B
Saturday, May 1, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
G OING B IG
O N S PRING
S MALLMOUTH
■ As the year progresses, top spots for bass will
include the John Day Pool of the Columbia River,
the Snake River reservoirs and the lower reaches
of the Grande Ronde and John Day rivers
“
Fishing will be slow but bass
are large this time of year,”
Wayne said, as incentive for
me to join him in March when a
cruel northeast breeze ruffl ed the
surface of the Columbia River. The
only evidence of spring was a fl ock
of sandhill cranes that chortled as
they circled overhead. An empty
boat launch suggested our efforts
could be futile.
I was lucky enough to land the
fi rst bass, maybe two pounds verti-
cal jigging in 40 feet of water with
a 5/8-ounce Blade Bait. Wayne
caught the next two on a drop-shot
rig, including one that weighed a
hefty four pounds.
“Smallmouth overwinter in deep
water,” he shared, expertly maneu-
vering his boat over a deep drop-off
lined with washtub-size boulders.
Despite a lull in action, Wayne
stayed vigilant at the bow until
the sun slipped below Rattlesnake
Mountain. Meanwhile I lost inter-
est after donating four rigs to the
bottom of the river.
For Wayne, bass fi shing is not
an avocation so much as it’s an
obsession. Once a tournament
angler, he now fi shes for fun, and
for no other species than bass from
early March to late November. He
records water temperature, tech-
nique, and the length and weight
of all bass caught. Favorable loca-
tions are logged as waypoints on
his sonar. If the bite is slow, Wayne
stays on the water until he fi gures
out why. If bass are biting, he can’t
stop casting. Wind, rain, and a ris-
THE
NATURAL
WORLD
DENNIS DAUBLE
ing moon do not deter him.
In preparation for our next out-
ing, I spent a weekend organizing
tackle bags, many which reached a
general state of disarray over the
winter. Careful inventory showed
over three dozen packages of soft
baits, including both three-inch and
“lunker” grubs, Hoochie Koochies
in two-tone and sparkle combina-
tions, various Tube Jigs or Gitzits,
scented Power Worms, crawdads,
and lizards.
A tangle of crankbaits, Blade
baits and spinners fi lled out my
portfolio of bass lures. The sheer
volume of gear bordered on ridicu-
lous, but you never know what bass
will be biting on any particular hour
of the day.
Early April found us back on the
water again, this time in the lower
Yakima River. Smallmouth bass
move from the Columbia River into
the lower “Yak” and backwaters
each spring, attracted by warmer
water temperature. Wayne brought
in four nice smallies using a silver-
and-blue Square Bill Crankbait,
while I focused on refi ning my
latent netting skills. I got even a
week later when I jigged six bass on
a three-inch Sassy Shad.
“You have the hot lure this time,”
Wayne said.
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Bass afi cionado Wayne Heinz sports a proud grin after landing this four-pound smallmouth bass in the
fl ooded backwater behind John Day Dam.
“My advanced degree in
fi sheries may not make me
a better angler, but it leads
to more theories about what
works and what doesn’t.”
— Dennis Dauble
“Give credit to the presence of
juvenile salmon,” I replied. “My of-
fering likely resembled fall chinook
smolts on the early part of their
seaward journey, a favorite prey of
bass.”
My advanced degree in fi sheries
may not make me a better angler,
but it leads to more theories about
what works and what doesn’t.
Smallmouth bass are abundant
throughout the four lower Snake
River reservoirs, where they
frequent rubble shorelines and
backwater channels. The Hells
Canyon Reach is notably famous for
providing non-stop action. I recall
a hot summer day following a jet
boat ride to Copper Creek Lodge.
Casting for smallies while standing
waist deep in the river was a great
way to cool off. Further upstream,
Brownlee Reservoir is excellent
for smallmouth bass (also channel
catfi sh and crappie). Coves where
tributaries join the reservoir are
favored, as are rocky outcrops.
Multi-day guided raft trips on
the lower Grande Ronde and John
Day Rivers offer families plenty of
fun for small bass, whether tossing
a surface popper with a fl y rod or
a 1/8-ounce jig and curly tail worm
using ultra-light spinning gear.
Impressive landscapes and abun-
dant wildlife enhance the experi-
ence. Shuttle service is available for
anglers whose idea of adventure is
casting from a pontoon boat.
On calm days in May I will test
my luck in warm backwaters of
the John Day Pool, where adult
smallmouth bass gather near
sunken reefs and gravel patches in
preparation for spawning. Throw-
ing soft plastics in colors of Motor
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo Oil, Pumpkin, and Fire Tiger in
A late spring visit to a backwater slough of the Snake or Columbia
Paterson and Crow Butte sloughs
river might lead to a catch of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. has led to 50-fi sh days in the past.
An abundance of empty
■ Exploring one of the bigger blank spots on a map of Oregon
When I pick
even in areas with no place names.
up a map my
Oregon’s southeast corner is abun-
ON THE TRAIL dant
eyes gravitate
in such places. This is wholly
JAYSON JACOBY
to the blank
appropriate for one of the most sparsely
spots.
settled regions in the lower 48. The
I fi nd all aspects of cartography fascinat-
three counties that comprise much of the
ing — the tiny words that designate a massive area — Lake, Harney and Malheur — sprawl
mountain, the serpentine blue lines that can
across 28,514 square miles.
never quite capture the true meanderings of
See Empty/Page 6B
a stream.
But nothing interests me so much as those
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
places on a map which are absent any feature.
An occasional basalt butte interrupts
We know, of course, that this emptiness (on
the sea of sagebrush west of Owyhee
land; oceans are a different matter) is relative
Reservoir in Malheur County.
rather than real. There’s something out there,
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Smallmouth bass are aggressive and will strike most any diving
plug that resembles the fl ight of a crayfi sh.
Sometimes a drag and twitch tech-
nique attracts bass like a frantic
crayfi sh and other times bass want
to eat something that swims like a
crippled minnow.
I can’t wait to try out my new 5/6
Avail fl y reel (www.rangereels.com).
Its innovative carbon fi ber drag
is sure to put the brakes on any
large bass that moves into shallow
water to feed. Oversize fl ies such as
Clouser Minnow, Maribou Mud-
dler, Rattle Tube, and Bunny Leech,
are often effective. Spun deer hair
patterns that mimic a small mouse
are a favorite choice on the Grande
Ronde River. By early summer, post-
spawn smallmouth are aggressive
enough to go airborne when they
smack a Bug Popper worked on
the surface. That’s when the real
fun begins. If I’m as successful as I
imagine, this time around it will be
me telling Wayne, “We can’t leave
now. Don’t you know? The best bite
always occurs at sunset.”
Dennis Dauble is a retired fi shery
scientist, outdoor writer, presenter
and educator who lives in Richland,
Washington. For more stories about
outdoor adventure, including fi sh
and fi shing in area waters, see
DennisDaubleBooks.com.
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Ken Gano positions his pontoon boat alongside a rock wall on the
Grande Ronde River in a quest for smallmouth bass.