Nehalem Bay

[Pete]

Let's see ... reasonably good reports of mixed bags of kings and coho without the wild crowds of B10, so I decided to give it the day. Things were fine until my boat hit the water. Turn the key and suck a HUGE ball of sea weed which seizes the pump. Got that cleared and motored to the dock to pick up my buddy. Step off the boat and my feet head for the sky on the slippery dock. Back on track, we bait the crab traps and get them out in the bay. Just baiting our fish hooks when we watched a 37 pound king come to net in front of the Jetty ramp. Excitement level high. We're in the zone, the tide is just about to turn, the rain has stopped, the crowd is small ... what could be better? We trolled herring side by side with some of the fish-catchin'est guides around as they landed King after Coho. I might have had one bump ... might have. Fished almost 8 hours without a fish to be had. But that's OK, it happens some times, right? So we went to pull crab traps. One nice keeper in the first pull. Hmmmm. None in the second. None in the third. None in the fourth. Hmmmm. Rebaited, put em back for another 2 hours. No more keepers. Soooo...to recap...up at 3:30 A.M., 2 hour drive, 8 hours fishing - 2 rods, 8 hours crabbing - 4 traps ... and only one crab for the effort. Wanna buy some used tackle?

[Lipripper]

Pete what were you driving? I was driving the Smokercraft Stilletto. We had the same luck. Saw Os and I think he might have picked one up. Better luck next time

[Pete]

Green Alumaweld Intruder ... with a sticker.

[WheresMyBobber]

I feel for you Pete, I've been there. But I've also had trips to Nehalem that were great for both crabbing and fishing. It's the luck of the draw I guess.

HEY - for any of you that have reservations at Nehalem State Park next week, please cancel them so we can come down for a few days and camp. I PROMISE we'll leave some crabs and fish. images/icons/wink.gif

[rags]

Pete,
Did you put-in at Wheeler. I plan to fish Nehalem this weekend for the first time. Any tips other than watch the slippery dock?

[Jellyhead]

Hey Rags,

Keep you're eyes peeled for a little 14' fiberglass open boat, Battleship grey, It looks like a little PT boat. I'll be there sunday to try and put the hurt on em.

What kinda rig you gonna be in?

Aaron

[rags]

Aaron,
I'll be there on Saturday in a teal SuperVee. Wish I could fish Sunday but have some prior comittments. Depending on the weather I might fish Astoria first then come over to the Nehalem. John.

[OneLastCast]

Last Friday I stopped by the county ramp after work to see what was happening. A guy was standing in his boat in ankle deep water complaining about not knowing the river (it was his first time). For his efforts he gets to repair a fist sized hole in the bottom of his boat and buy a new prop.

So, things to know. Just downstream from the county ramp, in the middle of the river is a good size sand bar visible at a minus tide and a good thing to keep away from. Motor straight out from the ramp until you get to the far side.
Stay to the right side of the Island as you are heading downstream. Don't cut the corner on the bottom of the island because it extends quite a ways and is often not visible.
Don't hug the far bank in front of Wheeler.
Stay between the red and green bouys from Paradise Cove on down river. Go any other place and you will be digging sand shrimp with your prop.
Stay between the bouys as you head toward the State Park boat launch and DO NOT cut the red buoy short as you make the turn. It is usually better if you stay closer to the green.
About 100 yards in front of Brighton is some considerable unmarked shoaling.

Always check your depth finder. Some times passengers will have to pick up their feet to get through the shallow stuff.

Keep your hooks sharp.

OneLastCast

[AngleThis]

Pete, it could be worse. On Wednesday I was at Bonneville after steelehead. Had just installed a trolling motor, mounting bracket, tank, and fuel line. ...My buddy with the tow vehicle didn't show, went with an alternate and got there at 10...to late..no bite...so we decided to do the sport thing and fish for peelers..was in the water 2 mins and a barge emerged from the locks with five horn blows... no time to pull lines and the anchor since I would have had to do so right in front of his his course...so we started up and moved way over...almost to the shoreline...

The barge comes down, the guy in front give me the 'thank you' wave. Halfway across, the tug for some reason steers hard to starbord and punches it. His stern swings way over to the Oregon side, practically pinning me agains the rocks. His high reving prop picks up my anchor rope, and away we go...180 degree turn and my boat is in the prop wash, with line wrapping around his shaft and the distance between us shortening up fast. I tried punching to get my line ahead of his rudder..no good... finally, I had to cut my anchor line or be chopped to pieces by the tug...even the bouy did not pop up...$225 complete anchor system ..ka-ching, busted bow light fixture, no fish, and to add insult to injury, the assbite tug numbskull starts cursing me out for not getting out of the way... perhaps I should have ramed the rocks to accomodate him... right after throwing a grenade into his wheelhouse...can you say "artifical fishing reef?"

[ 08-03-2001: Message edited by: ********* ]

[Pete]

Eeek, Angle! What a mess! At least you are here to tell the story. It's surprising how short a notice the commercial guys give. At B10 this morning a large freighter waited until he was about 100 yards from the circus before he decided to give the 5 blast warning. Since the guys who navigate the Columbia are either seasoned tug captains or Pilots, it sure seems like they would have the sense and memory to know where and when to give a little more warning, huh?

Rags - when the incoming tide starts going good, find the inside corner of the current at the tip of the south jetty ... push the guides out of the way and do a stationary troll right on that spot or just outside it. It didn't work for me, but it seemed like the most productive location. However, I saw a 37 pound king taken from 15 feet of water just in front of the Jetty marina. You never really know where you'll find a hungry salmon.

[wobble-wacker]

I heard second hand that on Saturday a fish cop gave a ticket at the ramp to a returning Nehalem fisherman with a dog in the boat for no floatation device for the dog. Is this possible? I don't know where I could find a PFD for my pet mouse.

[Grits]

Bringing this up to the top to see if anybody fished Nehalem bay this weekend and was willing to report how they did.

How was it? How many pulls did you fish?

I am thinking about staying at Pacific Cove this weekend with my grandparents. Anybody know where I can reserve some bait in that area?