Spring Chinook fishing has been nothing short of spectacular for the first two weeks of May! High water has slowed the migration of the Spring Chinook run this year making it a much longer season. Adapting to high water conditions has been the difference between being successful or not this year. I believe we will have another solid month of great Spring Chinook fishing before transitioning into Summer Chinook in mid June. The summer fishing season has officially started!
The Columbia River Spring Chinook fishery was off to a slow start for the beginning of April. Now, finally we are starting to see some great numbers of Spring Chinook being caught and water conditions are coming into shape. After we get done fishing the Columbia River for Spring Chinook, we will move into the tributaries and continue to fish for springer’s clear into June! These salmon are the best of the best! Currently they are being sold for $50.00 per pound! Don’t worry, there’s still a lot of time left to get out and catch some Spring Chinook!
We are still mainly targeting Kokanee at Merwin Lake for the past few weeks. It’s been really good when conditions have allowed us to get on the water. This winter is starting to be one for the history books.
Winter steel heading has been really tough due to water conditions. Luckily, we have been targeting Kokanee on the lakes and have been doing very well. Kokanee are land locked Sockeye Salmon and taste excellent! It’s hot action fishing, and I highly advise booking a trip for them. We will be after them for the better part of the spring so there’s lots of time to get out.
We are officially into the winter months! SW Washington was hit by a major snowstorm that has gripped the area for over a week! Getting out hasn’t been easy what so ever! Hurry up spring…
Fishing conditions have been pretty tough this month because major storms have affected our area on a regular basis. Only a few opportunities have popped up this month to get out and try, but we have had some success. Looks like La Nina is back.
Catching Coho Salmon was really good in the beginning of November! It was an absolute blast!! Now, at the end of the month were starting to get a few more steelhead in the mix. Looking forward to March and April when we will have even more steelhead around, and a few spring chinook to catch too!
Fishing inland for Fall Chinook and Coho Salmon has been spectacular through the month of September and still into October! We have been averaging six to ten fish a day in the fish box with many more losses and short bites! The PNW rain has finally arrived and the fish are loving it. Water temperatures have dropped and the fish are biting very well. We are still targeting the Fall Kings and Coho on the Columbia River for now, but will switch gears in a couple weeks to the tributaries of the Columbia River. Tributary fishing is a thrill all it’s own! These rivers are much smaller, and the fish have no where to go besides down! Salmon seem to fight a little harder in the tributaries because of the cooler water and shallower holes that we fish. We are still doing very well on the Columbia, and there’s still plenty of dates to fish so don’t miss out on that! If small river sounds like more your thing we will be in them very soon. Get on these fish while they’re still around!
Fishing at Buoy 10 this year definitely had its ups and downs. Fishing was great one day and not so much the next. The fish were there the whole time; they just didn’t want to play some days. Towards the end of the month it got a lot better though. I would be a billionaire if I could figure out what made them all of a sudden bite like crazy. Now that the Buoy 10 season is over, I have moved inland to intercept fish that have just arrived from the ocean. Thankfully, fishing in my backyard is just as good as it is at Buoy 10. In the past years we always anchored up to catch the fall kings that are moving the Columbia River. Last year, we discovered that trolling for them with specific gear forever changed the game on how to catch them in way larger numbers than ever before. Also the fish we are catching are the highest quality of the fall chinook that is available. Last year, there was a record number of fish caught in the month of October. 37,000 chinook were caught in the area we fish! That is more than the whole allocation for the Buoy 10 area in the month of August with a quarter of the boats fishing! This is the new hottest fishery in the North West and it lasts two more months! The limit is 2 fish per person and they can be hatchery or wild as well. This is the best time to get out and catch high numbers of Fall Chinook. Don’t miss out!
The Fall Chinook fishing in Astoria has finally started! With great reports already, it’s looking to be a dynamite season yet to come! The Buoy 10 fishery is one of the most anticipated and successful fishery’s in the world and we are very excited to start fishing and catching high numbers of giant Fall Chinook! I have a few dates left due to cancellations, so it’s not too late to book your day! Looking forward to fishing with you all at Buoy 10!
© NW Columbia Fishing Adventures
