Columbia River Fishing Report: Summer Runs and Hot Spots

Artificial Lure here with your Columbia River fishing report for June 22, 2025, covering the Portland area and just upstream. The morning kicked off with a moderate tide, peaking around 7:45 am and dropping to a low about 2:30 pm, so if you’re planning to hit the river today, try fishing the early morning high or the late afternoon incoming for your best chances. Sunrise came in at 5:24 am with sunset at 9:01 pm, giving you a long stretch of daylight to work with. The forecast called for light rain showers off and on, a bit of a cool-down but also the trigger we needed for a fresh push of fish into the system, especially the migratory runs. Shad are still running strong through the lower Columbia, and the bite has been reported as “good” with anglers finding steady action near the mouth of the Willamette and Sauvie Island’s beaches. Sabiki rigs, small gold spoons, and classic shad darts in pink, chartreuse, and silver are your best bet here. Several anglers landed their limits before noon. Walleye fishing remains white-hot in the John Day Pool, with multiple reports of successful catches using bottom bouncers tipped with nightcrawlers and chartreuse bladed rigs. The average size has been 17 to 24 inches, with a few larger fish over 6 pounds showing up for lucky anglers who work the drop-offs and current seams. Smallmouth bass fishing is absolutely firing as water temps have stabilized in the upper 60s. The shad migration has the bass pushing up on shallow flats and weed lines. Shad-imitating swim baits, like the Keitech FAT Swing Impact in Smallmouth Magic or French Pearl, are producing big numbers and a few trophy-sized fish. Topwater action is peaking at dawn and dusk—walking baits, poppers, and buzzbaits are getting smoked over submerged structure. It’s not uncommon to land 30–50 bass in a day right now. Salmon and steelhead are a mixed bag. The summer steelhead run is slow, with only scattered reports of hookups, mostly by bank anglers drifting cured salmon eggs or tossing nightcrawlers and prawn combos. Sockeye numbers are lower than last year, but some are coming through—look for the deeper, cooler channels near the I-205 bridge. If you’re after sturgeon, Oregon City continues to impress. Local guides are reporting good catch-and-release action, especially using fresh squid and sand shrimp. Sturgeon up to 5 feet are not uncommon, and with the rain, expect a few big ones to move in. Today’s hot spots: - Meldrum Bar: red-hot for shad and the occasional steelhead. - Sauvie Island beaches: limits of shad early, plus solid bass action near the slough mouths. - Willamette-Columbia confluence: consistent for walleye and a solid chance at a bonus sturgeon. That’s the latest from your expert on the water. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for your daily river rundown. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.