The Fishing Thread

Nicely done!

Druidpeak wrote:

Nicely done!

Thanks! I'm going to have fun watching that once in awhile. We haven't been able to get footage till now of us getting a Chinook on the GoPro. They're so hard to catch! I always set it about 1 hour and 30 minutes before high tide because that's how long the battery lasts.

Amazing. I've been surprisingly skunked the last two times I was out for snakehead. Cobia are running now in the Bay though so I might take my nephew out around Solomons on a charter to see if we can hit some of those or some early rocks.

One day I'll hook into one.

I have 6 days of bank fishing for Steelhead on the Clearwater in Idaho with one nice fish to show for it. I have 3 days of bumping bottom with cannonballs out of a boat at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater in search of Chinook with no bites yet.

Druidpeak wrote:

One day I'll hook into one.

I have 6 days of bank fishing for Steelhead on the Clearwater in Idaho with one nice fish to show for it. I have 3 days of bumping bottom with cannonballs out of a boat at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater in search of Chinook with no bites yet.

Keep at it! Just getting one is a once-in-a lifetime experience. I guess that's why we're so addicted to it now. You keep chasing that high through all the lows.

Edit: It would be worth planning a 2 or 3 days of ocean fishing for Chinook/Halibut in Alaska at some point in your lifetime. I'd like to do that someday. None of the fisheries are getting better, so that'll kinda be the last viable place to do it.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Druidpeak wrote:

One day I'll hook into one.

I have 6 days of bank fishing for Steelhead on the Clearwater in Idaho with one nice fish to show for it. I have 3 days of bumping bottom with cannonballs out of a boat at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater in search of Chinook with no bites yet.

Keep at it! Just getting one is a once-in-a lifetime experience. I guess that's why we're so addicted to it now. You keep chasing that high through all the lows.

Edit: It would be worth planning a 2 or 3 days of ocean fishing for Chinook/Halibut in Alaska at some point in your lifetime. I'd like to do that someday. None of the fisheries are getting better, so that'll kinda be the last viable place to do it.

I keep reading about how the wildfires have made the air out there awful. Be careful if you can. Not sure what you can do about it now.

We're going Saturday/Sunday here. The coastal air quality is really good. It's been kinda bad here in Portland, but I've been able to go jogging the last couple days. Haven't been too worried about it because it's been forecasted to get better. It rained this morning here in Portland, so where I live is pretty nice.

My bro snuck out for a quick troll before work and caught a really nice Salmon in Lewiston ID at the confluence of the snake and clearwater, just an hour or so ago.

We went camping along the Columbia River in the Gorge, at Maryhill State Park, last weekend. We counted 68 boats fishing at the mouth of the Deschutes River, and 46 at the mouth of the Klickitat river. Getting reports of a good run this year.

I haven't been keeping up with the Columbia much, but they definitely opened it up to more fishing unlike some recent years. We didn't get any fish Saturday/Sunday but got a bunch of nice crabs. Going out for the last time Thursday through Sunday. Hopefully we can get one.

Druidpeak wrote:

My bro snuck out for a quick troll before work and caught a really nice Salmon in Lewiston ID at the confluence of the snake and clearwater, just an hour or so ago.

What are the salmon like when they get up that far? Are they getting reddish bellies and getting slimy? Kinda curious. What's the fishing method up that high too? Are they doing spinners? It seems like most Columbia stuff everywhere is Pro Troll with a 3.5" spinner, but I could bet wrong.

It's been a few years but I remember a big flasher and then herring or fake herring with scent added. All set so that a Cannonball is just about to bounce bottom when trolling. I'll see if my bro is ok with me posting a pic.

Edit: Yup, looks like it's the pro-troll setup. Pro Troll. Using attached cannonballs instead of the downriggers. Out of curiosity I tried the downriggers when I was fishing there and they were too much to mess with with the inconsistent depth of the river there.

Yeah, we sometimes do Pro Trolls with herring but usually only do that if we have more than 2 people. Tried a Pro Troll with a spinner last weekend for fun. They need more weight and tend to pick up weeds more in the Yaquina. We haven't noticed them doing better than 10" 360 triangle flashers in that river. Heading out tomorrow to fish our final four days. Not too hopeful. It's getting late in the season for Chinook. Probably will just hook a ton of Coho like last weekend.

I've caught 2 small ones each day the last two days. Our last day of fishing is tomorrow. All the Chinook are moving upriver and turning/getting old. The one I got yesterday was getting a little pink in the belly, humpy, and had a little jaw hook. Today, I went on our friend's Tolman to help out with the fishing part of things. First Chinook for his new boat! He netted the thing perfectly. Here are some pictures!

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/pF28rgE.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/l8h4Vf8.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/cLRX5IW.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/YTlCTrB.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/WaO84m4.jpg)

Here are some good pictures of the boat:

IMAGE(https://imgur.com/Z6LAshm.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/mUTDET4.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/8gGH62o.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/xN2fCmN.jpg)

Our 2nd annual crabbing trip to Nehalem Bay was last weekend. We went out on an outgoing tide, and only had 3 hours on the rental boats, but it was more about getting out with the family. This was the last trip we did with my dad last year, before he unexpectedly passed in December, and it looks like it's going to become a yearly thing. 3 keepers(Dungeness) between the two boats, we had 10 or more last year on one. Catching the tide just before it's high seems to be pretty key.

Overall a fun experience. $110 gets you a boat for 2 hours, and 3 baited crab rings, from Kelly's Marina. They cook your catch for you as well. Lots of talk among the family about bringing personal boats over next year, and probably putting in a few more days.

