Casey Kelly

Fishing for Spring Chinook on the Columbia River has came to an end for now, but what a great season it was! River conditions allowed fishermen from all over the state to come and catch one of the most prized fish the NW had to offer.

Fishing was awesome out on the Columbia, but now we’ve moved into the tributaries, and things are already shaping up to be a great season in those rivers. We will be fishing for Spring Chinook till mid May along with a Kokanee on Merwin and Yale lakes located outside of Woodland Washington.

Kokanee fishing has been very good throughout early spring this year which is not always the case. These mini Sockeye Salmon are already pretty good size, and there seems to be a lot of them. Lately we’ve been getting 40-60 Kokanee per trip which is very encouraging for the rest of the season.. Kokanee fishing is one of my favorites and many of my clients as well. I highly suggest getting out and catching some.

After Kokanee, we will have Summer Chinook moving into the Columbia for the month of June. This is one of my most popular fisheries, and quite possibly my favorite. Summer chinook are big, mean, and excellent eating. There’s limited space on this fishery, so contact me soon to claim a spot.

Its looking like another great year of Salmon runs and it’s only just begun. Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting new ones this year!

After an incredible Fall Chinook and Coho salmon season we had in 2021, it’s time to switch gears now to Winter Steelhead and Spring Chinook.
This years run forecast for Spring Chinook is looking awesome compared to the last couple. With ocean conditions being excellent the past 3 years and Fall Chinook and steelhead numbers being great, we are predicting a very robust run of Spring Chinook this year! We will start seeing Spring Chinook start to trickle in by middle March, and continue on through the middle of May. All across the board our salmon runs are looking insane, so it’s time to start thinking about booking a trip for this year before it’s too late. If you have any questions about a fishery or when it’s best to be here I’d love to have a chat. See you on the water!

The infamous Buoy 10 season in Astoria Oregon has started and to say the least it started with a bang! The first day, Aug 1st we hooked over 20 fish and so did most of my colleagues. Fishing remained strong the next 2 days as well, which has us all very excited about the run size.

Our forecasts for Fall Chinook and especially Coho Salmon are looking very promising. Its actually starting to look like it’s going to be an epic season! We’ve already caught some very big chinook which is also a good sign of a very healthy ocean.

After we finish up fishing in Astoria, we will move inland to continue the beatdown on Chinook and Coho in Woodland Washington. This fishery is probably my favorite due to the fact that the fish are much more consolidated into a smaller area. There is also a high probability the chinook limit will increase to two fish per person after the 15th or so. To be announced…

I only have a few days left, but I do plan on fishing some afternoon half day trips. Fishing in the afternoon can be just as productive and often much less crowded on the river. Get ahold of me asap to get your date. It’s going to be a season we will be talking about for some time. See you on the water!

Fishing for Spring Chinook has been very good on the Willamette River and Drano Lake these past few weeks!   We will still target these magnificent fish for just a couple more weeks before we finally switch gears to Summer Chinook and Kokanee.

There was very exciting news regarding the Summer Chinook season announced today from the Washington and Oregon department of fish and wildlife.   The original season was June 16th through July 1st, but now it has been extended to June 1st -July 1st!  This is huge news!  We will get to fish for summer chinook during the bulk of the migration through the lower Columbia River this year!

Summer Chinook are locally called “June hogs” for their large in size stature and very hard fighting.  Summer Chinook are also an incredibly good eating fish and definitely one of my favorites to fish for!

We target Summer Chinook using lures that anger these fish when swimming by, which makes the take downs very hard and an exciting fight to say the least.  Chinook attack these lures in such a way that the rods pound down and line screams off the reel in a matter of no time!

On June 16th, we will also be able to keep Sockeye Salmon and Summer Steelhead which sweetens the trip even more!  In one day, the three best eating fish on the Columbia River will be available to harvest!

We will also be starting fish for the delicious and feisty Kokanee salmon on our local lakes of SW Washington.  From now through early July, Kokanee fishing will be awesome with limits obtained daily!  Kokanee are a really great fish to take the kids out due to the constant action they throughout the day!  The daily limit on Kokanee is 10 per person which also makes for great amount of meat to take home.

There’s lots more to look forward to this year including a very large Fall Chinook run and a record breaking Coho salmon run in the fall!  We will also be doing bottom fishing trips for rock fish and lingcod through Sept as well.  Contact me asap to get the best dates or talk fishing anytime. Looking forward to seeing you on the water!

Fishing for Spring Chinook continues on the tributaries  of the Columbia River.  The past few days, fishing has started to finally get good again on the Willamette River especially.

The Willamette River Spring Chinook season is one of our longest of the year, spanning from the beginning of April through mid June.  Some of our best fishing is actual mid May till mid June..  We will be also be targeting Kokanee salmon during these months as well which is definitely one of my favorite fisheries!

Both Spring Chinook and Kokanee, are of the top eating fish the NW has to offer.. Fishing season is upon us and the weather has  been great so far! There’s lots of things to do this summer and all of our fish runs are looking great for 2021!  Let’s get out and get some!

The time has come! Spring time!  The fishing season begins now, and from what the season forecasts look like for every species,  it’s going to be an awesome fishing in 2021!  Starting off we’ve been doing fishing trips for hatchery and wild steelhead on the tributaries of the Columbia and have been having a blast! Now we are gearing up for the most prized salmon of the Northwest. Spring Chinook.

