Columbia River Fishing: Sturgeon, Steelhead, and Winter Bass Opportunities

Fishing’s in a classic early-winter lull on the lower Columbia around Portland, but there’s just enough happening to make it worth launching the boat if you pick your windows and keep expectations realistic. ## Weather and water We’re sitting in that cool, damp pattern the river rats know well: overcast skies, light rain on and off, and daytime highs hovering in the mid‑40s to low‑50s with light east wind most mornings. River levels are up a bit with recent rains, adding some color and a little debris, but flows are still very fishable, especially along the edges and inside seams. ## Light, tide, and timing Sunrise is right around 7:35 a.m. and sunset near 4:27 p.m., which really compresses that prime bite window into the late dawn and early afternoon. Tidal influence at Portland is modest but matters: today lines up with a predawn low, a morning flood pushing in around first light, a midday low, and an evening high. That morning push and the first couple hours of the afternoon ebb have been the best bets for putting fish in the box. ## What’s biting and how Most of the mainstem salmon action is wrapped up; fall Chinook and coho are basically done here, with just a few dark stragglers around. Attention has shifted to: - Sturgeon: Catch‑and‑release only in most nearby reaches, but they’re the steadiest game. Anglers soaking smelt, sand shrimp, or squid on the edges of the channel have been reporting fair numbers of shaker‑sized fish with the occasional legal in the deeper holes. - Early winter steelhead: Still scratchy, but the first few are sliding through the metro stretch and nearby tributary mouths. Plunkers running small Spin‑N‑Glos with coon‑shrimp or bright yarn balls off the sand bars are getting the odd chrome fish during the stronger current changes. - Resident warmwater fish: On calm days in the sloughs and marinas, a few die‑hard bass and perch anglers are downsizing to small jigs and worms, picking off fish hugging structure in 20–30 feet. ## Best lures, baits, and setups For sturgeon, stick with simple, smelly, and on‑the‑bottom: 8–16 ounces of lead depending on flow, heavy leader, and baits like smelt, sand shrimp, or herring chunks. Fresh bait is noticeably outfishing old freezer burn, and shorter leaders are helping keep hooks pinned in the strike zone. Steelheaders swinging through the system are reacting to bright, compact offerings. Good producers have been: - 2.5–3.0 metallic spinners in chartreuse, copper, or hammered silver. - 1/8–1/4‑ounce jigs in pink, black, or white tipped with a small piece of shrimp under a float. - For plunking, small chartreuse/pink Spin‑N‑Glos with a nickel‑sized gob of eggs or coon‑shrimp. If you’re poking around backwaters for bass or panfish, think winter mode: tiny tube jigs, Ned‑style soft plastics, or nightcrawlers barely inched along bottom structure. ## Local hot spots Two spots worth a serious look right now: - **Sauvie Island / Multnomah Channel:** Work the channel edges This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.