Five Northwest waters are on Bassmaster.com’s list of the top 25 bass-fishing lakes in the United States.
Topping the list from Washington, Oregon and Idaho at No. 11 is Lake Coeur d’Alene in the Idaho Panhandle.
About Coeur d’Alene, the website says: “An April 12 Panhandle Bass Anglers event on this lake was won with 27.29 pounds of largemouth. If you prefer the brown fish, it’s not unusual to catch a 20-pound sack of them; 23 pounds would be a great day. Not many lakes can boast largemouth and smallmouth of rival sizes. And the bonus: Catch ’em the way you want to catch ’em. This lake has it all: shallow cover, deep structure — it’s here.”
Potholes Reservoir in central Washington ranked No. 43, an improvement from No. 66 in 2015.
About Potholes: “The 2015 Potholes Open Bass Tournament this past April showed how good this reservoir remains. During the two-day derby, 1,068 bass were weighed in by 103 anglers. Largemouth reigned supreme, as 907 hit the scales vs. 161 smallies. The winning two-day weight was 47.21 pounds, and the Top 7 teams all averaged more than 20 pounds per day.”
The Columbia River between Hood River and The Dalles was ranked at No. 53. That’s significantly poorer than No. 14 in 2014, No. 21 in 2013 and No. 20 in 2012.
About the mid-Columbia, Bassmasters says: As big-river smallmouth haunts go, this is one of the best. That said, weights have been down for the past couple of years. Still, there are a lot of brown fish (and a handful of green ones, too) to be caught here. It can take as much as 20 pounds to win derbies here now, but usually 15 pounds does the trick. The bonus: Fishing within the Cascade mountain range is spectacular.”
Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River was slotted in at No. 59, while Dworshak Reservoir on Idaho’s Clearwater River system is ranked No. 74.
More bass news
Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission will be asked in September to eliminate warmwater fish bag limits on the Columbia, John Day and Umpqua rivers – three of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in Oregon.
The proposal, to be aired before the commission Aug. 7, then decided in September, includes walleye, catfish, bass, crappie and panfish.
Walleye clinic tonight
The Oregon Bass and Panfish Club will meet at 7 p.m. tonight with a program on walleye fishing in the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River.
The club meets at East Portland Community Center, 740 S.E. 106th Ave.
