hanford reach fishing guide – Page 2

August 22, 2017January 12, 2018

Great Fall Chinook Fishing!

The start to our annual Fall Chinook season has be nothing short of fantastic! We have been down here in the Lower Columbia River fishing the famed Buoy 10 season and it has not disappointed. We have been getting limits of Chinook most days and we are starting to see a bunch of Coho in our catch. We still have Thursday the 31st of August open down here in Astoria. This is our last open date and it is a full open boat.

We also wanted to take this as an opportunity to talk about our upcoming fall seasons. As many of you have heard it is not looking like we will have an opportunity to harvest and fall Steelhead off the Snake or Clearwater Rivers. This is difficult news to swallow, but we want to make sure you know that there are plenty of great fishing opportunities ahead this fall and because of the lack of Steelhead we are extending our Fall Chinook season on the Columbia River.

Starting the 8th of September we will be jumping back on the migration of Fall Chinook up the Columbia and we will be fishing the Columbia River Gorge near Hood River, Oregon. We plan on fishing this area through the 16th of September. These fish in the Columbia Gorge are in great shape as most of them still have more than 100 miles to go before they spawn. We will fish one of a few locations depending on where the best opportunity for fish is at. Our most fished areas of the Gorge are the mouth of the Klickitat, Drano Lake, and the mouth of the Dechutes River. All three locations give you a great chance to take home some great salmon. And the entire Columbia above Bonneville Dam has a limit of two Adult Chinook daily.

We are also planning on extending our Hanford Reach Fall Chinook season through the 22nd of October. This will give us a great extended opportunity to catch these big Chinook as they state near their spawning grounds on the Hanford Reach. We often catch some of our biggest Chinook of the year off the “reach” and fishing for these bruisers in the desert of Eastern Washington is a great experience.

We thank everyone for your continued support of Jones Sport Fishing! And without our great customers living our dream on the water would not be possible.

September 28, 2016January 12, 2018

Hanford Reach Fall Salmon Fishing Report 2016

We had a better day today on the Hanford Reach fishing for fall Chinook Salmon. Down stream trolling Brad’s Superbaits and pro troll flashers was our go to method. Fishing is really starting to hit it’s stride here and things will be rocking by next week. We have openings on the 3rd and 4th of October in Kyle’s boat. If interested in booking click on the Book Online Now button. On our homepage. We also still have openings for fishing the Snake River for both Chinook and Steelhead. October and November are great months to put a bunch of fish in the boat.

Make sure to sign up for our Newsletter and be entered for a chance to win a free fishing trip with us!

September 22, 2016January 12, 2018

Hanford Reach Fall Salmon Fishing Report 2016

Today was a little slower for our boat on the Hanford Reach, but we still managed to have a decent day on great Fall Chinook. For three people we ended our day with 3 Adult Chinook and one Jack kept plus we released a nice hatchery Steelhead.

We are seeing more and more fish in the Hanford Reach daily and this fishery is going to break wide open any day. We still have a few open dates for our season. Kyle’s boat is open on the 3rd and 4th of October, and one of our affiliate guides is open on the 26th of September for up to 6 people.

Give us an email or text to Kyle@Jonessportfishing.com or 208-861-0654 and we can get your dates booked.

September 20, 2016January 12, 2018

Hanford Reach Fall Salmon Fishing Report 2016

Fishing contines to be decent for Fall Chinook Salmon here on the Hanford Reach. We are still averaging 4-6 fish to the boat each day, but as every day passes more and more fish are in the area. This fishery is on the cusp of breaking wide open. We continue to pick up most of our fish backtrolling plugs and eggs and downstream trolling superbaits and flashers. When the water is low we downstream troll and when the water is up or rising we backtroll. Our most productive superbaits have been the hot Tamale in the original series and also the rotten banana in the original series.

We still have a few open dates left this month, and the fist week of October. For September we have 2 seats open this coming Thursday, and a full boat open this Friday the 23rd. For the first week of October we have the 3rd and 4th open for full boats and one seat open on the 5th. To book your trip Book online now button on our homepage.

We also have plenty of open dates in October for Snake River Steelhead fishing, and also this year we will be working as an employee for Reel Time Fishing to offer Clearwater River, Idaho Steelhead Fishing trips. It’s going to be a great year on the Clearwater especially so give us a call at 208-861-0654 to talk to us about this great opportunity.

