Oregon Coastal Coho

All I need is one good day in the salt and I maybe able to take the lead for a bit. Anyone free this week?  I still have some comp time I need to use up.

TUE...SW WIND 5 KT...VEERING TO W IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES
1 FOOT. SW SWELL 4 FT.
.TUE NIGHT...NW WIND 5 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FOOT. S SWELL 4 FT.
.WED...NW WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FOOT. S SWELL 4 FT.
.WED NIGHT...W WIND 5 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FOOT. SW SWELL 4 FT.
SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
.THU...S WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FOOT. SW SWELL 4 FT.

Come on Spot you can fish for a few hours and then surf the SW swell.

Brian

I may take you up that..........  Except for the fact you'd probably take the lead......  Hmmmm Maybe not. 

Oh BTW: There were Coho jumping in the lineup tonight. 

Hmm.. coho.  Any chance you were south of Cape Falcon where the ocean coho season is open?

I believe it's currently open for Chinook and Coho north of Cape Falcon.

Ah yes, looks like coho just opened today north or Cape Falcon...excellent.





Hmm, maybe I'll split this off to it's own topic.

Here's the latest swell report.  Today is looking a little sporty due to higher winds.  Tomorrow?  Yeah well, I think you'll find me on Channel 69 somewhere north of Cape Falcon.   

A quick tutorial:
The predominant northerlies of summer bring a cold upwelling to the coast.  This water is generally oxygen deprived and tends to inhibit bait fish and thus predators.  When the southerlies blow for a sustained period, the nearshore waters warm brining in the baitfish and their associated predators.  This means that you can sometimes find Salmon very near to the shoreline (within 100 to 200 yards depending on the structure). 

TONIGHT
SW WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. SW SWELL 4 FT AT
15 SECONDS.

TUE
W WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 16
SECONDS.

TUE NIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT.

WED
SW WIND 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. SW SWELL 4 FT.

This means that you can sometimes find Salmon very near to the shoreline (within 100 to 200 yards depending on the structure). 

No doubt! I've had Coho swim right in front of me in 3' of water. Trolling a small spoon just offshore could produce some fun action.

Z

Anyone other than Spot and myself up for some ocean action (coho, rockfish, lingcod, cabezon) tomorrow?

I,ve been waiting to get out there for the last four days and when I have to leave  the seas finally are calming down. It should be pretty good for you guys Tomorrow.  I'll be back down on Thur. for a week so maybe I'll get some good weather then, good luck to ya.

I'm so excited about getting out on the ocean finally I can barely work.  Which kayak to bring, which rods to use, etc.. all racing through my head as I try and plot some boring maps in GIS for work.

Brian

The stars aligned and my ocean fishing window finally came... day off work.. check... permission from wife... check... someone to fish with ... check... good weather... check.. ocean coho open.. check.  So, I meet up with Spot at about 6:30 am in Seaside.  He made me promise not to disclose his secret "spot" so I took no scenic photography the whole day (sorry, but it was pretty out there).  We trolled about 3.5 miles for coho, did some rockfish fishing for a few hours and then trolled back.  Spot lost his new  VHF in the surf on the way out, luckily it floats and I was right behind him to snag it.  No coho and we only managed 2 black rockfish, 2 kelp greenling, and one undersized ling between the two of us.  It was SLOOWWW!  On the way back the wind picked up and our 3.5 mile troll/paddle seemed more like 10 miles.  The surf had also picked up a bunch so we stored everything and had some fun on the way in.  Spot went first and caught a nice wave for about 7 secs and then he disappeared.  I was a bit more cautious and went for the smaller waves and only got knocked out of my kayak with 20 yds or so to go so it wasn't too bad.  No injuries or lost gear on the way in, so it was a success.

The good news for Spot is that I didn't get a ling yesterday, so he remains in the top standing on the AOTY for now.

Here are some photos..  my 14.25" black and my 15" greenling.  Are we counting greenling as AOTY rockfish?

Brian

Nice work fellas. I was rooting for the surf trolled Coho but guess it wasn't meant to be. I tried yesterday at my local spot and couldn't manage anything either. Rockies are always good though.

B, you're in second in the AOTY all w/ fish under 14.25"...

Z

B, you're in second in the AOTY all w/ fish under 14.25"...

I'm bummed, the only species left that I can legally count towards AOTY when under 15" is walleye.  After that everything has a larger minimum size.  For example, by definition steelhead in Oregon are sea run rainbow trout over 20".  Halibut, lingcod, coho, chinook, and sturgeon all have larger limits as well.

Plenty of more fishing to do this year and plenty of room for upgrading.

Brian

Plenty of more fishing to do this year and plenty of room for upgrading.

Brian

I know, just bustin' ya chops. I just wish I could have more AOTY categories filled up by now.

Z