The arrival of the first summer steelhead are showing now and are being caught up and down the Lewis.  We’ve been catching good numbers the last few days and it’s just the begining!  The fish have been biting eggs, shrimp, and plugs all equally well and as the water drops the fishing should get even better! 

I can accommodate groups on short notice and also can arrange stays at the Lewis River B and B. 

 

With the Columbia closed we have moved to the tributaries in Washington to hunt for the elusive springers.  The Lewis is kicking out some fish and Drano Lake has recently been on fire with the good dam counts that are remaining strong for now.  If you are wanting to catch a Spring Chinook now is the time to do it. 

Kokanee fishing has been fantastic with the fish being above average size again this year.  Expect limits of these great tasting, hard fighting fish.  Trips can be run in the morning of afternoon, either way is working great right now. 

Smallmouth Bass are biting good now and they should be at their peak spawn by the end of the month.  Fishing will move into the shallows as the days get warmer and big fish are starting show now to prepare to spawn. 

Oversize Sturgeon fishing in the gorge will begin shortly after the shad run materializes.  I like to do combo trips where we begin the day with a short shad fishing trip for bait and then on to the big show.  These fish reach 10 feet in length and are awesome to fight in the shallow water where I target them.  Aerial photos are common! 

Call or e-mail me anytime!

 

The last 5 days set for the Columbia season are upon us and so fat it’s been a really fun year.  This week we will be fishing in the Columbia River Gorge out of Beacon Rock boat ramp to target the salmon heading over the dam.  The flows are up and the fish should be running hard over the next 2 weeks.

I have had a cancellation for a group that had Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th reserved.  These seats are available as of now but with this being the peak of Spring Chinook fishing they won’t last long.  Call today for more details, I can accommodate 4 people per day.

Discounted seats at 150 per day!

Last week was by far the best this year and it should only get better. We are consistently hooking between 3 and 7 fish per day! Highlights of last week include…

-A 27.6 pound Keeper Spring Chinook

-A battle with a sea lion that resulted in us getting our fish back after 40 min.

-A couple fish getting caught in the Lewis. (We will start really targeting those in a couple of weeks.)

I only have 2 days left this season that are available on the Columbia River. After that we head to the Lewis and Merwin.

Don’t forget we will be chasing oversize sturgeon this year. These fish average between 6 and 8 FEET long and sometimes get over 10! Come see what your made of and wrestle with one of the Columbia’s largest beasts of the water. Best times are May through July.

Cameron Black

Finally the season is knocking on the door.  I will be back from Alaska on Sunday and we will be chasing springs almost daily from here on out.  A lot of dates are being booked now, however I still have some great dates left that will certainly be booked here shortly.  Call for more detail and have myself set up your custom trip!

Fishing reports will surely follow.

Cameron

Can’t say I’m happy for what we got but it is a season…

What this means is there will be a lot of anglers fighting for the few good weeks we get right now. 

Fishery managers set spring chinook seasons

CLACKAMAS, OR – Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington set spring chinook salmon fishing seasons for March and April only for the Columbia and Willamette rivers today during a joint state hearing.

Several fisheries, including those in the Willamette River and in the Columbia River between Bonneville Dam and the river mouth, are currently open under permanent rules and will remain open through February. The seasons adopted today will take effect March 1.

On the Columbia below the Hayden Island powerlines (west towers), anglers will be able to fish 7 days a week from March 1-15 and three days a week (Thurs. - Sat.) from March 19-April 18.

From the Hayden Island powerlines (west towers) upstream to Bonneville Dam, the season will run 7 days a week from March 1-22, and four days a week (Wed. - Sat.) from March 25-April 22.

The daily bag limit for these areas will be two adipose fin-clipped salmon or steelhead, but only one may be a chinook. The mainstem Columbia will be open for retention of adipose fin-clipped steelhead and shad ONLY during days and seasons open for retention of adipose fin-clipped spring chinook.

The season for the area between Bonneville and McNary dams was set for March 16-April 30, with a bag limit of two adult adipose fin-clipped chinook or steelhead per day. Recognizing that chinook catches in this area are typically low through April, the two states intend to continue working together to set additional fishing time for this section of the river after April 30.

On the Willamette, ODFW modified the permanent season to allow retention of adipose-clipped chinook 7 days a week from March 1-15 and three days a week (Thurs. - Sat.) from March 19-April 30. These rules apply to the Willamette downstream from Willamette Falls, including Multnomah Channel and the lower Clackamas River downstream of the Highway 99 Bridge. The daily bag limit will be two adult adipose fin-clipped salmon or steelhead, but only one may be a chinook.

