Fall Chinook

[mrblond]

I fished the lower Salmon back in the 80s once.. biggest clusterbubblegun I ever saw. Boats were cramed together, people on the shore were shoulder to shoulder. I saw a fish come in with 3 different hooks in its mouth.

 

[Flymph]

pdx,

I am envious of you NW guys. Maybe someday I will get out your way for a fishing trip. I have some good friends in Tualatin OR. who fish a lot. I had to laugh last year even though at the time it was not funny to them. I guess they had a good fish on out there and some Seal came up grabbed the fish and took it! WOW! Is that common?
However, in Tennessee we have some great fishing of another kind here on the lake. (Dale Hollow - 650 Miles of Shoreline) Home of the world record Small Mouth Bass. They average here from around 19" to 22" with once in a while 24". Still hoping to catch a record bigger than the record! We also have Lake Trout, Walleye, Large Mouth Bass and an occasional Muskie, Crappie and Blue Gills. But looking forward to someday a trip to the NW. "Great Fish and Photo!"

03

View attachment 403618

The grass is always greener!

NICE FISH GUYS! Hopefully this cold let's up and I can finally wet my line.
Best i've done in weeks are some 2lb smallies on John Day out shooting carbines.

 

[Flymph]

At the falls it is very common, thats why i drive to the coast.
Even there your not safe, but they arent in rhe rivers....
Oh yeah, for the addicts,
Chum r runnin!!!!!!

I'm going to freak out!!!

PS: I don't even really like the taste of fish unless it's deep fried!

 

[Medic!]

Another picture for you Sniper03.
Just for motivation.

 

[Flymph]

I am upset that chum season closed mid week and I missed it... again.
I think I shed a single tear, just one tho.

 

[Flymph]

Another picture for you Sniper03.
Just for motivation.



View attachment 406002

Tell me your secrets...

 

[Argonaut]

At times there are so many fur bags in the Willamette River just below Willeamette falls that 50% of the spring chinook hooked will be grabed/chased by them. The Willamette flows into the Columbia at Portland. I don't fish it because of the crowds, and the sea lions. From what I hear, when someone hooks a salmon in that area no one in the boat should stand up, shout or show a net. The guy with the fish on has to crank as hard as he can, and at the last second the net guy will jump up with the net and scoop the fish. Fisherman that anchor along side each other in "Hog Lines" will have the fur bags just hang out below them waiting for someone to hook a fish then steel it. A couple three years ago a guy in the lower Willamette had a salmon grabbed that was IN THE NET. It about took the netters finger that were in the mesh of the net to bring the fish aboard, and could have very well pulled him into the river over the gunnel. We call 'em "Seal Huggers", the ones that fight ANY measures to eliminate or reduce the numbers of these beasts at choke points for salmon, such as below dams, at the entrance to fish ladders etc.

So to answer your question, YES, it's very common in some places.

One afternoon, I was showing a 100 foot steel salvage boat I was selling to some Canadian guys in Ft Brag California. The marina is at the mouth of the river, rather narrow and surrounded by high steep banks. There was an old bull sea lion making so much noise that we couldn't hear our conversation. So as time went on, one of the Canadian's turned to me in a short lull in the noise and said "You haven't shot that SOB yet" other countries have different solutions to problems.

 

[Flymph]

I'd only shoot if after hooking into it so I could harvest it's fur after... they make the best dubbing.
Really I think baby snow seal is better, but i'll settle for sea lion if it's more accessible.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

At times there are so many fur bags in the Willamette River just below Willeamette falls that 50% of the spring chinook hooked will be grabed/chased by them. The Willamette flows into the Columbia at Portland. I don't fish it because of the crowds, and the sea lions. From what I hear, when someone hooks a salmon in that area no one in the boat should stand up, shout or show a net. The guy with the fish on has to crank as hard as he can, and at the last second the net guy will jump up with the net and scoop the fish. Fisherman that anchor along side each other in "Hog Lines" will have the fur bags just hang out below them waiting for someone to hook a fish then steel it. A couple three years ago a guy in the lower Willamette had a salmon grabbed that was IN THE NET. It about took the netters finger that were in the mesh of the net to bring the fish aboard, and could have very well pulled him into the river over the gunnel. We call 'em "Seal Huggers", the ones that fight ANY measures to eliminate or reduce the numbers of these beasts at choke points for salmon, such as below dams, at the entrance to fish ladders etc.

