Salmon:

Chinook Salmon: Also known as the King Salmon, as they are the largest salmon that we pursue. There are two main seasons that we target Chinook, in the spring starting in March on the Columbia River, and finishing in June on the Willamette or Clackamas Rivers. We target those fish using my very comfortable, spacious and clean North River sled. Typically we are trolling herring or spinners, and eventually move into the very exciting fishery of using specially cured salmon roe in Oregon City or in one of the local tributaries such as the Clackamas River, South Santiam River, Sandy River or North Santiam River.

The other time that we fish for Chinook is in the fall, starting in August. We begin that season with the famous Buoy 10 fishery near the mouth of the Columbia River, and follow their journey up the amazing Columbia river, before switching gears back to the coast in October. and fishing one of the beautiful estuaries along the north Oregon coast such as Tillamook Bay or Nehalem Bay. Once the bay fishing is over, we follow those migrations into tidewater of several local rivers, and finish up the year by drifting down a coastal stream about the size of a two lane street.

Steelhead-

There are two primary seasons for steelhead migrations, Summer steelhead and Winter steelhead. These sea going trout range from 6-20 pounds, and will test the skills of the most seasoned anglers. We target these acrobatic creatures using ultra light tackle, and hands on fishing methods. You make the cast, you set the hook, it’s a true Mano-v-Fisho scenario. Which boat we use can depend on where in the state we are fishing, and also river levels. Typically these trips are out of my spacious and new 18′ Clackamax drift boat. But, when the run timing is right, and the river levels cooperate, we use my jetsled to run some of the smaller rivers near Portland. This is pretty cool trip as we hop from hole to hole and back up to the top of the run again for another pass.