Salmon Fishing at the mouth of the Columbia
Salmon fishing at the mouth of the Columbia
By Paul J. Kneeland
This August Bridget Looney and I, along with our 2 dogs, Rackerby the 107 lb. yellow lab, and Jake, the 19 lb. rat terrier, headed up the California and Oregon coast to get out of the oppressive heat wave that was hanging over both states. Our final objective was to reach Warrenton, Oregon (near Astoria) where my old high school buddy Joe Novelly has a house.
We took a side trip on the way out of Eureka to visit my namesake town that I had never seen. Kneeland, California is an unincorporated town about 27 miles east of Eureka at 2700 feet elevation. There is no post office, store, or gas station, but there is a school and a CDF Heli-tack base on top of the mountain.
We continued up the Oregon coast and camped out for three nights in the cool weather. We reached Warrenton and Joe’s house on Wednesday. Joe greeted us on crutches in his driveway. He had broken his leg in late May, the same leg he had broken in a motorcycle accident when he was 18. He had just come from the doctor who said he could start putting weight on it, so of course we went out fishing on Thursday! Joe said we didn’t need to get up early, as the high tide wasn’t until 9:30. Evidently he was looking at the wrong week’s tide, for when we reached the boat ramp about 8:30, the tide was high and falling, and dozens of boats were taking out already, most with limits of salmon!
We launched Joe’s 20 Weldcraft at the Hammond boat ramp, which features 6 lanes and hundreds of boats going and coming. If you haven’t fished the Buoy 10 and Columbia salmon fishery in August, you have never seen so many boats on the water. I saw an article in the Portland newspaper a few years ago that showed an aerial photo of the mouth of the Columbia on opening day, with a reported 4700 boats in sight! We headed out to the west and trolled back and forth with hundreds of other boats, but it was not as crowded as the last time I was here. This year there was plenty of room to maneuver without fear of running into someone. The weather was beautiful – sunny and clear and about 72 degrees!
Joe was using an 11 inch Pro Troll flasher with a copper/red/yellow Yakima Bait Spinfish which he filled with pieces of anchovy, with a 16 oz. weight to get it down. I trolled a Yakima bait Big Al’s Fish Flash flasher trailed by a plug cut herring, on a medium size Luhr Jensen Deep Six diver. We fished for a few hours with no luck, and only saw a couple of other fish landed. I had one good hit on the herring, that took line for a few seconds and came off. The bait was stripped but the salmon didn’t stick.
Friday morning we were at the ramp on time with dozens of other boats. But the launching went fairly quickly considering the numbers, and considering Joe had to limp up the dock to the boat with his crutches. All the folks were very nice and helped Joe into the boat as I was parking the truck. We had heard that they were catching easy limits of silvers out in the ocean past the mouth of the river, so we headed that way. The weather was perfect – overcast and cool, with a very slight swell coming from the west. As we turned north out of the mouth of the Columbia, I could see a couple hundred boats about a mile away. We dropped our lines in short of the fleet and started trolling, with the same set ups as yesterday. After a very short time, Joe’s rod went off and we had our first fish on. It was a very feisty silver salmon that came out of the water a couple of times before we got it to the net. It was bright chrome and sleek and about 7 pounds.
I checked my bait, and we both dropped the lines again, after Joe had filled out his catch sheet. About a half hour later, Joe’s rod went off again and he landed another silver – a twin to the first. I decided I needed to change things up, so I put on a big Pro Troll flasher in chartreuse and silver, followed by another copper/red/yellow Spin Fish with pieces of anchovy inserted in the lure. I was sipping my coffee when my rod bucked violently and the drag on the Calcutta started singing! This was a very nice fish, taking drag and diving for the bottom. Joe was giving me the same instructions I usually yell at people playing a nice fish: “Keep the rod tip up, keep reeling, don’t let it get loose,” etc., etc. After a very spirited fight, Joe managed to sit on the side of the boat, to support his wounded leg, and net a very nice 20 pound king salmon!
After a couple of high fives, we once again started trolling north towards the fleet. We saw several nets flying lots of boats catching fish. About 10:30 Joe’s rod went off once again, but this time the drag was screaming and all Joe could do was hold on for dear life! This fish immediately took off 150 feet of line according to the line counter on Joe’s reel and just kept going. Joe applied a little pressure, and the fish finally turned and went deep. Joe was able to gain some line for a short time, before the fish ran another 50 feet of line off the reel. Joe was balancing unsteadily on his legs, but managed to keep control of the fish and bring him to the back of the boat. I reached out and barely got him into the big net and we both relaxed!! He was a big, thick, heavy king salmon of about 30 pounds. We could barely hold him up for a photo!
Perseverance pays off – we had a very slow day on Thursday – mostly our own fault, and then the God’s smiled on us on Friday with limits of silver and king salmon up to 30 pounds. The Columbia River is one of the prime salmon fisheries in the world, with millions of salmon coming up the huge river to spawn. The anglers know it, and thousands are out every day of the season to catch these amazing fish. If you don’t like crowds, don’t go to the Columbia in August, but if you like catching salmon, it is a wonderful place to go.
Cutlines:
Photo 1 – The author’s namesake town out of Eureka, California.
(Photo by Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer staff)
Photo 2 – Joe Novelly of Deer Island, Oregon with the first silver salmon of the day.
(Photo by Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer staff)
Photo 3 – Joe Novelly struggles to hold up the fat 30 lb. king salmon he caught with a Pro Troll Flasher and Yakima Bait Spinfish.
(Photo by Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer staff)
Photo 4 – Joe Novelly and Paul Kneeland heft a pole with over 60 pounds of salmon taken from the Columbia River in Oregon
(Photo by Bridget Looney)