The Willamette River upstream of Willamette Falls and the Clackamas River upstream of the highway 99 bridge will remain open under permanent rules.

“Given the constraints we have, we are fortunate to be able to provide this opportunity,” said Steve Williams deputy administrator of ODFW’s fish division. “We have a high level of confidence that we will be able to meet the objectives of the season we’ve adopted.”

The seasons are based on a forecast of 298,000 returning upriver spring chinook, and a combined estimated harvest of 17,300 fish in the sport fishery downstream of Bonneville Dam.

More than 90 people including sport and commercial fishermen showed up to listen and present testimony at the hearing, conducted at City Hall in Longview, Wash.

Here in the next month we will start targeting Springers in the Columbia and it’s tributaries.  There is a projected run of 300,000 upriver fish heading through the Columbia for the next 3 months and will provide some great fishing opportunity.  The season itself has not been set fully but we should know exactly what is going on here real soon. 

However I am booking the limited days for people on a first come, first serve basis.  The last week in March and the first half of April will be the best bet for hooking into one of these great salmon.  Last year the season was shut down early on April 19th and with the possibility of that happening again I suggest booking during the first 2 weeks.  If you have any questions please fell free to calll me anytime.

Also with the coming of spring the Kokanee fishing should start heating up as we start to get some sunny, warm days here in the upcoming months.  Last year was fantasic with the fish being bigger than average and more than willing to bite.  We had some great times up there and some great barb-b-ques as well.  This fishery has non-stop action and is great for the kids too.

Looking forward to your next great fishing trip.

Cameron

 

These last few weeks have been pretty tough to get out on the water.  The few trips that we have provided produced fish but the water levels and weather conditions have not been favorable. 

Right now is the time to get in on the Columbia RIver Chinook Fishing.  These dates go fast and with the great run anticipated get your dates now.  Most likely the season will be short and sweet and we should here the set dates shortly.

Be safe out there.

Winter Steelhead season is in full swing for those hearty souls wanting to venture out in the winter time. For those who want a full sled trip salmon returns for next year are projected to be as good and possibly better than this year.

The big Columbia River Springer season is just around the corner at the end of March and the beginning of April. There are only about 3 peak weekends to fish so book early if you and your party are wanting in on the action. These salmon are by far the best in the world and go for over 35 dollars a pound in the store when you can find it. I’ll post updates about the seasons as WDFW releases it.

Check out this article in the Columbian

Another big Columbia spring chinook run forecast

Thursday, December 11 | 2:29 p.m.

BY ALLEN THOMAS
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Here is the number anglers have been waiting to learn: An excellent run of 298,900 spring chinook salmon is forecast to enter the Columbia River in 2009 destined for waters upstream of Bonneville Dam.If accurate, that would be the biggest return since 2002.

 

Thanks you Mike for the video of our star guest of the day.  This monster Chinook smashed our plug when we were fishing for Coho.  Sorry we didn’t get any of the Coho action.  We released 2 other wild Coho that day as well. 

It was great to fish with you guys we will do it again real soon. 

Thanks to all that came out last week, it was fun targeting Coho that we could keep and getting the occasional Chinook as well.  This is a great time of the year for fishing with so many salmon in the river.  Later this week the forecast calls for some rain and I think fishing is going to go from good to great!

Here are some chromer kings we have been getting hovering eggs.  Great fighting fish unfortunately we have to release them right now.

Jeff with a typical B run Coho.

Patti and Greg with their catch.

Jim and Mike with more Coho.

John and Bruce with some Nice Coho.

Fishing for Salmon on the Lewis will remain great through October.  Anyone can call anytime for more information.  More to come…..

Sorry folks for there being such a lag in posts.  I’ve been really busy fishing lately but there are going to be some great times ahead!

We are right now experiencing the tail end of the A run Coho in the Lewis river but the B run should be just around the corner.  I look forward every year to the B run, they are far better biters and bigger too.  Chinook are all over the river and are providing some great fights for those who are looking to tangle with a really big salmon.

October is generally the B run Coho month but with the upcoming rains fishing is only going to get better than it is.  We have been consistantly getting between 5 and 10 salmon a day right now!

Call today for information and upcoming dates to join the fun.

 Double Chinooks!

 Coho in the net.

 Ocean Chrome Coho.

  Big Silvers.

  Big Chinook fighting hard.

 Fat coho hen.

