Here's a question for all you Big C anglers. I am just starting this "springer thing" and cant figure out the tides. Went out last Saturday ( didn't touch a thing) , sat on the hook for 3 hours with the outgoing tide and then started to troll after the change. I was expecting no or upriver flow , fishing the St. Helens area. That did not seem to be the case as it appeared to always have downstream flow, though the rate ie current was definitly less. Is this normal for that high in the river? Also, do any of you have success trolling the outgoing tides or is sitting on anchor more productive? Thanks for the help. Will be out again on Saturday in a blue NorthRiver in front of the channel.

I am told that anywhere upriver of about Kalama or maybe even Longview, there will be no actual reversal of flow at the height of the flood tide. The current may dwindle to 1/2 kt, but it won't reverse.

The guidance I have seen WRT when to troll is when you get the sense that your lure isn't doing its "dance" due to current alone (based on the pulsing of the rod tip), it is time to get off the hook and troll for a couple hours.

In some parts of the river, and according to some schools of thought, it is trolling all the time (downriver) regardless of tide. That makes some sense, because the fish are headed upriver against the tide, and by trolling downriver, you are running your lure/bait right into their faces.

My plan when I go down is to watch what boats around me are doing, because collectively they probably know more than I do. There must be a few locals sprinkled amongst the out-of-towners.

Absolutely normal. It varies with the level of spill over bonneville. The spill will increase in the next few weeks, assuming normal snowmelt.

SH is right.sometimes you wont get that reversal.Especially this time of year.It also depends on how much of a tide change we have.
! thing I noticed is that we seem to get most of our fish on Kfish when they are just barely moving.So I tend to stay anchored a little longer than most people.We got a lot of fish last year after almost everybody left,

Yeah, if the boat is holding steady and the plugs are moving, even a little, you can get fish. The problem is when the current dies down and you get some wind. Then your boat is all over the place, and you're not fishing effectively.

But on calm days, I've done very well anchoring on the incoming as well.