what's the deal!

It would be polite to swing wide of the crowd.

Bouy 10 aint always about polite. Especially if you are holding the line.

How was the fishing on the inside?

ridiculously slow. We were with a good guide and managed one small coho. Left the water at 3:30 and the ODFW guy had logged 6 from the river. We trolled hard with 6 rods. A few pound-downs, but they did not stick. should be so much better on a few days, especially if we get some rain down there.
GBS

GBS,

I'm of two minds on the subject. When there's not much traffic on the river, I try and go way around folks fishing, even when they are in the main channel.

But if I'm running 10-15 miles going or coming back from fishing and I'm on a heading and following the main traffic channel, as things get crowded and folks fish right in the channel, I tend to stick to the main channel...give them as much room as possible but doing a zig-zag course adding a couple miles is not on the menu.

When it's crowded, going around the main traffic channels adds to the problem...you get folks running in and out on the edges of the channel, against traffic rules. You get two boats on the outbound side of the channel, for example, going in different directions to avoid the folks fishing in the channel.

If I fish in and around the main channel, which I do, then I don't really complain about folks running the channel per the traffic pattern. I figure it comes with the territory.

Brion