Fishing Opportunities - Tillamook and Columbia River

We've got some fishing opportunities this week. I'm thinking we're going to have a decent week. This could be one of the better weeks in the entire year. I think steelhead fishing is going to be really good down the coast, and pretty much anywhere from the Umpqua north I think we're going to have fish.

We're going to have opportunities. I think you're going to find good conditions as well. You're going to have color. You're going to have pining on your side. I mean, March 10, c'mon. I'm fired up. I've got a ton of trips to run this week down on the coast, the Wilson River and the Nestucca River. I'm totally stoked.

There’s going to be some steelhead fishing to be done, and there are going to be some opportunities coming on this drop that are going to be pretty epic. It's going to be good.

I'm really fired up about how this season has gone. I'm fired up about how good it's been compared to what we were thinking it was going to be, and I'm pretty much in at this point to think we're going to see pretty consistent fishing throughout the month of March on the coast. No matter where you're fishing, I think you're going to find it.

Lock it up. Book it. If you're thinking about going, just go. I think you're going to find some pretty good fishing, and I'm going to show up with my Loomis rods, my float rods, and go have a ball.

Columbia River Spring Chinook

I just can't wait. I'm totally fired up. What I'm also fired up about - here's the other part - is that I think we're going to actually have salmon caught locally in the Columbia River this week. I'm not saying there will be tons. I don't think it's going to be a bloodbath by any means. But I think High Five's going to kick out a few fish. I think Davis might kick out a few fish.

Davis hasn't fished that well, the last few years. You know how things change. They do. Caterpillar has done better. Sauvies Island has done better. The Sauvies side is going to be muddied up. It's going to be primarily Caterpillar on up if we've got mud coming out of the Willamette.

But there are going to be opportunities as we get into this week. Think about it. We're getting into the middle of the month, the 15th, which is when a lot of guys really start hitting the Columbia. That's Wednesday. We're there.

The only thing that's not going to make it totally game on is that we've got 100,000+ coming back versus 300,000. We just don't have huge numbers coming back. But there's going to be some fish swimming around.

There are going to be some purple backs, some snow bellies swimming around. I'm going to be out there. I'm going to put in some time and get some hours under me. And if I do something, I'm not going to tell you. No, I'm kidding.

See, here's the thing about reports now. What is it going to do? I go out and catch two. What does that mean? Everybody else is going to go? You could go out and catch two tomorrow and not catch anything else for the week.

We know that's how that goes. You go out and catch a couple fish, you're just going to be stoked, and that's all there is going to be to it. But that doesn't mean you go out and catch a couple more the next day. If you do, hey, maybe you're onto something. Maybe you've got something going with your mojo that nobody else has got going.

Speaking of mojo, aren't springers when a lot of people put their mojo on it? They start monkeying with scents and all the stuff people do on springers. The dyed herring, this-herring and that-herring, and this works and that works and no, it doesn't and yes, it did last year.

Isn’t that springer fishing? Oh, it worked two years ago, and it hasn't since. That's just how it is. Give me a good - a good - herring and you're probably going to be okay. Just learn how to spin that thing. You're probably going to do just fine. People get into it. Hey, bottom line is there are things that work.

Guys get going on anis. Guys get going on garlic. Fishing for salmon. Whether it’s on the Willamette or the Columbia. These aren't secrets. Some years they work. Some days they work. The question is, is it just because? Is it just because it was that day and you happened to get in front of a few? Or did it actually do something?

I don't know. I'm going to find out. I know I'll have some gear with me. I've got my IMX 1174's rigged up. I'm going to have my Willie Boat. Got my Mercury Motors. I have a bunch of sharp Gami hooks, and some really good-looking baits. That's what I’m going to have as I hit it.

Fishing in Portland- Spring Chinook on the Willamette and Columbia

Let’s talk about the fishing in Portland. In the Portland area we've got Salmon in our perimeter right now. We've got bogies in the water. We've got fish in the Willamette. As we speak, we're getting dirty on the Willamette. We've had some fish caught already on the Willamette. And we're going to have a lot more caught over the next month and a half, two months.

