Northwest Fishing Magazine May 2025 Volume 4 Issue 7 - Flipbook - Page 25
in Drano to allow for some
bank angling to occur near
the mouth. From the shore
cast spinners or Wiggle
Warts. Anglers also fishing
for springers in the Wind
River must stay within the
fishing boundary of the
river itself and not stray into
Columbia River mainstem
area. Spring Chinook tips
and tactics I could list a
hundred different ways to
successfully catch spring
Chinook and what to use
varies depending on river
location, flow patterns and
water clarity but the most
important factor to keep in
mind is patience. Earlier last
month, I had a friend who
spent six days and nearly 50
hours on the water of the
Lower Columbia River and
managed to bring home
one hatchery-marked fish.
As for fishing gear, don’t
skimp on the rod and
reel and spending money
wisely will be an investment
toward catching more
fish. The rods of choice are
usually a 9 ½ to 10 ½ foot
of 15 to 25 pounds with a lot
flex and soft tip. Oftentimes
these fish will grab the bait
and turn away so flexibility
in the rod will allow for a
proper hook-up. Let the
salmon pull your rod tip
down a few times before
gently setting the hook and
don’t jerk hard since usually
the depth of water you’re
fishing isn’t very deep to
begin with.
Line counter reels are
the norm nowadays and
enable you to find the
sweet spot by aligning the
depth on your fish finder
to the area where the fish
are lurking. Many like to
use braided line, but I’m
old school and will stick
with monofilament line
for a bit of stretch and give
when the fish bites. The
standard setup for trolling
is a three-way swivel with
10 to 18 inches of 15-pound
monofilament to an eightto 15-ounce dropper weight,
depending on current and
flow.
On the other end of the
swivel is 24 inches of
30-pound monofilament
line to your fish flash
and then another 40 to
50 inches of 30-pound
monofilament line with a
swivel halfway down the
leader to allow the bait
or lure to spin freely and
eliminate the line from
twisting and tangling.
Often I’ll go “naked” and
not use a fish flash which
creates less drag too.
The traditional bait is a
green-label herring, whole
or cut-plug, with the proper
tight spin.
