Fishing Report 9-23

Columbia River Reopens for Chinook and Coho

This weekend, September 26th and 27th, the Columbia River will reopen for Chinook and Coho fishing!

From Puget Island all the way up to the I-395 Bridge in Pasco, the limit will be two salmon, with only one Chinook allowed. From Astoria to the west Puget Island line, the limit will be three salmon, with only one Chinook allowed.

These fish haven't seen a bait or lure in a little while, so they should be very eager to bite. We expect both days to be lights-out fishing for anglers.

Trolling will be the name of the game for most folks, using 360 flashers paired with small spinners or hard-spinning baits. Bring along several scent options, as changing scents can drastically improve your success. Stagger your bait depths as well to help dial in where the fish are holding in the water column.

Portland Metro & Southwest Washington Coho

Coho fishing in tributaries around the Portland Metro area and Southwest Washington has been getting better by the week.

These fisheries tend to be very dependent on rain. We received some precipitation a few weeks back and have since had a lull, but it looks like more rain may be on the horizon.

Once these rivers bump up a little and begin to drop again, that's when you should be thinking about taking a PTO day and hitting the river.

These fish will move through the lower portions of the river systems fairly quickly as they work their way toward the hatcheries.

Anglers can target them by casting spinners and spoons, casting plugs, bobber fishing with eggs or beads, and twitching jigs. Twitching jigs can be especially effective and will often find the most aggressive fish in the school.

Boat anglers can find success using all of these techniques, along with back-trolling plugs, bobber-dogging eggs, and side-drifting eggs.

Oregon Coast Chinook & Coho

Along the Oregon Coast, Chinook and Coho fishing has been great. These fish have really started to congregate around the mouths of the bays that make up the Oregon coastline.

Pro Mike Kelly has been chasing fish along the mid-coast and finding great success, with an excellent grade of fish showing up so far this year.

Pro David Johnson has been fishing near Tillamook and Nehalem and has often been finding limits of salmon for his clients as well.

Some fish have already started to push into the Nehalem, Tillamook, and Nestucca estuaries. Again, these fisheries can be heavily dependent on precipitation, so once we get a few days of steady rain to bring up the local rivers, look for salmon fishing in the bays to get very good.

Oregon Coast Bottom Fishing

Bottom fishing remains a well-kept secret during the fall months when salmon are the priority for most anglers.

Pro Andy Martin has been quietly limiting his boat on a daily basis with a wide variety of rockfish, along with some very nice lingcod lately.

Vertical jigs, swimbaits, shrimp flies, and large curly-tail grubs have been accounting for much of the success throughout the bottom-fishing fleet.

Crabbing & Astoria Coho

Crabbing is getting pretty good and should only continue to improve as we move into the colder months of the year.

Pro Chris Nordling has been running combination crab and Coho trips out of Astoria and finding excellent success.

There are still plenty of Coho around for anglers to pull on, along with piles of fresh Dungeness crab.

Long Beach Razor Clamming

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced a number of tentative dates for razor clamming at Long Beach.

Of course, these openings are dependent on marine toxin levels and are heavily monitored. We typically receive confirmation a few days before a season opens, so keep an eye out for updates from us or WDFW.

Local Trout Fishing

ODFW has continued its trout-stocking efforts in local lakes and rivers this past week, with North Fork Reservoir being one option close to the Portland Metro area.

More than 3,000 trout were stocked there just in time for the weekend.

Fishing PowerBait or nightcrawlers remains a go-to option, while casting spinners or Kastmasters can also be very productive.

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