Druidpeak wrote:

Our 2nd annual crabbing trip to Nehalem Bay was last weekend. We went out on an outgoing tide, and only had 3 hours on the rental boats, but it was more about getting out with the family. This was the last trip we did with my dad last year, before he unexpectedly passed in December, and it looks like it's going to become a yearly thing. 3 keepers(Dungeness) between the two boats, we had 10 or more last year on one. Catching the tide just before it's high seems to be pretty key.

Overall a fun experience. $110 gets you a boat for 2 hours, and 3 baited crab rings, from Kelly's Marina. They cook your catch for you as well. Lots of talk among the family about bringing personal boats over next year, and probably putting in a few more days.

All right! I've loved renting boats to crab in the past. Even if you don't get anything, it's fun to get out on the water.

In other news, since we're moving to Newport in a couple weeks, I got a pole and reel for surf perch fishing. Gonna have a go at that. Should taste like rockfish. Hoping I can get them at Agate Beach because we'll live less than a mile away.

Surf fishing has been on my mind a bit over the past few years. I'm definitely curious about how it works out for you.

My oldest had a cub scout requirement that asked us to make fishing poles. I grabbed some bamboo from the home improvement store and we had a go at it. We went to a fishing pond on some state fish and game land. Some bamboo, line, bobber, hook, and worm later we were fishing. Some good bites but no fish.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/Zp0xUEm.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/mb4LHwo.jpg)

Fun!!!

Went out and got some herring this evening with a fellow Tolman boat builder. We got over 60. Tide was weird, so it was just getting good as we had to quit. I managed to pull up a full 6 on my last jigging. Got a bunch of halibut bait now, and I have two brining to smoke tomorrow. Kippers!

It was so fun.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/027qkTF.jpg)

Yum.

Blue Clover got its first halibuts! After 1 failed attempt this year, we went to the same place and got our two halibut. It's kind of amazing to take the boat out there. Weather has been really windy as of late, it's been hard to get out when they allow for all-depth halibut fishing in Oregon. This was kinda the last chance I had time-wise with work to go, and we prepped all of Thursday while the weather was bad. Since I live in Newport now, my dad stayed in our newly refinished guest room. Woke up a bit before 4am, made coffee and took a shower, and we rolled over to the boat ramp and had the boat in the water by 4:45am. Took off across the bar and went out 15ish miles and got our fish before noon! We got a 33" and a 30" fish. I think 38-40" is probably the ideal eating fish given the effort, but there are fantastic fillets off of the size we got.

The boat is great. We only use around 10 gallons of fuel for a trip like that 15 miles offshore (We have a 30 gallon tank and have been taking a couple 5 gallon cans of gas because we're paranoid). It's fun to see all the giant boats with a couple motors going and speculate on the fuel bill for doing the exact same thing we are.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/flilfnZ.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/F0Ju84H.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/5WAzFgi.jpg)

It was a real achievement to build a boat, get out there, and do this. Kind of a bucket list thing for me. Definitely want to keep doing it hopefully. We actually ended up getting them with chunks of the herring from my previous post in this thread! For whatever reason, hoochie plus chunk of Yaquina Bay herring worked. Kinda cool!

I made some Food Lab tartar sauce with the homemade mayo recipe to cook up some of the halibut:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/pNzzg4Z.jpg)

Took a coworker and his friend out for salmon trying to hunt down some hatchery coho since it's been good around here lately. Water was too cold inshore, so I ended up taking them 15 miles out to Stonewall Bank where the water warmed up. Found some boats out that way and stopped to start fishing. Huge gray whale popped up right by us and there were 2 or 3 more a little further away. Could see the whole tail come out of the water. It was early in the morning and sunny. It was just an incredible moment. Started fishing and caught and released a wild in about 10 minutes. Got a hatchery coho in another 15 or so minutes. At that point I set a timer of an hour before we would head home because they were seasick. About 15 minutes before heading home, the friend hooked a Chinook (that person had all the fish that day). We were able to keep everything in control and got that fish without issue. Nice fat medium Chinook at 21 lbs. I got a couple belly pieces I cooked up that evening, the cheeks, carcasses, 2 other pieces of the Chinook, and a couple coho pieces which I'm gonna have tonight. First ocean Chinook caught on Blue Clover! And it was on light tackle really geared for coho. One of my favorite fishing experiences.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/VIR6Rhc.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/LjDw0Kj.jpg)

Went out to Stonewall Bank (15 miles out of Newport) with my dad, brother, and 8-year-old niece, and we got 6 chinook and two hatchery coho while mostly trying to target chinook. It was a good day. First time we've ever gotten an ocean limit for the boat. Fished the river the last couple days after work with a couple coworkers and have come up with nothing. Ah well, they've been beautiful evenings on the water in the Yaquina.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/wCpnhB0.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/9VbP255.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/LuORACV.jpg)

Nice work!

We went camping at Newport this weekend for my eldest's birthday. Went out on the crabbing dock and stood shoulder to shoulder with folks out there. Only had the pot down for about 50 minutes(kiddos were done waiting around) and caught a little female rock crab. While it was technically a keeper, we tossed her back.

It was a beautiful weekend to be in Newport with the family, but I'll probably try to sneak down on a crummier day to do some crabbing without the kiddos this fall.

Let me know if you come down on a crummy day this fall on the weekend. I do want to take the boat out just to crab a couple times here in October and November. Timing will be up in the air, but maybe you could get out on the boat instead of just trying from the pier.

Rise thread and swim again!

A friend of mine sent me this video about the Japanese human method of killing fish called ikejime and it got me thinking about both the ethics of the regular practice of asphyxiation and how adopting this practice might improve my dining experience. In any event, I am intrigued. Has anyone here ever done this?