Finishing first with 16.79 pounds and a limit both days was Jaymee Strasbaugh.  Jaymee said, "I fished with Hoss and ran all the way up the Willamette both days.  We rotated between several spots drop shotting a minnow bait.  Our primary spot on Saturday was current washing into a narrow corner in the river.  Sunday we ran there first thing to find a local angler sitting right on the spot.  We were forced to adjust and start on our secondary spot which we considered a big fish spot.  We fished this spot much more thoroughly and were both able to catch some good fish.  I was casting up current and swim shotting my bait back which was keeping my bait from getting hung up. The morning bite was crucial before the ski boats hit the water."

In second place with 16.55 pounds was Bryan Vance.  Bryan fished the Willamette both days.  Al Vance, fishing with Bryan said, " We fished the Willamette both days.  We caught a lot of fish but most of them were small.  There was very little current so we looked for any bit of current.  We never noticed any tidal effect.  We fished drop shot and hula grubs on football head jigs in 8 to 20 feet in the rock areas on the Willamette.  WE checked out river pilings several times but were not able to locate any fish that were relating to the pilings"

Mike Hostetter finished in third place with 16.53 pounds, just  .02 of a pound out of second.  Hoss had the big bag on Saturday, 9.83 pounds.  He said, "I caught all of my fish in the Willamette on the upper half towards the falls.   I caught 11 keepers on Saturday and only 5 on Sunday.   Most of my fish came on a Texas Rigged Scuppernong lizard or a 176 twin tail on the texas rig and also dropshotting a mm Robo Worm.   We did not pay attention to fishing tides. The only way I would fish that body of water again would be if we could launch in the Willamette."

Finishing fourth with 11.64 pounds was Ken Ganancial.  Kenny said, "Fishing was TOUGH  throughout the entire weekend!   I struggled to catch fish, let alone a keeper both days!   I caught 3 fish on Saturday fishing steep ledges in the Willamette with the boat sitting in 20-35 feet casting into 3-8 feet with a dropshot Zoom green pumpkin meathead.  I caught one fish there on Sunday.   I proceeded to move further up the Willamette in search of current.  I managed to catch 5 more fish throughout the day and got a chance to cull!  " ABOUT FRICK'N TIME " I used the same technique & bait on Sunday."

Rounding out the top five was Kevin Jorgensen with 11.56 pounds.  Kevin said, " I spent all my time on the Willamette.  My fish were caught on a dropshot anywhere from 8 to 28 feet of water.  I was able to catch nine smallmouth Saturday with no short fish.  I found the fish deeper in the afternoon.  Due to a slow morning bite and an early weigh in I was not able to catch a limit on Sunday.  I caught 6 fish all day with two of them being short.  There was a no wake zone in Portland and heavy boat traffic on both rivers so I had to leave for the scales nearly an hour before weigh in.  The water temperature was in the high 60's to low 70's.  I enjoyed fishing this body of water for the first time but due to the rough water conditions and long boat ride it made for an expensive weekend to operate a boat with fuel costs over $120 per day. The weather was very warm and that made for a really enjoyable weekend."

                                                                                                                              Interviews by Tom Melowitz