PC salmon report for 6/18 and 6/20

6/18/22

The launch was a bit rough but I thought it would be better on the return-much worse. More on that later. Trolled West until I hit fish probably about 4 miles out (no depth finder so I'm not sure how deep I was). The weather was not great and it was pretty choppy. I almost headed in but it smoothed out a little and I fished until noon. I caught one nice wild coho and another jack(both native). I lost one at the boat and had a couple other takedowns.

Upon approaching landing I noticed it was going to be too much for me and I was probably going to flip. I found a small window of opportunity and landed between the rocks against the cape. Another kayaker went for it through the surf and did not fare well. The waves were breaking really far out and were pretty decent sized breaks that were pretty close together. I took cell phone footage which is on the link below-it's 10 minutes and may or may not be good enough to easily tell what is happening. The farther you get in the video, the closer he gets to my location and you can better see what is happening.

In summary, he flipped. Got back to the kayak and flipped it back over. Jumped in the kayak and got close to shore. Once he was about chest deep, he jumped out. He was not able to get footing and got pulled back out into the surf and shortly thereafter, got flipped by another wave. He flipped the kayak again and repeatedly tried to get back in but was not successful. During this time, the current was pushing him towards the rocks in the direction of the cape. I was getting nervous but from my position, there wasn't a lot I could do. He got lucky and a wave caught him and pushed him to shore away from the rocks. I spoke to him about it and he indicated he had a two piece suite and water filled the bottom so he was not able to re-enter his kayak. He also lost his paddle and his rudder line broke so I'm not sure getting back in would have helped a lot. I didn't ask why he jumped out so early when he was chest deep but I just assumed he thought he could push it in from chest deep.




6/20/22:

Surf launch was pretty easy. There was a woman there that launched before me and while I was prepping my gear, she came back in but I didn't see what happened. I guess she flipped it going out and lost a ton of stuff-a real bummer as she said something about losing $800 worth of gear. It was pretty choppy, windy and I headed back towards shore early-ish but then it calmed a little and I stayed out for quite a while(maybe 1pm or shortly thereafter). I only had two take downs and neither of them stuck. I went out maybe 4 miles again but the take downs were probably 2 miles out. I did bump into a rockfish trolling so I'll be having fish and chips tonight.

Surf sucked again for the landing. Breaks were once again pretty far out and really close so I tucked into the cape again. I probably fished too long and should have come in before it got so windy and so choppy.

Overall a good trip and I got some good reminders from the ocean about what I was doing and maybe cutting out some risk so I can fish for years to come:) Before you judge me too harshly, I didn't crash, lose any gear or feel unsafely out of my element. I also wear a helmet when re-entering the surf zone if it's rough and I have practiced flipping/re-entry etc. but watching the other guy made me realize how quickly you can get tired and how dangerous it can be if you get wrapped up in anything.

Thanks for the report! I was on a boat out of Newport on 6/18, and yeah, it was a bit messy with tightly spaced 5-6 foot swells. Fishing was slow there as well. We haven't had any north winds to create upwelling and temperature/oxygen breaks. When the water's the same temperature from shore to 30 miles out and 100+ feet deep, it's going to make for really tough salmon fishing. Thankfully, that looks to change this week.

Sounds to me like you handled that surf like a champ. The only way to really figure out what to do in those hairy situations is to experience them. That first-hand knowledge can be huge for those days where a big swell hits the beach earlier than expected.

Thanks for the report! I was on a boat out of Newport on 6/18, and yeah, it was a bit messy with tightly spaced 5-6 foot swells. Fishing was slow there as well. We haven't had any north winds to create upwelling and temperature/oxygen breaks. When the water's the same temperature from shore to 30 miles out and 100+ feet deep, it's going to make for really tough salmon fishing. Thankfully, that looks to change this week.

Sounds to me like you handled that surf like a champ. The only way to really figure out what to do in those hairy situations is to experience them. That first-hand knowledge can be huge for those days where a big swell hits the beach earlier than expected.