September 17, 2016January 12, 2018

Hanford Reach Fall Salmon Fishing Report

It’s been a few days since we started our 2016 Hanford Reach Fall Salmon season and we wanted to give a quick update on the fishing so far. Overall fishing has been decent, but we have had to earn our fish most days. We have been averaging 5-6 fish to the boat every day so far, and really the season is just getting started.

Today our fishing started with a double header, and we continued to have a decent bite for the next few hours. Like the past few days the bite slowed down a little toward noon.

Our best action has been downstream trolling flashers and superbaits stuffed with our tuna concoctions. This fishery is just getting warmed up. We should see some fantastic fishing over the next few weeks.

We have some open dates! I have 2 seats open on Monday the 19th, 2 seats open Thursday the 22nd, a full open boat on Friday the 23rd, and just had a cancellation for the 3rd – 5th of October. These are absolutely prime dates. Give me a call at 208-861-0654 or click on the Book online button on our home page to get your trip lined up.

September 6, 2016January 12, 2018

Astoria / Buoy 10 fishing wrap up

Late last week we wrapped up our Astoria / Buoy 10 fall salmon season. We had a great August out on the coast chasing these amazing fish. The fishing this year overall was very good, but we also had some days that we struggled to get into the fish. All in all this season is one of my favorites and I am already looking forward to next year. We are already taking booking for next August, and as many of you know the best dates for this fishery tend to go fast, so booking early is your best bet to get your preferred dates. Below are many of the pictures we took during this past August, and we thank all our great customers for spending time with us.

If you are looking to get in on our next fishing opportunity then you don’t have to wait long! We start our Hanford Reach Fall Salmon season on the 15th of September. This is your next chance to get a crack at the fish that may have made it past us at Astoria. We fish out of Vernita bridge and are able to put you on all the best salmon holes that this section of river has to offer. This is a diverse and unique fishery where we fish many methods and cover a lot of water through out the day. For more information check out our Hanford Reach information Page . To view our available dates click on the Book Online Now button on our Home Page.

June 13, 2016January 12, 2018

How to rig a Superbait and Leo Flasher

Its no secret that over the last few years Brad’s Superbaits, both the Original Series and the Cut Plug have become a very integral part of the Northwest salmon fishing scene. This has come as no surprise to many of the anglers that have been fishing these lures on the Columbia River east of the Cascades since they were invented. The reason Superbaits have become so popular is that they are extremely effective in almost any salmon fishing application. I have used them with great success in every salmon troll fishery from Astoria to Brewster. Over the past few years I have come to realize that anywhere a herring is effective a Superbait will also catch fish, and often out fish herring. With unlimited color options and the ability to always be fishing (a Superbait never blows out or gets ripped off), combined with great action and proven in a wide range of water temperatures and run timings, if you are not fishing Superbaits you are missing the opportunity at more fish.

In the last year one of the most exciting developments in this style of fishing has been the introduction of the LEO Flasher by. The Leo Flasher is a game changer because one of its great features and selling points is that it functions as BOTH an inline flasher, and as a rotating flasher eliminating the need to purchase flashers that only do one or the other. The other great thing about this flasher is that it will perform the rotating flasher role at a slower speed than other leading flashers. This translates into being able to use the flasher in more situations. One area I found this to be true was the anchor fishery in the Clarkston area of the Snake River for Spring Chinook. Here we did not have quite enough current to be able to keep our herring spinning utilizing a traditional inline flasher, but when I decided to try the LEO its ability to complete its rotation at a slow current speed imparted enough action on my herring that I was able to get the spin and action needed to catch fish. As a full time fishing guide with guiding as my sole income to provide for my family I am always on the lookout for products that help me put fish in the boat on a day to day basis throughout the season. Brad’s Superbaits and LEO Flashers are two products that help me to accomplish this goal, and you will see them in my boat everyday.

Below you will find a detailed description on how I rig my Superbaits and LEO Flashers for Trolling.

Mainline: 50# Power Pro braided line

Lead: 6-20 oz cannon ball sinkers connected on a slider with a 6 inch section of .035 spinner wire in between the slider and the lead. The purpose of this is to help eliminate tangles between the flasher lead and the cannon ball, and also helps the user feel for the bottom when trying to fish in areas where we are keeping our gear just off the bottom.

