Mouth of the Lewis

Fished the mouth of the Lewis river with bsteves yesterday.  I had the idea and he had the handy little navigation do-dad.  I'm not sure I'd have found the place on my own (especially since I kept thinking that it was in Longview....)

We found two good launch spots.  1st was down the Columbia about 200 yards.  2nd was up the Lewis about 200 yards.

The 1st was just a stretch of beach accessible by sand road, much like Willow Bar.  Not a bad approach really.
The 2nd is a private boat lauch with porta-potties and a $3 fee for parking.  Definitely worth the money as your vehicle is not as accessible for theft or damage.

We spent the day stroking downstream against a heavy wind and good sized swell then turning around, riding the winds back upstream.  I'm not sure how much fun this would be without the wind to carry you against the current. 
Saw a half dozen or so keepers caught, Brain hooked up with a small jack and I paid enough dues to ensure that my next trip will see me leaving with a limit....

I hooked up with something on a Brad's Mini Wobbler.  It was good for a couple of head shakes but threw the hook.  Next pass thru, same spot, my rod burries and I swing for the trees not wanting to miss another opportunity and .....  *SNAP!*  @#$%^&*

Later, Brian asks me "was it anything special?" to which I reply "Yah,  it was MY rod!" 

The good news is I caught a fish, the bad news is that it wasn't big enough to be called a salmon. The other good news is you can keep jacks, the other bad news is it wasn't even big enough for that.

I guess I hadn't thought much about the wind actually helping, but you're right Mark it actually probably made things easier.  Current pushing us downstream and the wind pushing us up.  We got a lot of the usual power boaters commenting on us being out there.  Most were actually pretty cool about it this time and were very encouraging as we did laps with everyone near the mouth of the river. 

I was randomly trying out various coho lures and finally settled on a silver blue fox with an orange body.  It just seemed to have the best action in the odd mix of current and wind we were dealing with.  We saw a few other boats catch fish and we suddenly noticed that they were using the same lure.  Spot called over to ask if I was still using the blue fox spinner, I replied that I was and immediately cooked up with jack chinook that didn't make the grade.  At least I've finally got some salmon slime on my boat.

On the way home I encountered several traffic accidents on I-5.  The first one happened right before the ramp onto I-205 and I waited through it.  Then I noticed a weird symbol flashing on my new car GPS. Turns out that it had picked up a radio signal regarding the accident and was trying to route me around it.  Too bad I missed the exit already.   A few miles later another accident and another flashing warning.  This one wasn't so bad and I slowly rolled through.  Finally, as I approached Vancouver a highway signed flashed something about an accident on the bridge and my GPS flashed again.  This time I followed the GPS's recommended detour through Vancouver over to 205 S and was saved from what turned out to be an overturned semi right before the bridge.  I called Spot to warn him about the accidents, hopefully he was spared some traffic.  I never knew my GPS could/would do that (receive accident info and offer re-routes).  Otherwise it often makes odd choices when giving directions and it has become a bit of a joke at home.

So I guess I'm technically now 0 for 7 on NW salmon, but landing that little jack was at least a bit of a confidence booster.  I'm so due...

Brian

Hey that spot on the Lewis, was it in a town called Woodland??
I grew up there.

Yep, out on Dike road in Woodland.

There is another boat launch that is on the Lewis off of South Pekin Rd. Did you check that one out Also.

There is another boat launch that is on the Lewis off of South Pekin Rd. Did you check that one out Also.

Nope, we didn't even try.  We were actually fishing the Columbia R. at the mouth of the Lewis R. so the launch at S. Perkin Rd would have been 2-3 miles upstream from where we were fishing.

so i fished this spot today 9-12.  farted around in town and finally made it out there about noon and fished for 4 hours.  i've been extremely busy the last few weeks and i just needed to get wet   beautiful day.  didn't catch anything but the people i talked to said it has been hot early mornings.  later in the afternoon i talked to a guy with a fishfinder who said there were tons of fish in the area.  had to be true cause they were jumping all over.  fished a red/yellow #5 blue fox, metallic green/silver belly brads mini wiggler and some sort of generic red/copper and a chart/silver salmon spinner type thingy.  one thing i noticed, when i got there about 10 boats were fishing the seam between the lewis and the columbia.  at about 2:15, 9 of the 10 left.  i can only assume it was something to do with tides?  anyone shed light on the tide factor?

btw you cant keep chinook in this area.  if i remember right i was told chinook retention closed from 1 mile below to 6 miles above the mouth.

one thing i noticed, when i got there about 10 boats were fishing the seam between the lewis and the columbia.  at about 2:15, 9 of the 10 left.  i can only assume it was something to do with tides?  anyone shed light on the tide factor?

On the incomming tide, you'll see people trolling a large area around the mouth.  There's a large radius plume of cold water and the fish like to hang on the edge of cold water.  When the tide starts flowing out, it forms a narrow seam and everyone bunches up along it.  It was like bumper cars when I was there but it seemed productive.  My guess is that the tide change coincided with people's desire to get home.