The Northwest's Premier Outfitter offering guided fishing trips on Idaho's Clearwater and Snake Rivers, American Falls Reservoir, CJ Strike Reservoir, Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir, and the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon.
As we enter the last streach of our Lower Columbia Columbia Spring Chinook season I wanted to give a quick update on our season.
Fishing overall has been good. We have had a few days in which we have had to work hard for bites, but overall the action has been more than satisfying. We have focused our efforts in the Portland area near the the I5 bridge. Downstream trolling herring has been our go to technique and our best bite has been during the first few hours of daylight.
We look for the the next four days to be some of the best of the year as everyday there are more and more tasty Spring Chinook in the system. The Columbia is set to close the 9th of April. After the Columbia closes I will switch gears and spend a few weeks targeting the Willamette, before moving up to the John Day Dam area the last week of April to target the migration up the Columbia system.
I still have plenty of openings for both the Willamette River and the John Day Dam fisheries. On the Willamette we have a 2 chinook limit, and up at John Day I offer salmon and Sturgeon combination trips. As always full boat and single anglers are encouraged to give us a call and book dates.
Fishing is really starting to pick up down here in the Portland area for Spring Chinook. A fellow guide buddy and I snuck out for a little fun fishing this morning and we’re handsomely rewarded with a quick limit of Columbia River Spring Chinook. We picked both these fish up trolling flashers and herring downstream. Our favorite flashers have been the new Leo Flashers by Money Maker Fishing.
Now is the time to get down here and get in on this action. I have full day openings this week and 4 hour evening trip openings the 2nd – 9th of April. Also have openings for the Willamette River after the 10th of April. Also for people willing to wait until the end of April and into early May we still have some open dates for our John Day Dam Spring Chinook and Keeper Sturgeon combo trips. Give me a call at 208-861-0654 to book your dates.
We snuck out yesterday for an early Sturgeon fishing trip on the Snake River out of Heller Bar. With our steelhead season behind us we have been switched over to targeting catch and release sturgeon. The weather was a little unsettled, but the fish were cooperative. We landed a small 3 foot fish and one monster 8 footer. We also had a few other bites, but considering we only fished for a few hours I think we did fantastic.
Our bait of choice is salmon bellies and scraps from salmon season. We find this to be the most consistent bait, but we often fish other baits such as squid, roll mop herring, worms, or any fresh cut bait we can get our hands on.
Catch and release sturgeon fishing will be great from now through the end of June. On our sturgeon trips we average multiple fish landed per day with the fish ranging from 3-11 feet in length. We also offer sturgeon trips with the possiblity of keepers on the Hanford reach during this same time frame. These trips are a great experience that all should see. The power of these large sturgeon is amazing.
Here is a video shot earlier this month fishing the Snake River out of Heller Bar! We had a fantastic time chasing fish in the canyon all by our selves. We fish steelhead in this area starting the 10th of October – the end of February. We fill our fall season very quickly so if anyone is interested in fishing with us please book your trips early to ensure you get the best seats available.
A big thank you to the guys at http://northwestfishingreports.com for filming and editing the video. If you are looking for current fishing reports for almost any area in the northwest you can most likely find them here.
With Columbia River Spring Chinook fishing right around the corner I wanted to cover a topic of discussion that often comes up on my boat. Many people ask “How do you brine your bait for Spring Chinook”. Below I have outlined my simple process for turning my frozen herring into fish catching machines. Keep in mind that I use a very simple approach that gives me consistent success day in day out. Ingredients:
Container Rock Salt Bottled Water Herring Various scents (optional) Dye (optional)
Step 1:
The first step is buying quality herring and prepping it for the brine. Make sure to buy quality herring! By quality I mean packages that are blood free, have clear eyes, and have most scales intact. One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to brine up bait that is of sub-par quality. Always remember that it takes good bait to make good bait. Don’t fish crappy bait!
After removing the package from the freezer it is best to cut one side of the package open to let air in. This removes the vacuum seal and will ensure that as your herring are beginning to thaw the packaging does not pull any of the scales off.
Make sure at this point to let the herring thaw until they are able to be removed from the package without having to pull them off the Styrofoam tray.
Step 2:
While your packages of Herring are continuing to thaw it is now time to make your brine. This is a very simple brine that contains only two ingredients, Rock Salt and bottled water. Combine one bottle (16.9 oz) of water to 1 cup rock salt. At this point you can now add any optional scents or dyes to the brine. For Spring Chinook I often will add a very small amount of Blue Bad AZZ bait dye from Pro Cure. For some reason at times these fish seem to really crave the slight blue tint.