Flasher Lead: 24 inches of 50# Berkley Big Game (use a different color than your leader to help identify which is which when a tangle does occur)

Leader: 36-44 Inches of 40# Berkley Big Game

Hooks: #2 Gamakatsu 2x strong treble hook followed by 2 #2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks tied an inch apart 4 inches behind the treble hook. Set the treble hook so it rides inside the hook garage of the Superbait and the two singles riding just behind the Superbait.

To Watch a video on how we set up this system please check out How to Rig a Super Bait and Flasher Video!

I almost always stuff my Superbaits with Tuna. For information on how I do up my tuna Concoctions click HERE.

April 18, 2016January 12, 2018

How to Tuna Wrap a Plug

It’s no secret that we use a lot of different canned tuna concoctions while targeting Chinook salmon through the year. One of the biggest advantages we have is that we fish for Chinook from March – October every year starting with Spring Chinook, then Summer Chinook, and finally rounding out our salmon season with Fall Chinook. This 7 month season give us the advantage in truly being able to dial in our baits to match the situations we are presented with. Over the course of our 7 month salmon season we target fish with many different baits and lures, but there is one item that can always be found in our boat, canned tuna. One of our favorite ways to use tuna is to wrap it onto plugs such as the Maglip by Yakima Bait. The following video will show you just how we go about turning our tuna concoctions into a great bait wrap.

Also don’t forget to sign up for our Newsletter and enter your self in for a chance to win a free guided fishing trip. We draw a random name from our list in July and January!

April 14, 2016January 12, 2018

How to Prepare Canned Tuna for Salmon Fishing

Many salmon anglers have come to realize the effectiveness of canned tuna as a bait source for salmon fishing. Canned tuna, especially packed in oil, has many uses as a salmon bait. It is often wrapped in mesh to form tuna balls, wrapped onto plugs, stuffed in Super Baits, or added to eggs as a flavor enhancer, and because canned tuna is sold in every grocery store and is transported with no refrigeration needed it is an extremely versatile and cost effective bait. While basic tuna taken directly from the can has, and continues to be, the most used variation of the bait there are a some things we can do to make our tuna fish even better.

Myself and many other anglers throughout the northwest have discovered that there are often extra things we can do to our tuna to make it fish even better than taking it directly out of the can. The end result is what we often call Tuna Concoctions, or mixes of scents, cures, salts, and a few other key ingredients that takes that old boring canned tuna and turns it into a very dynamic bait that can be tailored to any salmon fishing situation presented.

The following steps are just a simple version that some would consider just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to development of tuna concoctions. The information provided here is presented in a way that might open up your mind to many possible ways to improve you salmon fishing success with the use of canned tuna.

Ingredients:

Tuna (packed in Oil)

Salt (non iodized)

Super Dipping Sauce ( My Favorite )

Measuring Spoons

Container with a lid

Can opener

Step 1:

Open the can of tuna and drain off the oil.

Step 2:

Add tuna to container (preferably one with a lid)

Step 3:

Add salt to your tuna. The amount varies depending on time of year and where the fish are in the system. As a general rule of thumb for Chinook it seems that the farther you get from the ocean and the warmer the water the more salt the fish crave, I often add anywhere from a tablespoon to a half a cup per can of tuna.

Step 4:

Add scents and additives to this mixture. A must have line of scents for me are Super Dipping Sauce scents by Money Maker Fishing. I add a table spoon of each scent I want to use to per each can of tuna. My all time favorite is the Garlic Super Dipping Sauce.

Step 5:

Refrigerate overnight or place on ice. Give this mixture time to set up and really let the scents and salts get into the tuna. The next morning your tuna concoction will be ready to fish!

As you can see this is a very easy and quick process that will give your tuna an extra kick. The sky is the limit as far as what can be added to this mixture. Always be experimenting because you never know when you might stumble upon the cant miss recipe that fills your boat with limits.

Look for blogs in the near future that discuss how to wrap tuna on plugs, rig tuna balls, stuff / rig Super Baits, and other creative ways to fish this versatile bait.

Don’t forget to sign up for our Newsletter and enter yourself for a chance to win a free fishing trip. We draw a random winner from our email list every July and January.

December 22, 2015January 12, 2018

Hanford Reach Fall Chinook

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.