Fishing Report 10-07

Fall Chinook Fishing

Fall Chinook fishing along the Oregon coast has been very good so far this year. Whether outside in the bubble fisheries that nose into the ocean or inside the bay and in the estuary, there have been fish in both locations. Trolling has been the number one technique with the fleet being split between 360 flashers with small spinners and hard spinning baits, and triangle flashers with a cut plug Herring or a whole anchovy. With little rain in the forecast, these Bay fisheries will stay good slightly longer until October then if we were to have a huge flooding rain event. The coho have showed up in good numbers as well, and in some of the estuaries where you were able to harvest wild coho on certain days anglers have been taking advantage and doing quite well. Pro, David Johnson, has reported having great success on those wild coho days saying that often times he will find limits of coho for his clients as well as limits of Chinook.

Tributary Coho Fishing

Tributary coho fishing started off fairly strong however, with the lack of rain, rivers have stayed low and clear which have allowed fish that are in the systems to become quite stale. Once we get a little bump in river height, the fishing should pick right back up and then in only a matter of weeks, we will have the first few waves of B run Coho show up. This is when things can get very interesting and folks will report catching high numbers of fish. Twitching jigs is a very popular technique these days as well as casting spinners or fishing bait. Coho can be finicky at times so bringing along several different techniques will ensure that you will have exactly what they are wanting that day. Some days it’s spinners some days it’s eggs.

Coastal River Fall Chinook

Once we do get some rain and rivers come up, a lot of the coastal rivers will be very good for fall chinook. These fisheries are where some of the biggest fish of the year get caught by back trolling large plugs or fishing big clusters of eggs and shrimp. Scent often times plays a huge role, so bring along several options and bring along several bait additives as well. It could be Herring, anchovies, sardines, or sand shrimp because again, you never know exactly what the fish will be wanting on any given day so being able to be versatile will pay dividends in the long run. Just remember that this fishery is heavily dependent on rain so it won’t get good until the rivers bump up significantly.

Bottom Fishing

Bottom fishing remains another great option for folks that are looking to fill a cooler with delicious fillets that they can vacuum seal to eat throughout the rest of the year. Pro, Andy Martin, has just quietly been plucking away at the bottom fish population down in southern Oregon and often times finding limits of Lincord for his clients. Large curly tail grubs, shrimp flies, farallon feathers and twin tailed scampi have been his lures of choice.

Albacore Tuna Fishing

With the decent weather we have been having the Albacore Tuna season has drugs into October and this time of year often yields the largest Tuna of the year! Trolling can be good as can using live bait once you find them. Always bring along some vertical jig setups as sometimes the fish will go deep and you will need to convince them to bite your gear going vertical.

Fall Trout Fishing

Fall time trout fishing is an underrated fishery that truly doesn’t get the love that it deserves. Fish are packing in weight to get through the winter so you can oftentimes find aggressive groups of fish competing for food. ODFW has been busy planting trout still and this past week Dorena and Dexter reservoir both had over 3,000 Trout planted in them each!