This is just some of the recent action in the past few trips.  Call today!

 

 

 

 

This week was fun with a lot of people coming out to get their first steelheads.  Nice Job Jordan, Chris, Casey, and Ryan on your first ones.

Chris with his first steelie, long day on the water but we still got him into one.

Casey hooked up within 2 min of fishing that day!

Rick and Casey with their catch.

Garry and Ryan with their fish.  We had a double on but the 2 fish decided to tango before we could separate them and one of them jumped free.  It was really cool looking under the boat and seeing 2 fish thrashing right next to each other.

Fish dodging the net.

Jordan with her first fish.  A 13 pound steelie is a great start.  This fish by far gets the highest jumper of the year award.  It easily cleared 4 feet on 3 consecutive jumps and took some blistering runs!

There are still a lot of pictures missing from this week, if you want them up be sure to send them to me soon.

Thanks to all that came out this week.  I still have availability in August for some steelie action!

Sorry it’s been a while since the last post it’s been really busy with the peak time of the year for steelhead.  Here are some of the highlights…

Dino with his P-line fish.  I gave him a hard time for using his own equipment last time we headed out for breaking a fish in the logs.  Of course he scheduled with me again and sure enough he out did me that day with his p-line.  Of course the very next day we stumble into a bunch of fish and this is one of them…

The here Dino, is a Ultragreen fish! This fish was 16 pounds on the scale.  Matt is at least 6 4 and I’m 6 3 for reference.  Sorry about the blue paint it seems to have messed the background up.  This area has been really good to me lately so this one stays in the bag.

These guys had a decent day on the river.  It was a slow start but turned into quite a productive afternoon.  We even got a hatchery chinook jack too.  I got about knee deep in the water trying to free another fish that took us into the sticks.  I was just to the point of going in when Rich grabbed the log and pulled it up to break it.  The fish unfortunately took a perfectly timed run and broke free.

A blurry cell pic of some quick morning fishing.

Carl with his first Steelhead.  This fish took us for about 150 yards of river before we were able to put it in the net.

And me after some Sunday evening fishing on the 27th.  Had to take a day off but wanted to find some for the smoker.  My little honey hole produced again for me that day.

Fishing has remained very steady during the last 2 months and shows no sign of slowing in August.  The water has gotten really low so the fish are being really finicky even in their good numbers.  I have some openings throughout the month so call for more info if interested in a trip for metalheads.

Chinook season on the Lewis is closed for this year due to an expected low return.  However last year after thy closed fishing, the catch and release was great due to the low pressure.  These fish are hard fighting and are a blast to catch.  We can not pull the fish out of the water but we can still take some really cool pictures and video of your monster salmon.

An example of late August and Early September fishing.

Coho season as of right now is set at 4 adults per day.  Fishing last year was great and lasted from the beginning of September till Thanksgiving.  The Lewis river gets a early and late run of Coho which supplies good fishing till it is steelie time again.   I have had a lot of interest in these trips  because of the numbers of salmon and how we target them.  Get a hold of me here soon to set your dates.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and be sure to get out on the river!

Cameron

Due to my camera being shot, I only have a few cell phone pics from the last couple of days.  I really need to get a better camera.

Jake with a couple evening chromers.

Tim with his first steelhead ever.  He had a hold of another one that was a monster but it threw the hook back at us.

Fishing has really picked up in the last couple of days now that the dam is releasing  steady water.   The river is completely different now that the water flow has been cut in half.  I have some availability over the next few weeks, call for more details.

Last week has been a busy and fish-filled week.  With the water still a little high the fishing is still good but as we start to see a drop the fishing should get better and better throughout the summer.  Can’t wait to see the river low and the fish kegged up in some areas.  We are catching fish in all the usual haunts but with the high water we are also catching fish where dry land should be.

The holiday weekend is here and I have lots of trips scheduled but wed-fri next week is open for those of you wanting to head out.

Gary and Marie Jeanne with some steelhead.

Mike, Micheal, and Jeremy with their fish.  Jeremy and Micheal started the day off hooking the first 4 fish.  Mike (in the white) and I were fishless until Mike casted into a spot that usually doesn’t hold fish and instantly hooked up!  If it wasn’t for that fish the young guns would have skunked the more “experienced” fishers!

Chinook fishery reopens on 3 Columbia tributaries;
hatchery steelhead limit rises to 6 per day on 2 rivers

VANCOUVER, Wash. - Starting today, anglers may once again keep hatchery-reared chinook salmon they catch while fishing on the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis rivers in southwest Washington.

