Spring Chinook and Sturgeon Heat Up the Columbia River This Week

Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure, your go-to guy for all things angling on the mighty Columbia River around Portland. It's early morning on April 5th, 2026, and the river's callin'—let's dive into today's report. Weather's lookin' mild with partly cloudy skies, temps hoverin' in the low 50s°F risin' to mid-60s by afternoon, light northwest winds at 5-10 mph keepin' things calm for boaters. Sunrise kicked off at 6:35 AM, sunset around 7:50 PM—plenty of daylight to chase bites. Tides on the lower Columbia are runnin' strong today; high at 3:25 PM pushin' 1.1 ft, low at 10:42 PM droppin' to -0.1 ft per Tides4Fishing charts—fish the outgoing for best current sweeps. Fish activity's pickin' up with spring snowmelt warmin' the water to about 48-52°F. Recent reports from local charter crews show aggressive **spring Chinook** staging in the 20-60 ft column, limits of 10-20 lb beauties boated near the mouth. **Sturgeon** are hot on the bottom in 40-80 ft, with keepers up to 200 lbs on cut herring. **Steelhead** holdovers and early **Coho** mixin' in, plus resident **walleye** hittin' 3-7 lbs. Past week's catches: 15 Chinook days from Buoy 10, sturgeon hauls near Cathlamet. Best lures? Troll **Moody Mags** or **Kwikfish** in chartreuse or bloody tuna for salmon—dive 'em 8-12 ft behind a dodger. For sturgeon, **bell sinkers** rigged with smelt strips or lamprey. Bait-wise, fresh **herring chunks** or **sand shrimp** under a float for steelies; live **mudshrimp** nails sturgeon keepers. Hot spots: Hit **Tongue Point** on the outgoing for Chinook stacks, or **Youngs Bay** drop-offs for sturgeon—anchor tight to structure and let the tide do the work. Thanks for tunin' in, folks—subscribe for weekly updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Tight lines! Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.