Well, how is everyone’s summer going? This sure can be a busy time of the year. It is suppose to be the relaxing, vacationing time of the year but I know for our home we are so busy that we can’t keep track of who is coming or going. Between baseball, swimming, three teenagers in the house and a lot of fishing trips my wife and I are kind of looking forward to school starting again. Just kidding kids. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Being able to spend time with our kids like this is great. I really love spending time with my kids and it seems like summer is the time I get to spend quality time with them and see how things are going on in their lives and sitting on the boat for a day of fishing can sure provide that. Talking about fishing we have sure had an up and down sturgeon season this year. Early on we were fishing just one rod and hooking up all the trophy sturgeon we wanted and then they started getting a bit picky on eating. One of the reasons was another record run of shad up the Columbia River. Usually we get 2 and a half to 3 million shad and this year we have gotten over 5 million. That is a lot of food on the bottom of the Columbia. Usually we use whole shad for bait but right know a small chunk of shad is working better. The down side of using small bait is that these trophy sturgeon are so big that a small bait is just in haled and the hook is very deep and I hate leaving hooks in these great fish. I am here talking about the size of bait. I need to describe what I am talking about because a small bait or large bait is relative to what we are fishing for. Whole shad baits will be about 2-4 pounds. That is what we usually use and is considered a normal bait. When I say we are using small baits it is a bait about 8-10 inches long and about a pound of shad. So, if you are still doing some sturgeon fishing on the Columbia River I suggest going to a smaller bait size and also start switching in some lamprey eel. They are filling up in the Columbia River too. We should see some very good trophy sturgeon fishing after August 1st at which time the sanctuary will open up. For the ones that do not know about this we have a river closure from Bonneville Dam down rive about 3 miles to Beacon Rock. We have this closed to give the sturgeon a sanctuary to go up and spawn and not be bothered by a bunch of fisherman. August 1st that will open up and trophy sturgeon fishing should be red hot. Also, don’t forget if you are fishing up there that retention of sturgeon will be closed August and September. We will start getting keepers again October and November. That is usually some great keeper sturgeon fishing.
SALMON FISHING
We had a pretty good summer salmon season this year. I didn’t get to fish it too much because I was so busy sturgeon fishing but I sure seen some good ones get caught. Out biggest was a bit over 45 pounds. It sure was a nice fish. These summer salmon are an exciting fishery. 3 years ago was the first year it was open for 29 years. At one time this was the biggest run in the Columbia River. This is the run that Lewis and Clark wrote about that they could walk across the Columbia River on the backs of salmon. We are hoping that they are on a steady up swing. To see salmon up to 70 pounds again on the Columbia River would be awesome.
Our next salmon fishery is August and September. This is our biggest salmon fishery of the year. Without sounding like a car or furniture commercial on TV, this is the biggest of the year. It will start out in Astoria, which is the mouth of the Columbia River. I will be there August 23 through the end of August. This is a silver salmon fishery that is off the charts. If you want some good salmon fishing with lots of action this is the one you want. We will see some king salmon also but mostly Coho salmon. Then is September we will be up river fishing king salmon. This is also a great fishery. If you have been in the Northwest in the summer then you know how pretty it is and being on the water at that time catching lots of salmon is hard to beat. We think it is too hot at 85 degrees. Remember August and September is the start of our fall salmon time.
STEELHEAD
We are seeing a more and more steelhead everyday up the Columbia River. We get 2 runs of steelhead on the Columbia . We call them the “A” run and the “B” run. Pretty creative huh? Anyway, we are catching the “A” run right now. These steelhead average about 6 to 10 pounds and are pretty plentiful. They are the ones heading up all the tributaries of the Columbia River. The “B” run will start up the later part of July and through August. These are some big steelhead. We had one last year that weighed just under 20 pounds. For a steelhead that is a good one. There are some good tides for fishing the mouth of the Cowlitz River in August. The mouth of the Cowlitz River is a great place to catch salmon and steelhead. The reason is that we get a lot of fish in the Columbia however the water temperature gets very warm and when it gets over 70 degrees the fish just quit biting and that is when I like going to the mouth of the Cowlitz for a couple reasons. One reason is the Cowlitz is a larger river and cooler water will come out of it into the Columbia and also it is tidal water therefore again the water will be a bit more cooler in tidal water so in turn we will have fish hold up in that area.
Here are some dates that you might want to jot down for salmon and steelhead fishing. August 1 through 6 and 17 through 22 is perfect tides for fishing the mouth of the cowlitz River for steelhead. The 17 through 22 we could se some early salmon also. If we are not fishing the mouth of the Cowlitz we will be fishing just below Bonneville Dam. The water runs fast through that area and in turn will run a little cooler and steelhead fishing can be very good there. I had a group last year that would vouch for that. They had a day that we must have hooked up 15 or more steelhead the 1st part of August. They came out for a couple days and fished one day for steelhead and the other day for trophy sturgeon. That was one of our top steelhead producing days last year so it was no surprise that they booked for this year. Again, some other dates to remember is August 23 through 31 where I will be salmon fishing the mouth of the Columbia River near Astoria Oregon. Give us a call if any of those dates work for you. We also do a lot of corporate trips so if you have some business associates that you want to entertain or you want to reward an employee or two we can take care of any of those needs.
If you fish you know that the bite can go off or on in the drop of a hat. It can get frustrating sometimes seeing a bite that has been great go dead when you have been talking it up and also when a bite you have been waiting for all of a sudden fires up when you were not expecting it and no one is on the books. I have been trying to solve some of that. I have several on my email list that have a schedule that allows them to fish on short notices. When a bite goes on I send an email out. For example, I do float trips for salmon and steelhead over on the coast and it is usually done in November and December. Last year we had a big rain in October and at that time I didn’t have anyone on the books so I took my son out of school and headed over to the coast just to see is by chance there was an early salmon. Well, we got all over them and when we got home I sent out a hot bite email and booked 4-5 days. One day was so hot that we boated 17 salmon in one hole. We couldn’t back bounce a bait of eggs 5 yards behind the boat without a hit. So, if your schedule allows you to sneak away at short notices email me back and I will put you on the hot bite email list.
Here is my grand baby up date. He is doing awesome. He never one time had to be put on any life support systems. He is growing everyday and we can’t wait to get him home. In the beginning the doctor told my daughter that he would have to stay in the hospital for 8 to 10 weeks but he is doing so good that we were told that he may be going home in a couple weeks. Thank you for your emails and prayers. I printed them all off, stapled them all together and gave them to my daughter. She wanted me to thank all of you.
Well, again thank you for your business and I am looking forward to fishing with you all. Remember take advantage of this summer and take your kids and neighbor kids fishing for a day. It has more blessings then you will ever know. Also, please don’t forget to forward this newsletter to your fishing friends.
Keep a tight line,
Jon and Stacy Ball
Gimme A Go Fishing Adventures
www.sturgeon-salmon.com
1-877-347-4662
503-668-5697
