SilverFly
Active Member
Our Sunday albacore trip was cancelled, which means we're one short again (sorry Steve!). However, Monday is looking do-able, if "bumpy". The nearshore forecast looks better so I suggested we might do something crazy, like, oh, I dunno, TRY TO CATCH ONE OF THE 200# BLUEFIN TUNA THAT ARE OUT THERE!
This was posted on another board the other day, and the source is verified (with more details shared with the charter we're fishing with).
But wait! there's more!!! Yellowtail, aka "Hamachi" are being caught out there as well:
To sweeten the deal one of the guys has access to a friend's rental house in Rockaway. Only cost is splitting the cleaning fee. I've stayed there before and it's very nice and only 20 minutes from the marina in Garibaldi.
Capt Randy is heading down tomorrow and is bringing the big guns to the boat in case we do make it out Monday. Of course albacore aren't completely off the table since they are often encountered in the green water much closer to shore. And weather permitting we could do a run further out to put some albies on deck, and of course check any kelp paddies or logs we see for yellowtail.
This was posted on another board the other day, and the source is verified (with more details shared with the charter we're fishing with).
Albacore and giant tuna thick off the Columbia
Green water short of the chloro break was full of jumping and eating albacore yesterday. Me and Jen plugged the little striper yesterday by about 1. Friend plugged his boat 6 miles north of us. We we're a little south at the 124 47 area but fish were jumping for miles out there and we were alone all morning. A commercial troller moved in by the time we left.
The albacore bit everything, bait iron of every type and every troll rod we put out after getting worn out on bait and jig stops. The two of us couldn't keep 4-5 troll rods in the water, reeling in on the go they hit everything with multiple rods going off almost constantly.
On the way in we found the big boys but couldn't land them. Three times between the 30 and 25 line running in we found big tuna the size of small cars busting bait and jumping clear out of the water, unreal. Just like we found out of San Diego last November. We had dumped our live bait for the run in and couldn't get close to these skiddish fish. Got a hookup on a swimbait on a 25n reel with close to 30# of drag and couldn't slow the fish down and broke the leader finally.
Tried way back trolling but these fish sounded when the boat got close. If the bait tank was full and we found these guys on the way out we might have had a chance to dump a ton of bait and use big 2 speeds with big circle hooks like we do down south. We just didn't have the way to do it on the way in. Any of our casting stuff was way too light for these big fish.
But wait! there's more!!! Yellowtail, aka "Hamachi" are being caught out there as well:

To sweeten the deal one of the guys has access to a friend's rental house in Rockaway. Only cost is splitting the cleaning fee. I've stayed there before and it's very nice and only 20 minutes from the marina in Garibaldi.
Capt Randy is heading down tomorrow and is bringing the big guns to the boat in case we do make it out Monday. Of course albacore aren't completely off the table since they are often encountered in the green water much closer to shore. And weather permitting we could do a run further out to put some albies on deck, and of course check any kelp paddies or logs we see for yellowtail.
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