So to answer your question, YES, it's very common in some places.

I am old enough to remember when a lot of salmon fishermen and commercial fishermen carried rifles in their boats to get rid of the seal\sea lion problem. They can really ruin a run of salmon in short order.

 

[Argonaut]

I am old enough to remember when a lot of salmon fishermen and commercial fishermen carried rifles in their boats to get rid of the seal\sea lion problem. They can really ruin a run of salmon in short order.

They still do........I have demo'ed hundreds of boats, you would be amazed how many rifles we find laying in bilges. Most commercial boats have a "shark" rifle on board. Sort of like what my buddies say here "shoot and shovel"

 

[Fishonshawn]

Here's one from last week.

 

[Medic!]

Nice fish!

Let me guess. 23LBS. ?

 

[Fishonshawn]

Nice fish!

Let me guess. 23LBS. ?

21 1/2 lbs

 

[Medic!]

I'm sorry.
I thought you were two inches taller. It threw my calculations off.

Great fish.

 

[Fishonshawn]

I'm sorry.
I thought you were two inches taller. It threw my calculations off.

Great fish.

Haha u must be from WA, most here in Oregon would call this an easy 30lbs. Maybe even 35lbs. 23 was a damn good guess

 

[Medic!]

Haha u must be from WA, most here in Oregon would call this an easy 30lbs. Maybe even 35lbs. 23 was a damn good guess

No from Oregon.
That's why the calculation took some time.

First I started with what I would tell others it would weigh.[And I would have shoved it much closer to the cameras lens].
Then I had to first divide that weight in half. Then subtract another five pounds to finally get at the truth.

Even then I manager to say it was bigger than it was.

 

[bbbass]

I guess they had a good fish on out there and some Seal came up grabbed the fish and took it! WOW! Is that common?

I lived in Brookings on the Oregon coast from 1987-1993... fishing in the open ocean we didn't have too much problem with seals/lions. But in the estuary of the Chetco fishing from my drift boat I would have a theft at times. And while fishing from the jetties it was a constant problem. They took about 80% of more of the fish we hooked and tried to reel in. Just tore the bellies out, especially female salmon laden with eggs. Sushi, yum! Fishing from the jetty on the Rogue River in Gold Beach OR was even worse... we brought in less than 2 in 10 that we hooked. Gotta fish upriver on the coast. But any day fishing is better than a day doing honeychores!!!

 

[Mikej]

Haha u must be from WA, most here in Oregon would call this an easy 30lbs. Maybe even 35lbs. 23 was a damn good guess

I learned a long time ago to look at a fish, guess the weight, and subtract 5#s, like Medic says. The BIGGER the salmon? Take off 8#s! Looks like 15-20#s take off 2-3#s. I've guess weighed my fish and everyone elses like this for years. Some folk that don't have scales get POed. I've had couple of guys tell me my scale was broken when I told 'em 33#s and they just knew it was a 40 pounder.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

The really big ones 40-60lbs have a length to depth ratio that makes them look like they have a large beer belly in comparison to the smaller ones. That is probably where they get the nickname "hogs". No fish is tastier than fresh caught Chinook or Silver salmon.

 

[Fishonshawn]

The really big ones 40-60lbs have a length to depth ratio that makes them look like they have a large beer belly in comparison to the smaller ones. That is probably where they get the nickname "hogs". No fish is tastier than fresh caught Chinook or Silver salmon.

I was with ya til the end there. I like steelhead way more than salmon. In order of favorite to least, summer steelhead, winter steelhead, spring salmon, fall salmon.