Rainy Days and Late Coho: Your Columbia River Fishing Report for November 9th

Columbia River anglers, it's Artificial Lure here with your November 9th report right from the muddy banks and busy docks of the Portland stretch. Let’s dig in—today’s sunrise hit at 7:01am, and sunset will slip in around 4:47pm according to St Helens tide forecasts, so plan those lines for the golden light. Weather’s typical November: chilly, gray, with morning fog and scattered showers clearing into a brighter, brisk afternoon. Pack your rain gear but expect fishable windows as the week’s storms taper off and river visibility improves. Tide action at the Columbia entrance has a midnight high running just under seven feet, dropping to a low just before dawn, with another midday high. In this stretch, the best bite tends to come on that incoming tide—think late morning to early afternoon for the hottest action right now, as confirmed by tide-forecast.com. If you’re sticking up around St. Helens, keep an eye on that big morning swing which really gets baitfish and their pursuers moving. Fishing pressure’s thinned out, but don’t let that fool you: the late run of coho is still pushing through. The Columbian reports a solid showing of late coho this week, especially in the lower river and the cleaner tributaries. Early-season bright fish are about done, but you can still find some chrome, though most catches are turning a bit darker thanks to recent rain pushing fish upriver. Folks working the mouth of the Sandy and at the Klickitat confluence upstream of Bonneville Dam saw definite surges in catches. Most coho are running 6 to 8 pounds with some up to 10, with a few chinook still nosing around, but most have moved past this reach. Reminders from Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife: since November 1, it’s **artificial lures and flies only**—no bait until spring. That means twitching jigs, spinners, spoons, and bead setups under floats are your tools of the trade. The Guide’s Forecast and local river reports say hot colors lately are pink and purple for jigs, chartreuse or orange for spinners, and gold-blade hardware when the sun peeks through. Coho are responding to aggressive retrieves and short pauses. Top hotspots near Portland: - **Sauvie Island’s Multnomah Channel**: Still producing on that afternoon flood tide, especially adjacent to edges and deeper holes. - **Mouth of the Sandy River**: After the rain, hatchery numbers popped, with several anglers reporting limits on jigs and spinners. - **Klickitat River mouth (upstream Bonneville)**: The early morning bite has been strongest; expect crowds but also fast action during tidal shifts. Down toward St. Helens, the river is still giving up a few late fall Chinook, but you’ll have to cover water and put in real time for a shot at a fresh fish. Hit main channels just off deep drop-offs and near tributary mouths. If you’re itching for something else, sturgeon catch-and-release is getting love from diehards who don’t mind cold fingers. Use heavy gear, anchor near ledge drops, and soak large a This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.