Thanks Clayman. It felt pretty good to not crash when I thought I was going to. I guess that's always success. ha ha

I tried to look up some information to better understand what you were talking about with upwelling and the oxygen breaks and the water temperature. I found some stuff on NOAA that was a little helpful though I don't really know exactly what I would be looking for other than warmer water or is it just varied temperatures that are important? It would be nice to understand this a little better. Is there a specific place you are gathering your info? I tried to look and see if there have been previous posts so you aren't answering the same questions but I didn't see them when I searched. Any suggestions or help would be awesome-I want to tell my friends about ocean temperatures/oxygen levels and fishing so they think I am smart. ha ha

http://nvs.nanoos.org/Explorer

Click on Layers, then Models. All sorts of great stuff here. Sustained north winds create upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water. Plankton blooms form. Plankton attracts bait. When the plankton dies, oxygen is consumed, creating low-oxygen areas. Salmon like an O2 concentration of about 7mg/L or more, will tolerate it down to 4, and are usually absent in water less than 4. You'll see that the areas of coldest water and low O2 are closest to shore during big upwelling events. That's why the salmon fishing is often best once you reach that temp/O2 break that's typically 1.5-3 miles offshore. The salmon will often straddle that break because it concentrates the bait.

The models aren't always on-point, but they're more often right than wrong. If the model says the temp break is at the 160 foot contour on a given day, that's usually where I end up doing well on salmon. Take it for what it's worth!

PC has been abusing both kayak and dory folks lately.  There is a nasty sandbar just south of the cape and a normally easy day launching and landing has become a nightmare at lower tides.  Salmon fishing has also sucked lately.  Softer tides this week and some upwelling should help on both fronts.  Finding salmon water is normally straightforward as Clayman says; but many times during the warmer months finding cooler water is key and that takes some work.  River mouths and coves come to mind….

PC has been abusing both kayak and dory folks lately.  There is a nasty sandbar just south of the cape and a normally easy day launching and landing has become a nightmare at lower tides.

I noticed that bar on the PC web cam, especially on the low tides. I bet the surfers love it  . I wonder if it'll stay there through the summer?

Yes, this is a nasty bit of business.

http://nvs.nanoos.org/Explorer

Click on Layers, then Models. All sorts of great stuff here. Sustained north winds create upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water. Plankton blooms form. Plankton attracts bait. When the plankton dies, oxygen is consumed, creating low-oxygen areas. Salmon like an O2 concentration of about 7mg/L or more, will tolerate it down to 4, and are usually absent in water less than 4. You'll see that the areas of coldest water and low O2 are closest to shore during big upwelling events. That's why the salmon fishing is often best once you reach that temp/O2 break that's typically 1.5-3 miles offshore. The salmon will often straddle that break because it concentrates the bait.

The models aren't always on-point, but they're more often right than wrong. If the model says the temp break is at the 160 foot contour on a given day, that's usually where I end up doing well on salmon. Take it for what it's worth!

Sweet. Thanks for the info. I started explaining it to my girlfriend last night and she fell asleep while I was talking and I'm not kidding. I almost died laughing when I realized she fell asleep.

PC has been abusing both kayak and dory folks lately.  There is a nasty sandbar just south of the cape and a normally easy day launching and landing has become a nightmare at lower tides.  Salmon fishing has also sucked lately.  Softer tides this week and some upwelling should help on both fronts.  Finding salmon water is normally straightforward as Clayman says; but many times during the warmer months finding cooler water is key and that takes some work.  River mouths and coves come to mind….

That's a real bummer about the sand bar. I guess maybe I'll start using Depoe Bay. I sure do like Pacific City when it had those softer landings but both days I came in on lower tides and I hated it. It was actually stressful and who needs that while fishing.

http://nvs.nanoos.org/Explorer

Click on Layers, then Models. All sorts of great stuff here. Sustained north winds create upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water. Plankton blooms form. Plankton attracts bait. When the plankton dies, oxygen is consumed, creating low-oxygen areas. Salmon like an O2 concentration of about 7mg/L or more, will tolerate it down to 4, and are usually absent in water less than 4. You'll see that the areas of coldest water and low O2 are closest to shore during big upwelling events. That's why the salmon fishing is often best once you reach that temp/O2 break that's typically 1.5-3 miles offshore. The salmon will often straddle that break because it concentrates the bait.

The models aren't always on-point, but they're more often right than wrong. If the model says the temp break is at the 160 foot contour on a given day, that's usually where I end up doing well on salmon. Take it for what it's worth!

