Fishing Magician Report: Chief Joe slows down as fish move north

There were more anglers fishing the Columbia below Chief Joseph Dam when I last tried it, this past Thursday. The action wasn't quite as good as it was the first time I fished, the day it opened August 1st.

I had two anglers with me and we started out by getting a nice fish just below the bridge on a bobber and Maxi Jig. I then headed down river and caught a couple near my favorite pumphouse. A friend had suggested that I try a Fire Tiger pattern on my plugs, and I not only caught triploids, but a walleye that must have weighed 10 pounds!

Then I dropped way downstream and trolled up the shore. I had a couple of hits, but really got into the fish where the new construction is going on near the hatchery outflow. One of my buddies showed up and called me and I told him to fish plugs in this area and he immediately got a bunch!

I talked to a couple of guides that had fished below Wells Dam that morning and had come with zilch. It's still an off and on fishery for summer runs there now. It will only get better though as fish continue to move up the upper Columbia.