Fresh Willapa Bay Fishing Reports

We left the dock at 6 AM and after a couple of moves for the tide we got into some huge sturgeon out on the flats. The smallest fish was around 56 inches with the biggest one over 64. The bite was lights out as well. Once we got on them we ended up with the rod bouncing every 10 minutes. These guys gave us a workout, even on a half day trip.

It's nice to have good news in my first sturgeon fishing report of the year! I went out to scout some of my favorite spots near Astoria for sturgeon today and got into them! Four of these dinosaurs decided to play in about an hour's worth of time. Each one tried to circle the boat, wrap around the anchor line and flirt with getting the line in the motor. The fish in the picture even dove under the boat and jumped out of the water on the other side. The fight was epic and every last one of them got to go free with their sand shrimp treats! I have a client coming in on Thursday from Texas and he wants to "catch big fish". My goal is to get him on a Texas sized sturgeon. Every fish I hooked today was over 4 feet long. I think the odds of a 6' or greater fish are pretty good!

Had an awesome day out on the water! Two super quick hookups for a couple of keeper springers on the early bite, a beautiful wild fish released unharmed, and a couple more opportunities. Special thanks to Jeremy from PNW Automotive Inc for letting me get him a taste of springers from the Lower Columbia and taking pictures of me netting Jamie's fish!

It's prime time for lingcod close to shore. Two days in a row we limited the boat on them with several keepers turned loose while jigging for bonus rockfish. The size has generally been in the 24 to 26 inch range, however each day we've seen at least one in the mid thirties. My buddy Jamie pulled in his personal best lingcod at 35 inches while I caught a 32 incher the day before. We also hooked and released the occasional Cabezon since you can't keep those guys until July 1st. While the weather may make getting across the bar a little dicey over the next couple of days, you can bet I'll be itching to get back out there the next chance I get.

Spring Chinook are biting! They're coming up in one and twos with no big pods, but the action has been consistent on plugs as well as trolling. The quality has been pretty good with some nice juicy fish. The one in the picture became dinner for the family and it was soooooo good!

Our group was great ! We let a few go but did have some luck with Chinook & Coho.