Step 3:
Carefully remove the herring from the package and add to your brine. Now put the brining herring into your cooler and keep on ice. This bait is best fished 8-48 hours from when first put in the brine, so brine your bait the afternoon before you are planning on fishing, but don’t worry if you start the process too late I have fished these baits after only sitting in the brine for a few hours and they fished fine, and got better as the day went on. Just always remember to keep your bait nice and cold while on the water!
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The Snake River out of Heller Bar continues to fish well. Yesterday we had a great day on the river with only 2 customers going 6-10 on Steelhead and also landing a 3 foot sturgeon on steelhead gear.
We found most of our fish just upstream from Heller Bar as the Grand Ronde is flowing very high and muddy, and has made the Snake River downstream from the Grand Ronde muddy and not fishable.
We had almost all our bites drifting my Jones Sport Fishing shrimp cure in the bright red color in combination with a chartreuse cheater or corkie.
I am not really sure how much longer we can expect good fishing in this area, but I’m expecting it to fish well through at least this next weekend, we might se good fishing later on, but water conditions will dictate that. After that we often have great success switching over to catch and release trophy sturgeon fishing.
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Often referred to as “The Reach,” this area of the Columbia River is the last “Free Flowing” section of the Columbia River and is home to some of the absolute best spawning habitat left in the main stem Columbia River. This is where many of the fish we were targeting at Astoria are heading. The Hanford Reach is where these fish will finally stop moving and hold up before they start to spawn. We target “The Reach” starting the second week of September and fish here through the second week of October. We often catch some of our biggest fish of the year here as the big males start to get aggressive in anticipation of spawning. This is an action packed fishery targeting big Chinook in the desert of Eastern Washington.
We fish a number of different ways and have found that being diverse in our strategies has helped us to continually put good numbers of Fall Chinook in the boat for our customers. We could be downstream trolling Super Baits in the morning and back trolling plugs and eggs in the afternoon. The biggest key to success here is knowing where to fish depending on the flow coming out of Priest Rapids Dam. This is also the most difficult thing about this fishery. Where and how we fish can vary greatly depending on what flows are coming out of the Dam. Our two favorite techniques here are trolling flashers and Super Baits, and back trolling bait wrapped plugs and eggs. “The Reach” fishes like a real river with dynamic changes in holes and flows and anglers have to be willing to adapt to be successful.
We start most of our trips out of Vernita bridge, but if the fishing dictates we will drop down and fish out of Ringold. We like the Vernita area as we feel it gives us the best access to a wide variety of water to consistently put our customers on fish. We truly enjoy this fishery and we are excited to be able to share it with you.
Fishing the Hanford Reach is truly an amazing experience. It is very normal for us to see lots of Mule Deer, including some really nice bucks, coyotes, waterfowl, and on occasion some of the Elk from the large herds that cross the nuclear site.
For a Google Map of our meeting locations click here.
Starting August 1st, and continuing until the end of the month, we turn our attention to the mouth of the Columbia River near Astoria. Oregon. This is the famed Buoy 10 fishery! There is nothing quite like the pull of a 20+ pound Chinook ripping line out on a hell bent run back to the Pacific Ocean. To say that these fish are fresh is an understatement! The fish you hook up with most likely just came into the river from the big pond on the last incoming tide. This is an exciting fishery that is on many people’s bucket list, and is one of our most favorite fisheries of the entire year. Bring the family out for a vacation on the coast, while you sneak out for some of the finest salmon fishing in the world.
This is without a doubt the most publicized fishery in the Northwest, and arguably the single most anticipated fishery of the year. When you spend an August day chasing fresh from the previous tide Upriver Bright Fall Chinook, and Coho at the mouth of the Columbia River there is no doubt you are in a special place. The buzz and feeling you get just being in this historic area makes a trip worth it.
We start our days out of the East Mooring Basin in Astoria, Oregon. From here we set out on the river to the best location for the days particular tides. This is a dynamic fishery as we are always changing locations to put you on the best locations for the specific periods of the tides. This is also a troll oriented fishery and we love to fish bait. Fresh herring and anchovies pulled behind a flasher is our number one rig.
