant wait to hook up on one with a mooching reel! ZZZzzzzzzzz...Too much fun to be had.

I am also excited about the predictions for this season, and at this point hope that I plan my trips simultaneous to the times when big pushes of fish come in.

You can look at this page to gauge whe I'll be down there. This is a great utility to use to help with run timing. Go to historic data (2003) and just browse down the page by date.
http://www.fpc.org/adultqueries/Adult_Table_Submit.asp

C-ya out there boys.

Is this the kind of fishing you could do in an Arima? I don't have a "river anchor" setup, but if I didn't have a sled, would a more traditional boat work OK? I've never fished the Columbia, but I am anxious to try.

You can definitely do it in an Arima, but you'll be frustrated if you try to anchor without the right setup. Lots of trolling to be done, however, and the trollers catch plenty of fish, sometimes more than the anchor boys.

SH

Care to describe a proper "anchor setup" for that fishery? Have a friend with a fairly new Intruder that has only been out trolling four times last fall. That boat is due for some spring exercise.

fishNphysician,

this link below will show you photos, how to's and you can even order a video on safe use of the anchor system. I wouldn't anchor in the Columbia or any other large river without it. See ya on the river.
http://www.ezmarine.com

DL / Grandpa,
You don't need to anchor on the out going tides to catch fish. I have been fishing down there for 15 years and I as well as all in our group always troll and catch plenty of fish. Herring in the Rhys Davis herring hood (re-tied so there is a trailer hook that sits just off the tail. The hoods are nice because you can adjust your roll easily by changing the bend of the herring. As far as where to go, just look for the boats anywhere between I-5 bridge and tongue point.

If you do use a river anchor system, it's not just a matter of getting the right one, it's knowing how to use it and retrieve it.

Since the nets didn't go in this week I'll be heading down this weekend for my first trip of the year. I know it's a bit early but I got my first springer last year on March 10th, and one of our Longview buddies picked up his first this year over a week ago. So there are a few fish in the river.

Good Luck!

I would go with the ezmarine anchor puller. I love mine. Pulling up even 10 feet by hand is a chore with my anchor. Make sure you put 8-10 feet of heavy chain on your anchor. It helps it lay down properly to get a good hook up on bottom. You definetly don't want to anchor up, start fishing and then begin drifting down river cause your anchor didn't hold.

I recommend having someone show him how to use his anchor and puller for the first time down on the big river. I did and am very glad that I did. It's real easy, but someone in the know will take a lot of the trama out of a situation.

PS Bobs in longview carries everything he would need. Bigger is better too.

Good luck
Kris

FishDoc,

I have some experience in "lean and mean" anchoring (I'm a wee little man and have trouble hefting a large anchor). I can anchor my 3000# boat in 50' of water and 1 kt current using a 7# anchor. When it sticks, it buries itself deeper and deeper as the pull increases. I can motor in the direction of pull, and not break it loose. This is a key design point of the Bruce and Danforth style anchors.

The EZMarine anchor is a totally different philosophy. This anchor "rakes" along until it finds something that the tongs can stick to. Then, it settles down and bottoms out on the prominent central beam. It will never bury any deeper than the tongs are long. This means that a lot more mass is required, which is why EZMarine recommends a 26# anchor for my boat in mild current, and a 32# for medium current.

At retrieval time it gets interesting. I can retrieve my 7# anchor pretty easily, once I break it free. That 26-pounder (plus 20-30# of chain) is a different story. Like I said, I'm a wee little man, so I would probably need one of those EZMarine retrieval buoys to make it manageable to retrieve several times per day. At this point, the EZMarine solution becomes a logistical issue because of all the gear, and where am I going to stow it all when it's not in the water? My little boat is already cramped for space.

I'm told the EZMarine is SOP because of the gravelly bottom of the Columbia (not to mention the bikini-clad poster girls prominently shown on their website :p ). That may well turn out to be the pivotal factor, but I believe that an upsized Bruce or Danforth (still only 11-16#) would suffice.

Another key consideration is how much chain is used. In any anchoring configuration, chain helps, by allowing the anchor to lay down and dig instead of just skating along. To be sure, a very heavy anchor probably doesn't need any chain, just by virtue of its mass. However, chain is a "force-multiplier," such that it makes a small anchor work as effectively as a much larger one without chain. I use 10' of 3/8" galv chain with my 7# anchor. This doubles the weight, but increases the anchor's effectiveness a lot more than just doubling the anchor size, especially in rough conditions where the rode is constantly bouncing up and down.

Bottom line -- I'm headed down with a 16.5# Bruce-style anchor, 15' of 3/8" galv chain, and 150' of 3/8" nylon. I'm hoping that works well. It might not. I'll post my findings Even if it turns out to be a bust for the river, it will make a superb backup heavy-seas anchor for the salt.

See the discussion, here.

Here's a picture of my anchor setup

That's 4 feet of chain. The only reason I use it is to get the breakaway connection you see at the top of the anchor shaft. The black thing next to the buoy is the slider/pickup mechanism. 1/3 the price of the EZ marine, just as functional.

Is it a must to have an anchor roller on the bow?
I have been trying to find one to go on a fiberform?
Looks like Sea Dog may have what I need.
But the bow lights are in the way. Anyone else go through this. Any ideas will help.
NUT

The roller just facilitates retrieval. It isn't necessary, but pretty darn handy if you are retrieving a big anchor -- you don't have to lean over the bow rail. Some rollers also can "park" the anchor once you get it up, so all you have to do is secure it in the roller instead of having to manhandle it back into the cockpit.

Thanks for all the helpful anchoring tips, folks.

My friends got fish near Deep River last weekend!!!!!! SSSHHH!!!!!

Finegrain,
I use a Danforth anchor a lot down around Longview.The only thing is I let out quite a bit of line to get it to hold, then pull up as much as I feasibly can so I dont have as much rope out letting my boat swing when the wind picks up.

I also use the rocker style anchor a lot because I can drop it,and be snug in a very short distance.

A lot of the springer holding areas for several miles below the mouth of the Cowlitz are mostly sandy bottom.Probably because of the ash from Mt. St. Helens eruption.

Rick