Avoiding the crowds

[Hooked Up]

I'm going fishing this weekend with my friend who usually fishes his boat on the Willamette. He doesn't want to troll with the crowd at buoy 10 for his first time on the big C. Any suggestions on where to put in and fish up river from the big show?

 

[MrGrumpFish]

I would put in at the east mooring basin. Nice ramp with less pressure than Hammond. Head up stream from there, watch your depth finder and find your own fish. I have done this with success, proving that you don't have to be in the crowds to catch fish. I like fishing along the Oregon side of the sand bars off of tongue point. If you are in a small boat be careful if the wind starts picking up, that river can get nasty and flat out dangerous quick, so know when to get off. Usually happens in the early afternoon.

Hope this helps you. This is just one opinion of Im sure many you will get here. Just speaking from my experience.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Hooked Up]

Thanks Chris. I'll mention it to him.

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[Hooked Up]

I would put in at the east mooring basin. Nice ramp with less pressure than Hammond. Head up stream from there, watch your depth finder and find your own fish. I have done this with success, proving that you don't have to be in the crowds to catch fish. I like fishing along the Oregon side of the sand bars off of tongue point. If you are in a small boat be careful if the wind starts picking up, that river can get nasty and flat out dangerous quick, so know when to get off. Usually happens in the early afternoon.

Hope this helps you. This is just one opinion of Im sure many you will get here. Just speaking from my experience.

Cheers,

Chris

Found out he doesn't have a trolling motor, going to anchor up and use divers. We'll be in 22'-24' cuddy cabin so we should be fine. Will hopefully have pics to post.

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[Hooked Up]

Well, we didn't catch anything. Ended up trolling with the big motor against the tides. Talked with other people at the dock and it was a really good or bad day for catching fish, not much in between. Used herring, anchovies and spinners. Amazed at the amount of boats out there. Upside is it was a beautiful day on the river and learned a bit more.

 

[MrGrumpFish]

Pretty slow day in general I think. The only people I heard catching fish on the Nehalem yesterday were people fishing well before daylight. I was on the water at 5:45 with lines wet at 6 and had one miss on the afternoon incoming tide but even then only saw 3, maybe 5 fish caught and all that afternoon. That's why it's called fishing not catching I guess. It was a beautiful day to be on any river for sure! Smokey as hell though!

 

[Hooked Up]

Hey Chris,

Was it pretty crowded there? I might take my youngest in the DB and try trolling in addition to throwing a few pots in the water. Do you fish by the crab shops or closer to the mouth?

Thanks,

Hans

 

[MrGrumpFish]

It can get crowded at the jaws and gets more so if you fish toward the end of the south jetty. If you don't like combat fishing, fish around 300 yards back from the end of the jetty and about 40 feet off the rocks. Water is in the 25 to 32 foot range depending on where you are in there. I like fishing the jaws on the incoming tides, and fishing in front of wheeler and up to the 101 bridge on outgoing tides. Great place to take kids of all ages as long as you stay away from the jaws. I personally don't like to have my kids in that kind of water. Either way you go, I think the Nehalem is MUCH safer than Astoria and I think the fish quality is far superior to anything you will catch and eat out of Astoria. Just my opinion. A friend of mine took a 53 pound pig out of the Nehalem last year! I don't fish near the crab shops because trying to troll through all the trailer buoys can be a real sh!t show. Either fish the rocks or in front of wheeler and you WILL catch fish! Hope this helps. Enjoy and tight lines to you.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Hooked Up]

When you say to fish 300 yds back from the end of the jetty, do you mean close to where the last crab shack is? I've only fished/crabbed there twice and don't know the water. If I were to motor up to Wheeler (snails pace in my boat), does it get shallow between those two locations? Online charts show it might get dicey at low tide. Definitely don't want to get the kids in harms way. Looking forward to getting my son onto some fish.

Thanks,

Hans

 

[MrGrumpFish]

Hans,

There is a large red channel marker just after the last marina that has the crab shack you speak of. You can fish about 50 feet west of it along the south jetty and but don't get too close to that on a brisk tide because the water in that spot really has a nasty roll to it. Very uninviting to small craft. How big is your boat and is your motor capable of decent speed? I don't want to recommend you go out there on a swift incoming tide just to have you get pushed around. I run a 15 foot Smokercraft Alaskan with a 40 hp mariner on it and a trolling plate at 45 degrees to allow me to be off of idle but still reasonably low rpm so I don't waste tons of fuel. As for the run between wheeler and the jaws, at low tide you have a lot of opportunity to run aground on a bar here and there. You will not have that issue if you pay attention to the channel markers all the way there. The markers stop near the last marina before the jetty and you are in the clear from there. A couple more warnings. Don't worry too much just use your head and you'll be cool. The crabbers out their lay their gear in the channel, which really pisses me off because it slows the trip back and forth. Watch for them in changing tide conditions because you can hit their trailer buoys and end up with a wrapped up motor. Not fun. Been there. Last. The afternoon wind can make the trip back to wheeler a brutal one in an open boat. In interest of not wanting to take a bath on the way back from the jaws last weekend it took me 40 minutes to get from the jaws back to the 101 landing. Food for thought. I don't take my kids to the jaws.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Hooked Up]

Hi Chris,

I've got an early 70's 15' Koffler w/ 8 hp Merc. Motor has plenty of power but the boat is so light if I open the throttle up the stern gets pulled down, boat ends up having a Wally Gator look. Sounds like motoring back is not a good option. I think fishing around the last buoy is the thing to do. Note to self; don't troll over your own crab pots! Might wait until Sunday, I think the weather might be iffy Saturday.

Thanks,

Hans