Nehalem results 3/24

craigc · 03-24-2005, 02:27 PM

The Nehalem bar crossing this morning over was easy... dropped 6 traps[ salmon as bait] in about 40ft and went bottomfishing for a couple hours... came back with a couple Black rockfish and about 24 dozen crabs.... seemed to be about a 50/50 percent of males to females this time... don't know why... greater depth ??? swells are about 4ft and wind were about 10knots coming from the southwest. If the weather holds to the foreceast, we'll go again tomorrow. Hope everyone else does well, Craig

Threemuch · 03-24-2005, 02:31 PM

24 dozen!?!?!??! That's alot of crab Craig. We also saw a big reduction in the number of girls we caught last week. Glad you guys did good. Good luck tomorrow, should be OK in the morning, but the afternoon will be nasty.

Threemuch · 03-24-2005, 02:32 PM

Oh, and say Hello to Lou for me.

rustyl · 03-24-2005, 02:34 PM

In general, how does the Nahalem bar crossing compare to Tillamook & Newport?

Mr. Fisherman · 03-24-2005, 02:45 PM

The Nehalem Bar is worse.
I have yet to cross it but likely won't.
It is not a scheduled stop on my Pacific cruise later this Summer. I'd rather cross the Columbia or Garabaldi bars.
Here is more information and a great site on all the ports on the Oregon Coast. Be safe out there and enjoy...

Nehalem Bar info

craigc · 03-25-2005, 07:09 AM

....please don't tell the game wardens about the 24 dozen crabs... the crabs were pretty full, but marginally.. there was little 'butter' in most of them... some were okay.... there are more commercial pots out here than I've ever seen before... sorta scary....

... I wouldn't try crossing the Nehalem bar without first being taken over by someone that has done it for awhile... there are few days in the summer I'd call it safe for the novice... the bar is shallow and the swells will build on the edge more quickly than you can get your boat over the length of the bar... and breakers will form at different parts of the bars, depending on a number of factors.... for example... the next 'set' came just as we were returning over the bar, and we had a difficult ride in because we had come back 1 1/2 high slack... slight error in expectations on the conditions of the bar based on previous experience...

...good luck to all.. Cheers, Craig

craigc · 03-25-2005, 04:07 PM

...second day out... the Nehalem bar crossing was done easily on a heavy flood tide... dropped 6 crab traps again... winds were increased to 10 knots[ some popcorn visible on the water ], swells still about 4 ft... line of rain squalls visible to the SW horizon.... picked up a few rockfish, but the drift was much faster from stronger winds.. fished for about a hour... picked up 18 more crabs, still a 50/50 split on sex, not as many undersized males.. returned across the bar at noon at high slack... it was a good day... Craig

p.s. - by this afternoon, the winds have picked up considerably, 15 to 20 knots

OceanBlue · 03-25-2005, 04:34 PM

Um, congrats on your success, but... yeah, there's lots of folks you can't even imagine reading this board.

24 dozen? So, what? You had 24 people on your boat, right?

And what kind of boat did you say that was?

Brag post is one thing, but think about what you're posting, eh?

Sublime · 03-26-2005, 01:55 PM

I'm curious, also, Jen.

Threemuch · 03-26-2005, 06:47 PM

I do not think Nehalem is particularly worse than garibaldi, a bit smaller, and you can't cross (and would not want to) on the north side. In a NW swell, I think it can sometimes give you a hole to sneak in near the south jetty when Tillamook will not. No coasties here to close the bar, so you are on your own recognizance. Don't just think about getting out, think about getting back in. If your crossing is marginal during the incoming, don't go.

I have crossed both these bars several times, I wouldn't rate one worse than the other.

Depending on where in Nehalem you are going, there are MANY shallow areas. You need to know where the channel is before running around at speed.

Lucky one · 03-27-2005, 03:23 PM

I gotta ask, why keep 24 dozen? I don't think I would ever want to eat that much, let alone clean them all.

Also after crossing the bar at Garibaldi thousands of times it is tough to say it isn't bad, but I have always been of the opinion that it was much better than the Nehalem bar.

Threemuch · 03-27-2005, 04:55 PM

It's a typo. They only took 24

Lucky one · 03-27-2005, 07:51 PM

Ahhh, glad to hear that. I just don't like hearing about guys taking more than they necessary.