 

Thank you for a very good explanation of the science part on the ocean salmon fishing. I did remember when I just got into fishing people mentioned temperature numbers but I was too new to comprehend it. Is there a range of numerical values that salmon prefers or you are looking for that temperature difference? If so, what is the range? 2 degrees, 10 degrees? Apologies for maybe too naive questions, hopefully I am not the only one who will benefit from this expert information.

Sweet. Thanks for the info. I started explaining it to my girlfriend last night and she fell asleep while I was talking and I'm not kidding. I almost died laughing when I realized she fell asleep.

No problem, and lol. My GF also snoozes when I start trailing off with fish talk. I don't hold it against her, only a subset of us mortals are really into this stuff!

Thank you for a very good explanation of the science part on the ocean salmon fishing. I did remember when I just got into fishing people mentioned temperature numbers but I was too new to comprehend it. Is there a range of numerical values that salmon prefers or you are looking for that temperature difference? If so, what is the range? 2 degrees, 10 degrees? Apologies for maybe too naive questions, hopefully I am not the only one who will benefit from this expert information.

You're welcome! Yeah, temperature plays a huge role in salmon location. 52 to 58 degrees is prime salmon temperature. Above 60 can make it tough. On the other end, water under 50 degrees is also tough. I've had a few times where the salmon were biting in 47-48 degree water, but those times were more the exception than the norm. After sustained north winds and big upwelling events, we usually have really cold and clear water near shore. That stuff is often a desert for salmon. On the flip side, sustained periods of southerly or no wind leads to uniform high water temps everywhere, and the salmon scatter and often go deep. The ideal situation is a week's worth of north winds to create upwelling, then a few days of calm winds to allow us to get out and fish and the water temps to warm up just a hair.

Not sure how that was a fail.  He struggled, fought through difficult conditions, got in without assistance/rescue, and survived. 
Typical of these coddled generation(s) to label anything difficult or arduous as “failure”.

Not sure how that was a fail.  He struggled, fought through difficult conditions, got in without assistance/rescue, and survived.

Hell yeah. Gotta push your limits to grow. Just don't push 'em too much

Typical of these coddled generation(s) to label anything difficult or arduous as “failure”.

Haha lighten up

Not sure how that was a fail.  He struggled, fought through difficult conditions, got in without assistance/rescue, and survived. 

He lost his paddle and his rudder line was broken, so he was basically dead in the water with no form of propulsion. Rudder lines can break any time, but losing the paddle is a pretty big oops. By that point, his fate was basically in Poseidon's hands. Those two waves at the 8:00 mark in the video pushed him to shore. It could've easily gone the other way and required rescue if it weren't for those two waves. The dude lucked out.

Typical of these coddled generation(s) to label anything difficult or arduous as “failure”.

C'mon now, do you really want to stereotype millions of people as "coddled" by seizing on the semantics of one person's word choice? Really?

Sweet. Thanks for the info. I started explaining it to my girlfriend last night and she fell asleep while I was talking and I'm not kidding. I almost died laughing when I realized she fell asleep.

No problem, and lol. My GF also snoozes when I start trailing off with fish talk. I don't hold it against her, only a subset of us mortals are really into this stuff!

Thank you for a very good explanation of the science part on the ocean salmon fishing. I did remember when I just got into fishing people mentioned temperature numbers but I was too new to comprehend it. Is there a range of numerical values that salmon prefers or you are looking for that temperature difference? If so, what is the range? 2 degrees, 10 degrees? Apologies for maybe too naive questions, hopefully I am not the only one who will benefit from this expert information.

You're welcome! Yeah, temperature plays a huge role in salmon location. 52 to 58 degrees is prime salmon temperature. Above 60 can make it tough. On the other end, water under 50 degrees is also tough. I've had a few times where the salmon were biting in 47-48 degree water, but those times were more the exception than the norm. After sustained north winds and big upwelling events, we usually have really cold and clear water near shore. That stuff is often a desert for salmon. On the flip side, sustained periods of southerly or no wind leads to uniform high water temps everywhere, and the salmon scatter and often go deep. The ideal situation is a week's worth of north winds to create upwelling, then a few days of calm winds to allow us to get out and fish and the water temps to warm up just a hair.

I will pay attention to water temperature next time I am out. The only thing I am not sure if the water temperature changes much with depth or it's about the same because of the water movement.