"Good luck and remember on the Columbia there is no limit so kill'em all- save our salmon and steelhead!" Same goes for the walleye -- invasive and hard on the salmonids. Not much makes me angry, but when a guy says "she was laden with eggs so I let her go," that will do it. I've often wondered if the damage to the salmon and steelhead runs is caused by the dams themselves or the slack and warming waters that encouraged the proliferation of predatory fish and lots of water weeds for ambush conditions. I am old so it won't make a difference to me, but I would like to see the rivers run wild again (they did in my childhood) and see if the salmonids come back. I doubt they will unless something is also done about commercial ocean fishing, particularly from China and Japan taking unrestricted quantities of fish. A puzzle: Why has the Alaska and Canadian fish runs and size of the fish decreased when there are no dams? Maybe the problem is bigger than the dams.

Evidently, you are not from the East Side. Bass (mostly small mouth with a few large mouth where the proper conditions exist), catfish from bullheads to blues, walleye up the ying-yang, crappie, bluegill (not many and few big ones as they grow slowly here in the cold winter water temperatures), yellow perch, and burbot in the potholes near Othello, and if you know the Snake, Yakima and Columbia Rivers, including the reservoirs, mostly the same, and throw in sturgeon, too. If I recall correctly (something that seem to happen less frequently these days), bass, walleye, perch, and catfish have no or very liberal size and creole limits on the rivers. The shad spawning run on the Columbia fun. If the rivers keep warming up, there will probably be more "warm water species" sooner than later and less sturgeon and salmonids. The last few years the water has been warm enough in summer and early fall to allow for the growth of toxic algae, something we never had in the lakes and rivers when I was a kid playing and growing up along the shores of the then wild rivers sixty to seventy plus years ago...ouch!. Speaking of warm water species, I remember reading about a trout hatchery being switched to raising these critter a few years back but I don't remember which one or what species, or if they still do it. I think it may have been the Ringold Hatchery and it was done to replenish the spiny-rays lost to silting of some lakes by Mt. St. Helen ash, or maybe not. For big bass, I think the West Side is probably the best bet as there are so many bass and walleye in the rivers on the East Side that they don't seem to grow as big...except in the Yakima Delta and the Potholes. I hope you find what you are looking for.

I've seen people fishing near the highway 240 bridge on the north shore downstream from the bridge. If it was 40 years ago I could give you direction on how to get there, but I really don't know how. Maybe someone else can give you the directions.

For information, 03/25/2023:
I was up on Spring Lake last week. Lots of folks fishing all the lakes and if the trout are biting they are easy to catch, but sometimes it takes a little knowledge and technique to coax them bite. I only take two fish as that is all I will eat but the fish were pretty nice - one 11, the other 10 and meaty. It's plunking but still fishing - two cast and two fish. Fire up the barbe. Here is a hint, if you see deer and turkey out feeding, the fish will be biting aggressively, otherwise knowledge and technique are needed.

I talked to a fellow last fall in Waitsburg. He said he catches nice rainbow out of the Touchet River right "in town" and I see cars parked near the state park (at the bridge) and people walking with poles. Also, several years ago I had access to the Tucannon River through private property near the Last Resort and did well, but you are only allowed two fish from the river and cannot use bait (my fishing buddy hooked and released a nice Dolly in the same place). I have also seen people fishing above the hatchery but I never have so don't know anything about that. Access to the mid run of the river below Cummings Creek to near HW 12 is tough unless you know someone. Of course, there is always the pamphlet for other places, but I haven't seen a new one for 2023-24...the old one is good till the end of the month.

Thanks.

Me, too! I turn 76 in February, and I rarely get in a hurry. When you say "underpowered" what exactly do you mean? Will it plane? What speed does it make? I usually fish by myself or with one other person, the boat is pretty light and I don't have any reason to load it down with a bunch of stuff. Also, another fellow said he trolls with a 60hp 4-stroke as slow as 2mph so I may go with a bigger engine - I really just want to get rid of the older (no oil injection) 2-stroke noisemaking gas hog and be able to use the "main" motor to troll. 40hp or so is looking like the way to go. Thanks for your input.
Spectrum18

From the information I have been able to garner on the Internet, the 1606 Bluefin Superhawk (my boat model) came standard with a 50hp Force 2-stroke. I could not find a maximum horsepower rating but suspect it is in the 70 to 85hp range. Considering the responses I have received from you and others, I am going to go with a 40 or 50hp motor. Thanks for your input.

