Outdoor Report 8/23

Here they come! Along with some very nice Chinook being caught this past week, an increasing number of Silvers began moving into the Astoria area over the past several days with a hot bite above the Meglar Bridge. Although the Buoy 10 area closes for Chinook retention after Friday, the opportunity and bag limit increased for fin clipped Coho. https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/columbia-zone. The fleet has been split between fishing bait or spinners. With warmer water certain tides have made the spinner bite go off. For bait fishermen, both anchovies and herring have been successful. Having a few flats of frozen herring on board can pay off as they will stay on your hook better than fresh when the tides get moving quickly. Once you start heading upriver away from the estuary it turns into more of a hardware fishery. For those anchored up it’s mainly a spinners or wobbler program. Anchored fishermen will tend to fish the deeper water and the outgoing tide. When the tide is outgoing it will push the chinook to the bottom of the water column so it’s much easier to target them with spinners and wobblers. For anglers that want to troll, either triangle or 360 Flashers in combination with small spinners, Brad’s Super Baits or Brad’s Cut Plugs will be your best bet. This technique works best trolling the slack or incoming tides. The fish will suspend up off the bottom and you can troll at a slower speed than when the tide is rolling out. Along the Northern Oregon coast, Nehalem and Tillamook Bays will be the next best bet for those that are wanting to scratch the salt water itch. These bays will start to have fish entering them now through the end of November. This allows plenty of opportunity for those that are looking forward to fishing for the months to come. While dominated by herring and spinner fishermen, some anglers are implementing both triangle and 360 Flashers. Trout fishing is still an option this time of year, especially in the high mountain lakes. When the weather is as hot as it’s been lately, focus on early mornings and late evenings with some shallow water trolling or find the cold-water inlet to the lake and focus there. Fish will congregate in these areas trying to get a reprieve from the heat. For anglers wanting to brave the heat of the day, night crawlers, single salmon eggs, Powerbait or Berkley Gulp products will produce bites. We’ve also received some recent reports of some great surf perch fishing along the coast. Gulp sandworms or sand shrimp have been the top baits. Always be sure to check local regulations at ODFW and WDFW before heading out. Find reports and information on the Fisherman's Community page.