Oregon Fishing News

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

All of the news you see is about the ocean chinook salmon closures off of most of Oregon and all of California. None of the news seems to mention that Oregons rivers are set to have a fantastic year of coho salmon fishing, so good that a few rivers will most likely have a limited harvest of wild coho salmon. Many areas of the Ocean while closed for chinook salmon will have expanded limits of hatchery silver salmon. This years ocean quota is over 100,000 fish compared to last years of around 20,000 fish which will give most of the Oregon coast a full season of salmon fishing. You wont be able to keep the kings but with abundant silver salmon most fisherman wont mind. The Columbia river is forecast to have over 2 million fish returning in the fall of 2009 which will make the popular buoy 10 fishery at the mouth quite a specticle with huge crowds and tons of fish caught, approximately 1.2 million of those fish are predicted to be hatchery silver salmon. In the buoy 10 fishery as well as upriver in the Portland area fisherman can keep up to one chinook salmon per person per day as well as coho salmon. Buoy 10 is scheduled to allow 2 fish per person per day only one of which may be a chinook salmon until September 1st. On September 1 it changes to 3 coho salmon per person and closed to chinook salmon. The river remains open for chinook salmon further upstream. The Chinook runs on other coastal rivers are forecast to be down again this year but huge returns of silver salmon will likely allow those fishery's to enjoy good fishing for large coastal coho salmon with many of them allowing harvest of wild fish. So if you like to salmon fish and all of the bad news about ocean chinook is getting you down, you may want to make plans to visit oregon from June to November to get in on some great coastal or Columbia River salmon fishing.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Headline - West Coast salmon fishing facing closures again in 2009. I for one am getting sick of seeing this in the news. At least the news media should be reporting the whole story, not just the doom and gloom. Yes the ocean salmon seasons both sport and commercial will most likely be limited or closed in 2009 or for at least all of California and most of Oregon to protect a depressed run of chinook salmon that call California's Sacramento River home. People that love to salmon fish read this and assume that fishing is poor or closed. Did you know that this year our spring salmon run on the Columbia River is forecast to be the third largest on record. Did you know the coastal forecast for coho salmon includes terms like "possible all time record". Did you know that virtually every river that drains into the Pacific ocean that has salmon runs is still open for fishing. This year alone the Columbia River is predicted to have nearly 2 million fish made up of coho and chinook salmon enter the river August and September. The spring chinook run on the Columbia which happens in March and April is forecast to be near or over 300,000 fish. The only thing the "Salmon fishing closed in 2009" headlines are refering to is the Ocean and only the part that has Sacramento River fall King salmon swiming in it which are the reason for the concerns. The rest of the pacific coast is all open and looks to be a year with huge numbers of salmon to catch, especially Coho salmon. The predictions for the next few years are for all of the Salmon fisheries on the west coast to rebound to abundant levels. If your planning on a salmon trip you can still fish you might just have to travel to Oregon or Washington. Fishery managers are already considering expanding daily catch limits for many fisheries due to the predicted abundance of hatchery coho salmon. Forget the headlines - go fishing if your a sport fisherman, if your a commercial fisherman read the headlines and collect your government assistance check.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife officials met this week and decided on seasons for the extremely popular Columbia River Spring Chinook Salmon fishery. Anglers, Guides and Commercial gill netters every year engage in heated battles over who gets the bigger share of these highly prized salmon. The Spring Chinook return to many rivers in Oregon but the biggest runs of fish return to the Columbia and Willamette rivers, 2009's forecast is for a huge run of springers to the Columbia. Spring Chinook salmon or Springers as we call them here are without a doubt the best eating of any salmon found anywhere. Springers on average are 10-20 lbs with a large springer being over 30 lbs, on rare occaisions 40 or 50 pound fish are caught. This years battles over sport vs Commercial allocations was particularly nasty with the fish and wildlife commissions of Oregon and Washington fighting as much as the fisherman. Finally they decided with the run of fish arriving in a few weeks with early pilot runs already in the rivers it was time to set the season so that the fisherman could make plans to fish. The Columbia river is complicated when it comes to salmon fishing. Wild fish from several tributaries are mixed in with multiple hatchery stocks of salmon. Most of the wild salmon are listed as threatened or endangered. Hatchery fish are for folks to catch to take home and eat as well as to replenish the hatchery to make more fish. The balancing act comes when trying to allow people to catch fish without harming the wild fish. Fishery managers us an impact formula to determine how many wild fish are released and the estimated mortality rates of wild fish handled to determine how many hatchery fish we can catch before the season closes. This year in an attempt to make sure we dont exceed the impacts on the wild fish they opted for a conservative but stable fishery. During the peak of the run fishing will only be allowed 3 or 4 days a week and will close with a few weeks left on the run to allow run size updates to be made. If the numbers are good it most likely will open back up in May. With it only 4 days a week finding seats on a good fishing guides boat will be tough and if your planning on it you best get on the phone ASAP, just in case here is my number 503-551-6369. I wont go into the exact dates and open areas - go to my fishing report page for the official press release.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Even in tough economic times people still like to fish, many use fishing guides to maximize their chances of success. When you think about it in these tough times fishing with a guide makes great sense. When you consider the cost of owning your own boat, storing the boat, buying all the bait, fuel and gear for a day of fishing can get very expensive making using a guide much cheaper than you would think and your chances of catching the fish your after much better. With all the boats up for sale now due to job losses and overall belt tightening the slow economy may just help the guide industry or should I say the good well respected guides that will be able to charge enough to stay afloat.
If any of you reading this have fished with guides especially ones you found on the internet you know some are very good and some are very bad regardless of what the pay per click ads or what their website claims. In Oregon fishing guides are many and very competitive for your business. Oregon has over 800 licensed fishing guides both full and part time. Out of the 800 most likely less than 100 do it full time professionally, out of that number its probably less than 50 that actually have been in business more than 10 years. Being in business for many years and staying busy is the sign of a good and well respected guide. You wont find these guides advertising on craigslist, ebay or anywhere else selling discounted trips. They are good, well known, have lots of repeat clients and lots of word of mouth referrals from those that have fished with them. When your not from the local area of a guide you are thinking of fishing with weeding through the ads online or in magazines or on tv can be a bit of a challenge. I will give my take on some of the funnier ones I have seen on pay per click sponsered ads on Google, Yahoo and other search engines.
Example 1. "Expert Oregon Fishing Guide" Fishing is HOT HOT HOT - limits of big sturgeon and salmon daily.

