Columbia River / Umatilla

Well tomorrow will be my first attempt at chasing Salmon from the Yak.  I think that I'm geared up and ready to go.....

I know that the fishing isn't supposed to be very good but this will be more of a "trial run" then a fishing trip.  I need to check out my anchor system and a couple new (to me) fishing techniques.  With the weather forcast for the next week, fishing looks like it will pick up.

I'll be either on the Umatilla, the Columbia at the mouth of the U. or down stream outside of Irrigon on the Big C.  Anybody that'll be over here is more then welcome to come laugh at me.

See you on the water!

Good luck Joe! Hope you got some fish!

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Well, the wind was terrible

Having said that , the fishing was pretty slow as well.  I hooked up about 45 minutes after i got there but lost it 20 seconds into the fight.  8 hrs later, still no fish to the kayak.  I had to stay on the Umatilla the entire time.  The Big C. was covered in white caps.  Even at the mouth of the U, there were 1.5 foot rollers.

I'm thinking about headed back next weekend.  Hopefully the rain shows up and cools/raises the water a bit.

Well nice job getting out there and at least hooking into one!

I'm headed back tomorrow 10-8-11 if anybody is around. 

The fishing is still pretty slow over here...... however, I did manage to land my first 2 Salmon in the Kayak.

The first fish was a small Jack Chinook and the second was an adult Chinook 28" - 30".  If I was 200 yrds further  downstream I could have kept it..... bah!

Both fish were landed within 30 minutes of getting on the water and nothing for the rest of the day... I only heard of a couple other Jacks being caught.

It was pretty funny paddling out into the Columbia and getting in line with the big jet boats.  I got a lot of strange looks. 

Congrats on your first 2 salmon.  Did the boaters say anything when you caught your salmon?

I wasn't near any boaters but there were 2 bank fisherman watching.  They thought that the kayak was pretty sweet.

 joesnuffy,

Glad to read about your hook-ups.What were you using to catch those fish....bait ? hardware ? lures ?
Throw some details out there please.I haven't fished the Colombia for quite a while so I'm curious as to what works out there.

Great job Joe! Aren't you glad you didn't buy a pontoon?

Great job Joe! Aren't you glad you didn't buy a pontoon?

I've actually had a pontoon for 6+ years   But the kayak is more fun on this water.

Mark, I was using a #3 Blue fox spinner when i caught those fish.  Purple body and silver blade.  I trolled with spoons and a couple different wobbles later on.....

Ah, I thought you were debating between the two but I must be confused. Either way, nice job getting some fish!