i was contacted by one of the guys at ifish.net a while back, inviting me up to washington to fish for albacore. Â now, for the last 5 years, the san francisco bay area has been a ghost town as far as albacore have been concerned. Â northern california, oregon and washington, on the other hand, have been doing pretty well. Â so this guy says, "come on up! Â i've got a boat. Â there's a club house so we've got a place for you to stay, we'll feed you and take you fishing. Â hell, we'll even pay for your plane ticket!" Â um, that last one was different. Â i've never flown on anyone else's dime before. Â so, what can i do in return? Â "well, post a report. Â oh, and maybe take a look at a few reels.....". Â ok, that i can do! Â being the dutiful husband, i asked my wife first. Â she just rolled her eyes and said, yeah, just go....
august 15, 2018
even though alaska airlines destroyed my penn 50 vsx and refused to pay for it, i still like these guys and i still fly with them. Â
what you see is not clouds. Â this is smoke from the northern california fires. Â there is smoke choking out northern california and a good part of oregon. Â
i landed in portland and was picked up by joe and his wife. Â they were nice enough to drive me all the way from portland to ilwaco! Â the scenery on the way was beautiful!
it was a 2 hour drive and there was alot to see! Â we arrived in ilwaco and found the http://ilwacotunaclub.com/ without any problem. Â the side facing the water is the club. Â the side facing the street is http://www.trefinfoods.com/ and http://www.dayboattuna.com/!
here's the club house side entrance.
the deck overlooking the water.
no club house is complete without a bar!
they even sell tackle!
gary was one of the first guys i met. Â he was loading live bait into a little dockside receiver for our trip the next day. Â
so our host for this trip turns out to be mike colbach. Â he runs a boat called shake 'n bake https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/ Â it's a henriques 42 sportfisher and it's, um, pretty awesome. Â
remember the part about, "and we'll feed you..."? Â dinner that night was at The Depot. Â they have a fabulous rib eye!
August 16th, 2018
first call was 6am. Â i barely slept and was up and ready to go at 5:30!
this fishery is all about live bait. Â the tank was loaded up. Â not sure how may scoops, but the anchovies were packed in like sardines!
the dockside receiver makes it easy.
looks nice when it's lit up!
we're going to take a quick tour of the boat. Â the latest in electronics. Â
shimano rods and accurate reels. Â
compared to what i have locally, ilwaco is a HUGE harbor. Â
these guys are used to it, but navigating the channels out of the harbor is pretty involved. Â
https://youtu.be/1MIr8Igl_Q8
exiting the mouth of the columbia river, the seas are starting to pick up.
https://youtu.be/C07Tjrm5D20
now we're crossing the columbia bar
https://youtu.be/1Qzr0BoUgH4
we ran 60 miles all total and finally got to the spot where guys had picked up fish the previous day. Â we were just getting set up and john was giving instructions to the group.
https://youtu.be/0M9Ws5oCxSA
once we got the deck cleared, we set up the troll lines again and got hit again.
https://youtu.be/0xFlINw7YIU
and again!
https://youtu.be/TwC2uC-jLd0
53 albacore in less than 3 hours. Â live bait really makes a difference.
here's the 8 of us on the transom with mike taking the pictures, plus 53 albacore!
captain's recap of the day. Â just another day of tuna fishing in southern washington!
https://youtu.be/NNNCMlGAio4
thanks to mike colbach and https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/ for a great day!
august 17th, 2018
mike already had another charter scheduled, so i was given the opportunity to fish the columbia river at buoy 10 with friends of the tuna club. matt garner, his wife kate, and their 8 year old son axil, would be my hosts for the day. Â matt runs a 24 foot grady that is very similar to my own. Â we soon worked it out so that i was at the wheel and he ran the deck. Â it was an easy choice because i knew the boat, but i knew nothing about the local fishing. Â ok, so albacore fishing is fun, but being behind the wheel of a boat is where i am most comfortable.
