Pure Frustration

Last night my buddy Chris and I were on the local river. We'd been doing pretty good on the steelhead bite; a little different this time.
There were big fish jumping all over; salmon and steelhead. Some of the fish were easily 20 lbs. or better. One almost jumped in Chris' kayak. I sat there watching the fishfinder as thousands of fish swim under my kayak.
Didn't catch anything; only one weak nibble. Nobody else was doing anything either so it wasn't just me.

That's why they call it "fishing" not "catching"(or "yanking" as we say in our neck of the woods).

This is what happens to me on the Nisqually - well, me and everyone else.  You see Kings jumping constantly and they won't bite ANYTHING.  Just swim on up the river...

Try jigging a crippled herring top to bottom straight up and down.

-Spot-

what were you using at the time?  cured roe or sandshrimp is usually a good bet in fresh water.  so is tossing spinners or spoons.  i think eggs under a float will score you the most bites.

Bobby

I've had days just like that where I threw everything I had at them and nothing. From jigs to lures to bait. Hell,  just about threw the entire tackle box at them! Lockjaw happens. Not much of an explanation as to why.

Z

Tried all the proven winners; secret local-brewed shrimp, spinners, spoons, etc. They just weren't biting.
I think the water may be a little too warm. The Columbia River is about 72F according to my fishfinder.

At least nobody else around you was catching, it way bad when your not catching and evreyone else around you is....

I fished my first day for Chinook today and saw a few caught around me, including a 20 pounder. I still got my Salmon hex on...

A guy snagged a Chinook the other day; it was all black and stinky. He kept it; I would have thrown it back, I didn't even want to touch it.
A couple silvers were caught yesterday. Guess they are only hitting from dawn until about 8AM. The weather is supposed to get a little cooler; hopefully that will shake things up.