Also today, the catch limit for steelhead will increase to six hatchery steelhead per day on the Cowlitz and North Fork Lewis rivers.

Pat Frazier, regional fish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said fishing rules for those rivers can be liberalized now that it appears enough fish are returning to meet hatchery production goals.

“Spring chinook returns have been nip and tuck this year for some hatcheries,” Frazier said. “But after a late surge of fish, it now appears that the hatcheries will get the fish they need for broodstock.”

In recent weeks, anglers have been required to release any chinook salmon they caught on the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis rivers in response to lagging returns.

Under the new rules, anglers will be able to retain six salmon - including two adults - per day on designated portions of those three rivers through July 31. On the Cowlitz River, however, only one of those two adult salmon may be a chinook.

All wild chinook and wild coho salmon, which can be identified by an intact adipose fin, must be released.

On the Cowlitz River, the new chinook-retention rules will be in effect from the boundary markers at the mouth to Mayfield Dam. On the Kalama River, anglers will be allowed to retain chinook salmon from the boundary markers at the mouth to the Kalama Falls Hatchery. In addition, chinook retention will be permitted from the mouth of the mainstem Lewis River to the mouth of the East Fork and from there to Merwin Dam on the North Fork Lewis River.

Frazier said hatcheries on the Cowlitz and North Fork Lewis rivers now have all the steelhead they need to meet egg-take goals, allowing fishery managers to increase daily catch limits for hatchery fish on those rivers. Through last week a thousand steelhead had returned each of the facilities on the Cowlitz and Lewis and more are on the way.

“Boat anglers are reportedly doing very well fishing for hatchery steelhead on both of those rivers, although bank angling is somewhat limited by high flows,” Frazier said. “Steelhead fishing on the Cowlitz has been best around Blue Creek.”

The new six-fish steelhead limit will be in effect on the lower Cowlitz River from the Highway 4 Bridge at Kelso upstream to Mayfield Dam. On the North Fork Lewis, it will be in effect from the Interstate 5 Bridge upstream to Merwin Dam.

It’s finally feeling like June!  Here are some highlights from the last few trips.

7 year old Joe with his first fish.

Nick, Carter and Elizabeth with some fish that they got on a very tough day of fishing.  Nice Job!

Immediate opening are available throughout the summer season! 

Check out this fish a guest of mine caught with me on the Lewis River.  After a hard fight the fish made one last 40 yard run on the surface right at the boat.  It was pretty cool to see him coming from so far away only inches under the surface.

Back at it again today with a total of 6 keepers and 1 wild to the boat with about another half a dozen missed. There are SO MANY FISH in the rivers now this season is going to be one to remember.

I would like to congratulate Janet during my afternoon trip she boated her first steelhead ever. Not a bad start!

After canceling a morning trip due to the huge wind and rain storm, I headed out this afternoon with 2 others. When we arrived at the location I knew it was going to be quick limits. Within the first 20 min we had 3 in the boat and over the next hour there were 6 other takedowns resulting in 3 more keeper fish and one that reached 17 pounds. I Love Steelheading!!!

Last weekend and Monday was one of the best starts to the summer steelhead season I have seen in a very long time.  The fish were on the bite and seem to weigh much more than lasts years average.  We have had keeper fish every day so far this week with multiple limits.  Planning on fishing through the Fathers Day weekend every day,  short notice trips are a available but I need some time to get people in because I have some days booked for the upcoming weeks.

Here is Cory with some of the days catch.

Sandy with his limit.

The big one out of 2 days of fishing, can you say CHROME?

James two fish limit.  Nice sized fish…..

Here is Sandy again making a 12 pound steelhead look like a 20!

Still waiting for action photos from the previous days, it’s kinda hard to fight these fish and take pictures at the same time.  Will post them when I get them.

Sorry for the delay in posts, it’s been a busy week with Kokanee and Steelhead fishing trips.  However I do have some availability during the Fathers Day Weekend.  Talk about a perfect gift for dad and the family.  A fully guided fishing trip will be hard to beat.

Steelhead and Kokanee fishing has been very good lately even with the higher water in the rivers.

Let Barb from the bed and breakfast and me put together a nice stay, great breakfast, and fantastic fishing day for your clan!

Cameron

On a quick evening trip from 5-7 a client of mine and I wanted to poke around the river, this is what we found. We have caught quite a few steelhead this year salmon fishing and after a few short passes it was apparent that the fish were there in good numbers. This is the first steelhead for the boat this year and considering we’ve only tried this time I’d say we are off to a good start!

