Oregon Fishing News

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Even in tough economic times people still like to fish, many use fishing guides to maximize their chances of success. When you think about it in these tough times fishing with a guide makes great sense. When you consider the cost of owning your own boat, storing the boat, buying all the bait, fuel and gear for a day of fishing can get very expensive making using a guide much cheaper than you would think and your chances of catching the fish your after much better. With all the boats up for sale now due to job losses and overall belt tightening the slow economy may just help the guide industry or should I say the good well respected guides that will be able to charge enough to stay afloat.
If any of you reading this have fished with guides especially ones you found on the internet you know some are very good and some are very bad regardless of what the pay per click ads or what their website claims. In Oregon fishing guides are many and very competitive for your business. Oregon has over 800 licensed fishing guides both full and part time. Out of the 800 most likely less than 100 do it full time professionally, out of that number its probably less than 50 that actually have been in business more than 10 years. Being in business for many years and staying busy is the sign of a good and well respected guide. You wont find these guides advertising on craigslist, ebay or anywhere else selling discounted trips. They are good, well known, have lots of repeat clients and lots of word of mouth referrals from those that have fished with them. When your not from the local area of a guide you are thinking of fishing with weeding through the ads online or in magazines or on tv can be a bit of a challenge. I will give my take on some of the funnier ones I have seen on pay per click sponsered ads on Google, Yahoo and other search engines.
Example 1. "Expert Oregon Fishing Guide" Fishing is HOT HOT HOT - limits of big sturgeon and salmon daily.

My take on what this should say: I am a legend in my own mind and the best fisherman in Oregon in my own opinion. I need to say this to get people to pay me to sit in a boat all day willing to put up with an arrogant ass like me. I will always tell them I catch limits every day cause I need the work and I am spending so much on Pay Per Click ads I am broke.

Example #2. Hottest Guide boat in the area, no other guides can compare.

My take: Again full of himself willing to tell you anything to seperate you from your money. Most likely not a very fun guy to fish with since he will spend most of the day telling you how he always outfishes everyone except for the day you fish with him.

Example #3. Disounted Columbia River salmon fishing trips, lunch and license included.

My take: I'm new and I dont have any customers. I have this pretty new boat and just got my guide license. I really need to make some money please fish with me.

Example #4. craigslist ad - Guided fishing trips $65 per person shore lunch included.

My take: Illeagal unlicensed guide or an idiot. Most likely someone making beer money guiding on the side without the license, insurance, coast guard license or anything else required of a legal guide. Buyer beware you will get what you pay for.

To sum this up when your looking for a good guide look for the ones that arent all about the look at me stuff. A good guide will not need to be that way. When checking on guide rates keep in mind you will get what you pay for and guides that charge more can because they provide a quality trip and are in demand. When you start looking at the cheaper guide rates you are going to find the quality of these trips and experience level of the guides will be all over the map. You may get some good guides that are new that do a very good job, you will also run into the ones that you will wish you didnt fish with too.

Rules to follow when talking with a guide about a trip.
Ask how many days a year they average on the water with customers.
Ask for some references
Ask to questions about what can be expected on the trip and try to get a feel for how honest they are. Will they tell you if the fishing is poor or will they tell you what all fisherman want to here that fishing is red hot.
Most of all try to determine if they are someone you would enjoy being in the boat with all day or for a few days. That is the most important part they need to be fun to fish with and willing to teach, share and provide an enjoyable day on the water regardless of how many fish you catch.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Its winter now for sure. After two weeks of heavy snow, ice and very cold temperatures it is now raining hard and the rivers are on the rise in a big way. Yes it does rain in Oregon. Yes it does flood in Oregon, it looks as though it will again this week. The big rains and floods arent all bad news however. The flush that high raging water gives to the rivers signals the start of the winter steelhead run and also helps to turn on the winter sturgeon fishing bite. The high water on the smaller rivers is the trigger that starts the steelhead's return from the ocean. They will wait in the saltwater until a big push of freshwater hits and they will shoot up the creeks so to speak. The high often flooding waters in the bigger rivers act as a vacuum cleaning out the silt and sediment that has built up over the summer months uncovering the clam beds and other food sources that the sturgeon like to feed on. The initial part of the high water when the debris is everywhere can make for some tough fishing conditions but those that seek out areas out of the debris flow will do very well on the sturgeon. The Steelhead rivers will be a waiting game, waiting for the rivers to drop and clear. Once they start to run kind of a milky green color it will be game on for the steelhead. All of our rivers should be full of fish as soon as they clear. While winter to many is to cold and wet to fish, to a true Northwest Fisherman it is the best time to fish.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dennis Hull and welcome to my blog. I am a full time fishing guide here in Northwest Oregon. I have been a fishing fanatic since age 4. I have fished in many places all over the United States, Mexico, Canada and in Europe. I started fishing for salmon, steelhead, trout, bass, panfish and catfish in Northern California. Some of my favorite waters as a kid were Shasta Lake, Trinity River, Klamath River, Pacific Ocean and one of my most favorite was any small mountain stream or out of the way farm pond. For the last 20 or 30 years I have spent much of my time focusing on sturgeon, salmon and steelhead fishing. I still can be found out at the local trout pond or chasing bluegill with the grandkids from time to time. About 20 years ago I decided to start guiding part time and quickly wound up doing it full time. Now days the excitement that used to come from catching the fish has changed to satisfaction coming from being able to bring new people into the sport and to be able to consistantly figure out the fish and help my customers catch them. Fishing for me has trasitioned from the thrill of the bite to the challange of the hunt for the fish. Fishing over 200 days a year now I find that I dont have the fire I used to have when it comes to taking myself fishing especially if the weather is bad or I have to drive a long ways to get to the fish. But on a day off if I am close to the fish and they are biting I will be out on the water chasing them.

