Well, it's not much of a secret to share here on the world wide web as the stretch of the Columbia River I fish for spring salmon is 40+ river miles. Actually, it's really hard to call it a secret at all given the increasing size of the aluminum boat hatch that occurs on these waters every spring. The variables that drive salmon to strike change daily, so the real secret is putting the right combo together in order to have the best opportunity. It's less about a single secret location that produces day after day.
As I make preparations for fishing in 2012, I am excited about the number of people that are making plans to take a trip (or several) with me. Living in Oregon, there are literally thousands of places to fish so the question of where we're fishing is a frequent conversation topic. Here is some general information and maps pertaining to where I'll fish the Columbia in spring.
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Fishing out of Scappoose Bay is probably my favorite for spring salmon. Although it's a 30+ minute boat ride in the dark out to the Columbia, it provides the opportunity to fish for both Willamette River and Columbia River fish. This location is down river from the mouth of the Willamette so there is a larger number of fish that pass through the area than the stretch of water above the Willamette.
On the flip side, fishing downriver from the Willamette comes with some challenges. When the valley gets too much rain, the Willamette will "blow out", turning as brown as chocolate milk before it dumps into the Columbia. The extreme off color makes if very challenging to attract and catch fish. This area also has a decent tidal impact so it can be tough to time the besting fishing tides.
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Fishing the Portland airport area is probably the most popular area for spring salmon as it's the closest to both Portland and Vancouver. It has a nice long stretch of good fishing water which makes it perfect for taking people new to salmon fishing. We often start fishing up by the I-205 Bridge and troll all the way down past the rail road bridge before running up and doing it again.
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Chinook Landing is a large, beautiful launch further upriver near Troutdale. Also very popular, this is where I go when I want to keep all my options open. This launch is a good central location for fishing the airport all the way up-river to Rooster Rock - the best for fishing both near the city as well as getting away from it all.
