Oregon Bound for Chinook and Coho

By David Conway.

Catch the bite from the beaches to Buoy 10 and the Columbia River.

Capt. Hugh Harris, of True North Outdoors in Portland, tells me that a chinook salmon can smell one drop of its ancestral stream in 50 gallons of water. In Harris’ home waters of the Columbia River, chinook might get that scent as they ride tides between the ocean and the river early in the season. By summer, many fish stage in the ocean near the Columbia River’s mouth before surging upriver past Buoy 10. In summer’s warming river waters, they find respite in cold-water sanctuaries. Late summer rains bring the scent of their home waters into the river’s flow, drawing the salmon to their spawning grounds upstream. Through the seasons, Capt. Harris targets chinook and coho as they move from nearshore waters off the beach to the fast currents near Buoy 10 and those cold-water refuges upstream.

A seasoned kayaker before his days charter fishing, Capt. Harris’ top beaches for kayak fishing along the coast are:

  1. Pacific City (north coast)
  2. Depoe Bay (central coast)
  3. Seaside (north coast)
  4. Social Security Beach (mouth of the Columbia River, north coast)
  5. Long Beach, Washington (south coast WA)
  6. Sunset Bay (southern Oregon)

“Ocean salmon off the Oregon Coast feed aggressively. They’ll bite a variety of offerings if presented correctly,” Harris says. “When I’m heading off the beach, I’ll look for temperature changes, temperatures around 50 to 55 degrees F, salinity changes, and currents that corral schools of prey fish for the predators. Rips, slicks, changes in water surface texture, and actively feeding birds will get my heart racing.”

read more at sportfishingmag.com.