Depoe Bay salmon reports, 2020

Clayman do you head towards structure and then look for birds when you're searching for fish? Or target water depths? This is all new to me so any info would be greatly appreciated.

My usual MO is to start trolling as soon as I'm confident I won't snag a reef. If I see direct signs of bait (birds diving, baitfish being busted on the surface by salmon, etc.), I'll head for that. But usually, I'm looking for anything that could potentially concentrate bait, such as rips, trash lines, and temperature breaks. More often than not, I end up hooking a fish as I'm heading west, then I'll troll circles around wherever I hooked that fish to find his buddies.

Coho are usually concentrated in the top 30 feet of the water column. It can be very important to adjust your trolling depth if not getting bit at a particular depth. I've had days where all the coho were concentrated in the top 10 feet of the water column, and if you were trolling at 15 feet, you wouldn't get touched. If you spot bait on your depthfinder, definitely try to raise/lower your gear so you troll through it.

Chinook will generally be deeper than the coho, but this is a very general rule, especially if you're fishing around bait or on a really nice trash line. Speaking of trash lines, you want to get into the thick of that line and troll through it. Even though it can get annoying trying to avoid the kelp and grass from catching onto your line, it's usually worth the hassle.

In that case California should open a mark selective coho fishery.  We catch Oregon's marked coho around here often enough.

Sounds reasonable, but I think you guys are constrained by the SONCC coho impacts. If people in CA started to target coho, your SONCC impacts would increase and could potentially jeopardize your Chinook seasons.

Interesting info workhard/clayman. Thanks for sharing it.

Workhard is your R package on CRAN? I'd love to check it out.

I'm also eying the 5-7th its looking pretty nice now. Trying not to get my hopes up too much that the forecast will hold. 2020 seems to love dumping on my dreams.

Clayman do you head towards structure and then look for birds when you're searching for fish? Or target water depths? This is all new to me so any info would be greatly appreciated.

No, not on CRAN. You would need access to a PSMFC database for it to work. I just ended up using what ODFW calculated for estimated tag recoveries and made a simple chart in R to visualize it, not handling the calculations myself.

If you want to play with the data I'd contact ODFW and ask for a csv with the tag recoveries that includes the estimated tags.

 https://nrimp.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/default.aspx?pn=grid&fishery=11&port=Newport&species=CHINOOK&start=05%2f01%2f19&end=10%2f01%2f19

Chris' link has an email at the bottom, that'd probably be the guy.

No, not on CRAN. You would need access to a PSMFC database for it to work. I just ended up using what ODFW calculated for estimated tag recoveries and made a simple chart in R to visualize it, not handling the calculations myself.

If you want to play with the data I'd contact ODFW and ask for a csv with the tag recoveries that includes the estimated tags.

 https://nrimp.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/default.aspx?pn=grid&fishery=11&port=Newport&species=CHINOOK&start=05%2f01%2f19&end=10%2f01%2f19

Chris' link has an email at the bottom, that'd probably be the guy.

Gotcha, thanks workhard I'll see what I can get. I work in wildlife but have always been interested in fisheries, particularly the salt.

My usual MO is to start trolling as soon as I'm confident I won't snag a reef. If I see direct signs of bait (birds diving, baitfish being busted on the surface by salmon, etc.), I'll head for that. But usually, I'm looking for anything that could potentially concentrate bait, such as rips, trash lines, and temperature breaks. More often than not, I end up hooking a fish as I'm heading west, then I'll troll circles around wherever I hooked that fish to find his buddies.

Coho are usually concentrated in the top 30 feet of the water column. It can be very important to adjust your trolling depth if not getting bit at a particular depth. I've had days where all the coho were concentrated in the top 10 feet of the water column, and if you were trolling at 15 feet, you wouldn't get touched. If you spot bait on your depthfinder, definitely try to raise/lower your gear so you troll through it.

Chinook will generally be deeper than the coho, but this is a very general rule, especially if you're fishing around bait or on a really nice trash line. Speaking of trash lines, you want to get into the thick of that line and troll through it. Even though it can get annoying trying to avoid the kelp and grass from catching onto your line, it's usually worth the hassle.

Thanks Clayman! That is a ton of good info. How about trolling speed? From what I can find on here it looks like people hang somewhere around 2 kts. 

