08-12-2005, 04:03 PM
We just got back from our annual trip to the Northwest Coast. We spent 4 days in the Ilwaco and Longbeach area of Washington State, 2 days in the Westport, Wa area, and two days in the Tillamook Oregon area. We took our little 17 ft Ranger Bass Boat with us. We crabbed in the bays from our boat and took charter boats out in the ocean salmon fishing. We religiously flushed our outboard with fresh water after every excursion into the bays.
Overall the fishing was good (as usual). Normally we catch alot of Silver Salmon (Cohos) and a few Kings (Chinooks). This year everyone caught mainly Kings with a few silvers. Two kings over 20 lbs were landed on our charter boat (the Sea Breeze), but not by us. On the first trip, the whole boat limited (including the captain and the deckhand) by 11:00 am. On the second trip (on the same boat) the fishing was much tougher. We fished from 5:30 am until almost 3:00 pm and 14 'keeper' salmon were landed between 8 fishermen. Luckily, I brought some of my own tackle and when the fishing got slow, I switched over to it and was able to limit.
The crabbing was a blast!! If you've never tried it, I'd recommend giving it a try. I did learn that crabbing is much more cheap and easy in Oregon. Washington has so many rules that it is insane and the crabbing isn't any better than it is in Oregon. We crabbed for an hour or two on two mornings out of Westport. On the first morning we got 3 nice 'keepers' on the second morning we only got one keeper. The crabbing was good in the Columbia River out of Cape Dissappointment, but for us to get into the 'keeper' sized crabs we really had to get out far into the river. We ended up on the beginning of the bar just past the end of the South Jetty. It was pretty wet and rough out there anyway, then throw in the wakes from the big boats, ships, and barges, but what an adventure! We eventually called the crabbing adventure in the Columbia early and ran for cover. The attached picture of the commercial fishing boat was from our boat while on the Columbia Bar. The crabbing was very good in Tillamook Bay out of Garibaldi, but not as good as it was in past trips. On our last day, we got 9 very nice keepers in about four hours. The largest was over 7" across the back of the shell (5 3/4" is a keeper in Oregon).
Other than the 3 day rental of a beachfront condo to keep the wife happy, the trip was very affordable. We ate fresh salmon and Dungenous crab for nearly every meal and camped for most of the trip. You really can't get sick of eating fresh crab, we've tried many times and it just doesn't work! Anyway, it was a great trip and I thought that I would rubb it in a little.
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Overall the fishing was good (as usual). Normally we catch alot of Silver Salmon (Cohos) and a few Kings (Chinooks). This year everyone caught mainly Kings with a few silvers. Two kings over 20 lbs were landed on our charter boat (the Sea Breeze), but not by us. On the first trip, the whole boat limited (including the captain and the deckhand) by 11:00 am. On the second trip (on the same boat) the fishing was much tougher. We fished from 5:30 am until almost 3:00 pm and 14 'keeper' salmon were landed between 8 fishermen. Luckily, I brought some of my own tackle and when the fishing got slow, I switched over to it and was able to limit.
The crabbing was a blast!! If you've never tried it, I'd recommend giving it a try. I did learn that crabbing is much more cheap and easy in Oregon. Washington has so many rules that it is insane and the crabbing isn't any better than it is in Oregon. We crabbed for an hour or two on two mornings out of Westport. On the first morning we got 3 nice 'keepers' on the second morning we only got one keeper. The crabbing was good in the Columbia River out of Cape Dissappointment, but for us to get into the 'keeper' sized crabs we really had to get out far into the river. We ended up on the beginning of the bar just past the end of the South Jetty. It was pretty wet and rough out there anyway, then throw in the wakes from the big boats, ships, and barges, but what an adventure! We eventually called the crabbing adventure in the Columbia early and ran for cover. The attached picture of the commercial fishing boat was from our boat while on the Columbia Bar. The crabbing was very good in Tillamook Bay out of Garibaldi, but not as good as it was in past trips. On our last day, we got 9 very nice keepers in about four hours. The largest was over 7" across the back of the shell (5 3/4" is a keeper in Oregon).
Other than the 3 day rental of a beachfront condo to keep the wife happy, the trip was very affordable. We ate fresh salmon and Dungenous crab for nearly every meal and camped for most of the trip. You really can't get sick of eating fresh crab, we've tried many times and it just doesn't work! Anyway, it was a great trip and I thought that I would rubb it in a little.
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