Columbia River Fishing Report: Salmon, Sturgeon, and More on the Mighty Columbia

Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure reporting from the banks of the mighty Columbia River around Portland, and it’s Saturday, September 13, 2025. Here’s your Columbia River fishing update for today. Tides are running with decent amplitude—over at Vancouver, tidal coefficients are high this morning, meaning stronger currents and active fish movement. In Portland, you’re looking at sunrise at 6:47am and sunset hitting at 7:24pm. We’ve got low tide at 7:53am, a high at 11:48am, followed by another low at 7:29pm and a high again at 10:59pm. Fish those moving water periods for best results—especially the first couple hours after that midday high when current is strong and bait is moving. Weather-wise, expect crisp early fall mornings with temps in the upper 50s at dawn, reaching up into the mid-70s by late afternoon. Expect light winds—great conditions for working topwater and soft plastics or running plugs in the deeper holes. Now, let’s get to the fish activity. The fall Chinook salmon run is in full swing through the Portland stretch of the Columbia, with boats stacking up below Bonneville and along Sauvie Island’s beaches. Anglers have reported solid catches this week, especially on the outgoing tide. Most fish are coming in averaging 15-25 pounds, with a few pushing north of 30 taken at the mouth of the Willamette and the Multnomah Channel. Pro-tip: Troll with 360 flashers and spinners (red and chartreuse or pink seem to be hot this week), and use fresh cut plug herring for bait. Anchor anglers are doing well on the deeper channel edges with wobblers in gold and copper. Don’t sleep on coho either. They’re showing up in larger numbers, especially early morning and late evening. Target them in slightly swifter water, and scale down your presentation—try smaller spinners in blue and silver, or a pink hoochie behind a flasher. For sturgeon, catch-and-release is still on the menu, and action’s decent up around the Portland Harbor. Focus on deeper holes and flats above the I-5 Bridge, and fish fresh shad, smelt, or sand shrimp for best results. Remember, keepers are off the table now so handle these dinosaurs with care. If you’re after walleye, The Dalles and the area just east of Camas still have them biting. Early and late hours are key—bounce a chartreuse jig with a nightcrawler along rocky points and deep drop-offs. Warmwater fishers, smallmouth bass are feeding up for fall—they’re smashing shallow crankbaits, tubes, and spinnerbaits along rocky bank lines and points all through the Multnomah Channel and around Government Island. Crabbing is open coastwide, and though it’s just a little brackish in the lower river right now due to recent rain, folks are still pulling good numbers of hard, legal Dungeness from the estuary near Astoria. Use chicken legs or fish carcass for bait—the smellier, the better. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reminds everyone to keep an eye out for invasive Chinese mitten crabs or European green crabs, and r This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.