Question on flounder fishing near Hammond

[bizlawyer]

Hi all, I am a new member of ifish. I don't know if this is the right forum to post this question or not but here goes. I have heard about salmon fisherman catching some pretty big flounder in the Columbia recently. I have a 13' Klamath boat with 10 hp engine that is too small to go out very far. I have used it in Tillamook bay and Netarts bay for crabbing and fishing when weather permits.

Since I am not much into winter steelhead fishing (because I suck at it!) I am looking to do some crabbing and maybe bottom fishing in the Columbia in December or January. Can anyone tell me whether this is feasible with my size boat on a good weather day? If I launch at Hammond public boat ramps, my range is only about 3 miles out to be safe in the event of a sudden weather change.

Since this is such a large area of water I don't know where to go. Any info is much appreciated.

Thank you.

[Miss B Haven]

I would not recommend the CR Estuary in a 13 foot boat any time of year. Ya- on the right day you'ld be fine (if you have some knowledge) but right days have a way of turning bad in a hurry.
Jan/Feb is Storm season around here in case you haven't noticed. If it's not raining and blowing S-SW it's cause it's cold and the East wind is blowing. Either way the CR can be really rough.
Depending on the rainfall and the dam outflow you also may have high water/flow conditons and a LOT of flotsum (LOGS) in the river/estuary. The CR Estuary is what- 15 miles wide from the OR shore back to Chinook/Baker Bay?
Tides in Jan/Feb are the biggest of the year as well.
Not a good allround choice.

PS- The flounder I've caught there have all been pretty small and all were while Sturgeon fishing, not Salmon fishing. If you really just have to do this - launch at Warrenton, poke out of the Skippinon and hang a right into the shallows in youngs bay beyond the old rotten pilings. Only a few 100 yds and you can poke right back inside the Skippinon.
PSS- did I forget to mention the BIG boat wakes (as in Freighters/Tugs/Barges/70 foot trawlers etc etc).? :whazzup:
PSSS- you do HAVE to have flares below the Meglar bridge. I would hope you have a VHF and GPS as well if you're even thinking about poking around the big water. (Did I mention the low/no visibility conditions?).

[ 11-18-2003, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: Miss B Haven ]

[northriver1]

I fish Bouy 10 for salmon four or five times this year and on two occasions coming back to port I wished I had a bigger boat than the 23 footer I was in. If it was me I would find another place to fish.

[rojo]

Not a place to be this time of year, we already had 65+ knots of wind down there.Last year the high was around 85 to 90 knots. If you would like to fish that area, wait till May and get a ride with someone else. Keep the little boat for the lakes...Roger

[bizlawyer]

Thanks for the good advice everyone. One more question I have is, do you have to have a large boat for crabbing in the Hammond area (assuming its a calm day) or are the crabbing grounds close enough in?

[kamloops]

I have a 12' Alum Smokercraft. I would not take that thing anywhere near the Columbia River in any season. I have had it in the Nehalem before, but that being said, you need to have experience in whatever craft you venture out on. The Nehalem has rental boats available, need to check out if there open in the winter. Tillamook Bay has boats to rent for crabbing also.

[Miss B Haven]

bizlawyer - Repeat everything above for Crabbing out of your boat with 1 exception.
Pulling pots from your boat would add to the hazards present.

[CATCH AND EAT]

18' minimum for the estuary below the bridge. Ya need something with freeboard my friend. Yet I see folks out there every year at 10 and even in the ocean with 14' car toppers. I shake my head in disbelief. Wait till summer and ask a salty dog for a ride. Certainly someone here is bound to give ya a lift.

[KeyWest]

I've caught lots of flounder in the lower Columbia - but only while commercial fishing (gillnetting) in the 70's. I've never caught one on hook and line - but I know there are lots.

[bizlawyer]

Thanks for the info everyone! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] I hope I can reciprocate in the future, although I don't do any ocean fishing since my boat is too small.

[WP]

Bizlawyer,
There are usually lots of opportunities to go ocean fishing in the summer months, monitor here and jump up when an open seat comes available. Have fun and I hope to see ya out there.
Dave

[Pilar]

Catch and Eat, ever seen the guy on the waverunner at B-10? I almost fell in the water when I saw that. He's out there every year.

Where the fish box on a waverunner?

[Reel Creel]

A few summers ago a saw some guys with waverunners that they used for clam digging in Alaska. At Ninilchik, on the kenai penninsula. We were digging clams these guys roll up with waverunners and launch them. They had coolers mounted on the back little platform. Having two of these things at the time (waverunners) i had to ask "whats the coolers for" [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] one of them replied we dig clams comercially they started to tell me that the clam digging was better on the outher side of the cookinlet and it was about 40mls across at that point. i was told that were no roads and no people. We were getting our limits each 45 a day and 5 guys <lots of clams>. How could this get better I think its a little nuts fishing off one of them. Its to easy to fall off.

[Reel Creel]

Bizlawyer,
just wate until summer or you can get a bigger boat,or a ride on somebody`s boat. ther lots of good times on little boats thats not the place.good luck man

[kamloops]

He was out at the CR Buoy this summer. Had a electric trolling motor mounted on the side.
It was a pretty rough day, hope he had extra fuel.