Spring Chinook Bite Heats Up on Lower Columbia Near Portland

Good morning, folks—Artificial Lure here with your Columbia River report for the Portland stretch. For today’s bite, the big river is still acting like spring trying to decide whether to turn into summer. Around Portland, water is running cool and a bit pushy, with Columbia and Willamette influence keeping the mainstem changing by the hour. According to NOAA tide and river data for the lower Columbia, you’ll want to pay attention to the tidal pulse and any slack-water window near the mouth and downstream reaches, because that’s when the bite tends to sharpen up. On the Oregon side, the best action usually comes around moving water rather than dead slack. Weather-wise, the Portland forecast from the National Weather Service calls for a mild late-spring morning with cloudy breaks and comfortable temperatures, which is good news for anglers who like a steady cast without the mid-day bake. Sunrise is around 5:36 AM and sunset near 8:48 PM, giving you a long window to chase fish. Right now, the main story is spring Chinook. Recent Oregon and Washington fishery updates have shown that the Columbia is still producing a mix of keeper-size Chinook and a fair number of hatchery fish, especially in the lower river and near tributary mouths. Shad are starting to show in the system too, and once those schools get thick, the river can turn into a grab-fest for anything willing to eat. You may also bump into smallmouth bass in the rockier seams and, in some side-water, the occasional walleye. If you’re hunting Chinook, the best producers lately have been plug-cut herring, spinners, and flashers with bait. Green and chrome, chartreuse and white, and blue-backed herring patterns are still money. For hardware, mooching rigs, size 4 to 5 spinners, and a tight, natural drift are hard to beat. If shad are the target, throw small darts, shad darts, tiny spoons, or a white curly-tail jig. For bass, a tube, Ned rig, or a crankbait worked along riprap can get it done. Best bait? Fresh herring, no contest, when Chinook are in the mood. If you can’t get herring, try sand shrimp, spinners with herring fillet, or cured eggs where legal and appropriate. Keep your presentation clean and your leader not too long if the water’s got color. Hot spots to keep on the map: the lower Columbia near the Hayden Island and Marine Drive stretches, especially around current seams and submerged structure; and the mouth areas near the Willamette confluence, where bait gets pinched and predators stage. If you want a little more elbow room, look for eddies and riprap banks below Bonneville and around the deeper bends where fish rest out of the main push. So that’s the word from the river: move with the tide, fish the seams, and don’t be shy about switching from bait to hardware if the fish get picky. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to subscribe. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn