by Dave Graybill, September 22, 2014

September is always a busy month for me and this year is no different. I have fished off the coast for tuna, returned to do some seminars on fall fishing and then traveled to the Columbia River Gorge for Fish Camp. I came back in time for Salmon Fest in Leavenworth and now I will be heading for the Oregon coast to fish for coho and kings. I am on the run and loving every minute of it.

I have already reported on the tuna trip, and if you want to see what it was like go to my Fishing TV Page and watch the action. A big thanks goes to my brother Rick for doing a great job at Town Ford presenting his tackle and techniques for catching fall kings in the Hanford Reach. We also had a great crowd at the seminar I did on the same subject at Bob Feil Boats and Motors. If you missed the seminars, be sure to check out the video on fishing for Fall Kings with Shane Magnuson on the Fishing TV Page. You will also want to watch the How to Cure Eggs video on the How To and What’s New show, too. Eggs are very effective when fishing for fall kings in the Reach.

Eric Granstrom and I spent most of last week in the Columbia River Gorge, attending Fish Camp. This is when writers and broadcasters and other media types get together for a few days of fishing and learning about outdoor-related products. According to Ed Iman, organizer of the Camp, it is the largest gathering of outdoor media representatives in the Northwest. Each morning we have breakfast at the cook shack and then divide up among the boats and hit the river for fishing. This year, due to the big return of fall salmon, most of us went salmon fishing. A few did go fishing for smallmouth bass, walleye and sturgeon.

Fishing was actually very tough this year. Last year, in spite of very high winds, we all caught salmon every day. The hot method was “hover” fishing, which is keeping a gob of eggs near the bottom in the heavy concentrations of salmon. This year the fish weren’t biting. People were coming off the river with maybe one or two fish per boat for their efforts. The water temperature in the Columbia down there is still in the high sixties. I have a hunch that when it cools a bit the bite will really turn on.

I had called Shane Magnuson prior to leaving to see how the fishing was going down there, as he had been in this area since early September. He told me he had a cancellation and had room for four people on Tuesday. Eric and I met Shane near a launch near Lyle, and Loren from Hevi-Beads and Lance from Mack’s Lure joined us. Instead of doing the hover fishing thing Shane was trolling flashers and Super Baits, and he really put on a show. We landed a total of 21 fish that day! Most were fall kings, but we released four tules and got a coho and a jack. The next day Austin Moser broke out the flashers and Super Baits on his boat and whacked them, too.

Once again we met a lot of great people at Fish Camp, and saw some great products. It was like a reunion with many of the media folks, who have been going to Fish Camp for years, and some of the product people and those who took us fishing, too. It is also very special to meet new people in this environment. It is completely different than going to a sports show or product show where you spend very little time with them. Eric was busy shooting video, so we will have lots of new content for our How To and What’s New TV Show. You will also be seeing these products described on my Product Review Page. Eric and I will both be busy getting this information together for you to check out in the next month or so.

Now I am getting ready for the trip to the Oregon coast. This is an annual event of sorts, too. Richard Robinson, who grew up in the Rockaway area has invited me down for the past four years, and except for last year when we got blown off, have had very good fishing. We fish in the Nehalem jetty, in the jaws, and venture outside when the wind and tides allow. We catch a mix of Chinook salmon and coho, and some of them are big. I have caught coho up to 16 pounds and some of the kings have been over 35 pounds. This area is known for even larger kings later in the fall.

This can be very challenging fishing as the water really piles up with the tide changes, and there are lots of boats working the same water. We troll large herring on droppers near the bottom and are often battling clumps of weed and even Dungeness crabs when we let our baits drag too near the bottom. It takes a really good boat handler to make all of this work right to catch fish, and Robinson is an old hand at this and makes it look easy. We will also drop off some crab pots on our way out and pick them up on the way in. We usually have a cooler crammed with crab, which makes me very popular with my wife when I get home.

I do hope to get a trip or two in on the Columbia here before I leave for Oregon. I would like to do some back trolling below Wells Dam and get some egg fish so I can get some cured up for use below Priest Rapids Dam. I had some great trips down there last year. From what I am hearing, the fishing is better there now than what it is in the lower river right now.

Where ever I wind up fishing I know I will have a good time. The weather is still warm and clear here with little wind, so it’s an idea time to be out on the water. What ever I do I will be sure to share what happens with you. Hope to have a great report for you when you open your paper next week!

FishingMagician.com