Buoy 10 salmon fishing going strong into final week

They call it a “Coho Rodeo,” and the name is apt.

Even the captain had to get involved with netting the feisty, crazy-fighting salmon when the deckhand couldn’t keep up.

Fishing rods kept lighting up with the hard-hitting fish and any delay in netting them could mean the silvery torpedoes could easily throw the barbless hooks.

We were fishing the ocean in Captain Wally Coon’s boat — the Salty Dog — one of the Sea Breeze Charters’ fishing fleet out of Ilwaco. It seemed everyone was hooking a lot of fish.

Except one reporter. The schools seemed happy to hammer everyone else’s bait, but a few drive-byes were all that his rod had attracted. Eventually, though, even he managed to land a coho.

It’s obvious that there sure are a lot of salmon out there. And, most of them are headed into the Columbia River.

That’s good news heading toward the last week of chinook fishing in the popular Buoy 10 fishery. With the in-river action heating up, and with the big numbers of salmon staging in the ocean, the action should be excellent. The only problem could come if anglers start catching too many fish, forcing a closure.

Fishing guide Casey Kelly of NW Columbia Fishing Adventures has been fishing the ocean and in-river too.

“It’s been insanity out here the last couple days,” Kelly said. “We’ve hooked over 40 fish every day.

“There’s a lot of opportunity in the river, and we are starting to see more upriver brights. We have been catching a lot of tule chinook.”

Tule chinook are an early returning fall chinook. They come in quick and spawn almost directly. They are poor table fare in the lower Columbia, but are good quality in the ocean and Buoy 10.

Ocean chinook catches have been so high in the near-shore areas that the states were forced to close the shallow areas to slow the catch. However, after just a few days, they were still forced to close the ocean to chinook retention entirely.

The high numbers of tules are actually a good thing. Kelly pointed out that the tules are the biggest constraint in the Buoy 10 fishery, especially the wild ones. He said a strong return of these fish gives anglers a little more leeway.

Marvin Henkel of Marvin’s Guide Service echoed Kelly’s report of excellent fishing.

“It’s been red hot,” he said. “Today I had 10 coho in an hour and a half, and 10 the day before, too.”

Henkel also reported catching a lot of tules, especially in the salt water off the beaches.

“Before they closed it in-shore we had been releasing a lot of tules,” he said, adding that a lot of the salmon were smaller, in the 24-to-28-inch range.

There are so many tules, Kelly believes the states may have under-forecast the strength of the tule run.

“I think they have missed their forecast for the tule run,” Kelly said. “Hopefully, there are more tules around than we thought. Those can make or break a season.”

The ocean may not stay open for coho for very long, given the hot bite out past the Buoy 10. But, as long as it stays open, anglers will take advantage of it.

“As long as I can go outside, I will fish the ocean and then come back in,” Henkel said.

A lot of those coho are now reportedly pushing into the Columbia River, moving in on the strong recent tides. There are also more chinook coming in.

“A couple days ago above the bridge we nailed five nice chinook,” Henkel said. “They are definitely starting to get some more coho on the incoming tide, too.”

Anglers were eventually facing some smaller tides this past week, which can slow the bite.

“These fish like current, so sometimes with these smaller tides, they take a look (at the bait), and just go right back down,” Kelly said.

However, going into the last days of the season, the tides look good, and just in time for the non-select chinook fishery. Anglers have been held to a mark-select fishery for the last two weeks, which means anglers have had to release unclipped chinook in-river. Starting Aug. 25, they can keep any chinook, clipped or not.

Hatchery origin salmon have a clipped adipose fin. The daily limit is two salmon, only one of which can be the highly prized chinook.

Understanding the tides is of unparalleled importance in the Buoy 10 fishery, and that includes where in the huge estuary anglers should be fishing. Kelly said the tides dictate where he will fish on any given day.

“If it’s a high tide we fish above the (Astoria-Megler) Bridge,” he said. “We want to be on them as the tide runs out.

“If it’s a low tide in the morning, we will go down low and wait for the incoming tide to push the fish in that flushed down back in.”

Whichever tide is being fished, there are some strong rules for good fishing here.

First, nothing seems to work better than running the 360 flashers. These pulsating flashers really get the salmon excited to bite. They have revolutionized salmon fishing.

At the business end, guides and anglers have some choices. These include spinners, if the water is cold enough. The plastic bait-infused cut-plug lures are a popular choice, such as the Spinfish, or the Super Baits. Herring and anchovies can also work well.

“Super baits and spinners have worked a lot better lately,” Kelly said. “We are starting to have some pretty good days on them. Anchovies have been really good this year, too.”

Henkel also fishes the 360 flashers, and he has had good days with the plastic baits.

The spinners work best with colder water, and that has been the case in the fishery this year.

“The water is colder than we expected, so even on a low tide we are seeing more 65, 63-degree water,” Kelly noted. “Most years at the Astoria Bridge the water is around 68 or 69 degrees. This year it is staying cold, so that is good.”

Everything is lining up nicely for a strong finish to the fishery, which will close for chinook retention on Sept. 2, unless the catch forces an early closure. Still, anglers can continue to fish for coho after that date, and with the strong catches off the estuary, this should be a good season for coho, too.

Remember to always check the regulations before you fish, including the emergency actions. The chinook retention could close with short notice. Check the emergency rules changes online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/emergency-rules.