Fisherman’s Pro Guide, Chris Vertopoulos, fished the ocean off of Long Beach yesterday and his Aunt Judy caught this awesome Chinook! The big fish slammed a 2.5 Yakima Bait SpinFish pulled behind a Pro Troll flasher on a 32” leader of 50-lb Seaguar Blue Label Fluorocarbon. It certainly looks like there is a horde of Salmon staging off the mouth of the Columbia preparing to make their big push into the river. Fish on!
Fishing Report:
The Columbia River has officially opened for Fall Chinook! Fishing is starting to pick up down in the estuary with folks finding success trolling triangle flashers and fresh herring or anchovies.360 flashers have also been kicking out fish with 3.5 size spinners and Spinfish or Spindawgs being the preferred baits. The ocean has also been stellar. Fisherman’s Pro, Bill Monroe Jr. and Josiah Darr, have been putting the smack down on some ocean Chinook and Coho. There have been some absolute dandy Chinook around with fish being caught on all the same baits mentioned above. Look for the river to really get good as soon as we have the first few sets of soft tides in the next week. These are typically the tides that will bring Chinook flooding into the river. Herring and anchovies are always a great bait to have on hand during these times as the fish can switch from bait to spinners on any given tide.
As the fish continue their journey up the river, look for the Longview anchor fishery to start kicking off. This is an iconic fishery where on the ripping outgoing tide, fishermen will anchor up by the hundreds in synchronized “hog lines” going perpendicular on the river. Side by side these folks will deploy a heavy lead and any one of the fantastic wobblers that are out there. There isn’t a more vivacious strike than when a 25lb Chinook decides to chomp down on your wobbler when you are anchored up with a 16-20oz anchor in a strong current. Once the tides slack up you will see the majority of these anglers completely switch gears and start trolling suspended in the water column with 360 flashers and small spinners or any number of hard spinning baits. The fish that were just on the bottom during the outgoing tide will suspend up off the bottom giving anglers a great trolling opportunity.
Summer Steelhead are still kicking around and, this time of year can provide some of the best opportunities to target them. A lot of the time the angling pressure will decrease as a lot of folks start to switch gears to target Salmon. Fisherman’s Pro, Steve Leonard and Brian Campbell, have both been fishing several different rivers in Southwest Washington and finding great success! Back trolling divers and coon shrimp or bobber doggin’ eggs have both been putting fish in the boat.
Walleye fishing in the Columbia River gorge has been quite good and for anglers that are further upriver and waiting for the Chinook to show up, Walleye fishing makes for a great fishery. Trolling bottom walkers and worm harness rigs have been the key to success for most anglers.
The Trout fishing at high mountain lakes has been pretty good and will continue to be good as we head towards fall. These high mountain rain lakes will usually have a good mixture of freshly planted Trout and holdover Trout that made it through winter and are going to typically be much larger than their freshly stocked relatives. Trolling small Mag Lips and Flatfish can be a deadly option when searching for biters. Bank anglers will find success fishing bait under a bobber or fished off the bottom.
Surf Perch fishing has been a great option for anglers looking to head to the coast. Berkley Gulp Sandworms, sand shrimp, and Clam necks are three of the top producing baits.
Bottom fishing remains really good off the Oregon coast. Fisherman’s Pro, Ted Teufel, has been finding limits of bottom fish on a daily basis for his clients. Lingcod and Bass are the two most common catches; however, you never know what you might reel in. Shrimp flies, vertical jigs, swimbaits, and large curly tail grubs have been some of the best bait options.
Tuna are finally here! Anglers are finding Albacore all along the Oregon coast. They are still quite a ways off the coast, but definitely in the range of the sport fishing fleet. Trolling has been one of the top producing techniques, while jigging vertical jigs, swimbaits, and live bait have all been accounting for their fair share of fish.
Always be sure to check local regulations at ODFW and WDFW before heading out. Find reports and information on the Fisherman's Community page.
