Columbia River Summer: Walleye, Smallmouth & Shad in the Tidewater Zone

This is Artificial Lure with your Columbia River Portland fishing report. We’ve got a cool, gray start along the river this morning with temps in the low 50s climbing into the upper 60s later, light northwest breeze, and just a slight chance of a sprinkle midday. Cloud cover will help keep fish comfortable a little longer into the morning bite. Sunrise came right around a quarter past five, and sunset will be just after nine tonight, giving you a long window to work the edges. The Columbia here is a flow‑driven river, but tides still nudge things below Bonneville. Expect a softer, slower feel on the early morning low, then a better push and more defined current seams late morning into afternoon on the incoming. Plan your moves around those current changes—walleyes and smallmouth especially key in on that. Recent action has been mixed but promising. Local anglers have been picking up **keeper walleye** in decent numbers on the Washington side flats and ledges in 20–35 feet, with a few fish nudging the 5–7 pound class. Smallmouth bass are solid along rocky banks and riprap near Portland, with lots of 10–14 inch fish and the occasional 3‑pounder. Shad counts have been good enough that folks swinging shad darts below the dams are still filling coolers. A few late spring Chinook and summer steelhead are trickling through, but expect those to be low‑numbers, quality‑over‑quantity fish. Best producers for walleye right now are **bottom bouncers** with crawler harnesses in chartreuse, orange, or hammered silver blades, trolled just off bottom at a slow creep. When the wind lays down, vertical jigging 3/8–1/2 ounce jig heads with nightcrawlers or soft plastics in motor oil or green pumpkin will mop up stragglers. For smallmouth, think **tubes, Ned rigs, and 3–4 inch swimbaits** in natural baitfish colors. On overcast afternoons, shallow cranks and small topwaters along shaded banks can be a blast. If you’re chasing shad, stick with classic **shad darts and small spoons** in chartreuse, hot pink, or combinations of the two behind one or two small split shot. For the odd Chinook or steelhead, anchor up on a travel lane and run **plug‑cut herring** or **spinners** in green, chartreuse, or copper behind divers, or back‑troll K15–K16‑size plugs in metallic and fluorescent patterns. Hot‑spot wise, two areas stand out: - **Gobblers Knob / Lady Island area near Camas–Washougal:** Good walleye structure with classic ledges, scattered rock, and current breaks. Troll the 20–35 foot contour along the channel edges and watch your electronics for bait clouds and arcs tight to bottom. - **Sauvie Island / mouth of the Willamette confluence zone:** Current seams, baitfish, and mixed depth give you a real grab bag—smallmouth along riprap, sturgeon deeper in the holes, and occasional salmonids passing through. Work the rocky points for bass, then slide out and drag gear for walleye when the sun gets higher. Live **nightcrawlers** remain top bait for walleye and a solid option for panfish and incidental smallmouth. For scent, wrap your plugs or add a small strip of herring or anchovy to keep them honest. Fluorocarbon leaders and lighter wire hooks help in the clearer summer flows. That’s the word from the big river in our backyard. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn