Hawthorne Bridge Chinook

Today I got a chance to get out on the troll again. I have been thinking a lot about salmon after my good luck last week. I launched at Sellwood, of course, and hit my shelf along with a dozen or so of my new aquaintances in their boats and I didn't see any action and even though that doesn't bother me I just didn't have the vibe. I messed around for awhile and then fished the mouth of Holgate Channel by myself and still didn't get the vibe. I have never fished Hawthorne Bridge before but have heard good things and I thought it would be cool to fish under a spot where I ride my bike all the time so I scoped around. About 10 minutes after finding the shelf on the east side in the right amount of water, the rod bent over and once again I was on to a beautiful springer! It was really nice to have a few of these fish under my belt already and it was very fun to fight it with the mirage drive even though I was almost directly under the bridge. I can't even believe how much easier it is to hook and land springers.
The only drawback was that I had to haul ass upstream back to Sellwood because my cooler was in the car over 4 miles away. I went home for a break and filleted the fish and had a victory beverage and headed back out. When I got back to Sellwood I was really too tired to troll anymore so I sat on the hook at Waverly Golf Course and smashed some sturgeon-mostly shakers but a couple keepers and one acrobatic 6 footer.
I don't have a whole lot of experience, and I am not sure if I am just lucky or what but I have been sticking to the shelves- between 15-25fow and I circle these areas tightly. I use a plug cut, green label herring (cut for coho) brined with a little blue dye and anise. The Willamette doesn't have the consistent sandy lanes like the C so it is constant adjustment getting that herring as low as possible. Mind the sonar and the line counter.
Hey guys, I might be getting myself into something here but if you could make sure your responses to this thread pertain to fishing or kayaks or both I would appreciate it.

"I don't have a whole lot of experience, and I am not sure if I am just lucky or what..."

Better to have your type of experience in limited quantities. It ain't just luck.

Don't. Change. A. Thing.

We need to start calling you salmonmagnet, if my shoulder starts feeling better I need to fish for salmon with you!

Nice job catching a fish in your kayak!

Great looking fish and thanks for the intel.

Dude, you're killing me!

Yup salmonmagnet is your new nickname.  The coho cut.  I knew I was missing something.

Brian thank you for sharing, as the devil is in the details. Luck may play a part at times, but I believe patience, perseverance, perfect presentation, & listening to your intuition are definitive factors in your fortune these past two weeks. Congrats, & I'm proud to share the same water with you.
Hugh

Damn, you are not messing around this year. 

Have you caught these fish on a downhill troll or? How long of a dropper for weight? Are you tapping bottom as you troll?

awesome....stories like this are why I just got my Kayak...I am completely new to the game but have been on these forums for ever....hope to see you out on the water!!!

Great fish Brian.  Congrats.  Not only can you slay big sturgeon, but also nail the springers  too!

Might be a bonehead question, but what are you calling the "coho cut"?  is that a tighter roll, smaller bait, etc?

Thanks.

Have you caught these fish on a downhill troll or? How long of a dropper for weight? Are you tapping bottom as you troll?

I have gotten them on both trolls and various tide periods too. Man, I try as hard as I can to get that thing down near the floor without actually hitting it. The dropper is probably around 16". Cosmo, when you buy yourself a plug cut bevel it has two sides and the coho side makes a tighter roll.
I never thought I would be the one giving people advice about how to catch springers. Thanks everyone for the encouragement and I am totally looking forward to seeing a bunch of successful springer posts and lots of pics!

Im doing the same things as minnow. Got first one on Saturday from the power boat; hard to get the whole family on my kayak.
I like the weight to be tapping bottom as the rod bounces.

Just got the kayak and I hope to be fighting a salmon from it soon!

Brian,

Thanks for the tips.  I've been pretty happy with the herring helmets and can adjust the rolls.  I almost always keep them on the tightest rolls.

As for you giving advice, I think anyone catching an early springer is granted "stud" status, and for the rest of us fishless, computer monitor watchers, we are all jealous, and any evidence of fish being caught, makes us a little more crazy, wanting to get out there and get one of our own.

Thanks for sharing.