8-31-09:
Out the door at 4:30 am, well .....almost. Larry Dale's alarm didn't go off so we had to awaken his bride so that she could get him dressed and out the door. Phil Reed received reports that there were fish in the Tillamook Bay so that is where he decided we should try our luck rather than out on the jetty. We were on the water a little after 7:00 and pulled into the "Ghost Hole" after a short 5 minute ride. Within 10 minutes I had our first Coho in the net. Unfortunately it was wild and had to be released. Phil had a bite just before that and Larry landed another about a half our later. Again, it was a wild fish and released. We were the only boat on the water at the Ghost Hole for about a half hour but a few boats joined us one by one until there were about 5 or 6. As far as we could tell we were the only ones to catch any fish. After a lull in the action Phil decided to switch to heavier weights and smaller hooks. Within a few minutes I landed another nice Coho but once again it was wild. Then just around high tide at 11:00 am Larry landed his second fish. This time it was a hatchery and came into the boat. I was really impressed by the action these Coho put out. They area ball to catch. The winds came up pretty strong around noon so we reluctantly headed for the dock.
According to the ODFW surveyor there were only a few fish brought in. We were the only ones to catch any fish at the Ghost Hole and apparently the jetty came up dry. We did see one nice Chinook that was taken in the ocean.
Phil marked a lot of fish on his fish finder and there were many on the bottom that appeared to be Chinook. We really had a great time and Phil showed that his skill was the deciding factor in providing a successful trip. Frank Stout
09-12-09
Here is a picture of my two clients on Tillamook Bay, the pictures were taken by Bill Monroe of the Oregonian who was also fishing there at the time, one picture and short article will appear unday in the Outdoors section of the Oregonian newspaper. You might know the angler on the left, he is Steve Massie of Siletz, better know as "Safeway Steve" and work at the Safeway store here in Newport.Steve and his Dad, Bill fished with me and took home 5 Chinooks, ranging in size from 30-24 lbs, also two nice fat Jack Chinooks, Mr. Monroe was so impressed that we were catching fish when no one else was and came over to get pictures and info on what we were doing, sure made a great day even better. thanks for passing this on. Phil
09-20-09 Frank
On Sunday, Phil Reed took my uncle Tom, nephew Patrick and I fishing on the Yaquina. We left the dock at 7:00 am and took a quick pass along the LPG tank at the later part of low tide but no luck. We then proceeded up the river and started trolling herring from the power lines up river toward the oyster farm. There were a lot of boats but we only saw 2 fish caught with only one of those put into the boat before noon. There were a lot of boats on the river but no one seemed to be having any luck until my nephew had his first strike at about 12:30. He landed a nice 10 lb wild coho. At just about the same time another boat near us landed another. We were near the oyster farm at the time. We continued to fish through high tide at 2:00 pm until approximately 3:30 but with no other strikes. We saw a few caught after putting our one and only in the boat but not very many for the number of boats on the water. My uncle is from California and my nephew is from Colorado Springs. This was his first salmon and Phil provided him with a great memory that will never be lost. Frank
Here are some stories with no photos:
09-15-09:
The day started at the South Beach marina ramp at 7 am on Tuesday (9-15). Wayne Hill met Tom Simpson for a day of crabbing and fishing. Tom had dropped crab pots in the ocean the night before to "soak" so the first run was check the crab pots. The ocean was starting to lay down after the recent storm but it must have been too rough as there were very few crab in three pots and one pot was missing. After many whale sightings, the search for the missing pot was abandoned and the three pots were rebaited and returned to the ocean.
Once back in the bay, herring were caught and the fishermen went up the bay to across from Sawyer's Landing. After only one strike on Tom's pole in about an hour's time, high tide arrived. Tom hooked a "hot" fish that took several reel singing runs and was finally herded into the net....a nice wild buck coho about 13#'s. Shortly after Wayne hooked a fish and as Tom was reeling in to grab the net he also had a takedown. It was a "double header". As both were wild coho and you are only allowed one per day per person, Tom released his fish and got Wayne's fish in the net. It was a nice 12# hen coho. With a limit of wild coho, fishing turned to Chinook for about an hour. None were biting. It seemed that the bite was close to or at high tide.
The trip was topped off by a return trip to the ocean to pull the pots left earlier and find the one missing pot. The three pots held only a couple more crab and after scouting for the missing pot, it was finally located. It had drifted nearly a mile south of the location it was dropped and it had no crab. Just off the north jetty a whale was taking a leisurely cruise on the surface and offered a great close up view. Of course the batteries in Tom's camera were dead and by the time new batteries were loaded, the whale was no longer on the surface enough to snap good pictures. After a very great day, it ended back at the dock at 3 pm.
There are coho in the bay and they are biting. There were several others caught on nearby boats but it could not have been any better than the experience of Wayne and Tom. The day would yield 2 wild coho and 6 large ocean crab. Tom proved to be a great skipper and guide.
This year you are allowed one wild coho per day and a total of 5 for the season. Reports are that a few chinook have been landed but are not nearly as plentiful as the coho.
09-22-09:
This in from Tom Simpson...............................
Good morning Wayne,
I am up and headed out the door after a quick bite for a long off shore trip for tuna. Should be fun and the ocean is supposed to cooperate too!
We ended up with our 2 Coho, 9 & 11 lbs. Had 5 other take downs, including Bob getting hit right at the boat by an estimated 20-25lb Chinook as he was reeling in to change bait. It came unhooked after about a 2 minute fight, so we got to cuss it a little! Grass was still very bad!
We had strikes throughout the incoming tide, not just at tide change. We watched several other fish get caught too.
Went out last night and went bottom fishing. Got a limit of Sea Bass. One of the guys on board got a very nice 39" Ling. That was our bonus fish! Beautiful, HOT, evening out on the ocean. Lots of whales again, sometimes very close to the boat.
Have a great day. Hopefully tomorrow I will be doing nothing but running the vacuum packer.
Thanks for the great stories and the wonder pictures. Keep 'em coming!
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