NW Outdoor Explorer

When the ocean salmon season opened up a week ago, I was reading a number of reports about early limits of both chinook and coho. Due to weather and ocean conditions, we decided to wait. It was a hard week of anxiety for sure.

It was finally time. Had an early wake up call and hit the road by 5am to get to Ilwaco by 7am. We got to the Ilwaco ramp as planned to find a long line. Apparently with the extreme low tide, two boats broke skegs on one lane of the ramp, so many were reluctant to use it.

After about 30 minutes, we were finally on our way out to the Big Blue. It was low slack tide and the bar was relatively flat. We took a turn to the north with hopes of finding some chinook. Conditions were good for about 30 knots to the hunting grounds. Got our lines in the water and were trolling by 8am. We tried deep and shallow by the condos and beyond with no luck. We spent the better part of an hour before we decided to call it and change locations.

We were hearing spotty reports of catches down by CR. Again, the conditions were good for about a 30 knot transit and we were at the CR within minutes. The fleet seemed to be concentrated here and we did some a couple nets flying, but it was not hot by any means. We dropped our lines in the water and tried our luck. Again, we tried deep and shallow with a few drive byes here and there. A couple of native coho were let go before a couple hours passed.

The fleet had thinned out and we were virtually the only boat left in the area. It was like the light switch turned on. We were all getting bites and before you knew it, we had five in the box. The school dissipated after some time and bites were farther apart, but we had two more in the box. We only needed one more for a boat limit. The two hardest fish to catch sometimes is the first one and that damn last one. 🙂 We spent another hour or so trying to find that last biter, but had no luck. We had to call it a day with one short.

The ocean was still relatively calm and allowed for a quick trip in over a high slack tide bar. We got docked and started the wash down. With the boat now moored for the ocean season, no more waiting for fools at the ramp.

Overall, it was a great ocean opener for the Aquaholic and fingers are crossed for more to come.

In the midst of this COVID-19 stay at home order, we all just have to get out now and then.

After Washington closed all recreational fishing, Oregon quickly followed suit and closed the Columbia for all salmon and steelhead fishing. They allowed fishing on the Columbia for all other species which tells me this closure has absolutely nothing to do with the pandemic crisis and more about bad fish management. I will leave it at that for a discussion another day.

Anyway, back to my post…..I thought I had read that Oregon also closed the state to all recreational fishing like Washington. I had not seen any posts of anyone fishing. I basically wrote off springer fishing for 2020. After some time, I did start to see a single post here and there of people catching springers. At first, I assumed this was just people posting of fish caught in past years. I finally got curious enough and talked to someone that was apparently in the know more than me and they said they have been fishing the past few days and caught one the day prior. Holy Cow!!!! I have been missing out on some quality water time!

The very next day, my wife and I headed out. I saw a post from one of the many guides I follow showing a fish they just caught in the location I was planning to target. I was having a good feeling. Got out and had our lines in the water about 2 hours before the low tide. 10 minutes into the first pass, the rod goes down. It had been so long since I caught my last salmon and dragging the bottom the way we do, I first thought I was snagged. I grabbed the rod out of the holder and immediately felt the head shakes. Adrenaline started to pump and the fight was on. The only thing going through my mind at this point was “DO NOT LOSE THIS FISH.” 🙂 After a couple of runs, the fish finally got tired enough to bring it to the net. With my wife’s excellent netting skills, we got it in the boat. F@#K YEAH!!!! The first springer of 2020. It is by far the latest first fish of the season for many years, but I will take it.

We had a couple other drive bye’s, but nothing stuck. They were just ripping the bait and not coming back for seconds. After the tide change, we did not get another bite or saw any action on any other boat.