My take on what this should say: I am a legend in my own mind and the best fisherman in Oregon in my own opinion. I need to say this to get people to pay me to sit in a boat all day willing to put up with an arrogant ass like me. I will always tell them I catch limits every day cause I need the work and I am spending so much on Pay Per Click ads I am broke.

Example #2. Hottest Guide boat in the area, no other guides can compare.

My take: Again full of himself willing to tell you anything to seperate you from your money. Most likely not a very fun guy to fish with since he will spend most of the day telling you how he always outfishes everyone except for the day you fish with him.

Example #3. Disounted Columbia River salmon fishing trips, lunch and license included.

My take: I'm new and I dont have any customers. I have this pretty new boat and just got my guide license. I really need to make some money please fish with me.

Example #4. craigslist ad - Guided fishing trips $65 per person shore lunch included.

My take: Illeagal unlicensed guide or an idiot. Most likely someone making beer money guiding on the side without the license, insurance, coast guard license or anything else required of a legal guide. Buyer beware you will get what you pay for.

To sum this up when your looking for a good guide look for the ones that arent all about the look at me stuff. A good guide will not need to be that way. When checking on guide rates keep in mind you will get what you pay for and guides that charge more can because they provide a quality trip and are in demand. When you start looking at the cheaper guide rates you are going to find the quality of these trips and experience level of the guides will be all over the map. You may get some good guides that are new that do a very good job, you will also run into the ones that you will wish you didnt fish with too.

Rules to follow when talking with a guide about a trip.
Ask how many days a year they average on the water with customers.
Ask for some references
Ask to questions about what can be expected on the trip and try to get a feel for how honest they are. Will they tell you if the fishing is poor or will they tell you what all fisherman want to here that fishing is red hot.
Most of all try to determine if they are someone you would enjoy being in the boat with all day or for a few days. That is the most important part they need to be fun to fish with and willing to teach, share and provide an enjoyable day on the water regardless of how many fish you catch.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Its winter now for sure. After two weeks of heavy snow, ice and very cold temperatures it is now raining hard and the rivers are on the rise in a big way. Yes it does rain in Oregon. Yes it does flood in Oregon, it looks as though it will again this week. The big rains and floods arent all bad news however. The flush that high raging water gives to the rivers signals the start of the winter steelhead run and also helps to turn on the winter sturgeon fishing bite. The high water on the smaller rivers is the trigger that starts the steelhead's return from the ocean. They will wait in the saltwater until a big push of freshwater hits and they will shoot up the creeks so to speak. The high often flooding waters in the bigger rivers act as a vacuum cleaning out the silt and sediment that has built up over the summer months uncovering the clam beds and other food sources that the sturgeon like to feed on. The initial part of the high water when the debris is everywhere can make for some tough fishing conditions but those that seek out areas out of the debris flow will do very well on the sturgeon. The Steelhead rivers will be a waiting game, waiting for the rivers to drop and clear. Once they start to run kind of a milky green color it will be game on for the steelhead. All of our rivers should be full of fish as soon as they clear. While winter to many is to cold and wet to fish, to a true Northwest Fisherman it is the best time to fish.