Clyde caught this awesome Chinook yesterday while fishing near Astoria with Fisherman’s Pro Guide, Chris Vertopoulos. The nice chromer slammed a 3.5 Mulkey Spinner pulled behind a Pro Troll Flasher. Great catch, Clyde!
Fishing Report:
Astoria Salmon fishing really kicked into high gear this past week. Chinook flood into the river on the softer tide exchanges and that is exactly what we had last week. Lots of Chinook and some Coho have been coming in on each tide set. The ocean still has a pile of Coho milling around, waiting for their time to start heading up river. Trolling herring and anchovies has always been a standard technique in the estuary, however, with the introduction of hard spinning baits, there are new options out there. The SpinFish, Spindawg, Superbaits and Super Cutplugs have all been working well this year. Fisherman’s Pro, Josiah Darr, has been attributing much of his success to SpinFish this year.
In the Columbia upstream from Tongue point, the Chinook fishing has really started to take off. Folks are finding success anchor fishing with wobblers or spinners on the outgoing tides. Once the tide switches and starts to come in, many people are now deploying 360 flashers with small spinners, Superbaits and SpinFish. This fishery should catch fire any day now and make for many happy anglers with boat limits of fat Chinook.
Working your way upriver the fishing is getting better daily. These fish are slowly starting to make their way up to Bonneville and above. As you work up past the Cowlitz, Lewis and Sandy you will see the majority of folks still trolling 360 flashers and small spinners or hard spinning baits. This is predominantly on the incoming or slack tide. As the tides start to rip out then folks with start anchoring up with wobblers, spinners, Kwikfish, Maglips and Killer fish.
Bottom fishing has still been killer for those fishermen heading out into the big blue.There have been some extremely large Lingcod caught lately and there have been plenty of other Bottomfish to go around. Large curly tail grubs have been a go-to as virtually any bottom fish will attack them with reckless abandon. Vertical jigs, Rock Cod Rigs and Shrimp Flies have all been utilized and have all been productive.
Tuna fishing has been decent lately. It seems as though anglers are having to search around a little bit for the fish, however when you find them the bite can be fast and furious. Vertically jigging iron has been a great producing technique, especially after you hook a few fish trolling and get the fish close to your boat. Live bait has been working well as well.
Jetty fishing has been a fun outlet for folks that don’t have access to a boat. In this fishery you can crab at the same time as you fish. Anglers catch all sorts of bottom fish off of the many jetties that line the Northwest Coast. Surf Perch, Lingcod, Greenling, Seabass and Cabezon are just a few of the many species you may encounter. Spinners, Curly tail Grubs, Sand Shrimp and Berkley Gulp Sandworms all work well.
Kokanee fishing has still been going well at Lake Merwin, Yale and Swift Reservoirs. The Kokanee have definitely put on some weight over the summer and our reports are that they are still pretty schooled up. Most anglers have reported success at between 40’ and 60’ deep in the water column.
All of the this warm weather has pushed many folks to head for a lake to cool off and spend some time outdoors. This is a great time to bring a long a few rods and spend some time chasing Trout. Now with the weather being hot, the early morning hours and last light have been the most productive times. Bait fished off of the bottom will be your best option throughout the heat of the day, while spinners, Kastmasters and bubble and fly will be good options for the early morning hour fishing.
Always be sure to check local regulations at ODFW and WDFW before heading out. Find reports and information on the Fisherman's Community page.
