After a long absence I have returned to update my fishing exploits this summer. For those of you that enjoyed fishing with me during August and September I don't have to explain how much fun it is to fish the Columbia River estuary at Astoria. For those of you who have not fished for Salmon here I will give you some highlights of our success.
Fishing started later than usual this year and caused concern because we had such a miserable spring fishery. But the fish showed up in good numbers about the third week in August. From then until I left the area on the 10th of September fishing was hot. Many guides and sports left the first of September and missed a great Coho bite above the bridge on the Washington side of the river. Ten fish limits were taken before noon on most days during my last week there.
Over all the quantity and size of the fish was pretty normal. We caught mostly upriver brights, the fish headed for the Hanford reach on the Columbia, but we also caught a few of the Rogue River strain of Chinook's headed for Youngs bay. Wow these are nice fish, mint bright and solid. You can identify them by the clipped anal fin. We also caught a fair number of Tooley's. These are the Chinook that are characterized by the red bellies and copper sides. We released some in the 30 pound class but most people want to tag them. I honestly don't know if there is an appreciable difference in the quality of the fish. If anyone has any experience with this I would appreciate hearing from them. One thing for sure they have nice mature eggs in them. The Coho we caught in the river were very nice also. I am somewhat amazed at the difference in the Coho we catch out in the ocean at the beginning of the season and the Coho we catch in the river a few short weeks later. The size difference is the most prominent difference but the firmness and scale adherence is different also. In any case they sure have a growth spurt in a few short weeks.
Tactics or gear if you prefer was normal for this fishery. Most people use a delta diver and triangle flasher with cut plug herring. This is typical for the beginning of the season and as it wears on most people switch over to spinners. Seems as though we made the switch earlier this year but in any case there became a time when they only wanted hardware. The people that recognized this early were the successful ones. By the way don't expect to be able to find spinners in the Astoria area when this change is recognized. I had to have additional blades brought down from Portland. Probably the very best blades in my opinion and the opinion of my close guide friends was the Mulkey Mobley spinner. The best because of the stinger treble hook by Owner hook company. Seems like any blade with red beads was working but most people had a favorite color. The old adage of chartreuse blades in salt water and red in fresh water was popular but my favorite was a gold blade.
I had hoped to post some pictures of the catches we made but due to a busted lens on my digital camera I was unable to record any. If any of my customers read this and have the pictures they promised to send I would enjoy posting them here.
Well enough of my musing for now. I need to record some other events that happened earlier in the year. For you novices I would like to remind you to be careful fishing in the lower Columbia if you don't have proper equipment and skill in big water. There were several capsizings that resulted in drownings on the bar and Clatsop spit. There are many reputable guides that work that area and can give you that first check ride. I would be happy to give you a list of the best.
Tight lines everyone, backeddy
