L
LawyerBob
Short Version
Visited Oxbow on Saturday and Sunday. Water's running nice and surprisingly clear. There was easily over 10' of visibility both days. I checked out a few usual spots at Oxbow Park. There were a few dozen people out there both days. Spoke to many. General consensus was there's still a good number of wild chinook in the water (to no one's surprise). A few rare, stray hatchery chinook are sprinkled in. One person reported catching a coho "somewhere" on the Sandy on Saturday. Otherwise, everyone was still waiting for the big coho run. Several old timers weren't convinced there would be one, judging by the last few years.
I tied into four chinook; landed one on a 7' medium rod spooled with a mere 100 yards of 8lb line. These were my first Oregon salmon hookups, and my first Oregon salmon landed. I hadn't fought a salmon in well over a decade, despite several trips in the last two years. Awesome day that will be remembered fondly. Pic below.
Long Version (My First Oregon Salmon)
I went out there geared for Coho but ended up hearing they missed the bus and were being redirected. Maybe. Saw several chinook jumping at one spot, and while I hear jumpers aren't biters, I figured I'd at least spend the day in the sun practicing my spoon/spinner technique (aka feeding the river).
About three hours into Saturday, things took a decisive turn. I hooked into my first Oregon salmon. It was big. Really big. It also had the decency to do a full body breach and hang in the air for what seemed like forever. The fish and I shared a nice moment while I heard a familiar, annoying voice in my head--"hope you adjusted the drag after breaking your line off." Oh snap. Note to self: double check the drag periodically.
Having gone after salmon a dozen times without so much as a bite, I thought that would be the highlight of my day. Nevertheless, I tied on another similar lure and tossed it out there. It was taken on the drop. Having a functioning drag, this fish and I squared off. So... treat it like a large trout that jumps like a bass? I guess. But what's all this head shaking nonsense? Oh. :lol: Note to self: fighting salmon in a river =/= fighting large trout or bass in a lake.
Two hookups on one day? My best day ever. Time to test my luck. Within five minutes I had yet another large fish on my line. My medium rod was doubled over something fierce. We covered the same steps as prior fish, but then it almost spooled me. So... turn it?! Sure! Due to my bendy medium rod, I had to stop reeling to get the power I needed to bring it about. And it worked! While I was giving myself a mental high-5 for not snapping my 8lb line, the fish charged me. I pulled a total deer in the headlights. :hypnotysed: Hello slack. And welcome back, lure! Notes to self: don't bring 100 yards of line to a river; salmon will charge you, and slack is bad, m'kay?
Around this time a drift boat with 3 guys anchored downriver decided to row upstream and anchor 15' below the small pocket of water I was working. One of them even got out and waded within 8' of the spot I was working. Water clarity was at least 10'. Great. For the next hour they carpet bombed the area with an assortment of noisy, flashy spinners. The bite went dead. I thought my day was set to end on a sour note. But then, finally, a fish jumped upriver. So off they went. Much to the chagrin of the bank anglers already working that area. Back to business.
I had since lost my favorite lure and was out of similar colored ones. The sun was now high. So, I decided to try something far more subdued in an attempt to entice a spooked fish to bite. 15 minutes later, I was able to land the cast I was trying for and hooked into a submerged woody obstacle that previously ate 3 lures. Exasperated, I gave it a sharp tug. It tugged back.
Building on my prior mistakes, I fought my way back to and up the bank to gain some much needed leverage. I avoided several earlier rookie mistakes and turned the fish a few times to prevent being spooled. After a few frantic runs I was able to work it into the shallows and get a good look at it--a nice, big, wild fish. Seeing as I had my anti-tangle, silicon coated net with me, I asked my buddy to have at it.
As she approached it, I realized the fish wasn't going to fit unless bent into a "C". Oh well, control the head, control the fish. Right? It took a few attempts, but we eventually got my first Oregon chinook landed. Took a few hasty snaps and sent it packing. As to my ace hookset? The width of my hook between tip and shank was the same size as it's row of teeth. The hook wasn't actually sticking in, it was merely curved around the row of teeth. It fell free by simply giving it slack. Wow.
What a great day on the water!
