Late report: Secret Bay, OR

Hit up a not so secret bay in OR last week to meet up with PelagicPaddler and Spot and fish my brains out for a couple of days. The main target were chinook and the coho were just ending so tried my best.

Day one is perfect sunny skies and glassy water. Met up with PelagicPaddler and we did the troll. One hour into the troll I get slammed by a coho. It seemed pretty nice and after a decent fight I get it to the boat for a CPR. A little later PP gets one but doesn't stick. I get another hit and after a blistering run right at me spits the hook. He flew right under me full speed which was really cool to see. PP gets a fish on and it wasn't a coho. After a few runs he's like, chinook. He landed that 25# hen like a pro and we called it a day.

Day two I met up with Spot and it's a little foggy and the forecast was rain. Nothing at the time of launch but the forecast was pretty mellow so was gonna stick in out anyway. First drop, two pedal strokes and fish on! Nice coho. 10 minutes later fish one and another to the yak. 20 minutes later hookup! But it was different. After some serious thrashing there was a solid streaking run... chinook! I got a look at it as it streaked by and it was a doozie. It was taking some huge runs and really zinnging my drag. Then right behind the fish a seal head pops up. Shiet!! The fish absolutely loses it and starts circling my yak at speed when the line tightens and goes limp. FARK! By that time the PBr's notice all the action and start coming my way. I get back to it and Fish on! Another coho. PBr's were really cool and stoked to see yakfishing work. One more for the road and fish on!

Had the best time catching coho, hanging w/ the boyz, and really soaked up the beauty of OR.

Z

It's not over yet, just let me know when.  I will be searching for another nice nook this weekend

What a great place to be in October.  Big fish and Porta Potties on the water, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Scott

Thanks for the report Zee.

Anyone else w/ Columbus Day off? 

As we packed up our gear, Zee and I were deep in a pity party over the Chinook we'd both lost when it dawned on us....  Between the two of us, we just went 9 for 11 Salmon in a couple of hours fishing!  What could possibly be bad about that?    

BTW: From what I could determine by watching and talking to others on the water, the plastic navy kicked ass on the fuel driven team.  

BTW: From what I could determine by watching and talking to others on the water, the plastic nave kicked ass on the fuel driven team.   

Yeah, from the PBr's I talked to we outfished them 4:1. Go polyethylene!!

Z

Hoping to go out there next week (wed/thurs) to drop some pots and do some fishing. I hear things have been doing well

BTW: From what I could determine by watching and talking to others on the water, the plastic nave kicked ass on the fuel driven team.   

Yeah, from the PBr's I talked to we outfished them 4:1. Go polyethylene!!

Z

All kidding aside I think the "silent factor" of the kayak is a HUGE advantage when fishing tidewater, often less then 10ft deep. 

I have Columbus day off.  GF is going to be tied up with funeral stuff for her gramma.  (family only funeral)

I had thought about heading to the east side, but if there is still Coho and Chinook action over here, and you guys hit it again, I'd really like to tag along and learn some things!

 

Those seals can really make the fish active!  Sounds like a lot of fun was had!

Wow!  Nice report and pictures.  I don't salmon fish, so I enjoy watching the success of those that do.  You sure outfished the big boaters.  Do you think the stealth factor really played a role in catching the fish?  I would think there is some advantage when your actually fishing off a giant strike indicator...
Way to go,
Scott

Nice report and pics Zee!

Enjoyed the report & pics! I gotta go fish! I'm not surprised the 3 of you out fished the PB'rs. Probly woulda out fished most folks.

Great report.  I'm hoping to get out there sometime this week - where you guys using herring or spinners?

Great report.  I'm hoping to get out there sometime this week - where you guys using herring or spinners?

I caught fish on both.

Went again Sunday and the Bay was really slow.  I saw 1 fish caught all day in the bay.  It was a monster Chinook but still.... it was the only fish caught.  From what I could gather, it was slow everywhere; the mouth, the lower bay and the upper bay.

Keep an eye on the winds.  10MPH makes for a long slog back to your launch.  20MPH makes for a long walk back to you launch.

-Spot-