The still reigning and undisputed...

worst salmon fisherman in the club...

Hit the Alsea bright and early Sunday 8/29. Loaded the truck in rain and wind in Depoe Bay. The ocean was good and churned up, SCA flag was hanging on the D.B. bridge to prove it. Got down to Waldport and it was almost low slack. From the bridge I noticed a good launch right behind the Waldport "Historic" Bridge Interpretive Center. It was only 20 paces from the lot to the water and you could make it straight out the main channel from behind the sandbar. I went past the South tip of the spit, where about a hundred seals were also waiting for the tide to swing. Dropped anchor in probably 18 fow and got rigged up, 15 minutes later the bow swung around to the East, and I chatted up a few PB's that had dropped pots inside and started to troll by me. Some of which had already marked a few fish and I thought today might be my day. I didn't bring any of my rings because I really wanted to concentrate on scratching some ink on my harvest tag. I fought the sea salad off my rigging and kept my gear near the bottom. I started with a Brad's, switched to herring, not a nibble. Couple of hours went by and the tide was ripping by now. The freeboard on the stern was getting a little too close to the water, so I pulled up anchor, floated up the bay a few yards West of the 101 bridge and set up shop there. A line of half a dozen seals were right under the bridge in the shallow water to my SW. A big hog picked up their scent and turned back to the SW and beat the top water to escape their waiting jaws. Only fish I saw all day, that a seal hadn't nailed.

On a side note, I rapped w/my tuna killing neighbor who was scrubbing the boat down back from the Oregon Tuna Classic out of Garibaldi. He said they had to go out 52 miles for his haul and it was sparse action on live bait. Also the charters in Garibaldi have given up on salmon, feeling guilty of wasting customers money. LaNiña sucks, tags still empty.

Don't give up hope!

Just put your time in and pay close attention to what the people who are hooking up are doing.  Sometimes it's blind luck and sometimes it's something as minor as changing the length of your dropper line.

-Spot-

were you anchored or trolling?  If anchoring is you game plan I would switch to bait wrapped k15 or k16 kwikfish instead of the herring, herring don't fish well off anchor.  Kwiks can be money in lower tidewater for fish on the move.  Deploy the bugs

I had the wrapped dill pickle k-15 out when I moved down to the bridge, I used to nail them out of a PB on the Siletz with that set up. I didn't see anybody hook up or I would have polled them on what they were using. There were probably 40 boats crabbing and they were doing pretty good minus the females that pool up in Alsea Bay, but only a half dozen were trolling for salmon, so it must not have been that hot to begin with. There aren't any fish up D.B. way or the Siletz right now so I gave it a shot. I'm not discouraged, hopefully the Siletz will heat up when the monsoons start.

I have reliable intel there's a river between Lincoln City and Pacific City that has been putting out some nice fish to tidewater trollers.  I plan to be one of them this weekend