Any salmon in Yaquina Bay?

Fishplay · 10-08-2003, 12:48 PM

Lets just say you'll find more boats and fishermen than you will fish.

This fishery is now being overfished and will soon be just another memory from the past.

You may as well join the heard and get 'em while the getting is good...........Or shall I say get 'em while the getting is a little less than fair.

The Yaq used to be my favorite fall fishery. It has never been a steady producer. Just a little piece of heaven.

You may troll all day without catching a fish. In fact you may troll all day without seeing a fish caught. But what was nice about it was that you did not see 100 other boats and 250 other fishermen all trying to catch the same 10 fish.

I have tried to protect this fishery from 'Internet Devistation' but my attempts have failed. I am offically throwing in the towel. :depressed:

What little action you'll find will be taking place at Marker 31 on herring. Troll the drop off on the inside of the bend.

If you do happen to catch a fish; by all means come back and let us all know. That way maybe the number of boats and fisherman will quadruple again and we can put an end to that nasty little run of chinook a little quicker.

Mark Mc · 10-08-2003, 01:41 PM

Hey Andiamo (Phil), you think you can just sneak back on here after weeks & weeks without an explanation or a story? How about telling everyone about your 3 weeks in the San Juans?

seasquid · 10-08-2003, 03:05 PM

Amen Fishplay, Amen!!!

To make it even worse, now even the guides have it figured out.

I'm about ready to throw in the towel all together on fall chinook fishing. What makes it even worse are all the morons whacking cohos on that river -- "hello, that's a coho, you can't keep it." [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]

ss

Miss B Haven · 10-08-2003, 04:13 PM

fishplay - My family is all from the area between Philomath and Toledo ( Logging and Mills, both sides). My dad tells me stories about the huge runs that used to be in the Yaquina/Elk (when he was a kid).
He claims that the local farmers wiped them out years and years ago. They stretched gill nets clear across the river top to bottom. Only fish that got up were after the nets were full and got pulled for a while to get cleaned out.
Rural Legend or???

andiamo · 10-08-2003, 11:25 PM

I have the halibut and tuna covered

, but I need to catch a few more salmon! Does anyone know if the salmon are biting in the Yaquina bay and river?

Any recommendations on gear? I was planning to try my luck Friday morning on the big flood tide.

Chilly one · 10-09-2003, 03:30 PM

I am a local bro the last 11 years in the Newport area and will put my 2 cents in on this fishery. It seems as tho it has gotten lots of attention the last 4-5 yrs. and the catchin' has been sporadic at best. Like previous posts here the effort will need to be put forth as I know MANY folks that are locals here and the bite has been discouraging this year! For the amount of boats fishing sometimes 75 to 100 or more, from the LNG tank to #31 or above there can be days where one sees NO FISH netted period! It's a funny river and I would have to say the river is not what it used to be BY FAR! One would need to fish several trips to Score or you could be one of the lucky fishheads on any day. My neighbor who grew up here and is a solid to GOOD fisherman fishes the salt and the bay and river above has had terrible luck this year, my other neighbor has fished it 5-6 times and got his first fish of the year on Wed. this week. My other neighbor has fished it 6-8 times ZERO! I fished it one day and got a fish. If you can stand the crowd good luck and enjoy the day! Regards. "Happiness is a Bent Rod!"

Popeye · 10-09-2003, 03:47 PM

Hey Gary ....I'm coming over tomorrow nite, how bout take'n me for a fishin' trip up there Sat ta ketch one :grin:

wak'm&stak'm · 10-10-2003, 07:32 AM

I have averaged 1 per trip, and my buddy is 8 (fish) 4 trips. While other are 7 and zero.

This is a tide influenced fishery, and the locals who stay on the fish and hit perfect tides do ok. YES.....to many boats nowadays....

Chilly one · 10-11-2003, 06:44 AM

Popeye the Sworfish extrordinaire!!! Just got your message as I've been doing roof work for couple days. I would be delighted to take u fishing! This weekend is spoken for. I will be out of town. I did have 2 buddies fish w/me last weekend and we had to work for 'em but we got 5 nice fish all chromers outside and N in the deeps. One was 39 pounds! Broke 2 others off. Hello to Julie and have a fine weekend u 2. Regards, Chillyone....."Happiness is a Bent Rod!" :grin: :grin:

apparentgenius · 10-11-2003, 06:45 PM

I've been doing ok on the bay. I've been getting a fish per trip. The days that I have been there, there seems to be a quick bite about an hour or two before high slack. Other than that, one here or there.

glen

andiamo · 10-12-2003, 09:18 AM

Thanks for the tips, Fishplay. I fished Friday morning up to, and slightly beyond marker 31, then cycled around marker 31 a few times. I estimate there were near 100 boats within sight; It reminded me a little of bouy 10 (what a great way to relax on your boat :depressed: ). I saw ~10 fish netted for the entire time.
I saw only 2 released (one of the two was my 15# silver). I guess this means 80% of the fish going up the river are Chinooks :whazzup: [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

.
I see what you mean about wacking Cohos. I can't say that I actually saw anyone keep a Coho (I'm not good enough to ID from a distance), but I'm certainly suspicious. I hope the game department is active in the area, and throws the book at poachers! What is the maximum penalty for poachers in Oregon? In Washington (at least 15 years ago), they could consider your boat as "poaching equipment", and seize it.

I hope everyone realizes that if we don't all play by the rules, we will all lose when they close the fishery. I was very satisfied to spend a beautiful sunny morning on the river, fish or no-fish. It was also a lot of fun pulling in the silver (just to say hi

).

Fishmstr · 10-13-2003, 04:27 PM

Fished upstream of Toledo saturday and today. Hooked 4 and lost 4 on saturday (two at the net!!!). Hooked 3 and landed 3 today. All 3 today were chromers....1 10 lbs. and 2 25 lbs. All fish caught on spinners. Pretty good fishing and not too crowded. Even though there are a lot of other boats out there, the Yaquina is still a gentlemen's fishery...eveyone is very polite and friendly. Email me if you are interested in more details.
later,
steve
"Avocation"