Fishing for silvers in tidal parts of rivers and sloughs Columbia River

Any of you guys fish for silvers in the tidal portion of Elochoman River  or Naselle or any of the rivers feeding into Columbia or Willapa Bay? I have had some success in Elochoman and Big Creek in Oregon. I'm really interested in the Willapa Bay feedback.
Would also like to go with someone who already knows the waters. Let me know.

from Salmon University website---note that fishing is usually best in later September.  I fished there last sept and came hom e with a couple big kings, no silvers.  You'll be fighting eelgrass in the main bay, it can get pretty bad.  Thoselittle plastic cones will help some.

  "The North River empties into the bay at marker #10, closer to Tokeland and between Southbend. The lower section of this river itself from the big bend to the Hiway 105 bridge can be productive. The channel is narrow & SHALLOW for the first 1/4 mile from the Willapa marker piling #10, then upriver it opens up slightly at low water. This is a situation where the Smith Creek launch can be utilized. However a larger boat can not get under the low Smith Creek Hiway 105 bridge at a high tide to get the 100 yards needed to enter into North River. There is a private hatchery program on this river that releases a considerable number of Chinook, Coho & Chum salmon into this river every year. The WFDW does not make this information readily available.

Season limits for North River from the Hiway 105 bridge to Salmon Creek is open to salmon fishing from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 with a liberal total limit of 6 salmon. There are numerous houseboats tied to pilings in this lower stretch of river. There is a good section of boat fishable water above the bridge for about 3 or 4 miles upstream to the end of tidewater at about Float House #29. At a low, 0.0 tide you may encounter only 2' of water at this upstream location.

One method of fishing this upper extreme spot is to get there just before low tide change. Stop in the middle of the river, but do not anchor, & simply cast spinners using a spinning outfit & 15# monofilament mainline. If the fish are there, they will be jumping or rolling occasionally. Use a Metric #5 spinner & ahead of it about 20", place a 3/8 oz. beadchain keel sinker. There are plenty of underwater limbs & snags in this area. This sinker helps you cast farther & keeps the lure near the bottom, plus it runs interference for the spinner's single point hook & lessens possible hang ups. Keep casting, as the tide turns & comes back in, the fish seem to drift upstream past you. Just because you see the fish jumping or rolling, do not be duped into thinking they are on the top of the water. This water is shallow & you need to fish the lure NEAR the bottom. "
 
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The Naselle can produce salmon also, the closest launch in tidewater is the Long Island Game Refuge ramp. This is a no charge gravel launch wide enough for 2 boats, no dock & parking is across the road by the office. Launch here & head north, staying close to the piling markers on the east side of the channel most of the way out, as this channel is also narrow, shallow & is covered with oyster beds. I have however navigated it with a 20' fiberglas deep Vee at a 0' tide. You can make it if you go slow & are willing to back up & try another spot until you learn the channel. You may only have 3' of water under you at times. When the piling markers on the right side of the channel cease & you get to where the channel opens up, you will see a clay bank bluff on the western shore of Long Island ahead of you, head angling across the channel toward this bluff, then follow this shore until you come out into the mouth of Long Island & Stanley Peninsula where you take a right at the piling marker & to the east & head up the main Naselle River.

There is also a small gravel launch on the East side of the Hiway Southwest of the town of Naselle that is good for only smaller sleds or drift boats. This is also a river that can be fished like the upriver Willapa.

None of the Willapa streams are any good any more.    I still fish them occasionally, just for drill.  I would have to know somebody before I invited them along with me, anyhow. Kind of a brazen question to ask and expect a good answer on the internet, especially with absolutely no personal info in your profile. I couldn't find a post where you introduced yourself to the forum and told us a little about yourself. could be that I didn't search hard enough. Got a link? Well, you got balls, anyway.  Hell, i often like to sneak away to the river without even my best buddies knowing about it, unless I can get them to drive.

I, too, would like to go fish new places with somebody who already knows the waters, and sometimes I am so lucky, but you know what? Most of the places I go to I found because I just went out and explored on my own. Took the usual well known local scuttlebutt and extrapolated on that, did some logistical research, combined that with a lot of driving, miles of footwork and a lot of paddling, rowing, and skunkings and many "at least I know not to come here again" non-confirmations. But, after several years, I now have a few spots I like to go to, as a result of all that TIME and EFFORT and DESIRE and DEDICATION. Most of them aren't secrets (although I found some semi-secret spots), especially the rivers with hatcheries, and there are plenty of fishers out exploring and looking for good places to fish. You won't be alone.
 My advice is to pick a place and go fish it when you think there will be some coho moving in. Pick a river with a hatchery on it, and fish the popular holes and runs below the hatchery. You will have lots of company. Then explore from there. Notice I said "moving in." Find where they are holding. They seem to bite better when they are fresher and holding in a pool, although I've got 'em when they were moving. Those Coho may be jumping and rolling everywhere, but completely lockjawed. You will find out how it is then and there.
 I'll join discussions about techniques and gear and flies and lures, etc. but as for locations and run timing,  I will never simply give this knowledge away to strangers and the general public in a public internet forum. 

Thanks, Kallitype. You got your Kings in the bay, no doubt. Of course you can't legally keep Kings or Chum or Cutthroat Trout in the North River. Only Coho and hatchery steelhead, above the 105 bridge. You are allowed to keep hatchery Kings (check the regs) in the Willapa and N. Nemah rivers. Chums must be released in all the streams out here now. Check the regs for the stream you are fishing, as they vary river to river, and are different for different stretches of the river.

