Casey Kelly

Fishing on the Columbia River is red hot right now! Currently the limit is 2 chinooks which may be either hatchery or native. We have been averaging 10-30 hook ups a day and it should stay that way through mid-October! After that we will be moving into the tributaries of the Columbia to target Coho salmon and Fall Chinook!   I have some great dates available, so get hooked up on the hottest action of the year!

Now that the B10 fishery is over and done, we have moved inland to intercept the Fall Chinook and Coho in the Woodland and Longview Washington area. We will be anchoring in special spots on the Columbia River for a couple weeks catching high numbers of fish with what are known as “wobblers”. “Wobblers” are a thin piece of metal with vibrant colors painted on them that swim in a 10oclock to 2oclock motion making fish very angry when travelling near them. Fish bite these “wobblers” with such aggression that the fishing rod goes down extremely hard with line peeling of the reel in no time! This is a great fishery to kick back and enjoy the scenery while watching your rod get bit often throughout the day! I still have availability for this great fishery on the Columbia River. We will then move into the tributaries of the Columbia River with a more “hands on” approach. “Hover fishing” is when everyone has a rod in their hand and finds the bottom with the appropriate amount of lead attached to the fishing poles. We will be using different types of bait for this type of fishing, although the predominate bait will be salmon eggs. Having the right salmon eggs and scents is crucial to the success of fishing in the tributaries.   I’m excited to meet all that will be fishing with me for the remainder of the year and see all the familiar faces again this fall.  Hope to see you soon!

The Fall Chinook are in! Fishing in Astoria Oregon at buoy 10 has been unreal this year! The great news is that we have another three months of awesome fishing for the Fall Salmon in the Columbia River and its tributaries. We will be moving inland to our great fishing spots on the Columbia starting on Sep 6^th and then into the tributaries around the 20^th of September. The Chinook salmon are running large this year in awesome numbers, so don’t miss out on the chance to catch the fish of a life time!

The Buoy 10 fishery is off to a great start! Catch rates have been extremely high for the first part of August, which was a welcomed surprise by the many anglers who fish this area. There have been limits of kings caught nearly every day in the first two weeks of August, and is only expected to get way better as we head toward the end of the month! Once the fish are inland, we will start targeting them near the cold water tributaries of the Columbia River where they are sure to congregate before heading farther up river. Fall Salmon season last clear into November with tons of opportunity to catch high numbers of fish. Don’t miss out on the fall run of Kings and Coho Salmon this year; after all it is the third largest run in history!

Summer Steelhead fishing is been phenomenal so far this month and it’s just getting started! The steel head were a little less eager to move out of the cold ocean water at first due to the warm Columbia River water, but now are really moving through! We will be fishing for steelhead till the 10^th of August and then we will be switching gears to the famous Buoy 10 fishery in Astoria Oregon. I still have some awesome dates left for the Fall Chinook and Coho Salmon fishery in Astoria remaining. This is one of the hottest fishing destinations in the world for Fall Kings and Coho Salmon! It is projected to be the third largest fall run on record, but the way the other projections have panned out this year, I believe will be much more fish than they expect. For instance 75,000 Summer Chinook were expected to return and we already have 130,000 over Bonneville Dam!   Don’t miss out on this year’s fall run of salmon; it will be another one for the record books!

Summer fishing is in full swing! We are finally wrapping up our Summer Chinook fishing, which was absolutely amazing this year! The run was much larger than predicted which gave us an extra three solid weeks of high numbers of fish hitting the boat! Now we are starting to switch gears to the acrobatic little over achievers known as steelhead. Summer Steelhead, much like the Summer Chinook and Spring Chinook are traveling a great distance to their spawning grounds which make them great eating fish due to their healthy oils they need to complete their journey. They are also a blast to catch!   Steelheads are known to make quick runs, and fly out of the water when hooked! There are still great dates left to catch these exciting fish.

