This is a question for you guys that fish the columbia at or around Umatilla. A bunch of my buddys have it in their heads that we need to go over to the Columbia and try some early steelhead fishing. Being the guy that owns the 21 ft Northwest Jet I figured I would try and find out a few things about it before we go. Here goes.

1> I understand that pulling plugs is a hot ticket. I have never fished in the columbia but it appears to have no current. Do you just drop out a couple mag warts, put down the kicker and start trolling around???

2> How deep is the water that holds fish??? It would seem that a plug would not get anywhere near close enough to the bottom if its real deep.

3> Where do you launch the boat in relation to a few of the better fishing spots. Where is a good place to stay that gives you options each morning as to where you want to go.

4> What works??? I have fished all over the west and Canada but never in the Columbia. I guess its time to try it out. Help me a little as I am clueless on this subject. I was thinking of going either next monday, or the monday after that.

Thanks for the help and if you need any Clearwater, Snake reports I will ge glad to reply