FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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Astoria Oregon

How could you not like this?

Our limits of Chinook Salmon.

******************The Knockin Tail Lure with a built in tail rattle!   Look for it this winter.

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Though our trip to Oregon involved 3 completely different places I wanted to start with Astoria.  (More to come on fly fishing and Portland.)  The plan was to stay there a couple of days and maybe catch a few salmon, and boy did that work out.

Astoria is at the mouth of the ocean where the Columbia River dumps into the Pacific.  And that is where the famous Columbia Bar stretches for several miles at the mouth.  It is where the US Coast Guard trains in the winter, braving swells that can reach 30 feet.  Many a mariner has been taken by the ocean, and the memorial is a sobering place testifying to the danger of “crossing the Bar.”

The Boss putting one in the boat.

The town itself is my kinda town.  It is all about the fishing as it has been for a couple of hundred years, and still is to this day.  (And the food and eats, much less the craft beer, are top notch.)  So we hired a guide to take us out, and it was one of the best choices I have ever made in a guide.

From the Great Barrier Reef to the Texas coast I have had the pleasure of fishing with some good, and some terrible guides, but right off the bat I want to compliment our guide, Capt. Mark Charlton of Charlton Deep Sea Charters.  There are guides, and then there are fishermen, and the Capt. is the real deal.  No one trick pony like so many others, he gets it all done and I could not recommend him any more highly.

2 things I did not expect to see today.

With a legitimate 30 years (And that is low!) of experience he crabs in the winter, and yes it is just like the tv show.  He fishes for tuna, crabs, salmon, sturgeon, bottom fish, and halibut to name a few.  He started on this father’s boats when he was 6 y/o and has been at it ever since.  I could tell you more but enough said.  He and his mate Nick went above and beyond and it is the best money I have ever spent on a guide.

The Cape Meares Lighthouse. 

He fishes out of a 50 foot commercial fishing boat, the Ruby Sea, the boat he uses for all his pursuits.  We booked it because it had a head, one of the Boss’s requirements.  He can fish up to 20 but when we got to the dock it was just us.  Nothing like a 50′ boat to yourself!  I am so impressed he took us out with no other fisherman.  Most would have cancelled, but he took us and it was a blast.

There were tons of boats fishing as it was the holiday weekend, including a pontoon boat  (Nuts!) on the ocean.  We started at the mouth of the river and like so many first time experiences we had a few hitches in our git along, all angler inexperience.  I lost the first one, right at the net, then the Boss had an interesting experience.  You have to reel them in at top speed because of the seals and sea lions.  As she reeled in a nice one you could see a big sea lion tracking it and unfortunately it ate.  It was a big one that only got her salmon, it was hooked up.  What a struggle until the mate finally broke it off.  We finally managed to land a keeper, and Nancy did land a wild salmon (Only hatchery fish are taken to preserve the genetics.)  which was immediately released, then the Capt. said lets head to the ocean.  And that is exactly what I am talking about, we were getting some action but the Capt. was willing to load up and run that big boat several miles outside the Bar to get better fishing, and we did.

Our hotel.  Love the early morning walks along the Columbia River.

We were tolling a 3 hook rig with an anchovie following a big dodger and a dipsy style diver, which most were caught in the 25 foot range.  It is interesting to me that they rig the bait to spin, so different from most techniques.  And from then it was game on.  We lost a few, boated a limit, had a few moments of mayhem with potential doubles, short strikes, we had it all.  Capt. Mark and Nick were great, fun, competent, both a credit to the profession.  And to Nick, you could have given us more crap for our start and it was all in good fun.  The dude can handle 20 fishermen at once if that tells you anything about his abilities.  If you ever get out there, and I highly recommend the whole Astoria experience, they are the real deal.

https://www.ifish.net/charlton.html

Astoria was all about the old canneries. 

We stayed on the river and most of Astoria is an easy walk.  I ate clams, crabs, shrimp, and who knows what else.  The breweries were great, everyone we met was friendly, and I really do hope to get back to do it again.

This may sound crazy but I want to come back when they are commercial fishing and act as a deck hand for a day or two.  As a boy growing up in the corn fields of Iowa the ocean was a thing other folks did.  But I have always been drawn to it, and fishing with them only peaked my interest.  So Nick, I really meant it!  (In fact if the incompetent counselor I had in high school who told me I would never got to college had told me if you join the Coast Guard you get a boat and a gun I would have signed up that day.)

Want to see what the Bar is all about.  Cpat. Mark sent me this and it says it all.  And Capt. Mark is interviewed while commercial fishing during the show.  Some crazy stuff!

My kind of town – all about the fish!

The Seafarer Memorial.  Sobering.

Tribute to brave rescuers of the Coast Guard.

The memorial, listing folks who have made the area their life, was a humbling experience.  I went back twice just to take in the hundreds of names.  It really touched me in that fishing place that exists deep in my soul.  So many lost, but all doing what they loved.  It does not get any more sobering, or uplifting, than that.

Paella.  Seafood, followed by seafood, then some more seafood.

And the finishing touch – We had our filets vacuum packed and kept them on ice for 36 hours for the trip home, then TSA took all my ice packs as they were not totally frozen.  But a kind bartender (He got a nice fat filet for his kindness.) filled our bag with fresh ice after getting through security and they made it home as fresh as they came out of the ocean.  It was our first meal at home and we are good for months.  Great fish and great memories, what it is all about.  Thanks guys!

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I could go on and on, and there will be more on our trip in the next day or two, but you get the picture.  But life goes on and it is back to reality.  Still waiting on the service to get done on the Mako, then to New Braunfuls to get the part for the tunnel and hopefully it will be back on the water soon.  With clouds and rain coming I will definitely be hitting the water in the skiff.  It is still hot but with the clouds and drizzle it is definitely fishable on the bay or lake.  I appreciate you sticking with me on this little break but fall is coming and with it back to the serious fishing.  So keeps stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines