Columbia Report 8/17

I'm gonna be a little vague with some of the details because they're not MY discoveries.  

Hooked up with kykfshr on Sunday to fish the sawdust pile in Warrenton.  The good tide was still hours away so we went and explored one of his super secret, no can tell, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, OMG how could I have not known about this, has been, locals only fishing runs.  As this is an outgoing tide fishery, it was kind of like looking at heaven thru the windows of a bus on its way to purgatory.  Great big fish arcs everywhere and plenty of rolling fish in every hole.  But, not a biter to be found.

Miles away...

We did a little searching and were rewarded with a launch spot completely off the radar, east of our destination.  The current was working against us still but with enough weight we managed a pretty good troll while dodging GINORMOUS ocean going cargo ships.  Big fish arcs were found everywhere!

At one point, after clearing the channel for freight ship #2, a harbor patrol boat slipped up alongside for some pictures of the crazies in their bath toys.  I talked with one of the officers for a while (still trolling) and he was pretty excited about our set-ups.  You could tell he was jonesing to try it himself.  Coast guard called for help in clearing the crowd for another vessel and they were off.  By crowd, I mean litterally hundreds of boats.

Scott had provided the herring and let me use a rotator so I wouldn't have to plug them.  (He also let me borrow an extra safety flag)  Thanks Scott!  Somewhere between my chat with law enforcement and reaching the sawdust pile I told Scott "I'm not very confident in my presentation".  It was new to me and running the hooks was completely different. 10 minutes later while chatting with one of the PB'ers, I noticed my rod acting funny.  "Must be the bottom" I thought............  "WAIT! I'M IN 60 FEET OF WATER!?!?!"  Just about then my reel started screaming and as I put the tension to a big fat nook, all the boats around me erupted in a spontaneous cheer.  Lol!  

This part is hard to write.  Yeah, you know what's coming.

10 minutes of screaming runs and panicked rolls go by.  I asked Scott if he'd net the fish (his net being much larger than mine) but I managed to bring this big boy up and he was on his side just feet in front of me.  "No problem" I thought.  I slipped my net under him with his head up and was sure I'd be able to fit him in when..... you guessed it, he flipped completely over, leaving the hooks attached to the net.........  Easily 25+ lbs of chromey URB Chinook lost to another crappy job of netting.  

We spent the rest of the tide + looking to find another but all that we could muster was a high finned Coho that Scott landed just before the current really started ripping.  

I do wish I'd have let Scott net that fish but I have no complaints on the day.  I found a new "secret fishing hole", held my own in a very crowded fishery and had the pleasure of fighting an awesome fish.

Maybe Scott can post some pics of the fight.
 

This part is hard to write.  Yeah, you know what's coming.

10 minutes of screaming runs and panicked rolls go by.  I asked Scott if he'd net the fish (his net being much larger than mine) but I managed to bring this big boy up and he was on his side just feet in front of me.  "No problem" I thought.  I slipped my net under him with his head up and was sure I'd be able to fit him in when..... you guessed it, he flipped completely over, leaving the hooks attached to the net.........  Easily 25+ lbs of chromey URB Chinook lost to another crappy job of netting.  

And the crowd goes ... "AHHH!!!"  What a heartbreaker.

Nice to get out, explore, and find a new fishery.  I expect to see a good report next weekend, ok?

-Allen

That's a tough one. You got my heart pumping there buddy. I've had a lot of nice fish lost within arms reach and it hurts. I roll now with a massively long net that stretches out almost 7'. No joke, you can ask Pole2. The whole deal, getting to those fish faster before they go nuts right there at the yak. Good deal on finding a great spot and looking forward to checking it out myself.

Z

Thanks for the story Spot, reminds me that I need to go out and get a bigger net myself.  I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures.

   Spot,  sorry for the missed net attempt! But that was a great story!  Thanks!

  Spot,  sorry for the missed net attempt! But that was a great story!  Thanks!

*sniff* 

I've been having a really hard time with this one.  Think I'll start a thread on the propper way to net a salmon.

Just back from the coast for a couple of days of work then back down for more fishin.  Had a great time fishin Sunday with Spot.  Was going to post some pictures but left the camera behind, so I'll do it in a couple of days. I felt like I was in an Sports arena with the cheers from everyone around as Mark battled his fish.  Quite an exciting memorable moment.  I managed to get a legal size coho trollin back to the cars but it had the extra fin so I released it.  My mind was on the outgiong current and it taking me down stream so I forgot about taking pix and measuring for points,oh well.  Fished Monday with high expectations but nothing to show for it, still so fish caught all around me just not my day.  Give it another try this weekend.

A couple of pix of Mark B10 battle.

Great great great pics!  How is the water out there?  Where do you launch to fish out there?  Sorry for the questions Ive never gotten to fish @B10? 

Great great great pics!  How is the water out there?  Where do you launch to fish out there?  Sorry for the questions Ive never gotten to fish @B10? 

You can launch from either side of the marina in Hammond.  Just be sure to time the tides correctly or you'll have a long walk back to you vehicle (or worse).  It's also a good idea to have a marine VHF on you.  If you scan 16, 22a and 22b you'll know when the GIGANTIC cargo ships and dredges are coming thru.

I asked my Dad for a marine radio for my Bday    Safety first!