Tides Guide Smart Fishermen At Columbia River's Buoy 10

When the Columbia River's Buoy 10 sports salmon fishery season opens on Saturday, as many as 8,000 anglers will gather each day for a shot at a husky chinook or fighting coho.

This is the earliest Buoy 10 has opened since the salmon quota system began in the Pacific Ocean in 1981.

Some tips: Anglers should note the ocean tidal sequence. Strong outgoing (ebb) tides will push salmon down to the mouth of the river. On incoming (flood) tides, salmon are pushed upriver.

Most anglers fish the incoming tides, with the best bite occurring about two to three hours into the flood. Anglers don't need to be out by daybreak - this fishery is totally dictated by the tides.

Keep a watchful eye for shipping traffic just north of the red buoy line. These larger ships have the right of way, and the U.S. Coast Guard will keep a lookout for anglers who drift too close.

Chinook action on the river usually peaks from mid- to late-August. Look for coho to start showing up in strong numbers by early September.

Biologists from Washington and Oregon expect sports anglers to catch around 15,000 chinook and 45,000 coho off Buoy 10 this year.

Fishing will be allowed seven days a week until December 31, with a daily bag limit of two fish.

Since the ocean season runs concurrently, Buoy 10 anglers will abide by different rules: Ocean rules allow only four salmon to be kept in seven consecutive days.

The river regulation of two fish a day will take effect once the ocean season ends. The Buoy 10 limit of two fish rises to three after Labor Day.

The more restrictive ocean possession limit is to protect wild coho that mingle with other salmon at the buoy.

Anglers have access to the river from both sides. From the Washington side, most anglers launch at Fort Canby, the slings at the Port of Ilwaco, or the ramp at Chinook, a east of Ilwaco. On the Oregon side, two ramps are located a few miles west of Astoria, one in Warrenton and another in Hammond.

For those who don't own a boat, charter boat trips are offered out of Ilwaco. Contact Columbia Charters at 642-2395.

SALMON FISHING

-- Westport: Fishing was good early this week for kings averaging 15 lbs., silvers from 6 to 7 lbs. Charter boats are returning with 20 percent kings, with the largest in the upper 30-pound range. Boats still running 1 1/2 to 2 miles north to find fish. Ocean has been flat. -- Ilwaco: Fair for silvers, 5 to 9 pounds, with a few kings. Buoy 10 opens Saturday. -- Neah Bay: Closed for salmon last week. Good bottom fishing, halibut charters to Canadian waters. -- Strait of Juan de Fuca: At Port Angeles, kings from 12 to 23 pounds off the end of Ediz Hook mornings and evenings. Some kings in high 30-pound range at Freshwater Bay. At Sekiu, fishing picked up at midweek, with kings to 40 pounds and silvers 6 to 7 pounds off the Mussolini Rock, the caves and Eagle Bay. A one-coho bag limit in effect for areas 5 and 6, all water east of the Sekiu River to Point Wilson north of Port Townsend. -- Puget Sound: Kings have moved south into the lower sound, with fair catches reported in Elliott and Shilshole bays.

FISHING SPOTS

-- San Juan Islands - Fair at best for kings, 13 to 25 pounds, in Rosario Strait and along the southern portion of the island chain.

-- Midchannel Bank - Should be a fair bet for moochers and jiggers for kings, 13 to 25 pounds.

-- West Whidbey Island - Fair for kings, 13 to 20 pounds, with a few larger. Best for moochers off the white rock or near Bush Point.

-- Point No Point - Consistent all week with no less than eight kings in the boathouse. Try during or near low tide change for kings, 13 to 18 pounds.

-- Possession Bar - Fair for kings, 13 to 30 pounds; blackmouth, 4 to 10 pounds; and coho, 2 to 4 pounds. Try off the westside and southeast corners of the bar. Dogfish may give anglers some problems. -- Hood Canal - Slow for salmon, but good crabbing along the shorelines at depths of 65 to 85 feet. -- Jefferson Head - Slow for kings, but fair for blackmouth, 4 to 8 pounds, and coho, 2 to 4 pounds. -- Shilshole Bay - Fair off West Point and the jetty flats for mainly blackmouth, 4 to 10 pounds; coho, 2 to 4 pounds; and a few kings, 13 to 25 pounds. Fair at times to the north for a mixed bag of salmon off the Trees, Richmond Beach and the Edmonds oil dock. -- Elliott Bay - Fair off both waterways for kings, 13 to 18 pounds. Tribes conducted a test fishery in the bay last night, so fishing may be slow until it recovers. -- Point Defiance - Improved from slow to fair for kings off the Clay Banks. Dogfish have infested the area, so bring lots of leaders. -- Anderson Island - Slow fishing overall but a few blackmouth, 4 to 10 pounds, and coho, 2 to 4 pounds. -- Skagit River system - Fair at times for kings. Fair for cutthroat in the south fork. Angler limit is two cutthroat per day. -- Stillaguamish River - Slow for steelhead. -- Snohomish River system - Slow for steelhead. -- Green River - Slow for steelhead. -- Puyallup River - Very slow for steelhead.

Compiled by Mark Yuasa.