Columbia River Fishing Trips, Oregon Fishing Guides, Oregon Fishing Trips

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 When it comes to the world of sports fishing, Oregon is often considered the land of milk and honey. It’s
easy to understand why since Oregon has around 30 species of fish for anglers to target. There are
literally hundreds of rivers, lakes, and streams as well as coastal waterways, providing endless fishing
opportunities all year long. When planning Oregon fishing Trips often one of the most difficult things to consider is what species you would like to target. Among the most popular are the 5 species of salmon that make their home in the Pacific Northwest and run the waterways of Oregon’s pristine landscape.

Early spring, we are fishing hot and heavy for spring Chinook. Spring Chinook enter the river as early as
February. These fish have a much higher fat content in them that their fall run counterparts and are
known for being the freshest and best tasting of the species. Springers as we call them are one of our
biggest draws to the Oregon fishing scene, and trips tend to fill up fast as the season can be limited
depending upon fish run size and projections.

As springers first enter the river, it’s all about Astoria and Buoy 10, then as the bite dies off at the
mouth of the Columbia, we work our way upriver and end up finishing the springer season on the
Willamette or up near the Bonneville Dam. These hard-fighting fish love bait. Trolling cut plug is by far one of the most effective methods for catching spring chinook as they’re following the schools of smelt headed for the Cowlitz and Sandy rivers. Many anglers have good luck trolling spinners or Kwikfish wrapped in tuna, but overall natural bait seems to produce the most reliable results.

Once the summer months roll around at the end of May, we switch our Oregon Fishing Trips back and forth between salmon, walleye, and sturgeon as they are among the most popular fisheries in the Columbia River has to offer. In the month of July, the Columba River opens for Sockeye salmon, since they are among the smallest salmon in the region and generally don’t stick around for long in the lower sections, we usually don’t target them. We occasionally hook up with a few here and there but the really good sockeye fishing takes place in the midsections of the Columbia at the Brewster Pool.

When we hit the peak summer season, we start to move up the river following the chinook salmon as
well as focusing on some of the other great species found in the Columbia. Most notably sturgeon.
Whenever we hit a lull in the salmon fishing action, we often do a gear swap and start targeting these
dinosaurs of the deep. Columbia River Sturgeon can get up to 6ft long and are considered by many the hardest fighting fish that can be found in Oregon.

One of the most amazing aspects of sturgeon fishing is the unadulterated ferocity of the fish when that
surfaces. Sturgeon has an amazing propensity to leap out of the water in the throes of battle.
Sometimes it’s hard to fathom how such a big fish can get so much air. One thing for sure catching a
Sturgeon will defiantly get your heart pounding and is guaranteed to be an experience you won’t soon
forget.

As we reach the month of August the Fall salmon season has arrived. During this time of year, we get
opportunities for both Chinook and Coho. These are among the best salmon fisheries the state and we
tend to be very busy providing our clients the experience of the thrill of catching these hard-fighting fish.
In many cases when the coho run is hot you can’t even get to the chinook. Since chinook tend to hang
deeper in the water columns when the river is loaded with the coho you can’t even get your bait down
deep enough to get in front of a chinook, the coho just keep hammering the bait and your catching them
one after another pretty much all day long.

We often limit our fast during this time of year and end up finishing the day by noon. If the fishing
action is really hot, we might run two trips a day until the fishing becomes less consistent.
Similar to the spring salmon fishery trolling cut plug is our number one go-to. We also like trolling
spinners for fall salmon as it has proven very effective over the years.

Now if for some reason you get tired of the heavy tug of catching salmon or sturgeon another option,
we offer our clients on our Oregon Fishing Trips is targeting Walleye. In my opinion the Columbia River
Walleye fishery is significantly underrated. Walleye can be found throughout pretty much the entire
Columbia River system and in some sections like the Gorge, you can even find world record class fish.

One of the nice things about our Walleye fishing trips is that walleye is a fairly easy fish to catch. They’ll
pretty much take anything you can put in front of them. In addition, they’re not such a hard-fighting fish
that your arms are sore and aching the next day after your trip. Even though they make lack the spirit of
other fish they are still fun to catch making a fairly relaxing and enjoyable fishing experience. Another
big plus is the liberal catch limit allowances. During some years the states have even removed the
limits, meaning you can literally keep as many Walleye as you can possibly catch.

What makes this so great is that Walleye are exceptionally good eating fish. Probably the best tasting
freshwater fish there is. Walleye has tender white flaky meat, not mushy like cod or overly dry like
halibut. Also, the flavor is very mild similar in taste to surf perch or crappie. If you like eating fish then
you absolutely have to try Walleye. Be careful though it may likely become your favorite fish and you
can’t find walleye in the grocery store as in you’ll have to go out and catch them if you want some more.
Never fear though, we at Columbia River Fishing Adventures have got you covered. We’ll gladly take you
out on the water and help you catch as much walleye as possible so you’ll be able to take some home to
the whole family.

If you plan to come fish in the land of milk and honey, these are among our clients favorite Oregon
Fishing Trips and we would be honored to bring you along and become a part of our fishing family. For
those who are coming from out of town, there is plenty of lodging in the area. Give us a call and let us
know, we can give you recommendations depending on where we are launching the boat on the river
for a particular time of the season. Also, don’t forget you’ll need an Oregon fishing license for the day of
your trip. You can purchase one pretty much any sporting goods stores and most marinas. One day
licenses are available and Columbia river endorsement is required.

Give us a call today at 503-490-3309 and book your trip today, we look forward to hearing from you.

Professional Oregon Fishing Guide
Buddy Dupell
Columbia River Fishing Adventures
12671 Villard Pl
Oregon City, OR 97045-7284