The Buoy 10 fishery has been open for two weeks now, and a number of fishing patterns are beginning to emerge.
Catches have improved over the last week, and anglers and guides are figuring where to be to intercept the schools. They are also locking in on the patterns of bait, depth, and tides.
Coho catches have been surprisingly good, and the fish are in excellent condition. Many guides and anglers think that the coho run will return better than expected.
The improved coho fishing, and good catches in the salt prior to this week, bode well for the second half of this fishery when the season closes for Chinook after Aug. 24.
The Chinook are also in good condition, but they are a little harder to find. Most Buoy 10 fishermen think that part of the run will come in about as expected.
An estimated 375,500 fall Chinook and 213,600 coho should return to the Columbia River this fall.
Conditions and tides may be just about perfect for this coming weekend’s fishing.
Catches and effort have increased. Washington creel surveys show that from Aug. 1-7, 1,312 anglers caught 188 Chinook and 16 coho. From Aug. 8-12, 615 anglers kept 161 Chinook and 43 coho.
Oregon creel surveys show that during the last full week 2,437 anglers kept 390 Chinook and 20 coho. They released another 94 Chinook and 29 coho.
Coho catches improved on Monday according to guides, and that was reflected in the creel surveys.
A good place to start the day is out at the Buoy 10 line. Guide Terry Mulkey of Mulkey’s Fishing Guide Service, and Brandon Glass of Team Hook-up Guide Service both reported good fishing there on Monday morning.
“There was a decent bite right at Buoy 10 this morning,” said Glass, who reported seeing more coho caught that morning than he had seen yet.
Terry Mulkey also found a decent bite at the buoy on Monday and had four fish in his box before noon, including two Chinook and two coho.
“Today I saw about 40 fish caught out there for about 150 boats, and I’m sure there were fish caught that I did not see,” he said.
He reports the Chinook are running from 16 to 20 pounds on average, with some fish to 25 pounds, and he has taken a 30-pound Chinook already this year.
Glass reports that the strong outgoing tides this last week produced a tough bite.
“There has been a poor bite on the big outgoes,” said Glass. “We are really struggling to get them to go.”
Strong tides create heavy current that pushes the schools of salmon back behind the headlands where they keg up but are tough to tease into biting.
The tides will weaken quite a bit this weekend, and that should mean better fishing.
Both guides are looking forward to this weekend’s softer tides, which should cause the fish to hold in the estuary for a few days before moving upriver.
“This Thursday through Saturday on the softer tides the pro-trolls should work pretty well,” Glass said.
Pro-troll flashers which work best in slow current situations. They are often fished with spinners or the Brad’s Super Baits.
Mulkey’s trolling tactics
Mulkey reports that he is finding most of his fish suspended in the water column. He is using 12 to 16 ounces of lead and running 25 to 30 feet off his line counter reels.
He runs lead droppers for everyone when he is fishing four or fewer anglers. If he has a full boat of six fishers he will run divers on four rods, and lead on two.
His trolling tactic has been to follow the schools as they move up the estuary.
“Once that bite stops at Buoy 10 we fall back in front of Hammond, and wait for them to come in,” Mulkey said. “After that bite we fall back again and try to get in front of those fish.”
“On the Washington side after the bite at the buoy fall back to Chinook, and then fall back to the (Astoria/Megler) bridge.”
Bait best so far
Monroe’s best bite has come on anchovies. Mulkey has also found the best bite to be on bait, but spinners will still produce at times, and the tides this weekend should be perfect for a spinner presentation.
Look for the fishing to continue to improve as the Chinook season approaches the closure. Coho fishing should remain good into early September. There will be a slight lull in the action in the later half of the month until the late run of coho enters the river in early October.
Regulations: Barbless hooks are required for all salmon and steelhead angling in the Columbia River. Anglers may keep one salmonid per day, which can be one chinook, one fin-clipped coho, or one fin-clipped steelhead. Fishing in the ocean off the mouth of the Columbia (Marine Area 1) is now closed. Always check the regulations before fishing.
Guides List
Mulkey’s Guide Service, Terry Mulkey: (503) 803-1896, http://www.mulkeysguideservice.com/
Team Hook-up Guide service, Brandon Glass: (503) 260-8285, https://teamhookupfishing.com/