for those of us that never fished buoy 10 on the columbia river, our skipper is going to give us an introduction.
https://youtu.be/hwuP0jM7jb0
kate was the one catching all the fish!
https://youtu.be/7NZgFFUXS44
and then there is the ax man, axil garner. Â the kid is a stone cold killer. Â
there were literally a thousand boats on the water. Â this poor lady could not control her fish and it ran under matt's boat, picked up our lines and hung a U-turn. Â in san francisco, this would have resulted in a fist fight. Â people really are more hospitable up north!
https://youtu.be/yR5BMEKN-Sk
ok, we're going to take a minute here to pose for our christmas picture.
hmmmm, not quite......
ok, got it. Â here's your card for christmas 2018. Â
and a recap of the day!
https://youtu.be/oD8cis9nX_s
after a day of fishing, i was invited back to the garner's home for dinner. Â thank you matt, kate and axil for a great day!
august 18, 2018
had an offer for another day of fishing but decided to pass. Â i'm getting older and these old bones start to creak too much if i try too many days of fishing in a row. Â decide to check out the town and found a local place for breakfast. Â
they had a corned beef that was really tasty!
walking back, there was something as simple as the parking lot. Â during the winter, ilwaco has 1000 residents. Â during tuna season, it swells up to 4,000!!! Â the place is just packed!!!
there are a couple of businesses.
most of the harbor activity is geared towards the commercial fleet.
saturday mornings feature a crafts fare. Â
this place has a great bar!
and don't forget the harbor!
cornered barrett and ray with http://www.trefinfoods.com/ and http://www.dayboattuna.com/ for a little video. Â so, a word from our sponsors!
https://youtu.be/nbn6T68A2HQ
spent the rest of the day working on a big pile of fishing reels that had accumulated over the last few days. Â i think i went through about fifty. Â next time i need to bring all of the tools and parts. Â there is certainly a need for a reel repair guy in this town!
august 19th, 2018
hitched a ride back to portland with gary and had an easy flight back. Â this was fun. Â the fishing up north is alot like what we have in the san francisco bay area. Â well, except that our albacore have vanished. Â and the other difference? Â people up here are really nice. Â it is very different from california. Â thanks to shake 'n bake sportfishing, the ilwaco tuna club, tre-fin, dayboattuna, and the garners for a great time!
august 15, 2018
even though alaska airlines destroyed my penn 50 vsx and refused to pay for it, i still like these guys and i still fly with them. Â
what you see is not clouds. Â this is smoke from the northern california fires. Â there is smoke choking out northern california and a good part of oregon. Â
i landed in portland and was picked up by joe and his wife. Â they were nice enough to drive me all the way from portland to ilwaco! Â the scenery on the way was beautiful!
it was a 2 hour drive and there was alot to see! Â we arrived in ilwaco and found the http://ilwacotunaclub.com/ without any problem. Â the side facing the water is the club. Â the side facing the street is http://www.trefinfoods.com/ and http://www.dayboattuna.com/!
here's the club house side entrance.
the deck overlooking the water.
no club house is complete without a bar!
they even sell tackle!
gary was one of the first guys i met. Â he was loading live bait into a little dockside receiver for our trip the next day. Â
so our host for this trip turns out to be mike colbach. Â he runs a boat called shake 'n bake https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/ Â it's a henriques 42 sportfisher and it's, um, pretty awesome. Â
remember the part about, "and we'll feed you..."? Â dinner that night was at The Depot. Â they have a fabulous rib eye!