Edit: typo
Visited Oxbow on Saturday and Sunday. Water's running nice and surprisingly clear. There was easily over 10' of visibility both days. I checked out a few usual spots at Oxbow Park. There were a few dozen people out there both days. Spoke to many. General consensus was there's still a good number of wild chinook in the water (to no one's surprise). A few rare, stray hatchery chinook are sprinkled in. One person reported catching a coho "somewhere" on the Sandy on Saturday. Otherwise, everyone was still waiting for the big coho run. Several old timers weren't convinced there would be one, judging by the last few years.
I tied into four chinook; landed one on a 7' medium rod spooled with a mere 100 yards of 8lb line. These were my first Oregon salmon hookups, and my first Oregon salmon landed. I hadn't fought a salmon in well over a decade, despite several trips in the last two years. Awesome day that will be remembered fondly. Pic below.
Long Version (My First Oregon Salmon)
I went out there geared for Coho but ended up hearing they missed the bus and were being redirected. Maybe. Saw several chinook jumping at one spot, and while I hear jumpers aren't biters, I figured I'd at least spend the day in the sun practicing my spoon/spinner technique (aka feeding the river).
About three hours into Saturday, things took a decisive turn. I hooked into my first Oregon salmon. It was big. Really big. It also had the decency to do a full body breach and hang in the air for what seemed like forever. The fish and I shared a nice moment while I heard a familiar, annoying voice in my head--"hope you adjusted the drag after breaking your line off." Oh snap. Note to self: double check the drag periodically.
Having gone after salmon a dozen times without so much as a bite, I thought that would be the highlight of my day. Nevertheless, I tied on another similar lure and tossed it out there. It was taken on the drop. Having a functioning drag, this fish and I squared off. So... treat it like a large trout that jumps like a bass? I guess. But what's all this head shaking nonsense? Oh. :lol: Note to self: fighting salmon in a river =/= fighting large trout or bass in a lake.
Two hookups on one day? My best day ever. Time to test my luck. Within five minutes I had yet another large fish on my line. My medium rod was doubled over something fierce. We covered the same steps as prior fish, but then it almost spooled me. So... turn it?! Sure! Due to my bendy medium rod, I had to stop reeling to get the power I needed to bring it about. And it worked! While I was giving myself a mental high-5 for not snapping my 8lb line, the fish charged me. I pulled a total deer in the headlights. :hypnotysed: Hello slack. And welcome back, lure! Notes to self: don't bring 100 yards of line to a river; salmon will charge you, and slack is bad, m'kay?
Around this time a drift boat with 3 guys anchored downriver decided to row upstream and anchor 15' below the small pocket of water I was working. One of them even got out and waded within 8' of the spot I was working. Water clarity was at least 10'. Great. For the next hour they carpet bombed the area with an assortment of noisy, flashy spinners. The bite went dead. I thought my day was set to end on a sour note. But then, finally, a fish jumped upriver. So off they went. Much to the chagrin of the bank anglers already working that area. Back to business.
I had since lost my favorite lure and was out of similar colored ones. The sun was now high. So, I decided to try something far more subdued in an attempt to entice a spooked fish to bite. 15 minutes later, I was able to land the cast I was trying for and hooked into a submerged woody obstacle that previously ate 3 lures. Exasperated, I gave it a sharp tug. It tugged back.
Building on my prior mistakes, I fought my way back to and up the bank to gain some much needed leverage. I avoided several earlier rookie mistakes and turned the fish a few times to prevent being spooled. After a few frantic runs I was able to work it into the shallows and get a good look at it--a nice, big, wild fish. Seeing as I had my anti-tangle, silicon coated net with me, I asked my buddy to have at it.
As she approached it, I realized the fish wasn't going to fit unless bent into a "C". Oh well, control the head, control the fish. Right? It took a few attempts, but we eventually got my first Oregon chinook landed. Took a few hasty snaps and sent it packing. As to my ace hookset? The width of my hook between tip and shank was the same size as it's row of teeth. The hook wasn't actually sticking in, it was merely curved around the row of teeth. It fell free by simply giving it slack. Wow.
What a great day on the water!
Edit: typo
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