We suggest that you book early for this fishery as our available space tends to fill quickly. Also this is a prime time for other tourist attractions on the coast and securing a hotel room can be a little difficult with short notice. When booking we can offer suggestions on where to stay for a variety of different budgets and lodging needs.
To view a Google Map of our meeting locations click here.
Come Late June, July and early August we can be found fishing the Upper Columbia between Tri-Cities, Washington and the town of Brewster, Washington. Summer Chinook are commonly called June hogs and are known for their size and incredible strength. During this time of year we often have great numbers of Sockeye available. What these fish lack in size they more than make up for as table fare. We often catch both Chinook and Sockeye on the same trip. This is a fantastic fishery and we can’t think of a better way to spend a summer day than fishing the Columbia River for Summer Chinook and Sockeye Salmon.
Hanford Reach
We target the Hanford Reach fishing out of Vernita Bridge and Ringold for summer Chinook and Sockeye starting the end of June. We also offer catch and keep sturgeon fishing at this time and often do combination trips. This is mostly an anchor fishery as we like to sit on travel lanes and wait for the waves of migrating Chinook and Sockeye to meet our gear. The flows of the Columbia River at this time are often very high due to the early summer run off, it is this high water that makes these fish available and aggressive. When fishing here we are looking for points and bars, or any structure that disrupts the flow of the water and creates an easier place for the fish to migrate. These fish are constantly moving and are looking for the slower inside bends to help them conserve energy for their long migration. It is at these congestion points that we often anchor up and deploy our gear. This style of fishing is both very relaxing and exciting. The Hanford Reach is a huge place and we often have large areas of river almost all to our self’s.
To see a Google Map of our meeting locations click here.
Wanapum Dam
Starting July 1st the Columbia River above Priest Rapids Dam opens. Our first stop for these fish is the tail race of Wanapum Dam, it’s here that the heavy currents caused by the Dam congregates migrating Summer Chinook and Sockeye Salmon. This is a very popular troll fishery. When targeting Chinook we like to troll flashers and Brad’s Super Baits, Flashers and herring, and spinners. When targeting Sockeye we fish 8 inch chrome dodgers followed by a small hoochie squid tipped with a coon shrimp. This can be a very busy fishery, but the fishing here can be absolutely fantastic! We typically will fish Wanapum through the 10th or so of July before moving up river. The Sockeye and Chinook caught here during early July are some of the best table fare around!
To see a Google Map of our meeting locations click here.
Brewster/Wells Dam
We start fishing in the Brewster, Washington area about the 10th of July. When fishing here we target both the Brewster Pool and the area just below Wells Dam. We will put you on the best location to get you on a bunch of Chinook or Sockeye. Both locations are primarily troll fisheries. For Sockeye we like to troll 8 inch dodgers followed by a small coon shrimp, and when targeting Chinook we like to fish Super Bait’s, Herring, spinners, or plugs. Wells Dam is much like the fishery we see at Wanapum Dam. Lots of current and fish stacked up trying to get through the fish ladders. One difference here is that unlike Wanapum there is a Chinook Hatchery at Wells Dam and for many fish this is the end of the line. This means there are always fish holding here waiting to head up into the hatchery.
The Brewster Pool is very different from both Wells and Wanapum and resembles a big reservoir. Here the current is slowed and the fishing is a little more laid back. This is a holding area created by the warm water temperatures of the Okanogan River. Most of the Upper Columbia River Sockeye and lots of Summer Chinook are headed up the Okanogan River to Spawning grounds in Canada and the Okanagan River Valley. Once the water temperature hits the 70 degree mark its creates a temperature barrier for migrating Salmon. It is once this barrier is set that the Brewster Pool becomes a salmon fishing paradise. Tens of thousands of Chinook and Sockeye hold here waiting for the temperature in the Okanagan River to cool enough to allow safe passage. Quick limits of Sockeye and multiple hookups on great fighting Summer Chinook are the norm. We offer both full and half day trips in this area and often run a full day followed by a half day afternoon trip.
To see a Google Map of our meeting locations click here
March through early June we target Spring Chinook, starting on the Columbia River near Portland in late March and early April then following the fish up river to the Columbia Gorge, John Day Dam and finally ending up on the Snake River sometime early to mid may. These are the Kobe Beef of the Salmon world. In our opinion no other salmon species are as good on the table as Columbia River Spring Chinook. Most Spring Chinook average between 10-15 pounds with fish over 20 pounds considered large.