August 16th, 2018
first call was 6am. Â i barely slept and was up and ready to go at 5:30!
this fishery is all about live bait. Â the tank was loaded up. Â not sure how may scoops, but the anchovies were packed in like sardines!
the dockside receiver makes it easy.
looks nice when it's lit up!
we're going to take a quick tour of the boat. Â the latest in electronics. Â
shimano rods and accurate reels. Â
compared to what i have locally, ilwaco is a HUGE harbor. Â
these guys are used to it, but navigating the channels out of the harbor is pretty involved. Â
https://youtu.be/1MIr8Igl_Q8
exiting the mouth of the columbia river, the seas are starting to pick up.
https://youtu.be/C07Tjrm5D20
now we're crossing the columbia bar
https://youtu.be/1Qzr0BoUgH4
we ran 60 miles all total and finally got to the spot where guys had picked up fish the previous day. Â we were just getting set up and john was giving instructions to the group.
https://youtu.be/0M9Ws5oCxSA
once we got the deck cleared, we set up the troll lines again and got hit again.
https://youtu.be/0xFlINw7YIU
and again!
https://youtu.be/TwC2uC-jLd0
53 albacore in less than 3 hours. Â live bait really makes a difference.
here's the 8 of us on the transom with mike taking the pictures, plus 53 albacore!
captain's recap of the day. Â just another day of tuna fishing in southern washington!
https://youtu.be/NNNCMlGAio4
thanks to mike colbach and https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/ for a great day!
august 17th, 2018
mike already had another charter scheduled, so i was given the opportunity to fish the columbia river at buoy 10 with friends of the tuna club. matt garner, his wife kate, and their 8 year old son axil, would be my hosts for the day. Â matt runs a 24 foot grady that is very similar to my own. Â we soon worked it out so that i was at the wheel and he ran the deck. Â it was an easy choice because i knew the boat, but i knew nothing about the local fishing. Â ok, so albacore fishing is fun, but being behind the wheel of a boat is where i am most comfortable.
for those of us that never fished buoy 10 on the columbia river, our skipper is going to give us an introduction.
https://youtu.be/hwuP0jM7jb0
kate was the one catching all the fish!
https://youtu.be/7NZgFFUXS44
and then there is the ax man, axil garner. Â the kid is a stone cold killer. Â
there were literally a thousand boats on the water. Â this poor lady could not control her fish and it ran under matt's boat, picked up our lines and hung a U-turn. Â in san francisco, this would have resulted in a fist fight. Â people really are more hospitable up north!
https://youtu.be/yR5BMEKN-Sk
ok, we're going to take a minute here to pose for our christmas picture.
hmmmm, not quite......
ok, got it. Â here's your card for christmas 2018. Â
and a recap of the day!
https://youtu.be/oD8cis9nX_s
after a day of fishing, i was invited back to the garner's home for dinner. Â thank you matt, kate and axil for a great day!
august 18, 2018
had an offer for another day of fishing but decided to pass. Â i'm getting older and these old bones start to creak too much if i try too many days of fishing in a row. Â decide to check out the town and found a local place for breakfast. Â
they had a corned beef that was really tasty!
walking back, there was something as simple as the parking lot. Â during the winter, ilwaco has 1000 residents. Â during tuna season, it swells up to 4,000!!! Â the place is just packed!!!
there are a couple of businesses.
most of the harbor activity is geared towards the commercial fleet.
saturday mornings feature a crafts fare. Â
this place has a great bar!
and don't forget the harbor!
cornered barrett and ray with http://www.trefinfoods.com/ and http://www.dayboattuna.com/ for a little video. Â so, a word from our sponsors!
https://youtu.be/nbn6T68A2HQ
spent the rest of the day working on a big pile of fishing reels that had accumulated over the last few days. Â i think i went through about fifty. Â next time i need to bring all of the tools and parts. Â there is certainly a need for a reel repair guy in this town!
august 19th, 2018
hitched a ride back to portland with gary and had an easy flight back. Â this was fun. Â the fishing up north is alot like what we have in the san francisco bay area. Â well, except that our albacore have vanished. Â and the other difference? Â people up here are really nice. Â it is very different from california. Â thanks to shake 'n bake sportfishing, the ilwaco tuna club, tre-fin, dayboattuna, and the garners for a great time!