IFish Fishing Forum banner

****Official 2025 Buoy 10 Reports Thread****

5 reading
139K views 785 replies 156 participants last post by  RiverWanderer  
#1 ·
LET'S GOOOOOO !!!

Here is your annual official Buoy 10 reports thread...

Well, we are just under 2 weeks away from the kickoff to the Buoy 10 salmon season. How excited are you? With a shade over a 1,000,000 fish predicted, this season is expected to be favorable if you like fishing the estuary. With a majority of those million fish expected to be 730,000 ish Chinook, I'm ready for some bruiser battles on board this year!

The gear is being tied and the boat is getting prepped. I see an ocean trip in the near future just because, well it looks nice after a few crummy weeks of unsettled waves and currents. Early reports are very favorable, and the ocean looks very friendly over the coming days.

I will be running a mix of 360's and triangle flashers. Nothing too surprising behind them as the usual menu will be out there. I prefer stuffer baits and the real meat behind those attractors; however soft spinners make for some great options and are super simple to fish. If I'm rolling bait I do prefer fresh anchovies from Big Game Fishing in a helmet to get that perfect spin, however herring still finds it's way to at least one rod on those soft Chinook tides. There's just something about that chomp, chomp , chomp of a good herring bite.

Speaking of tides, we have some good ones to start the season! I guess we'll see how many Chinook are Holdin' over come the 1st.

I'll be running out of Hammond again this season. Don't be shy, share a wave or a nod. While it can be crazy at times, it truly is some of the best fishing in the lower 48. Be safe, bring patience,
and have a blast while you out there!



Tight lines,
Chris
 
#8 ·
Where are you launching from? I’m hoping to get down there on the 12th and fish 3-4 days out of Warrington. I hope I get my boat out of the shop before then… Kirk
Where are you launching from? I’m hoping to get down there on the 12th and fish 3-4 days out of Warrington. I hope I get my boat out of the shop before then… Kirk
I will be launching out of Chinook as we have a family cabin in Ocean Park.
 
#9 ·
I will be there the 11th through the 16th and the 25th through the 30th with hopefully a few other days thrown in. That first week are good 'hold over tides' too and if the reports are promising, might do some additional early scouting.
Old school 'meat' again for our boat this year. It was just too productive last year to not stick with it. Rhys Davis Magna Green and UV clear heads with wires for Anchovies and Medium Clear UV Dick's Sure Spin for Fresh Herring from Tackle Time and the UV Clear Smalls for plug cut large Anchovies. Those plug cut Anchovies 48" behind white blade UV Shortbus 360's may have been our most productive combination.
We saw lots of Nekked Tail URB's in Ukee last week that are on their way. Can't wait. jc
 
#11 ·
Can't wait to kick this party off for 2025! I'm moored at West Basin and will start the 1st like everyone else!! 360-609-2456 to text reports/group chat!!

Bait will always have a spot on the boat but excited to run the new Brad's Mini's and my favorite VIP blades!!

Lets go!!!!!
 
#13 ·
Bait will always have a spot on the boat but excited to run the new Brad's Mini's and my favorite VIP blades!!

Lets go!!!!!
Funny how we all get sucked into the latest greatest thing, when in fact, the tried and true old school stuff still gets the job done.

Case in point...

I'm trolling the outgo on the WA side of Desdemona Sands with a full 5-rod spread of kicker flashers and an assortment of spinners and stuffers alongside the God of Tongue Point. As he is fighting his third fish in less than 10 minutes, I notice he's rolling triangles and cut herring (HA! is there anything else on Reyhan's boat for B10?)

Well I quietly switch the captain's trailing rod over to a cut green and one of JT's Twisted EPD @Shortbus Flashers. Sure as $h!t, I get it perfectly settled down a foot off the bottom, and as I go to put it in the FOLBE... chomp chomp chomp.... WAIT WAIT WAIT... reel into the bite... and FISH ON.

Lather... rinse... repeat... TWO MORE TIMES against 4 other rods running 360's

We've just made it all so much more complicated. Bottom line, the fish haven't changed... and the "gold standard" presentations that worked GREAT more than 20 years ago still work great today.

Image
 
#14 ·
That's a beautiful fish too!

I followed JC around last year and watched him and his wife catching fish non stop for a couple hours just dragging triangles with fresh anchovies. I believe his count for the day was 14 fish netted. We were running spin fish, and a few spinner rigs, and didn't do too bad ourselves, But they couldn't even keep two rods in the water, and when they did manage it, they hooked doubles....

Needless to say, i'm going to drag some meat around myself this year.
 
#22 ·
That's a beautiful fish too!

I followed JC around last year and watched him and his wife catching fish non stop for a couple hours just dragging triangles with fresh anchovies. I believe his count for the day was 14 fish netted. We were running spin fish, and a few spinner rigs, and didn't do too bad ourselves, But they couldn't even keep two rods in the water, and when they did manage it, they hooked doubles....

