Columbia "Buoy Ten" Fall Salmon Fishing

August means Fall Chinook. With the end of Summer Steelhead season, comes Fall King fishing on the Columbia, better known as Buoy Ten.

 

Beginning the first week of August, Approximately 376,800 fall chinook salmon are expected to return to the Columbia River at Astoria Oregon - up from 219,600 fish last year.  This year's fishery should benefit from an estimated return of 86,200 upriver bright kings (URB's) - up from 14,600 last year - bund for the Spring Creek hatchery above Bonneville Dam.  With water temps in the high 60's, these fish will come in and out of the Columbia river withthe tides.

 

We are going to target these fish out of the Warrenton Marina this year in the calm waters around the Astoria bridge both on the Washington and Oregon side of the river. The famous "Church Hole" and "Shipwreck" will produce limits of King Salmon. Trolling is the name of the game here. Using 10'6" mooching rods from Fetha-Styx, level wind Shimano Bantam 50 reels loaded with braided line, we will troll the Delta Diver Fish Flash combo along with various spinners and cut-plug herring.

 

Most of the fish will average 20 to 35 pounds with fish caught up to 50 pounds every season. We average 4 to 6 King salmon a day with limits of Coho being caught in late August into September.

 

We are currently taking reservations for fishing trips at Buoy Ten on the Columbia river. We will be fishing from a large and roomy 25 foot Alumaweld Super Vee with a 200hp Yamaha Outboard. Prime dates are available from August 20th thru September 10th.

 

Catch rates, fishing reports, and fishing reservations may be obtained online at http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com  or by phone at (206)-920-2428.

 

Also I have started an on-line travel company. Please take a look next time you're booking travel for a fishing trip with J and L Guided Sportfishing, ( aifare, hotels, rental vehicles) and if I'm the same or less, I would appreciate you booking with White River Travel  rather than Expedia or Travelocity.

 

 

Tight Lines,

 

Capt. Jerry Brown

J and L Guided Sportfishing

(206)-920-2428

http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com

 

White River Travel-YTB

http://www.white-river-travel.com

 

 

 

 

 

--
Thank you,
Jerry Brown
Columbia River Fishing
Consider us for your next Fishing Adventure!
http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com

White River Travel
http://www.white-river-travel.com
206-920-2428

Columbia River Buoy Ten Fishery

Chinook seasons get under way Aug. 1
with new options for Columbia River anglers

OLYMPIA - Columbia River anglers will be able to catch chinook salmon throughout August during this year's "Buoy 10" fishery, but will be required to release any chinook they intercept upriver to Bonneville Dam until Sept. 1.

Also, for the first time, mark-selective fishing rules will be in effect for chinook jacks on eight Columbia River tributaries, requiring anglers to release chinook salmon less than 24 inches long that are not hatchery fish marked with a clipped adipose fin.

Those are just a few of the new fishing rules that will take effect Aug. 1 on the Columbia River and its tributaries, where anglers can expect some changes from last year, said Pat Frazier, regional fish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

"Anglers should make sure to review the current fishing rules pamphlet before they head out," Frazier said.  "Run forecasts and other circumstances are different this year, and the fall salmon regulations reflect those changes."

The 2008-09 Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet is posted on WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm .

One bright spot is the popular Buoy 10 fishery near the mouth of the Columbia River, where anglers will have 31 days to catch chinook salmon, compared to just 12 days last year. 

This year's fishery should benefit from an estimated return of 86,200 chinook - up from 14,600 last year - bound for the Spring Creek Hatchery above Bonneville Dam, said Cindy LeFleur, WDFW Columbia River policy coordinator. 

"The goal is to target those healthy upriver hatchery stocks, which tend to bite well when they first enter the river," LeFleur said.  "We're also expecting a strong return of chinook reared in net pens in select areas throughout the lower river."

In all, 376,800 adult fall chinook are expected to return to the Columbia River this year, compared to 219,600 last year, LeFleur said.  But to protect weak runs, including those listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), fishery managers adopted several new conservation measures during the annual North of Falcon season-setting process.  New rules taking effect Aug. 1 will affect fishing in a number of rivers:

• Columbia River from Rocky Point/Tongue Point to Bonneville Dam:  Anglers must release all chinook except during September 1-16.  This rule is designed primarily to conserve ESA-listed chinook salmon bound for the Snake River, while focusing the fishery on an abundant upriver bright stock returning to hatcheries above Bonneville and wild fish to the Hanford Reach.
• Lewis River and fall chinook sanctuary:  Anglers will be required to release all chinook salmon intercepted on the Lewis River, where wild chinook returns are expected to reach only about half of the 5,700-fish escapement goal.  The requirement to release chinook will be in effect in the Lewis River, the North Fork Lewis River and in an eight-mile area of the Columbia River near the mouth of the river that is defined in the fishing rule pamphlet.  Fishing for hatchery coho and hatchery steelhead will remain open, but fishing from boats will be prohibited on the North Fork Lewis from Johnson Creek upstream to Merwin Dam to minimize chinook handling. 
• Cowlitz and Toutle Rivers:  Anglers must continue to release all chinook - except marked, hatchery-reared jacks - because hatchery returns are not expected to meet management goals.  Anglers may still retain hatchery steelhead and hatchery coho caught in both rivers.
• Kalama, Washougal, Wind and White Salmon rivers, plus Drano Lake:  Anglers may retain any adult chinook salmon, but must release any wild, unmarked chinook jacks they encounter.

