Coho, it's what's for dinner!

[alm21]

Headed down to Ilwaco to meet up with a friend and some of his salty dog fishing buddies. They had been out on Saturday and I joined up with them early Sunday morning. We headed out on the 36-footer to cross the bar. Conditions didn’t sound too hot and the bar was closed to craft under 25’. I have never crossed that bar before and as we headed into it the captain didn’t like what he saw. Further out, you could see the swells breaking hard and the ones we were in seemed as big as the boat. With his 50yrs of experience, he decided to turn around and head back to the marina. So we hung out for an hour or so and then headed back out. The bar conditions improved but it was still quite a ride. We got out there and I have to admit that I didn’t have my sea legs (plus I was going on 2.5hrs of sleep) and it was getting to me. Anyway, it didn’t take too long to get into some action. In the end, we caught 4 silvers (2hatchery/2wild). Lost a few and had plenty of strikes that didn’t stick. Having never caught silvers in the salt, I was amazed at how blue and white they are in the water. Something you just don’t see upriver no matter how chrome they are. According to the guys, the fishing was ok. The day before, they all picked up a fish each. My rod only had a couple strikes so I didn’t get into any first hand. However, the bounty for the couple days was split across the boat so I did have some fresh coho from the salt to take home.

Sunday’s catch:


My little eater. You know what’s for dinner tonight!

 

[Raincatcher]

Mmmmm,tasty reward for braving the bar! :clap:

 

[Sinkline]

.

 

[steelhead_slayer]

nice work getting out and getting experience this year

 

[bran_man]

Wow bright and Chrome as can be! I'm jealous! Ha ha good job! Looks like you've been wackin em pretty good!

 

[dtikey]

Nice ho Alex glad you guys got out and back in safe

 

[fishinshawn]

nice one! With a serious lack of coho hatcheries anymore I am always surprised when some hatchery hoho's are caught! I love fighting them in the salt, they never seem to get up and fight and deathroll even right beside the boat.

 

[alm21]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, those fish went nuts launching out of the water every which way. Death rolls right into the boat for sure! Here's what the fillets looked like, doesn't get any better.

 

[alm21]

nice work getting out and getting experience this year

It's been a fun year full of new and exciting experiences. Fishing out on the ocean is team sport. Love it! Being green, I mainly observed the routines and helped with the basic tasks. Looking forward to an opportunity to do it again.

 

[alm21]

Nice ho Alex glad you guys got out and back in safe

Going out in overcast and squall conditions was a hold on or fall off ride! Coming back in, the bar had laid down and it was cruising under the sun. The power of the Columbia running head on into the Pacific is an amazing force.

 

[rogerdodger]

those look tasty, thanks for posting the photos. it has me counting the days to Sept. 15 when our rivers open for wild Coho: 15 + 31 + 7 =53 days !!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo.

 

[mikeredding]

those look tasty, thanks for posting the photos. it has me counting the days to Sept. 15 when our rivers open for wild Coho: 15 + 31 + 7 =53 days !!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo.

AND it is on a Saturday this year. Which means I will be there for the opening day zoo.

 

[rogerdodger]

AND it is on a Saturday this year. Which means I will be there for the opening day zoo.

hey that is correct, add 2 days for us since we are planning to skip the weekend days and fishing on weekdays...

 

[JeannaJigs]

I somehow missed this, those are some mint chromers. Gotta love 'em when they're so fresh the scales go flying everywhere.

those look tasty, thanks for posting the photos. it has me counting the days to Sept. 15 when our rivers open for wild Coho: 15 + 31 + 7 =53 days !!!!!!!!!!!! woo hoo.

Ya until the quota is filled, went pretty quick last year, though it is a higher quota this year. Remember also...the rivers are not the same regs as some of the lakes, and some of the rivers have different opening and closure dates (although the closure dates are kinda a joke because the quota is always met quickly), in addition to different quotas.

Sept. 15-Nov. 30. 1 wild coho daily/2 seasonal in aggregate with other rivers with a 2 wild fish seasonal limit [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial](Siletz River, Yaquina River, Alsea River, Siuslaw River, Umpqua River)[/FONT][/FONT].

 

[fishinshawn]

I somehow missed this, those are some mint chromers. Gotta love 'em when they're so fresh the scales go flying everywhere.



Ya until the quota is filled, went pretty quick last year, though it is a higher quota this year. Remember also...the rivers are not the same regs as some of the lakes, and some of the rivers have different opening and closure dates (although the closure dates are kinda a joke because the quota is always met quickly), in addition to different quotas.

Sept. 15-Nov. 30. 1 wild coho daily/2 seasonal in aggregate with other rivers with a 2 wild fish seasonal limit [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial](Siletz River, Yaquina River, Alsea River, Siuslaw River, Umpqua River)[/FONT][/FONT].

Please try and use those 2 wild coho's for mortally injured ones(any blood) that you happen into in the lower tide water while chinook fishing. Coho have a very high mortality rate until their scales get "set", which sometimes isn't until they are up into all fresh water.

 

[mikeredding]

Last year there were very few coho being caught in the Siuslaw until the day it stormed and the quota filled the next day.
I will keep the first two I put in my boat!

 

[rogerdodger]

FYI- road construction signs just went up on 126 from Mapleton to Florence, looks like they are finally repaving the stretch from just west of Mapleton (where it goes back to 2 lanes) all the way into Florence. One sign indicated "Road Construction: Fall 2012", the road work is needed for sure but repaving probably means lots of one-lane/flagger action, so this might suck for EUG folks coming over during King/Coho season....

 

[Irishrover]

Alm21 nice post. I'm down here now here now waiting to get across the bar and out to the ocean. I've only been able to cross the bar one day this month and it was a smooth ride. When the weather turns hot in the valley the ocean turns to junk, so we have been fishing the river waiting for the weather to turn. I play it safe with the Columbia bar, as well as any other bar. The ocean is a great place to catch fresh chrome bright fish and I enjoyed your observation with regard to the color of the ocean fish. I hope you have many more opportunities to venture out onto the salt to land those very fresh fish. If you happen to like history and sea stories get a coy of "World's Most Dangerous" a history of the Columbia River Bar, it's piolts and their equipment. It's a great read and will make you appreciate crossing the bar for shure.

 

[salsinker]

Man those filets look nice.