WOW! I have mixed feelings about the fishing trip today. We took our old neighbors from Sherwood, Mark and his son Alex, out for a second day hoping to repeat what we experienced yesterday. The drive out to Ilwaco was typical. Nothing to report. Got to the boat and prepped the crab traps. Today, we were going to make the effort to set a line. Launched by 8am and made our way around to the bait dock. Loaded a couple pounds into the live well and started with a pound on ice. Out to the big blue we go. The weather synopsis was indicating even less wind than yesterday. The wind waves and swells were supposed to be about the same. Crossing the bar was a non event. No waves or swells and almost full speed ahead. Once we got outside, the ocean was as flat as I have seen in a while. We raced 40mph to the crab grounds north of the jetty. Set our line and as long as we were stopped, decided to throw out the lines. Within minutes, we got our first bite. It was short lived. After a couple head shakes almost to the boat, it was gone. We trolled for a few more minutes before we decided to head further north. Again at 40mph, we reach our spot in just a few minutes. Weeks prior, this is where we were getting nothing but Chinooks. Hoping for the same, we start our troll. We tried several depths, all directions and a few different spots without so much as a nibble. Just a little disappointing. Listening to the radio, it sounded like most of the fleet was back out at the canyon in 300-500 FOW. That was a bit farther out than I really wanted to go, but we decided to make the treck. With the ocean as flat as it was and flying at 40mph again, it did not take long till we got out to 300 FOW. I c ould start to see the fleet on the horizon, but really did not want to go out any further. We dropped our lines and started out troll to the east. within minutes, we got our first bite. I am thinking I made the right decision. This one makes it to the net and we now have our first fish in the boat. A few minutes later and we now have another fish on. This one turns out to be native and had to be let go. This continues consistently, but we managed to lose several and the ones we did get to the net were all native. It was finally time to call it a day and go pull the crab pots. I was a bit disappointed to only have one in the boat, but it was not due to lack of fish on. With the ocean still flat as a small lake, we fly to the crab traps and begin our pulls. If success is gauged by the number of crabs in the traps, then it was an awesome day crabbing. Unfortunately, after the females and smalls were tossed back, we only ended up with two keepers. It was an awesome day with plenty of action, just not much to take home today. Cannot wait till next week.

The weather synopsis is not always 100% accurate. The ocean conditions on paper looked to be similar to the flat conditions we experienced last week. Reality was something a bit different. Crossing the bar was not too bad, but once outside, the water never layed down. We headed straight out West from the river till we started to spot boats on the horizon. We got our lines in quick hoping for that first drop in bite. Unfortunately, it did not happen this time. After a few minutes, we pulled the lines and headed out further west. We got into the thick of the fleet and dropped in. It was not too long, we got our first bite. It was a short chinook and had to be released. Almost immediately after the release, we got our second bite. This one was a very nice keeper coho. We had a few more drive byes before the bite turned off a little. At this time, the rough seas claimed its first victim on the Aquaholic. It was overboard chumming time. 🙂 We were far enough out now, we turned the boat toward shore and trolled with the wind and waves. This made for a better ride, but was not calm by a long way. Trying a couple different spots and different directions, we found the fish again. It was not long before we had our boat limit after some short biters, drive byes and one other short chinook. Today was a good day. We were off the water by noon heading home with the boat this week. It needed to be fueled up and the grass pressure washed of the bottom. Next week is the Buoy 10 opening weekend and we will be ready.

We are a week late due to some mechanical problems on the truck, but the wait was definitely worth it.

Last week, we had a small issue with the truck not starting. I first thought it was a failed starter, but with a replacement starter, it still would not engage. At least I thought it was not engaging. After some investigating, I discovered the flywheel was spinning free from the engine. As a result, the torque converted welded itself to the adapter plate and also had to be replaced. After a couple $$$$, we were back on the road and ready to go fishing.

Got the boat launched and headed over to the bait dock. I have the live well mounted and wanted to try it out to keep the bait fresh this year. Loaded up with 4 pounds of bait. We were surprised by the size of the bait this year. Pretty large means not as many per pound. We should be ok. The bar crossing was ok today and ocean was a little rough. We headed straight out to one of my goto spots that seemed to produce more than not last year. Getting the bait out of the live well and trying to hook them on the leaders proved to be a little tricky. For some reason, they just would not stay still for us to run hooks through them. 🙂 Got the lines in the water and before too long, fish on! We had very good success last year running just a diver and leader with anchovies. We decided to keep it simple and do the same this year. It seems to still be working. The time between bites was a bit long, but the day overall was consistent. Lots of fish caught. Many wild coho had to be let go. Even managed to hook one chinook on a spinner, but it was a bit short and had to be let go as well. One of my crew caught his first keeper and even though it was legal size, he decided it was not big enough and let it go. Well, the fish gods did not seem to like that and rewarded him with natives the rest of the day. The rest of the boat limited out with some nice coho. The first trip of the season did not disappoint.

