Kayak Fishing for Salmon

The kayak fishing for salmon on the Columbia River continues every chance we get. Last time out I caught three nice Columbia River salmon and farmed another that was probably the biggest of the day. As is pretty much always the case, these salmon put up an amazing fight from start to finish.

Kayak fishing for salmon on the Columbia River

The three salmon I got to the kayak were all native fish so it was catch and release. Releasing a big fish like a salmon without using a landing net can be as much of a battle as getting the fish in arm’s reach. With one fish, the fishing line was wrapped around the salmon’s toothy lower jaw so I had to hold the lure and cut a bunch of line so it wouldn’t harm the fish and I could get my lure back. That’s six native fish and one hatchery fish for me so far. The keeper was a big one, so I can’t complain too much.

Catch and release native salmon

A quick check this weekend morning saw a huge crowd at the local salmon fishing spot. The crowds are only somewhat limited by the parking spots at the local launch ramps. The big name fishing spots are really crazy on weekends, which makes salmon fishing more like naval warfare with all the boats. We’ll be back on it next week.

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