Springer chinook are well known as one of the best eating king salmon you can catch, so I was excited to join Rob, Hillary, and Aaron as we fished with guide Matt Meyers of Double M Guide Service on the Willamette River for these awesome fish. The original plan had been to fish one day on the Columbia but, unfortunately, the Columbia was closed a couple days before our trip. Nonetheless, we decided since the Willamette was open to give it two days there instead.

We met up with Matt each day and departed from the Red Lion dock on the Columbia for the short run to the Willamette. Once there, it was gear in the water in search of chinook!

Matt provides fully guided fishing trips from a 26’ alumaweld and I must say it was a very comfortable boat to fish out of. As a bonus, because of the size of the boat social distancing for four anglers is very easy, if that’s a concern you may have.

The first day we marked fish, and saw one caught. We heard of two other fish caught, and watched as a sea lion ate a salmon that had to be around 20 pounds. But for us, no luck. Friday was a beautiful day on the water, but in classic Pacific NW fashion Saturday was windy and cold with hail finally doing us in. That said, it’s always nice to get out on the water and Matt did everything he could to get us on the fish. That’s fishing!

The springer action should get better and the Columbia River will re-open at some point. Give Matt a call at (503) 956-4589 to book your trip for these amazing fish!

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