The Best Fishing Of The Year
As we ease into August there’s a bubbling stew of great fishing simmering in every direction.
Buoy 10 salmon, ocean crabbing, tuna fishing, near shore halibut, high lakes trout, walleye, smallmouth bass, panfish and more water to fish than you could count in an hour…even if you were talking fast.
What are you going to do?
There’s no shortage of great fishing opportunity. Right now, salmon are being caught at will in the ocean. Already, silvers are staging at CR buoy (that’s earlier than previous years). These coho along with chinook salmon will enter the river on the steeper incoming tides.
Fishing for Chinook will hold up in the estuary through August and then you’ll need to follow them upstream into September and early October. Silvers will keep coming into the estuary well into October with good fishing available through October in the Columbia above and below Bonneville Dam.
Walleye fishing’s been pretty good this year. Good and steady. There’s fish to be caught in the Columbia from Portland to Tri-Cities. Same for smallmouth bass. And don’t forget lakes like Potholes Reservoir and Banks Lake as viable candidates, especially in the fall.
Kokanee fishing will begin to wind down later in August and into September as these fish are readied by nature to spawn. Chase them now if you’re interested.
There are hundreds of trout lakes to explore in the high Cascades. Hundreds. That fishing will hold up through October. If you’re into solitude and beauty that’s the place to find it.
A real sleeper is the nearshore halibut fishery. Those are the waters inside the 40 fathom line. The Central subarea is the place to be for this fishery. You’ll find these fish from 40’ to 100’. Fish the soft tides with herring or plastic jigs keeping your offering at or near the bottom as you drift.
Washington and Oregon hold so much fishing promise if you just do a little poking around.
There’s some amazing resources. Cody Herman, aka Day One Outdoors, has an amazing daily report for Buoy 10. You’ll find it on You Tube and his Facebook page (most of the time). Our friends at Addicted Fishing will get you pointed in the right direction on how to get equipped and what to do — they’re not big on exposing where to go — that, you’ll need to find out for yourself. Englund Marine produces a reliable and detailed weekly report on Fridays. You’ll find it on their Facebook page. Bob Rees produces The Guide’s Forecast. It comes out weekly. Get the paid annual subscription — it’s well worth it — the “Chinook” plan is the one to go with. Leif Steffny’s “NW Fishing Secrets” is an ultra-popular YouTube channel focused on trout fishing. Again, light on where to go but there’s plenty of great how-to catch and cook info to get you pointed in the right direction.
And don’t forget our venerable regional publications. NW Sportsmen’s Magazine delivers lots of destinations each month. So does Salmon Trout Steelheader (now available only online) and Salmon Steelhead Journal. All are excellent where-to, how-to resources that share where to find peak fishing opportunities and what to do when you get there.
Always check the regulations before wetting a line or dropping a trap. You can go to the MyODFW.com fishing report and get most of what you need there.
The time is now! Hit the “go” button for the best fishing of the year!