I won't beat around the bush: the season off Depoe isn't off to a good start. Nomas and I fished on 7/5, and put in several miles of pedaling for one bite. I brought the fish to the kayak, saw it was a coho, it took a dive, and it was off. He hit a watermelon Brad's Cut Plug, 30 feet on the line counter. That occurred at the 200' contour, nearly three miles west of shore. That's where the water finally cleared from the cloudy brown/red that covered all the inshore stuff. We trolled a couple great-looking rips and trash lines, trolled through some bait balls, but we only had the one hookup for the day. Radio reports from the powerboats were bleak as well. Pretty much everyone ended up on the Government Point reef by the afternoon to catch bottomfish. At least the blacks and lings were biting relatively well.

I also gave it a shot this morning (7/7), this time trolling along the 40 foot contour tight to the beach. Nada. The water is still very stained, and the south wind today made things choppy and annoying. A good lingcod bite saved the day again.

Looking forward to seeing some clean water close to shore!

How about trolling speed? From what I can find on here it looks like people hang somewhere around 2 kts.

When I looked into this last year, it looked like most sources suggested speeds between 3 & 4 MPH over ground when trolling for Coho. It's only anecdotal, but I got more takedowns than a buddy I'd go out with - I think he was trolling a bit slower than I was. Our gear was more or less the same.

Also, this was in Puget Sound. I wouldn't expect too much variance between the sound & the ocean, but I could very well be wrong.

I generally aim for a 2.5-3.5mph troll speed for coho, but this can be hard to dial in when you incorporate wind and current (i.e., moving against or with the current). Because of that, I try to identify the pedaling rhythm that'll give my bait a good spin. From my experience, you can't really go too fast when trolling for coho and they prefer a faster troll speed than Chinook.

When I looked into this last year, it looked like most sources suggested speeds between 3 & 4 MPH over ground when trolling for Coho. It's only anecdotal, but I got more takedowns than a buddy I'd go out with - I think he was trolling a bit slower than I was. Our gear was more or less the same.

Also, this was in Puget Sound. I wouldn't expect too much variance between the sound & the ocean, but I could very well be wrong.

Wow, that is flying! Much faster than I am used to trolling. Thanks for the info.

I generally aim for a 2.5-3.5mph troll speed for coho, but this can be hard to dial in when you incorporate wind and current (i.e., moving against or with the current). Because of that, I try to identify the pedaling rhythm that'll give my bait a good spin. From my experience, you can't really go too fast when trolling for coho and they prefer a faster troll speed than Chinook.

Excellent, this helps me a ton!

I went out 7/9 too, my girlfriend is thoroughly tired of me coming back sunburned and happy from fishing this week while she is working. The water was clearer and man it was calm. I hooked up to a salmon at about 145 fow, and then lost it at the boat. That was heartbreaking! I trolled the 140 contour until about 11am (about 4 hrs) with no more hits then went in after some bottom fish. I ran into two other kayaks out there and one of them caught a chinook at 150 fow. Water temp was about 56 F, my DR was set about 15ft, trolling across and down current at 2.5 mph.

Fished 8/2 out of Depoe. I got out on the water about 6am but the fog was thick so I stuck close and fished the bottom until it cleared. Black RF were pretty thick and I got all I wanted while the fog cleared. Ling bite was slow, but I got one decent one and released a small one. About 8:45 the fog cleared and I trolled out to government reef, saw tons of bait and birds working but no fish. I think I saw a trolling powerboat get a salmon, but I couldn't see the fish well enough to be sure. I worked my way out to the end of government reef and then trolled back to the bay along the 150 ft contour. No salmon, but the bait was thick in 40 to 80 ft of water. 9 hrs on the water maybe 6 hrs of fishing hard for salmon and nothing... I may be cursed (or just haven't figured our salmon fishing yet). Still an awesome day, the ocean was beautiful!

Thanks for the report Cackalacky. I wouldn't say you're cursed! It's just been a grind of a year out of Depoe, and in general a more spotty bite along the central coast compared to past years. The "good bite" days this season far outnumber the "bad bite" days, which kinda aligns with the coho forecasts for this year compared to last year.

Long-range forecast doesn't look good for this weekend, so we're already looking at one last weekend to fish the clipped coho season. Hoping the fish are in close and the seas are calm for the "anything goes" season in September, which worked out in 2017-2018 but not 2019.