Me, too! I turn 76 in February, and I rarely get in a hurry. When you say "underpowered" what exactly do you mean? Will it plane? What speed does it make? I usually fish by myself or with one other person, the boat is pretty light and I don't have any reason to load it down with a bunch of stuff. Also, another fellow said he trolls with a 60hp 4-stroke as slow as 2mph so I may go with a bigger engine - I really just want to get rid of the older (no oil injection) 2-stroke noisemaking gas hog and be able to use the "main" motor to troll. 40hp or so is looking like the way to go. Thanks for your input.

As I said, I couldn't pass up the deal, which included a Yamaha 8hp high thrust kicker. Boat, trailer, 70hp 2-stroke and the kicker plus some other stuff for a couple hundred bucks. Yeah, I had to reseal the 70's lower unit and put in a new pump rotor (the 70 runs fine and the lower unit is good shape despite using a water-oil mix for lubricant), and the boat is in need of new floors and carpet, but I like the Spectrum hull so it was worth it to me. Thanks for your perspective and experience with trolling a 60hp 4-stroke. My concern was that trolling with a motor larger than a 25 might not be good for the motor or trolling speed but, from your information and experience, it looks like it is a worry I needn't have had. Based on your information, I will probably get a 40hp. Thanks.

Thanks for all your opinions. I had a 15 foot Christ Craft wooden boat many years ago that was powered by an 18hp Evinrude 2-stroke that would easily plane the boat and, in fact, we water skied with it, including slalom skiing, but it was under powered for that...and I weighed 147 pounds in those days, not close to 200. I have found little information on the 1606 Blue Fin (Spectrum) Superhawk, which is what I have, and it is only more confusing. NADA says 50hp, but I think that is because the standard power for the boat was a 50hp Force motor - my Bluefin Sportsman 1900 came with an 85 Force but was rated for up to 125, which I installed and gained nothing but a bigger gas bill and two mph. I have also found information, although nothing formal like a spec sheet, that says 90hp for the Sportsman model 1700 but, of course, that is not the same boat as the 1606 Superhawk. Oh well, so it goes, eh. My objective is/was to eliminate the need for a kicker so that I needn't stumble around the boat trying to operate the kicker while fighting a fish, and fall overboard - I'm 76 with a bad hip and, on occasions, a bit of vertigo, AND I usually fish by myself so those things are considerations. It would be nice to find someone who has the same or near same boat powered by a 25HP 4-stroke for an apples to apples comparison. Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions and opinions.

I recently picked up decent but weathered Bluefin 16 I intend to restore. I've had a Bluefin 1900, a later model Spectrum 18, which I stupidly sold, and a Weldcraft 18' Sportjet I got rid of when I retired. The 16 was too good a deal to pass-up and came with an 8hp four-stroke Yamaha kicker and an older Johnson 70hp two-stroke main motor. I would like to go with a single main motor suitable for getting me "from here to there" as well as for trolling. I am leaning towards a 25hp four stroke, but my local dealer recommends 40hp minimum and keep the kicker. I am 76 and would rather not have to deal with the kicker and stumbling around in the boat. Do you think a 25hp four-stroke would push the light weight Bluefin 20-25mph and work OK for trolling? Thanks.

(I may have to change my moniker to Bluefin 16, lol.)

I'm in the Tri Cities. I am primarily a bank fisherman for cats and have fished for and caught them, mainly channel cats, throughout the region in both rivers and some lakes. On the Columbia it is primarily fishing the warmer backwaters, especially around rip-rap and on flats, near deeper water; on the Snake, I've fished from the mouth up to Clarkston and found the best fishing for big fish to be at night below the dams. The Palouse River near the park at Lyons Ferry can be hot during the spawn where you will mainly catch nice eating sized fish. The fish are numerous throughout the Snake River system because of the warmer water caused by all the dams and can be found virtually everywhere along rip-rap and on flats adjacent to deep water. Active grain elevators can be good where wheat spillage seems to attract them, too. I've caught some really large cats in the Yakima River above West Richland but these days most of the bank is private and or inaccessible due to brush. Also, the Yak has gone weedy as hell over the last ten or so years. I have not fished the Walla Walla but have heard it is good if you can access it; the mouth is accessible at Madame Dorian Park. As a side note, I was trolling for steelhead above McNary once and caught a nice channel on a Wiggle Wart. Crazy, huh.

As for bait, the best is probably fresh cut pikeminnow or other rough fish, even waterdogs if you can get them, but the standards - stink baits, worms, commercial cat bait, chicken livers, etc., - all work at one time or another. Basic rigging is usually a three-way swivel set-up with breakaway line on the weight and a circle hook on heavier leader.