Late February Columbia River: Sturgeon, Steelhead, and Walleye Reports

Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure, your go-to guy for all things fishing on the mighty Columbia River around Portland. It's a crisp late February morning here, skies partly cloudy with temps hovering in the low 40s, light winds from the east making it prime for a shoreline cast. Sunrise hit around 6:50 AM, sunset's at 5:56 PM, giving us a solid 11 hours of daylight to chase bites. Tides today at Ross Island and Morrison Street Bridge are looking strong—expect a low around 8:59 AM at about 1 foot, high pushing 2-3 feet mid-morning per tide-forecast.com data, then dropping low again afternoon. Fish the outgoing for best action as current pulls bait your way. Sturgeon are hot right now, with reports of keepers up to 5 feet hooked near Bonneville Dam on sand shrimp or cut bait. Steelhead runs are picking up too—anglers pulled limits of 8-12 pound hatchery fish drifting yarn or plugs below the dam. Walleye are schooling in 20-40 feet off Portland's eastbank, limits coming on worm-tipped jigs. Salmon protection measures are in play post that judge's order on KUOW, so more smolts mean better future runs, but stick to sturgeon, steelhead, and perch for now. Top lures? My Buzz Bomb spoons in chartreuse for perch and smallies, or Corky & Yarn setups in pink/hot neon for steelhead. Live bait shines—sand shrimp or nightcrawlers on a circle hook can't be beat for sturgeon. Hit these hot spots: Cathedral Park under the St. Johns Bridge for easy bank access and steady perch, or Ryan Island slough for drifting steelhead. Bundle up, check regs, and tight lines! Thanks for tuning in, folks—subscribe for more reports. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.