Fishing Tips

With the Columbia closed…

around the house and fishing every day since August 1st, it was time for a little break. I took a few days to hang out with the wifey, relax with the buddies, sleep in and deep clean the boat. But we all know, there’s no rest for the wicked!

The allure of big coastal Chinook and some of my favorite customers chopping at the bit to get out on the river got me motivated to head to Tillamook and chase some slabs. Tillamook Bay was first on the agenda and fishing started off pretty well. A few beautiful kings hit the floor along with about 30 pounds of seaweed and a few wild coho. God, I hate picking weeds! Ugh! Fortunately for me, Nehalem Bay wasn’t quite as weedy and produced a few dandy Chinook over the next couple days. Two of those kings were fought by Bryce, who’s the son of one of my best clients and a fishy little dude. Can’t help but love kids whacking fish!

I didn’t spend a ton of time trolling for Chinook in the bays this year. I had a buck tag I wanted to fill and knew I’d be really excited about chasing fish once they hit the tribs and I could twitch their little guts out.

I’m not gonna lie…

I thought when the Columbia closed for Chinook retention August 20, Astoria was going to be a bummer and I’d move my trips up river above Warrior Rock and pound the Chinook at Ridgefield. What I didn’t expect was how freaking fun the Coho fishing would be! It was like nothing I’ve ever done before besides fishing in the ocean. Doubles, triples, quads, and even quintuplets once or twice! You flat out couldn’t spin an anchovy more than a few seconds before it got crushed some days. Unfortunately all good things have to come to and end and that end came when it poured in mid September and the water temperature dropped. The Coho that were schooled up like ravenous piranha in Astoria could smell home and they blew out of there in a hurry! Fortunately for me, I knew it was simply time to move back to my yard.

Fishing in St Helens at the Warrior Rock deadline was just like it always it. Nothing short of spectacular! Limits were the norm most days in the sun. Big fish, lots of fish, good time, and big smiles for customers are what it’s all about. There were a few days it was a tiny bit tougher, but not many. Pro Trolls spinning in the sun, spinners dancing behind them and Chinook slamming rods to water was my daily experience until we got shut down. Apparently you can have too much fun. Who knew?

Wow!!! What a Buoy 10 season it was!

It was pretty apparent right away on the Aug 1 opener the Chinook fishing was going to be a lot better than expected. My dad and my buddy Joe hit the river Aug 1 on kind of a recon mission and it was pretty much take downs and netting fish as fast as we could get rods out. That action stayed pretty hot and heavy for the next few days of the season and then there was bit of a lull as the tides grew but it was never bad fishing. There were always plenty of Chinook to keep clients happy.

Don’t let anyone tell you the big tides don’t fish well.

Some of the best days of the year were on the big tides when people tend to think fishing will suck. Ha! Truth is the windows of opportunity on the giant tides are shorter, but the fish really move at once and some of those shorter windows were red hot! The only problem with Astoria is one day you’re in the right spot at the exact right point of the tide and the next day you think you have them totally figured out and then bam, they’re not there! That’s when the going get though and the tough get trolling.

I felt like I learned more and more every day this season. Some days were as easy and knowing out my clients Chinook in the first area I started. Other days we had to roam around a little and really hunt for them. But I hear people say it all the time… “That’s why they call it fishing instead of catching.” That’s kind of a lame excuse for guys not catching fish. This year if you worked for them, you usually got them. And when you didn’t crush them right away, you knew you’d pound them tomorrow!

Buoy 10 Chook Astoria season next year will be even better than it was this year….. I can’t wait!!!