Needless to say, i'm going to drag some meat around myself this year.
Yes, last year was fun. Meat again this year without hesitation. We mixed and fished both triangles and 360's and found if we extended our leader length to about 48" (like with a triangle) or so and fished the 360's with about and 8" lead dropper in the mud, they fished really well too. Those days at Marker #1 on the incoming were insane. lots of doubles.......................all on meat! jc
 
#26 ·
Not sure if it matters, but I've been lightly sprinkling my fresh bait with Magic Brine powder on our run out. As we 'no wake' from the Skippannon launch to the river, I take a couple of both Herring and Anchovies, lay them out on some flake ice in the bait cooler, and sprinkle them down. By the time we get where ever we are starting, the bait has slightly toughened and locked in the scales. Really prevents scale loss and makes for a more beautiful bait. Does it matter? Probably not, but....... jc
 
#34 · (Edited)
I noticed Gene at tackle time advertising the frozen anchovies 5 1/4”- 5 1/2” . Seems to me these might work well and save a few bucks, but a lot of you seasoned vets here use fresh bait vs frozen. What’s the philosophy on that?
im thinking of curing some blue anchovies… Secret weapon! lol

I used to fish green label CPH herring a lot on the coast behind triangles, (blue color)and then use red label behind a 360 now and then. The smaller red label didn’t kill the action of the 360. I actually had way more action on spin fish than blue plug cut herring at B-10. I Typically run about 30”-36” leaders. I never have used really long leaders because it sure makes netting them at the rail more difficult. I prefer an 18” bumper length for the same reason. With a 9’ rod folded over a 60” leader makes netting a stretch…. Why would you use the long leader? Am I missing something? Kirk
 
#43 ·
Drop a treble on the carpet and try to get it loose. That dang thing has three points to grab anywhere! I usually "hang" it back a little, and will let your imagination do the rest. It's just how I do it. We use spinners and Kwiks with trebles in a lot of other fisheries, and love them or hate them, they have their place.

As far as the 5' leader behind the triangle....The old school thinking was the attractor brought the fish close to the bait, and then spinning bait did the rest. Typically, behind the triangle in other fisheries on the coast the thought was longer leaders for Chinook and shorter for coho. I think that the 360 mania dispelled some of that. But, in areas where the water is much clearer than the Columbia, I think that still holds relevance (insert your favorite Bay here). Netting a fish with a 5 foot leader is something I can do by myself, if I'm fishing alone. With guests on board it is much less of a challenge. But, I use longer rods. However, back in the day, we used to run 7'9 out the stern with those leaders, or even longer. That was a challenge! HAHAHA.

Chris
 
#37 ·
Frozen chovies work, but fresh is better. I was taught a long time ago, get fresh bait and keep it ice cold almost to the point of freezing but not frozen I took that to heart well before I starting guiding. I sometimes sprinkle sea salt on fresh bait if I am holding it over for next day
It is more expensive to get fresh each day but my clients like the results.
I see folks leaving bait out of the cooler and it loses it effectiveness after awhile but I am extra crazy on details.
 
#44 ·
No spinner or whatever goes in the water without a chunk of herring or anchovy. Gotta have meat of some kind attached.

Leader length behind flasher never exceeds five feet, four is better. Three isn’t too short. Any leader four feet or longer is two piece.

Correct rigging is very important for those not using 360’s. Starting with the end of the main line you should have a snap. If (if) using a bumper, forward end has a barrel swivel, bottom end a snap. If not using a bumper and dropper, (suspended fishing) flasher connects directly to main line. Forward end of flasher has a barrel swivel, bottom end a snap. Every single component has a barrel swivel on the front end and a snap on the rear. Primary leader should be around half the total leader length and made of 50/60 lb material, because it‘ll be used the entire season unless it gets damaged. Barrel swivel on the front end, snap on the rear. Terminal leader, barrel swivel on the front end, bait on the rear. If I’m using herring or ???? and land a fish, I don’t worry about the hooks. Unsnap the terminal leader and it and the fish go into the bleed bucket. Snap on a fresh baited leader and get back in the water. Deal with the bleed bucket when you have time. If you don’t have bait in the water, you don’t have time.

The reason for the two piece leader is it’s much easier to store a two foot leader than a four or five foot. Plus not needing to unhook a fish after landing, hooks and fish go into the bleed bucket.
 
#46 ·
Ever since my first B10 experience, Tackle Time has always been one of the things I look forward to most when I go down for fish camp.
Even though I have a freezer full or bait and more plastic lures and spinners than most guides, I still get my bag of fresh herring or anchovies from Gene and Linda.
Thanks for being my staple and one of the reasons I love coming to B10!!!
 
#57 ·
We have had some questionable tules that were nice bright fish, and no stink to them at all that we kept. Meat was excellent eating too. The only sign it was a tule was the large anal fin. Here is one my son in law kept last year that was no stink, good eating, right in from the ocean at about marker #1 area.

That fish isn't even remotely questionable... 1518% tule.
 
#56 ·
Image


1518% tule

Presenting clipped LRH tules to the checker's wand has varying repercussions on assessed impact for the B-10 zone. Let me illustrate with THREE examples.

1) Catch this tule off Long Beach and present it to the creeler's wand... BEEP!
No big deal... no impact to the in-river allocation. Just make sure to let the checker know it was caught in MA-1.

2) Catch this tule at the Buoy 10 line during the MSF portion of the season... BEEP!
Again, no big deal as LRH impacts are CHEAP during the MSF portion of the fishery... Aug 7-25. This is the ideal time to harvest hatch tules with negligible impact on premature closure of the B-10 to WPI reach of the lower Columbia fishery.

3) Catch this tule in the Blind Channel during the NON-select portion of the season (Aug 1-6 or Aug 26-Sept 6)... BEEP!
BAD JUJU! Each of these tules are 525% as expensive in terms of LRH impact as they are during the MSF portion of the season. Keeping LRH tules during the NON-select periods are a blunt and brutal blow to our chances of a full chinook season.