See you on the water and keep a tight line.
Dennis

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Oregon and Washington fishery managers are discussing changes in the sturgeon fishing seasons, dates and annual limits. The Columbia and Willamette rivers are managed as one with the rules the same for both. Recently fishery managers and other "so called Washington anglers" have expressed concern for the rise in the catch in the Willamette River. Some fueled by greed see that as an opportunity to harvest more than their fair share of the sturgeon quota. Read on for a little insight into how sturgeon fishing politics really works.
I have been for years very involved in the sturgeon discussions and politics. I thought I would fill you in on some behind the scenes coniving that I believe is going on. This is especially important if you like to fish in the Portland area for sturgeon. Anyone that sturgeon fishes regularly knows that during the winter months for the last few years or at least since the smelt runs dropped off the bite in the Columbia has been non existant and most of the action is found in the lower Willamette. I am sure that those of you that have a fair amount of experience chasing sturgeon also are aware that we arent catching as many fish as we used to and most likely changes need to happen. What most of you are most likely not aware of is that Oregon and Washington have some sort of agreement at capping the catch on the Willamette, supposedly to assure that the Columbia is where the majority of the sturgeon are caught. I guess nobody informed the fish regarding this agreement. The fish have always moved up into the Willamette during cold water periods on the Columbia and fisherman have always followed them. The regulations and quotas are set up to include this Willamette catch, which it should be since they are the same fish. To think that states can regulate where the fish will be or if they will bite is rediculous.
Now for a little background:
As most of you are I'm sure already know, the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers have a split quota with the upper portion including the Willamette getting only 40% of the allowed catch and the estuary getting 60%. That split is the first part that stinks - some more numbers - 70%+ of the angler hours fishing for sturgeon happen in the upper part of the lower Columbia and only 30% of the angler hours take place in the estuary. Sounds fair right 30% of the fisherman get 60% of the fish and the majority 70% of the fisherman get 40% of the fish. Kind of resembles the Commercial - Sport salmon allocations dont you think. The driving force behind this kind of split is coming from powerful lobbys in the lower river. For my own personal opinion I believe that if these gentleman had their way fishing and keeping a sturgeon would only be allowed if you were fishing in Astoria on a boat larger than 30 ft with a Washington Charter license, with the only other option of eating sturgeon to be buy gill net caught sturgeon.

Now a couple of lines out of Mr Thomas's article (Vancouver Columbian)
"Sturgeon harvest in the lower Willamette River has grown from a base of about 1,200 to almost 7,000 this year."

"Steve Watrous of the Columbia Pacific Anglers said Oregon agreed more than a decade ago to keep the lower Willamette close to the base, but has reneged."

"The Willamette catches the lion's share above Wauna,'' he said. "Oregon is not abiding by the agreement. Oregon has mismanaged it horribly.''

"Swanson said the increased catch in the lower Willamette benefits Oregon and takes away from sturgeon anglers in the Columbia Gorge, joint state waters."

For my take on this:
Here is where the coniving comes in. These folks are making noise trying to limit the willamette catch forcing it into the Columbia. They are doing this knowing full well that the fish wont be in the Columbia which will in turn cause the sport catch rates to drop dramatically leaving several thousand un-caught fish on the quota. Kind of see where I am going with this? Those un - caught fish will need to be allocated somewhere wont they, how about to the estuary or an increase in commercial numbers. Trust me that is what they are up to and unless we stand up to them they will get it and our Willamette fishery will go away as will a large portion of the upper rivers quota. This would be an injustice to the majority of the resources users, virtually eliminating the Willamette river sturgeon fishing season, a season likely worth far more in economic impact than the estuary season. It would be just wrong to take away a very popular and sustainable resource that happens in the majority of the users back yard. And one I might add lasts over 10 months of the year in calm waters.

Ban catch and kill sturgeon derbies
how about let that "fishing opportunity" happen at the same time we have "good catching opportunity"

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Fishing for white sturgeon is very popular in Oregon and Washington, especially on years that have sub par salmon runs. The Columbia and Willamette rivers have the largest population of white sturgeon on the west coast. These rivers also have the largest population of fisherman, both sport and commercial that fish for and keep these prized fish.
The sturgeon populations have for years appeared to be stable but this year that seems to be changing according to fishery managers of both Oregon and Washington. They say the numbers of keeper sized sturgeon seem to be holding steady and the numbers of Oversized sturgeon are very good but the real concern is the reduced numbers of small sub legal fish in the catch. Causes for the decline in small fish arent fully known, it could be predation by sea lions, it could be enviornmental, it could be overharvest or excessive by catch by commercial gill netters, or it could be something else. The one thing they do know is that we have to reduce the catch and keep pressure on these great fish. While most of america is very used to the catch and release mind set, the Pacific Northwest is a bit behind the curve on catch and release, still wanting to keep most everything they catch.

For 2009 fishery managers are looking at big restrictions on the sport fishery. Sturgeon fishing on the Columbia and Willamette is managed using a quota system with different sections of the river being allowed to take so many at certain times of the year. The lower portion of the Columbia or the Estuary fishery as we know it gets the larger share even though most of the fisherman fish upriver near Portland. The estuary fishery is a 7 day a week deal from the opener till the quota is reached then it goes to all catch and release. The upper portion of the Lower Columbia from Portland to the estuary is managed on a days of the week deal, in other words you can only keep them thursday through sunday of each week until the quota is reached. The new proposals suggest going to a two day a week season and giving more days a week during the non peak season. My proposal would be manage both the same, leave the seasons as is and close it when the quota's are reached. It does no good to have more fishing opportunity during times no catching opportunity exists. How about for once could we have the two happen at the same time.