This years Spring Chinook season is looking much better than last years as we are allowed to fish a little lower in the Columbia than the past couple years.  Being able to fish lower in the Columbia puts us below the Willamette River which is expected to get 50,000 + springers this season!  Not only will we be fishing for Columbia bound Spring Chinook, we will have our chances double by getting in front of Willemette springers as well.

After the Columbia River season shuts down on April 4th, we will move directly into the Willamette the remainder of the season.  Fishing on the Willamette can be red hot until early June.  This years spring chinook season is looking very exciting so don’t miss out.

I’d like to thank everyone who came out last season and every season before. This has been a challenging year for all of us and I’m so thankful for being able to keep my sanity in check and go fishing!  We are finally on the upswing of our fishing runs across the board and I feel like it’s going to be an epic season this year!  Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting new ones. See you on the water!

Fall Chinook fishing has been nothing short of phenomenal this year!  We started our season in Astoria Oregon for the world class fishery known as “Buoy 10” and it started off with fantastic fishing from start to finish.  Our season projections for fall chinook and coho salmon were just decent, but dam counts and fishing success has proved to be above the original predictions.

Many Columbia fishing guides agree that catch rates, and Bonneville Dam counts are proving the fact that we are in for a big season for catching our prized Fall Chinook.  Fishery managers have been very cautious this year with season setting, but now they are seeing the light that this is truly a big run of fall fish!  Tomorrow a compact meeting is set to take place discussing reopening the Columbia River till the end of the year.

Due to dam counts, I predict the Columbia will most likely reopen this Friday the 17th.  Despite what happens on the compact meeting though, the season on the Columbia is set to reopen on September 23rd.  Being able to fish on the Columbia for Chinook and Coho is always a real treat anytime  during mid September- Mid October.  Historically, fishing has always been best out there from September 12 onward, and with the dam couns remaining strong, we all predict a major beat down when the Columbia reopens.

This has definitely been the best fishing we have seen since 2014 when 1.2 million Fall Chinook passed over Bonneville Dam!  We are so excited to get have the opportunity to fish on these Fall Chinook during the peak of the season!  The good news also is we are still early in our season as it will be good through early November.

When fishing on the Columbia slows down, fishing on the tributaries of the Columbia heats up!  We will target Fall Chinook and Coho salmon on Sw Washington’s small rivers with great success every day!

This is a season of fishing you don’t want to miss! With the fires getting put out and the smoke clearing from SW Washington, now is the time to get out and catch some Chinook.  We still have a great season ahead of us, but don’t wait to long to book. See you on the water! Continue Reading

This year’s Fall Chinook season started out with a bang!  The first day of the season through the last day in Astoria Oregon was lights out fishing!  Fishing got a little tougher on the bigger tides, but we always found them and got our fish!

The original run forcast set by the Washington department of fish and wildlife was slightly below the ten year average.  Now, numbers are showing that they were wrong.  We already have 15-18 thousand fish crossing over Bonneville dam as of the 1st of September, which usually doesn’t happen until around the 12th!

This years season was set to go through the 6th of September, Fri Sat and Sun only, but we are all fairly confident that the when the run update happens It will reopen through the end of the year! The Chinook season plans to reopen regardless on the 23rd of Sept.  This is very exciting news to NW anglers as it stays good on the Columbia River through mid October.

In the meantime,  there are plenty of opportunities to catch Chinook Salmon on the tributaries of the Columbia as we wait for the reopening on the 23rd of September or sooner.  On Oct 1st the salmon limit goes to 2 adult Chinook.  Hatchery or wild may be retained on some of the tributaries of the Columbia that we fish!

We have a very exciting Fall Chinook and Coho season ahead of us and it’s far from over.  It’s not too late to get out and do some catching, so book your seats asap for the best dates. See you on the water!

Fishing on the Columbia River has been pretty darn good the past couple weeks for Summer Steelhead and Summer Chinook! Luckily the Summer Chinook and Summer Steelhead season reopened after it was closed for a period of time, but after enough fish went over Bonneville Dam, they opened the season for us and it’s been game on!

Recently, we’ve been switching back and forth between Chinook/Steelhead and Kokanee. Finally,  after a short hiatus, Lake Merwin is kicking out limits of the nicest Kokanee we will see all year!  The Fish we’ve been seeing have been 14 -18 inches and are super fat!  There’s still time to get out and  do some catching, but my Kokanee  season will officially end Aug 6th when it’s time to hit the ocean for Fall Chinook and Coho salmon.

On August 15, our Buoy 10 season out of Astoria Oregon will begin, and from there through mid November, it will be non stop fish killing action everyday!  I just had a cancellation for Aug 26th which is a day before that season ends and it WILL be fantastic fishing.  If inquiring for that date, just know that the boat will be full very soon so you’ll need a group of 6 to secure the boat for yourselves.

Immediately after the 27th, we will be heading back to our home port of Woodland Washington which is where the Fall Chinook fishing headquarters will be for the remainder of the year.  I still have some great dates left for September and October and fishing will be great then too!

Fishing season is in full swing and I’m so glad that we are able to get out and enjoy our PNW fisheries to the fullest.   After being in covid lockdown I can safely say that there’s no better way to soothe the soul than a great day on the water!  Looking forward to fishing with you all! Continue Reading