After Summer Steelhead we will be heading to the buoy 10 fishery in Astoria Oregon in August.   The third largest Fall Chinook and Coho run are expected to return yet again this year! This is the most popular fishery of the NW. Generally we can only keep non hatchery fish until Aug 30^th, but this year it has been extended to September 7th! This is so exciting! I can’t explain how cool this is that we get to retain chinook until the 7^th! It will be ridiculous good fishing! I’m starting to get a lot of inquiries, and soon the best dates will be gone. Don’t wait too long! Looking forward to fishing with you!

Summer Fishing is here! Summer Chinook fishing has been surprisingly very good for the first half of June! With water conditions a bit warmer, catch rates are fairly higher than previous years for this early in the month. Starting on the 16^th, we will also be able to retain Sockeye Salmon, and there are a ton of them expected to return to the Columbia River again this year! Sockeye are many people’s favorite fish to eat and for good reason, they are renowned for being the very best eating salmon on the planet! We are also starting to catch a couple steelhead per day, which is a great bonus fish, and also wonderful on a dinner plate! Steelhead fishing gets hotter and hotter as we move into July, then about the 1^st week of July, Summer Steelhead fishing turns silly good through the whole month and into August! Don’t forget to book you Buoy 10 trip early this year. Another near record breaking run is expected to return to the Columbia again! It’s definitely an exciting fishing year so far, it is so wonderful to see great fish runs returning to the Columbia River and its tributaries! We are having healthy fish runs year in year out, and the future is definitely looking bright for our NW fisheries! Looking forward to seeing all the new and old faces this summer on the water!

Spring Chinook fishing has been steadily good fishing all the way through April and now into May! What a great Springer season it has been! We will still be catching springers regularly in the tributaries of the Columbia River until the last week of May. Then it will be time to switch gears to Summer Chinook beginning in June. This fishery is my favorite, and one of the most productive times of the year to catch the best eating fish the Columbia River provides. The Summer Chinook season has been set to start on May 15^th and continue through June 30^th! On June 16^th, we will be able to retain sockeye salmon as well. There is no other place you can catch great numbers of Summer Chinook, Summer Steelhead, and Sockeye all in the same day! Summer Steel heading will start in late June and continue clear until the beginning of August. This is another fishery where high number of catch rates is common, and steelheads are quite the feisty little critters. These fish usually average about 8 pounds, but they commonly make big runs while jumping and flipping through the air! I am so excited for this fishing season! This year will be one to remember without a doubt. Don’t forget to book early for the Fall Chinook season as well; it’s projected to be another near record breaking run on the Columbia River and its tributaries! I still have great dates left for this season, call soon for the best dates.

Fishing for Spring Chinook on the Columbia River has been fantastic so far this year! The Columbia’s Spring Chinook season was extended to April 11^th and Thursday the 16^th for one more opportunity to fill the sport fishing’s quota of 11,000 fish. Then we will be targeting springers on the Cowlitz River, Wind River and Drano Lake. Each of these rivers is a two fish limit, and high catch rates are very common! If you didn’t get a chance to fish the lower Columbia River this year don’t worry, there is plenty of time left to get in on the action!

Fishing for Winter Steelhead on the Cowlitz River has been very good in recent weeks and continues to be good into the 2^nd week in March! Now our attention has turned to the most prized NW salmon, the Spring Chinook. We have been averaging one to three fish a day and will see those numbers rise as we get farther into March and into April. In recent years fishing for spring salmon has not been that good until the last week in March, but this year they are showing up a little early due to low water and higher water temperatures. After the Columbia River closes we will begin to focus our efforts on the Willamette and Cowlitz Rivers until the last week of April. Then off to two of my favorite fisheries. The Wind River and Drano Lake!   Success in these areas demands top notch bait and fishing components. Both of which I’ve worked very hard over the years to master “what they want”. The best fishing will be from the last week in April, to the second week in May. Both of these fisheries are a two fish limit which makes it well worth filling the boat and filling the coolers! Contact me soon for the best dates to go and catch the best eating salmon on the planet!