Columbia River Fishing Report November 11, 2025

Morning, anglers, this is Artificial Lure with your Columbia River fishing report for Tuesday, November 11th, 2025, coming at you fresh from Portland’s riverbanks. Let’s get right to the conditions. According to the NOAA tide tables, we caught a low tide early at 4:12 AM at just under half a foot. The river hit high again at 10:48 AM at 4.72 feet, and we’ll see the afternoon ebb out to a 5:15 PM low before swinging up to another high around 11:19 tonight. With these shifting tides, expect some push and pull in the current, especially around the islands and sloughs upriver from Portland. Weatherwise, it’s a moody Pacific Northwest mix. Local meteorologist Gordon McCraw predicts the day will stay mostly cloudy, with a slight chance of rain and calm winds pushing the mercury up near 57 degrees this afternoon. Overnight lows will dip into the mid-40s, and a rainy front returns by Wednesday morning. These scattered clouds and fresher temps help keep bite windows active, especially during tide changes and just before the next round of rain. Sunrise broke through at 7:03 AM, and we’ll see sunset at 4:43 PM. Best fishing windows today should be the first hour post-dawn and the last hour before dusk, coinciding nicely with the mid-morning high tide. Now, let’s talk about fish. According to the Guide’s Forecast, things have slowed down for salmon: the mainstem Columbia above Westport is closed for Chinook, and the coho run is mostly upstream of the Portland stretch, with just a handful of late stragglers pushing in. The last official salmon and steelhead count from Oregon Fish & Wildlife reported just 360 total salmon through Bonneville between October 28th and November 3rd, so it’s been a grind on the lower river recently. That said, there’s still action for folks chasing late coho and especially those targeting sturgeon or warmwater species. Walleye fishing remains consistent in the main channel east of I-205, and bass anglers working jigs or drop-shot rigs around structure at Government Island or near the mouth of the Willamette are picking up steady numbers. For lures and baits, with the water cooling and cloud cover in play, lean on larger-profile plugs for late coho—think Brad’s Wigglers in firetiger or metallic blues, or Mag Lips with a sardine wrap for scent. Bank anglers are still picking off some coho and bass using size 4 Blue Fox spinners in copper or chartreuse. For sturgeon, fresh-smelt or squid work best; drop bait rigs near deeper dropoffs just downstream from Kelly Point or the St. John’s Bridge. A couple of local hot spots: Kelly Point Park has been a sleeper for big sturgeon and the odd late-run coho, and the Oregon Slough just off Hayden Island’s east end is producing nice walleye and the occasional chunky bass, especially midway through the outgoing tide. To sum it up: Salmon action is fading, but sturgeon, walleye, and bass anglers are finding steady action. Time your outings around the mid-morning and early evening tide swing This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.