That article from salmon university website mentioning larger boats not being able to make it under the Smith Creek bridge....BOATS THAT BIG DON'T BELONG IN A SMALLER RIVER! Geeeeze! I hate that website.

Yep, kings in the bay.  Fished the Willapa river, but no hookups.  Considering the cost of diesel this year, will probably not return to Willapa Bay.  2007 was not a great experience, unlike some trips in the 1990's before the clipped fin rule came along, and before they put in the breakwaters at Washaway beach.  I used to bowhunt for elk on Long Isalnd, we dragged a spinner behind the boat on the way to Lewis Slough and usually had fish for dinner the first night.
   Oddly enough, the kings I got last year in the bay were not especially good tasting---weird.  The big silvers at Washaway years ago were primo.

Yes, last year was not that good. I didn't even fish the bay. As I recall, they had a few good days there, and then it got only so-so. It was my worst year ever in the Willapa Bay tribs. I'm trying to forget how bad it was....never took so many skunkings in one season. I hope this year is better. I've been catching and releasing a few searun cutthroat here and there on flies. Fooled a 16"er the other day, but that was in a Grays Harbor trib.
I'm getting my salmon gear in order, though.  I'll be trolling and casting out of my 16' john boat, when I have buddies along, but will be fishing the Willapa River from my Ultimate 12 when going alone. I'm hoping to get one of those sleigh rides behind a big King in the U-12.

I don't fish the Naselle much, as its too far to drive.

I'd like to put some time in on kayak-friendly lower Columbia tribs this fall.  If any PDX-Couv area folks would like some company, and assistance with fuel costs, let me know.

I'll bet this rain drew some Kings up into the river from the bay. Weren't that many in the bay, from what I have heard, but a few were caught last Sat, according to a post I read on the Piscatorial Pursuits forum.

 Generally, a few Fall hatchery Kings start nosing into the rivers in mid to late August, but don't really show in good numbers until we get some rains, usually by mid Sept, but sometimes earlier. Some Coho start to show in Sept, as well, but there's more in Oct, and maybe some bigger Coho in mid Nov, if the rivers aren't blown out.

I'm just now rigging up for trolling and casting spinners for tidewater Kings and Coho in the lower rivers. All I've been doing lately, though, is fly fishing for searun cutts.  Sizes ranging from little chromer searuns of 8" to 9", to my biggest so far this year at 16".
Last Sunday in a Grays Harbor trib, I released a 14"er, a 13.5"er, a 13"er, a few smaller ones that were either "smolts" or rezzies, and another about 12" threw the hook on a spashdown. Good fun on the 4 wt bug wand! Believe it or not, that was a good day. Searun Cutt fishing here on the coast is not a numbers game, but more of a quality experience, and a Quest.  I have had a few phenomenal days when I released upwards of a dozen nice fish, but those days are rare.  I even appreciate days when I just hook into only one nice fish, and it releases itself on a good jump.

Personally, I would never, ever target cutthroat with bait. I have a very difficult time not going off on anyone using bait in C&R waters, targeting these fish. They take bait deeply, and get gut hooked. Not sportsmanlike at all. More of a poacher/meathead mentality to use bait on cutthroat in C&R waters, which all of the Willapa Bay tribs are. I have caught them incidentally when fishing roe or sandshrimp for steelhead, but usually on size 1 or 2 hooks, and those don't get taken as deeply, especially using steelhead drift fishing technique where you strike immediately at anything that feels like a take. I have almost quit fishing bait for steel, because of that. However, using flies only, my catch rate has dropped to ZERO. Lost three nice ones in the last couple of years, including a big Nate, but none landed.

When targeting cutts, for me its flies only, with the barb pinched down. Even with flies, I recently hooked a big searun deeply, in the gills. That was probably because I was dead drifting a spider pattern through the belly of a deep hole and I allowed a little slack in my line at the wrong moment. Lucky for me it was a Grays Harbor trib and a 15" keeper. Spinners and spoons are very effective if you don't fly fish. I've caught 'em on jigs under a float, as well, when fishing for steel.

I'll be making an exploratory trip up the Willapa River very soon now, to see how the King run is shaping up. Once it gets going, if any of you want to check it out and don't mind a bit of paddling, let me know and we can do a trip. (Maybe even Jaduman, if he ever actually introduces himself!) There should be some Coho showing up later. I troll spinners behind a pink plastic rudder, or drift and cast. I am going to cast some flies at 'em this year, too.  I often fish the river above Raymond, but I have found some hot action at times in tidewater and on either side of the hwy 101 bridge, right in Raymond.

By the way, I'm  "Eyes In The Woods" and insist on strictly following the fishing regs. If I see anyone snagging or poaching, I call the game warden and report the incident. If I see anyone using a treble hook or illegal gear when its supposed to be "single barbless" or "selective gear," I will report that. Other than this nazi-like tendency , I am actually a very mellow dude.

Heard a rumor that there's some salmon to be caught in the lower tribs, so start yer engines! This rain did the trick.

I'd like to put some time in on kayak-friendly lower Columbia tribs this fall.  If any PDX-Couv area folks would like some company, and assistance with fuel costs, let me know.

This is Jaduman and I don't understand this chat thing at all but I'll be fishing the tidal aspect of Elochoman (bad spelling) really soon. Phone me up at 503 543 2364 and maybe we can go together.