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| David Brinkerhoff took this dandy smallmouth out of the Columbia River. He and his partner average about 40 fish a day when they go after smallmouth on the big river. |
You Gotta Cast to Catch 'Em
By Stan Fagerstrom
It’s one thing to know the big Columbia River now produces some of the West’s best action for smallmouth bass. It’s something else to know the best way to go about catching them.
In my last two columns I’ve told you about a young man who is as knowledgeable as they come where Columbia River smallmouth are concerned. He is David Brinkerhoff. Today David is a marketing assistant at G.Loomis Rods. He cut his bass fishing teeth fishing the big river with his father. Now, 18 years later, he’s a full fledged expert with the tournament trophies to prove it.
Among other things, David has won three BASS Federation fishing Tournaments on the Columbia. He’s also won top honors in Anglers Choice Tournaments in the same area. He shared with me details about the tackle and techniques he has found most effective.
“My favorite rod for Columbia River smallmouth fishing,” David says, “is the G.Loomis SMR 822GLX. It’s a great rod. I especially like the way it lets me detect light bites. It’s a light action rod, but it still handles a large fish.”
When young David mentions large smallmouth he knows what he’s talking about. His largest out of the Columbia so far weighed in at
6-pounds, 14-ounces. If you’ve done much smallmouth fishing you’re aware one that size strains everything from your rod to your wrist.
Ask anybody who’s tangled with them and they’ll tell you Columbia River smallmouth are just plain wild. The Columbia has big river currents and that surely is a factor that helps keep its smallmouth in fighting condition.
David uses a Shimano Stradic 2500 on his spinning rod. He fills that reel with 8-pound test line. If he switches to a level wind outfit he uses the casting version of the SMR 822GLX and a Shimano Chronarch 50 level wind reel. His level wind reel is filled with10-pound test line.
Like the rest of us, this young tournament winning pro carries a variety of lures. Some of them get far more use than others. Much of his Columbia River fishing is done with plastic baits. I asked him for specifics in that regard.
“I think the Yamamoto baits are the best out there,” he says, “especially when it comes to grubs. I really like the Yamamoto single tail grubs in both 4 and 5-inch sizes.”
David also does a lot of tube fishing for smallmouth. Most of the time he does his tube fishing with 4-inch Canyon Plastic baits. He favors a green shade in these lures.
David most often rigs his plastics with jigs of his own design. He pours them himself. “It was hard to find a jig with the design I favor in a really good hook,” he says. “That’s why I started making my own. Usually I build my jigs on 2/0 Gamakatsu hooks.”
This smallmouth expert pays particular attention to the design of his jig heads. “I use a teardrop head shape,” he says, “for the jigs I use with my tubes. I use a swimming head for jigs I use with my grubs.”
Where and how does he fish his plastics? For starters he looks for a break in the current. These breaks might be created by anything from points, to a pile of rocks, to humps in the river bottom.
If you’ve done much drift fishing for steelhead you’ll probably find it relatively easy to do what David does when he fishes plastic baits for smallmouth. “Usually,” he says, “I cast upstream and let my bait drift downstream. I try to maintain bottom contact at all times. It’s as the bait moves down along with the current that I get most of my hits.”
That’s exactly what a steelhead angler does when he’s drift fishing a bait of eggs for those migratory beauties. It’s not as easy as it sounds because you need to have exactly the right size weight and then cast to the proper spots to get the job done.
David had a quick answer when I asked him what hard baits he favors for his Columbia River smallmouth angling. He sticks mainly with two lures. One is the Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap. The other is a half ounce Rat-L-Trap.
“My most productive color in both of these baits has been a fire tiger finish. Mostly I just cast them to shoreline cover and then vary my retrieve until I find what the fish want at that particular time.”
So what does this sharp shooting young man consider an average day as far as fish in the boat goes on a Columbia River smallmouth trip? “For me,” he says, “it runs about 40 fish. They will average 2 to 2 ½-pounds. It’s not uncommon to hook fish that run up to 4-pounds.”
If that’s not good smallmouth fishing, I don’t know what good smallmouth fishing is. I’ve spent a heap of time over the past 60 years fishing water a whole lot less productive.
So there you have it. I’ve told you the story of a likeable young man who has come from being a top caster as a kid to a topnotch expert at smallmouth angling as an adult.
Take a whack at the Columbia River’s smallmouth yourself when opportunity permits. Employ the tips and techniques you’ve just read about when you get there.
They’re a cinch to up your chances of success.
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| The lures pictured here are among those David favors for his Columbia River smallmouth bass fishing. That's a Speed Trap shown at the top and a Rat-L-Trap at the bottom. Yamamoto grubs are shown on the left and right. |
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