Fishing report 9-4

The fishing in Astoria has really not slowed down very much. We are right at the switch over point where the vast majority of the catch will switch over to Coho as the largest portions of the Chinook run have already entered the Columbia. These highly aggressive Coho will bite nearly anything this time of year. With that said, it’s always a good idea to carry multiple bait options with you as you never know when they will get picky. Spinners, herring, anchovies, Spin-n-fish, Superbaits and Spindawgs are all great options to have with you. Staggering your trolling depths is always a great idea when trying to nail down exactly what depth the fish are running at on that day. 

The Columbia River from Tongue point upriver has been absolutely killer for Fall Chinook fishermen. Trolling has been the name of the game with areas like the mouth of the Cowlitz, mouth of the Lewis and around Ridgefield being some of the absolute hotspots. Trolling 360 flashers with Superbaits, Spin-n-fish, Spind Dawgs, Kokanee Cutplugs and any number of 3.5 size spinners has been the hot ticket. Folks have been doing really well up below Bonneville dam as well as Drano Lake and the mouth of the klickitat. These fisheries are trolling as well as hover fisheries. Honestly this is another fishery where having both options on board is beneficial as some days the fish are really keying in on trolled baits versus hover fishing, or vice versa. 

Coho have started to already make their way into many tributaries around the Portland metro area. The Cowlitz, Lewis, Kalama m, Sandy and Clackamas have all had fresh fish push in them over the past week. Twitching jigs, spinners, plugs and bait will all be lures that can entice a feisty Coho into biting! 

Bottom fishing is still a stellar option right now as the fish are still present and the fishing pressure has been light. Pro, Andy Martin, has stayed constant in the bottom fish grounds finding great limits of Lingcod nearly everyday. Farallon feathers, vertical jigs and shrimp flies have been working very well for folks. 

Pro, Ted Teufel, has been finding tons of Albacore off the Oregon coast. His last couple trips the crew basically plugged the boat with Tuna sending clients home with more fresh Tuna then they knew what to do with. Trolling Tuna clones has been very productive and if you stumble into a pile of aggressive Tuna then vertical jigs and live bait have been killing it as well