Chinook Still Biting At Buoy 10

If you wondered whether there would still be fall Chinook to be had at Buoy 10 for the September 12-22 reopener, I can report that yes, indeed, there are.

To be abundantly clear, the DFWs modeled a mere 400 would be retained when they approved the additional 11 days of opportunity here, along with others further upriver, earlier this week, and 400 amounts to a drop in the bucket compared to Warrior Rock-Bonneville extension expectations (6,000). The real attraction here where the Columbia meets the Pacific is the three-hatchery-coho limit now in effect through at least the end of October and likely to be extended through the end of the year.

But for what it’s worth, a couple Chinook were biting along the Oregon side of the big river yesterday.

Running out of Hammond just after 8 a.m. with Trey Carskadon and crew, we dropped three crab pots just to the west of the boat basin in about 30 feet of water, then began trolling upstream along the Green Line with the incoming tide.

Initially, all four rods were running cutplug herring behind Fish Flashes, with the back two set at 30 feet, the front pair at 20 feet.

The day before, the 11th, Trey and two other anglers had caught five, releasing two Chinook and one wild coho, and had a number of drivebys.

But with herring not getting any immediate goes, the bait soon came off the front rods and on went chrome 360 flashers, with a VIP 3.5 in a hammered copper/Mexican hat Colorado blade behind one and a Phat-E spoon in black herring the other.

As we neared Buoy 29, a Chinook bit one of the cutplugs, so I grabbed the rod and quickly lost a lot of line. The linecounter zipped out to 90-plus feet before I started to turn the fish’s head back towards the boat. At 30 feet I saw the king on the surface broadside to the boat, then felt a very distinct pop as the hook or hooks came out of the fish’s mouth.

With tide now high but only forecast to drop a foot to the afternoon low, we picked up our gear and ran under the Astoria-Megler Bridge to the freighters anchored below Tongue Point and began trolling back downstream. Three other fishing boats joined us for a well-spaced-out parade.

Below the bridge, a boat behind us picked up what looked like a coho, but the weeds began plaguing us and nearby anglers. The west wind didn’t help either.

Further downstream, we angled our troll from the Green Line toward the Checkerboard, which marks the west end of the Desdemona Sands, essentially cutting across the river as the tide switched from the last of the outgo to the start of the incoming.

Partway across, the spinner rod was hit by another Chinook and after a couple minutes, the fish was alongside the boat … but somehow, the damn hook(s) came off on the net and the salmon swam free.

Disappointed but still game, we put our gear back in the water and trolled on to a high spot off the town of Chinook known as the “yellow can” for a buoy there several decades ago, but couldn’t get another bite. With it now past 3:30, we called it a day. After collecting five keeper Dungeness from the crab pots, we steamed back into Hammond Marina. On the day, other anglers reported a mix of mostly coho with a few kings.

It sucked to have lost that Chinook, and it ended my nice little mini streak of three straight outings with a fall fish in the net, but all in all it had been a enjoyable day at Buoy 10 late in the Chinook season with far better fishermen than myself, making it a great time on the water.