Sunday was supposed to be somewhat cloudy with possible sun breaks, instead in decided to pour all morning on us. The fish were still biting pretty good in the morning and we ended the day just short of our limit of 15. The bite was a bit slower than the last few days but the size of fish were still impressive for being so early in the year.

Nhat at the helm driving us to more fish.

The Father and Son team with the mornings catch.

Today was probably the best day on the water I have seen in a long time.  72 and mostly sunny with no wind and the fish were biting.  Had 3 young guns in the boat today stacking the kokanee in the box like pros.  These guys hardly lost a fish compared to other fishermen in the past weeks.  I don’t know if the fish were being really aggressive or what but the kids did a fine job.

A very peaceful start to the day.

After a few fish this crew had putting them in the box down to a science.

The happy fishermen after a few short hours on the water.

The best part, a secret recipe kokanee BBQ.

Still have some seats available for Monday.  Give me a call for your day on the water!

I still have Sunday and Monday available for short notice trips.  I will be fishing for kokanee or spring chinook.  Contact me if interested.

Tomorrow it’s back up to the lake for some great kokanee fishing.  Will report tomorrow afternoon so check it out!

Cameron

Fishing started slow but picked up through the day and ended with a kokanee smack-down.   The fish were biting really fast with lots of double and triple bites.   Thanks to all those who came out and braved the cool winds and constant “showers”.   Can’t wait for the weekend to get back out there again.  The total catch for the day was 38 fish kept and about 3 times that lost, those buggers can humble the best fishermen.

The cooler loaded with kokanee.

Due to a last minute cancellation I have days during the Memorial Day Weekend available for spring chinook or Kokanee trips. Kids are welcomed and encouraged to join, this fishing has lots of action with something usually going on all day. Join me for a day of fishing and we can also BBQ your catch at the Lewis River Bed and Breakfast later in the day just for coming out.

Call me anytime at (360) 921-5079 or call Barb at (360) 225-8630 for arrangements.

Sunday I found myself and my brother up at Lake  Merwin chasing Kokanee. We were doing pretty good, but we were losing about 2 out of every 3 hooked.  About 9:00 am, a couple of guests from the  Lewis River B and B came up to join us. Lets just say they did a much better job keeping fish hooked and bringing them to the boat.

After fishing for a couple of hours we sent them on their way back North with some pretty nice Kokanee. My brother, Darrell and I finished out our limits and headed home for one of the best BBQs we have had in a while. Those little buggers are so good fresh on the BBQ!  I don’t think I have many from that day to smoke now.

Here are some of the big ones laid across our cooler.

The fishing should reamain really good through at least June, but after that I’m Steelheading!

With temps soaring well above 90 this weekend naturally it was time to fish. Saturday yielded mixed results with everything from salmon, steelhead, and even a sturgeon that was caught on a cut plug. Very strange day on the water but the fish were biting good in the morning and shut off once the sun got high in the sky.

Al was very patient with one of here bites and had the whole rod in the water before setting the hook. The steelhead shot across 3 of the lines so fast that it tangled them before we could even real them in. After landing the fish I think it took about 20 min to fix everything in the boat. Those fish can really fight hard, I can’t wait for steelheading here really soon!

Here is Allison with the Steelhead that she caught, we also had to give her a hard time because it wasn’t a salmon.

The Lewis River Springers are finally starting to show some strength in numbers. Fishing has remained steady but is starting the upward swing, finally. On a early morning outing with the owner of the Lewis River Bed and Breakfast we found this large beauty. She was picked up on a herring, and no Darrell I wont be telling the story here.

Well it’s been a cold one this year with the late snows and cold temperatures across the northwest but that still didn’t keep people from fishing. The Columbia had some of the best catch rates anyone has seen since 2001, to bad it had to close early due to fishing being to good. Here is a video from the last day of the season at Bonneville Dam. I had my soon to be brother in law with me and we needed some salmon for a wedding that is coming soon. It was my job to produce and well, fishing was good…

The video was just raw footage of our 3rd fish for the morning. What a fighter, she went under the boat multiple times, tangled in another angler’s line, ran inside pilings, but ended up in the net for our limit. The previous 3 days there were just as good with limits coming easy, and being on our way home before 9 each morning.

Welcome to the Gonecatchin.net web log.

Check here for the latest reports, stories, and current fishing conditions.  I won’t be going back in time to post old stories and pictures, just the latest and greatest!