The mark-selective fisheries for chinook jacks reflect the fact that - for the first time - all chinook jacks returning to hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin are marked with a clipped adipose fin, Frazier said. 

"The immediate benefit is that anglers will have a opportunity to catch and retain marked chinook jacks on a number of rivers and benefit wild runs," he said.  "In fact, we want anglers to catch those hatchery jacks, because we want them off the spawning grounds."

Within a few years, all hatchery-reared chinook salmon - including adults - returning to the Columbia River will be identifiable through mass marking, Frazier said.

"That should be good news for anglers and salmon-recovery efforts alike," he said.  "Once we can distinguish between hatchery and wild fish on the fishing grounds, we'll have a lot more options in structuring fisheries that are consistent with recovery efforts."

 

--
Thank you,
Jerry Brown
Columbia River Fishing
Consider us for your next Fishing Adventure!
http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com

White River Travel
http://www.white-river-travel.com
206-920-2428

Team J and L Fishing Goes to Kenai AK

Hello,

 

I just wanted to shoot everyone an email letting them know that Team J and L will be fishing the Kenai River in Alaska the week of July 25th - August 1st, 2008. We will be fishing out of Beaver Creek and staying at Captain Bligh's Beaver Creek Lodge, http://www.captainblighs.com/.

 

Now for the exciting news, we have one spot open for a fourth person to join Team J and L.  Cost is $2500.00 for the week not including airfare. This will include lodging at the resort, 4 days guided fishing on the Kenai, 1 day fishing on the Kasilof river out of the driftboat, one day on the Kenai fishing for sockeye, and of course one day halibut fishing in cook inlet.

 

Please contact me asap if interested and for more dtails @ 206-920-2428.

 

--
Thank you,
Jerry Brown
Columbia River Fishing
Consider us for your next Fishing Adventure!
http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com

White River Travel
http://www.white-river-travel.com
206-920-2428

SW Washington Report

Anglers fishing for hatchery steelhead have  been doing well on the lower Columbia River and several tributaries.  During the first week of July, boat anglers fishing below Bonneville Dam averaged half a steelhead per rod, while bank anglers took home a fish for every 4.6 rods.  Those fishing near the trout hatchery on the Cowlitz River did even better, reeling in a hatchery fish per rod. 

"We're nearing prime time for hatchery steelhead fishing below Bonneville," said Joe Hymer, a WDFW fish biologist.  "The catch is increasing and shifting to upriver fish, which are a little smaller but bright as a chrome hubcap."

Hymer reminds anglers that the catch limit for steelhead has been increased to six hatchery fish per day on the Cowlitz and North Fork Lewis rivers, where hatcheries have met their broodstock requirements.  Three rivers - the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis - have also reopened for retention of hatchery-reared chinook salmon, although steelhead now make up the majority of the catch in those rivers. 

Hymer reminds anglers that wild steelhead - identifiable by an intact adipose fin - must be released throughout the Columbia River Basin.  "Some anglers have asked why there is a box for wild steelhead on their catch record card if they can't retain them," Hymer said.  "The answer is that wild steelhead can be retained on a dozen rivers in Washington - most of them on the Olympic Peninsula - but none of them are in this region of the state."

Both catch and effort above Bonneville Dam were light for hatchery steelhead through the first week of July, but that is likely to change in the next few weeks, Hymer said.  He noted that a third of a million upriver steelhead are expected to return to the Columbia River this year, and the tally at Bonneville Dam has been increasing day by day.

"The water has been fairly high and cold, which might slow the fish from turning into the Bonneville Pool tributaries to cool off," Hymer said.  "But with more than 2,000 fish now passing Bonneville in a day, the action should start picking up soon."

 

 

Independence Day

Independence Day

 

Hello,

I just want to stop a minute and wish you a good July 4th!  I hope your day includes a noisy parade and noisier fireworks.  I think once in awhile we just need to cast aside our dull, grown-up personas and cut loose with our crazy kid personas!  So get out there and waste your allowance on fireworks, get a little BBQ on your chin, get in the watermelon seed spitting contest, and put on that silly Uncle Sam hat.

In the spirit of the day, I did a little checking about the history of Independence Day.  Guess what?  They didn't tell us the whole story in grade school!  In case you're interested, read on to find out what I discovered:

·         The original resolution (to cut the apron strings from Mother Britain) was introduced to the Continental Congress on June 17, 1776.

·         Then Thomas Jefferson and a willing committee put their heads together to polish up a formal writing for the grand announcement.

·         The actual resolution was approved on July 2 but the Declaration of Independence (a separate document) was adopted on July 4, 1776.

·         It took days, weeks, and in one case, years before all the signatures on the Declaration were in place.  Thomas McKean didn't get his signature on the page until 1781!

·         Exactly one year after the Declaration was approved, Philadelphia held a huge birthday party for the infant republic.  But the first official (by legislative act) celebration was held in 1781 in Massachusetts.

 

Ok, friends, class is over.  Eat, drink, and be merry!  Independence is worth celebrating!

Sincerely, 

Jerry Brown
Columbia River Fishing
Consider us for your next Fishing Adventure!
http://www.columbia-river-fishing-guide.com

White River Travel
http://www.white-river-travel.com
206-920-2428