ocean coho status

[Tryin2Fish]

Ok all you brave ocean going wessels, how did everyone do on the big pond? I had been watching the weather the past couple of days and it looked to be nasty. I am hopeing to get out on monday or tuesday but again the weather will be the final decision. I am not so experienced going over the bar and want a decent shot at a troublefree crossing.

Thanks for any replies.

images/icons/grin.gif

[dock rat]

Fished with a friend on his boat out of Newport yesterday. We fished the north end of the "Rockpile" and took our 4 Chinnook to the barn. One fish early and three around noon when the bite lit up. Shook quite a few coho and a couple of smaller Chinook thru the morning. Fished with downriggers and still picked up a few coho well over 100 feet down. Great day on the ocean! Good fishin' to ya'!

[BUGLEMAN]

Dock rat. How far was your gear off the bottom to pick up those chinook? What were you dragging?

[Pilar]

Hey Tryin2fish, limits for all in Newport. Bumpy ocean but not too bad, at least minimal wind. Lots of fish but scattered and hard to pin down.

Your choice of weather, drizzle, fog, broken clouds, sunshine.

On bar crossings avoid the ebb tide.

[dock rat]

I'd be guessing as to how deep the Chinook were coming. We had fairly light downrigger balls for the speed and current we were dealing with and they were angled back from the boat I would say up to about 45 degrees. My calculations would put our fishing depth at about 115 feet at a minimum and probably 160 as a maximum. Bottom depths varied from about 170 to 200 feet. We fished a large flasher and mostly green hootchies. Hope this helps.

[Tryin2Fish]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pilar:
Hey Tryin2fish, limits for all in Newport. Bumpy ocean but not too bad, at least minimal wind. Lots of fish but scattered and hard to pin down.

Your choice of weather, drizzle, fog, broken clouds, sunshine.

On bar crossings avoid the ebb tide.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ok, for the next rookie question. When is the ebb tide? I heard this alot but never got a good defineition. Thanks.

[Pilar]

Hi Tryin2fish. Good question. I guess it's easy to assume everyone knows all the terms used here when we discuss things.

The basic terms for tidal action are as follows.

High - The highest point the water will reach on that particular tide cycle. There are two cycles a day. One is caused by the Moon and to a lesser extent the sun and the other is an echo on the opposite side of the earth 12 hours later.

Low - As above there are two a day. The lowest point the water will reach on that particular cycle.

Ebb - The water in a bay or estuary retreats toward the ocean as the tide goes from its highest to lowest point. This causes a strong current which peaks at the halfway point between High and Low. When combined with water runoff from the rivers it makes the roughest conditions at the bay's mouth or Bar.

Flood - The water returns to the bay from the ocean during flood. This occurs as the tide changes from Low to High. The flood also brings food (plankton and baitfish), migrating fish and crabs into the bay. The temperature of the bay drops as well because the ocean is at 50 to 52 degrees and the bay is usually much warmer. The calmest Bar conditions are at or near the end of the flood. The water stops moving and all is calm. This is also a very good time for banging Salmon as the bite often occurs then too.

There is a lot more about tides but we'll save it for another day. Hope this helps.

[new boat]

OK, where is this "rockpile" everyone talks about out of Newport? images/icons/confused.gif

[Tryin2Fish]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Proud TJ Driver:
OK, where is this "rockpile" everyone talks about out of Newport? images/icons/confused.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Heres some gps coordinates that I have pickedup along the way:

Rock Pile at newport

n44 32.014
w124 21.981

Flat Spot at rockpile (canyon between two reefs)

n44 32.300
w124 22.123

Of course I have never been to these so if they are not right please excuse me.

[Tryin2Fish]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pilar:
Hi Tryin2fish. Good question. I guess it's easy to assume everyone knows all the terms used here when we discuss things.

The basic terms for tidal action are as follows.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey thanks for that information, the light bulbs are turning on. I remember the fishing last year at buoy 10 and the water sure does some strange stuff at the ebb and flood.

[Tilla]

Trying to Fish: I have to strongly agree with Mr. Fisherman. Until you understand effects of the tide, that includes the differential and how to correct the time, swell height, wind, water depth and how all of these work for and against you, get an expert. I kept a boat down at Illwaco for several years and learned that even though I drove two hours to get there , it was OK not to cross the bar at times.
If you have to do it I would suggest sticking with the pleasure fleet. But when they head in, it's time to go. Make sure of your safety equipment, have two of everything if possible. Be very careful, things change out there.

[Mr. Fisherman]

Tryingtofish and others,

Do NOT take your boat out to buoy 10 to learn how to cross the bar. It is one of the most dangerous bars in the world.

Go with experienced salty dogs first and ask lots of questions and take notes.

I don't want to read about anybody involuntarily feeding the crabs out there. It would make them tast funny images/icons/tongue.gif.

In all seriousness, pay attention to the warning. There is no fish worth risking your life for. images/icons/mad.gif

Dan! still has a seat or two open images/icons/grin.gif.

Be safe and hammer the fish out there.

Mr. F. out

[Phish_on]

Nothing like getting outside on the Columbia bar, then having the Coast Guard close the bar! Especially when you have a tendency to turn green and vomit ... as I do.

Yeah, I've been in some hairy stuff out there, my dad was pretty darn cautious and turned back more than a couple times. On the other hand, he was pretty salmon-crazed too. It's awesome out there, big river meets big ocean images/icons/shocked.gif images/icons/shocked.gif images/icons/shocked.gif images/icons/shocked.gif