What a blessing, huh? Living here in the Portland area, to be able to go out and fish the Willamette. Literally, we’ve got Sellwood Bridge, Milwaukee, Knife Point, Lake Oswego, the Trestle, West Linn, Cedar Oaks, Oregon City, the Garbage Hole, the Sandbar and Meldrum Bar. Are you serious? In downtown Portland, we get into the Harbor and the Fremont and down to Fred's Marina. C'mon, I'm listing these places off and we're in the city limits. It's absolutely amazing that we've got these opportunities.

I'm getting cranked up because I'm getting in the power boat this week for the first time this year, and I'm fired up. I'm ready to go. I've got the gear ready. I'm ready to get on the home river, and I haven't even gotten to the Columbia River. As a Portland fishing guide, you live for this time of year.

Of course, we've got some dirty water on the Willamette River, but you can always step above the Willamette and see some of the most beautiful water you've ever seen rolling down the Columbia River. High Five. Portland Airport. C'mon, seriously, I'm just ripping them off. Davis Bar. Caterpillar Island. It's all right here, and it's pretty amazing.

We are so blessed. Just outside your door wherever you're listening in the Portland area to be able to drive in any direction, jump in the boat, go fishing and have a legitimate opportunity to catch some fish. That's pretty special. For people coming in from outside the area to be able to fly into Portland International, literally get their gear and be to a hotel and potentially fishing within two hours. That's ridiculous. Then a 25-30 minute drive back to the airport.

I get clients who will fly into PDX and drive out 205. They'll stay at the Rivershore Hotel and, literally, they're overlooking the Garbage Hole at that point. In fact, a lot of times with the afternoon bites and plenty of fish getting caught in the Garbage Hole, it's about all people can do to not jump off the balcony and into the river. If they could make it, they'd do it. Then, of course, they have to wait for the next day to go out and do the fishing. How cool is that? How special is that?

Or, fish the Columbia RIver. I just wish the Columbia Spring Chinook season was longer. I just wish we had more of a crack at them. That'd just make it better. Back when we had 400,000 springers on the Columbia? That was some good fishing. Four hundred and fifty thousand springers. That was, "Wow!" That was fun.

Are we going to do that again? Are you going to ever see Bonneville again? I don't think so. I don't think they're going to ever let us see Bonneville again for springers. That was just too much fun, wasn't it?

We were talking earlier in the show about fun. It seems as if there are the Too Much Fun Police running around.

“Oh, no, they're having too much fun. That's it. Cut it off. Nope, that's too much fun. You just caught a limit before noon. Everybody's catching fish - nope, that's too much fun.

I got an idea. I think we're having too much fun here. I think what we should do is probably put the kibosh on all these programs that actually got salmon back to our rivers and maybe we should all meditate around the fact that a couple salmon actually made it up to the upper reaches of the Metolius River. We can all sit around and drink tea, eat crumpets and pat ourselves on the backs for the $100 million we spent to get a few fish back to the Metolius.”

That right there, that's the difference. You've got people who want to create runs and do something good with what we've got. Then you've got the other group that wants to go spend a bunch of money on something they can smoke weed over and think is really cool. I mean, seriously. You've got to smoke weed in order to think that's cool.

“Hey, well, we've got six salmon back to the Metolius this year. Hey, dude, I think your bogarting that joint.”

I just can't imagine that you can even take this stuff seriously. This stuff they're doing on the Clackamas River and Tacoma Power & Light where they're trucking in fish. And they're acting like they're doing something, like they're creating something. What a friggin’ waste. Really.

Is that what we've got? We've got a bunch of No Fun Police. I started just being thankful for the opportunities we have, and I can't help as I sit here in Portland and think about all the opportunities we could have that are beyond what we have. Opportunities like we once had. I think about that and I go, "Gosh, there's a lot of room to improve, isn't there?"

If you're a CEO and you're coming in to help out, you look at the Portland area, you're in charge of fishing and you go, "Man, this is friggin’ awesome!" Then upon further review, you're like, "What the hell are these people thinking? Whose idea was it to give up Clackamas River summer steelhead?"

“Let's put in bull trout.” Seriously. That's what these yoyos did. I wonder how much weed that took!

“Hey, man, I think we should wipe out the summer steelhead run that people from all over, young kids on TriMet busses and everybody else - let's wipe those out and let's reestablish the bull trout. Once that's done, maybe we'll start on the dodo bird, man.”

Because that's what these people think. It's so useless.