Gary Lewis.

~JULY~
Smallmouth Bass
Columbia River
The great thing about bass is that you can throw something that resembles nothing they’ve ever seen before and they’ll eat it -- at least once.

Bass are spread throughout the Columbia, but your best bet is between Bonneville and the Tri-Cities.

These are aggressive predators, feeding on smaller fish, insects, leeches, snails and crayfish. Since big bass do eat little bass, the smaller bass tend to stay in schools away from larger fish. If you’re catching little bass, move to deeper water to target the larger ones.

Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, plastics -- whatever you use, stay on the move to keep putting the bait in front of new fish.

Other Choices
Central Oregon’s Crane Prairie has been producing good catches of rainbow trout in the last two years. July is the best month.

Make the run from Ilwaco, in Washington’s Pacific County on the Long Beach Peninsula, for albacore tuna up to 50 pounds.

~AUGUST~
Kokanee Crescent Lake, Ore.
Oregon’s state fish might be the chinook salmon, but in Central Oregon, it might as well be the kokanee -- those landlocked sockeye that average 10 to 18 inches. On Crescent, there’s a five-fish limit.

Kokanee follow their food up and down in the water column. As soon as the sun hits the water, the plankton and the kokes both go deeper.

Employ an Apex Glo-Bug or a Wedding Ring Spinner. Hit it with a flashlight to make the lure glow in the dark water.

Tie an 8- to 10-inch flasher to the main line and a four-foot leader terminating at the lure. Most anglers add bait. White corn is the hands-down favorite. Guide Steve Kroll marinates it in Pro-Cure’s Kokanee Special.

For information, or for a guided trip, call Crescent Lake Lodge at (541) 433-2505.

Other Choices
Cast big Bunny Leeches or mouse patterns for largemouth bass in Central Oregon’s Davis Lake.

For great scenery and fishing, take a ferry to the San Juan Islands and put your baits on the bottom for lingcod and rockfish.

~SEPTEMBER~
Steelhead
Deschutes River, Ore.
By the first week of September, steelhead can be found throughout the lower Deschutes, from Warm Springs to the mouth.

Fly-fishing is best in the evening or in the morning, until the sun has been on the water for two hours. When the sun is high, the fish are less likely to move as far for a fly, so use a sink-tip to put the fly closer to the fish.

In most cases, the steelheader doesn’t need a long leader. When the fish are deep, a 3-foot leader is sufficient. Ten-pound-test is about right in the Deschutes’ turbid water.

It’s hard to go wrong with black or purple Articulated Leeches or classic steelhead flies, with a little bit of red for swagger.

For guided trips, call Fly and Field Outfitters at (541) 318-1616, or The Riffle at (541) 388-3330.

Other Choices
If you’ve got a taste for salmon, now’s the time to head to Tillamook Bay for big kings. In Washington, the North Fork Lewis River is a good bet for coho and chinook.