Tillamook Bay, Oregon

[ronaultmtd]

I caught this nice Chinook Sunday in Tillamook Bay, Oregon- Had no way to weigh it- but I have 22 pounds of fresh caught wild salmon filets in my cooler on dry ice- flew home last night just in time for Thanksgiving-

[ictalurus]

Outstanding fish, Ron. How did you catch it?

[YaknBass]

very nice salmon!! congrats on your sucess!!! ""Bent Rods & Tight Lines Always My Friend"" a bit of nicely smoked salmon for the holiday's

[tufnik]

Niiiiiiiiiice fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish, Ron!

[ronaultmtd]

We trolled plug cut herring about a foot off bottom in 12-20 feet of water on a double hook 25 pound test mono leader- the rig is similar to the way we troll for stripers using a three way swivel a short dropper on a 2-4 oz. cannon ball sinker- we went to 20 oz. in the inlet in 45-48 feet of water-

The secret of the herring is the "cure," the angle of the slice when you chop off the head and the placement of the hooks to make the plug spin- the three way swivel has two in line ball bearing swivels to prevent line twist. There are dozens of commercial lure companies out west who make different "cures" you use to soak the herring in including bright colored brines. Our herring bait was soaked in a brine made by "Pro-Cure" called shine.

We were fishing in the mouth of the bay right next to the ocean (the inlet was treacherous with unbelievable high, breaking surf) and the fish were fresh out of the sea and fought like demons- The limit is one fish per person per day.

[ictalurus]

Very cool. I like going to other places and seeing how they fish. I tried fishing for steelhead in Seattle and other salmon around Anchorage but was skunked on both occasions despite seeing fish. I did chase down a nice steelhead into the shallows and caught it with my hands and let it go in deeper water, but I suspect it was about to kick the bucket anyway. I'll go out with a guide the next time I'm out there.

Some of those inlets in that neck of the woods are pretty crazy. The Coast Guard has special boats for rescue operations that are capable of doing barrel rolls in case they flip over.

[ronaultmtd]

Bill: It was bitterly cold Sunday morning- 17 degrees- but it was slick calm and a rare sunny day in Oregon- we left the dock in Garibaldi at 6:30 A.M. and trolled an area that they call the "Ghost Hole." My fish hit at 7:15 a.m. while it was not yet full daylight- we all caught a fish but mine was the biggest.

I am in Portland about four or five times a year on business- I have friends that live outside the city that love to fish for salmon and are always inviting me to go with him and his wife. I took him up on his invite this time- beats sitting in a hotel watching TV on a Sunday- Monday, I took care of my business and Tuesday, caught a plane back east- landing Wednesday morning just a few minutes after midnight. My friend Gary wants me to come back and go Halibut and ling cod fishing with him in the spring-

[kevinfry]

That channel at Garibaldi has the craziest current of any of the navigable bays on the Oregon coast....and one rarely risked by kayakers. Every year when I lived out on the Oregon coast, some guy would be trolling in too light a craft and flip!!

There are some great rivers pouring into Tillamook Bay. One even has a surviving Chum salmon run!

[ronaultmtd]

9 people died when the Taki Tooo flipped in the Inlet a few years ago- Kevin- it is one of the most dangerous inlets in the Northwest but the fishing is good-

[kevinfry]

Yeah, that was a full sized charterboat,,,,very tragic and unusual.

[ronaultmtd]

Kevin- We fished out of a Thunder Bay 20 foot aluminum boat-the currents were very swift through the channel- no way a kayak should be out there- at the end of the rock jetties there was incredible surf breaking on the bar- we had six foot swells inside the inlet as we would approach the mouth of the inlet- we had to use 20 oz. cannon ball sinkers to find the bottom in that current- the folks fishing from the rocks were catching black Bass and rockfish- we got one Chinook in the Inlet and two in the Ghost Hole. My fish was the first fish of the day at 7:15 a.m. We caught the last fish eight hours later in the inlet- we had two other hits that didn't hook up- we saw a few fish caught but we were the "hot" boat that had a full limit of fish-

[kevinfry]

yeah it is amazing that such a large bay....with 5 major salmon/steelhead rivers (Trask, Tillamook, Miami,Wilson...and my fav- Kilchis---caught many steelies there) drain through such a small channel.
I bet you could really feel the churn under you in that 20 footer!

[J.A. Veil]

Nice catch Ron. I have traveled a lot in my career and really enjoy meeting friends in other states for a full or part day of fishing when I am there. Most recently, I fished several times in the past 18 months in East Galveston Bay, TX with a Houston friend who has a beach house near there. We are already planning a late January trip to look for large speckled trout.

Enjoy the salmon.

[ronaultmtd]

Thanks, John- I have many friends in the New Orleans area- one lives on the water at Slidell- his house is up on pilings about 14 feet in the air and his 23 foot welded aluminum center console boat (epoxy painted) is in the water in a slip directly under his house. We go out in Lake Bourne and Ponchatrain and catch big specks and reds on live shrimp that he keeps alive in a floating bait holding box about four feet by four feet. Feeds them corn meal and dead cocahoue minnows.