A few of us will be trying Depoe on Thrus and Friday if the weather and swell is okay.

Just noticed ODFW started the recreation reports back up, quote from Cape Falcon to Humbug:

"The adipose fin-clipped coho catch rate was poor in most areas last week.  The one exception being Garibaldi where anglers landed 251 coho and 23 Chinook with an overall catch rate of 0.78 salmon per angler. Dockside observed salmon catch rates in other locations included 0.21 salmon per angler at Pacific City, 0.09 salmon per angler at Depoe Bay, 0.28 salmon per angler at Newport, 0.24 salmon per angler at Winchester Bay, and 0.05 salmon per angler at Charleston. Through July 26, a total of 5,136 coho (23.3%) had been landed out of the quota."

0.09 at Depoe is pretty dismal. PC had better than twice the catch rate. 0.78 at Garibaldi is pretty fantastic, maybe even I could get one up there  .  Anyone ever try going out of the jaws at Garibaldi? I know the current rips up there, seems a bit sketchy in the yak. Maybe I'll take the long walk up to cape lookout, I've been wanting to explore that area....

Just noticed ODFW started the recreation reports back up, quote from Cape Falcon to Humbug:

"The adipose fin-clipped coho catch rate was poor in most areas last week.  The one exception being Garibaldi where anglers landed 251 coho and 23 Chinook with an overall catch rate of 0.78 salmon per angler. Dockside observed salmon catch rates in other locations included 0.21 salmon per angler at Pacific City, 0.09 salmon per angler at Depoe Bay, 0.28 salmon per angler at Newport, 0.24 salmon per angler at Winchester Bay, and 0.05 salmon per angler at Charleston. Through July 26, a total of 5,136 coho (23.3%) had been landed out of the quota."

0.09 at Depoe is pretty dismal. PC had better than twice the catch rate. 0.78 at Garibaldi is pretty fantastic, maybe even I could get one up there  .  Anyone ever try going out of the jaws at Garibaldi? I know the current rips up there, seems a bit sketchy in the yak. Maybe I'll take the long walk up to cape lookout, I've been wanting to explore that area....

I launched off the beach at Cape Lookout State Park from the day use area last summer on a not so horrible surf day.  I played with a humpback whale in about 30 feet of water and then caught a coho.  It was fun. I want to explore there a little more, but it takes a nice day for the state park launch or you have to hump your stuff a long ways through the sand.

I launched off the beach at Cape Lookout State Park from the day use area last summer on a not so horrible surf day.  I played with a humpback whale in about 30 feet of water and then caught a coho.  It was fun. I want to explore there a little more, but it takes a nice day for the state park launch or you have to hump your stuff a long ways through the sand.

Looks like an epic day! Thanks for sharing that. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think that whale was actually a grey whale, just exhibiting some weird humpback like behaviors. A humpback will have a small dorsal fin, check out this guide https://wildwhales.org/speciesid/ 

I didn't even think about the north side, I don't have any experience yet with surf launches. I really need to get out and play in the surf just to get a feel for the boat. The south side of Cape Lookout for some reason is really interesting to me. The only thing that is slowing me down (beside getting a bit of practice in the surf) now is dealing with the crowds at sand lake rec area, I bet it is a zoo right now.

I don't have any experience yet with surf launches. I really need to get out and play in the surf just to get a feel for the boat.

Just a heads up (I bet that you include retrievals when you say launches) -- it's my experience that surf retrievals are what will get you. Heading out is easy enough - face straight into the waves and don't get super unlucky with your timing. Coming back is a whole different story... Especially with the bow design on the Hobie, which looks like it'll bury under water and quickly put you stern over bow. The boat in my profile picture is an Ocean Kayak Zest 2, which has a similarly designed bow.

Just a heads up (I bet that you include retrievals when you say launches) -- it's my experience that surf retrievals are what will get you. Heading out is easy enough - face straight into the waves and don't get super unlucky with your timing. Coming back is a whole different story... Especially with the bow design on the Hobie, which looks like it'll bury under water and quickly put you stern over bow. The boat in my profile picture is an Ocean Kayak Zest 2, which has a similarly designed bow.

Yeah, I figured coming back in would be the tough part. But I'm sure I'm going to eat some sand regardless. Hopefully nothing like the boat in your pick! Is that you!? That looks... exciting. Thanks for the reminder.