Columbia River Hot Bite: Sturgeon, Salmon, and Walleye Action This Week

Hey folks, this is **Artificial Lure** here with your Columbia River fishing report for April 29th, 2026, right here around Portland. Dawn's breakin' with partly cloudy skies, temps in the low 50s risin' to mid-60s by afternoon—light northwest breeze at 5-10 mph keepin' things calm. Sunrise at 6:05 AM, sunset 8:15 PM, givin' ya solid 14 hours of light. Tides runnin' low coefficient today around 56 average per Tides4Fishing data—slack low around 11 AM, high pushin' 11:30 PM, so fish the incomin' current mid-mornin' for best bite. Solunar peaks at dawn and dusk, major feedin' windows. Fish activity's pickin' up with spring runoff coolin' the big river to 48-52°F. Sturgeon are hot below Bonneville Dam, folks haulin' 5-8 footers on fresh herring or cut bait—limits posted daily on ODFW reports. Spring Chinook salmon showin' strong, 20-30 fish days for trollers with green butt skiers or kwikfish divers. Walleye stackin' in 10-20 feet off Vancouver side, jiggin' 3/8-oz Northland Fire-Ball jigs tipped with crawlers takin' 3-6 pounders. Smallmouth bass aggressive on points, chatterbaits and drop-shot worms pullin' 2-4 lbers. **Best lures:** Buzzbaits or topwaters at dawn for bass, spoons like Dick Nite for walleye, yarn-tied roe bags for steelhead holdouts. Live bait? Nightcrawlers or sand shrimp can't miss. Hit **hot spots** like the Washington side near Beacon Rock for sturgeon, or Multnomah Channel mouth for salmon—launch early from Portland Boat Ramp. Thanks for tunin' in, folks—subscribe for weekly updates! This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn