Looking forward to this year, when the temperatures start to warm a little and the weather settles, the first thing I always think of is my home fishing grounds I'll go back to. Just like last year, they're gonna be fun and they will produce, but even more exciting are the road trips and new adventures that lie ahead. Whether it's the Oregon Rockfish Classic or just a weekend excursion to the coast, the way to stay for a lot of us is to camp.... 

A video review is worth a thousand words!

 

There are many ways to catch Spring Chinook in Portland’s waterways. Many big fish are taken locally using
various techniques such as drifting eggs, trolling cut plug herring, Quick Fish, Flat Fish and Salmon Spinners.  
However, my personal favorite and most deadly technique is using Prawn Spinners. They are  deadly for much of
the springtime run, and their efficiency in taking large salmon, increases as spring passes through.

The first time I saw this little grey box in a store I thought it looked interesting but just couldn’t imagine good video coming
from a tiny little camera. And then it didn't have a LCD screen? Deal breaker I thought. That was a few years ago and since
then GoPro has really made some great improvements.  I got to meet one of their representatives and when she handed me
the camera I was sure it was going to be a little gimmicky thing that really wouldn’t measure up to what we as kayak
fishermen want in a camera. Boy was I wrong!

The Rig
The job of this rig is to get your bait down to where the salmon are and allow your herring to spin freely.  

Kayak trolling can be a real drag….  No, not that kind of drag.  Rather, the kind of drag that makes you wish you had a rudder and
outdrive.  While 6oz of weight and a spinning herring
are manageable, the addition of a flasher or dodger can easily prove to be too much.  Enter the KoneZone flasher.  With its slow roll and
reduced drag, the KoneZone flasher is perfectly
suited to kayak trolling.

by Pelagic Paddler


Heres how I decide to “GO” or not..

Keep in mind that these are just forecasts, they can be much better and they can be much worse.  With experience, and access to several sources, you will get better and better at finding those
“doable” days.  Keep in mind if you only fish when the forecast is  “absolutely perfect” you won’t fish much.  Sometimes you just need make an educated guess and “roll the dice”,  heading to the
coast to decide if its “doable” when you get there.