It was a cold day in early March, but it was a beautiful one none the less.

After getting the motor 100 hour service completed, we decided to get out for a little “Here fishy fishy!!”

We launched from the Ridgefield, WA ramp and had a short run to the Columbia River. DFW decided to close the lower Columbia from Warrior Rock down, so our favorite spot was not accessible. Our next goto spot would be Bachelor Island. We found a nice spot to snuggle up to the beach and set anchor. The water was a chilling 36 degrees and the wind was calm.

Wrapped the plugs with some good herring and floated them out about 60′. The rod tips had a nice rhythm going. Headed back into the cabin with the heat blasting and commenced to watching the rods.

After about 6 hours, the tide had turned and not a single bite. Maybe next time. 🙂

Even though the ocean is closing after this Sunday, we jumped at the opportunity to fish the river with Hotline Guide Service LLC (Jason Berg).  It was a pleasure to take a break from being captain, just drink beer and watch the rod.  We have enough coho for now and were on the hunt for some big chinook heading up river.

The report from the day prior was no bites on the incoming tide then landed 3 for 6 after the tide change.  Regardless of the previous day report, we headed out early looking for that incoming tide bite.  Unfortunately, we did not find it.  The morning was pretty slow, but It was not long after the tide changed that we got the first two fish in the boat.  We attempted to chase the school up river.  Got into a couple more bites and ended up losing them.  It took us a while longer to find the fish again before we landed our third fish.  After a few more fish lost, it got to that time to call it a day.  I think we went 3 for 7 or 8.  Overall, it was a great day on the water with some great people.

Thank you Alex and Jason.

The action continues.

The bar was a breeze and the ocean was almost a lake.  Cruising speed was 30+ mph.

This week, my first mate was finally able to get out on the ocean with us.  She needs to reclaim her status.  🙂

Unfortunately, this trip, my first mate was not the first to catch a fish.  That title went to another crewmen.  He has been on a roll this year after he went back to basics with his presentation.  So far, he has been catching fish every time out with us, earning his seat for sure.

We continued in this spot for a couple hours while we were catching several fish, many of which were natives that had to be released.  My first mate did manage to get the second fish.  Now she is on the hunt for the biggest fish.  This may prove to be a challenge as another crewmen pulled in a 20 lb Chinook.

We moved to our next spot where the ocean was a little bit rough.  My first mate lost her sea legs and was not feeling well.  I told her to take the wheel and I will watch the rod.  Lucky me because not long after, I got a nice take down.  The end result was one of the nicest Coho I have encountered.  It was almost as big as that monster Chinook already in the bag.

After a few more natives, we called it a day.  Only 4 in the boat, but it was a great day catching fish.

Again, only three people in the boat.  The wind forecast was worse than the day before.  If we can find the fish and get off the water by 2pm, we should be good.

Started in my new favorite spot.  Lines in the water not even two minutes and we get hit.  Manage to get the fish next to the boat and before I can take a swipe at it with the net, it is gone.  🙁

Lines back in the water and a few minutes later, another hit.  This time, it is gone before it gets near the boat.  The water is pretty rough and could be playing a factor.  Time to loosen the drags.

We continue this for several passes and each pass, we get hit once or twice.  Nothing in the boat so far, but the action is great.

After the bite turns off in this location, we move to my #2 spot.  Cut the motors and just drift.  Before too long, we have one in the boat, release a couple natives and lose a few.  This is turning out to be a great weekend.

The winds are picking up and we still need five more fish in the boat.

We manage to get one more in the boat before we decide to call it a day.

The wind chop was so bad by this point, getting back to the bar was a slow crawl.  I love my pilot house.  Once we actually get the the bar, it was not bad to cross.

This week, we are a man down.  Only 3 people in the boat this day.  If we can find the fish, it should be a short day.  🙂

Well, it took us a while to find the fish, but once we did, it was lights out.  The fish were basically following the boat.  We were fishing 18′-20′ on the line counters.  The current allowed us to cut the motors and just drift.  One fish after another.  Some keepers, some native and some short.  We used almost all the bait and finished the day with 5 coho keepers and 1 very nice Chinook.