The Secret Ingredient I’m Adding to Stuffed Baits for West Coast Salmon During the fall, anglers throughout the Northwest are chasing salmon in the salt and rivers. Crowds are standard these days, which makes having strong bait offerings more important than ever. For the most part, stuffed baits, spinners, spoons and brined herring dominate the […]
By: Kyle Buschelman Right now, the epicenter of salmon fishing in the Northwest is Astoria, Oregon, at Buoy 10. It’s ground zero for the season kickoff, and many of the best salmon anglers on the planet spend the month of August here before branching out into parts of Washington, Oregon, Northern California and Idaho for […]
By: Kyle Buschelman Late fall salmon need to be approached differently than springers and late summer/early fall fish. Anyone who cases them daily agrees they have a different appetite. I use different baits for each season and have a set of rules to follow for late fall salmon. The rules are governed by three main […]
It’s that time of year and we are already catching springers! During the early part of the season I prefer trolling herring. I consider this to be from now through mid April while the water temps are still cool. Right now, they are only 44-48 degrees. Meanwhile, when the river warms above 58 I start […]
By: Kyle Buschelman While anglers have been trolling the Columbia River for a few months in search of springers we are at the start of the spring Chinook season in Oregon. These fish are starting to fill the Columbia and Willamette River and we’ve been having success finding them. Meanwhile, returns are projected a tad […]
By: Kyle Buschelman The Buoy 10 madness has passed. Many of us Oregon guides now migrate back to our home coastal estuaries to intercept Chinook and coho. This is my favorite time of year. Meanwhile, due to the Internet and social media competition is real in all of our fisheries. I need to an ace in […]
By: Kyle Buschelman I use to think that scent was the most important part of having good bait. Meanwhile, I’m starting to change my mind. Scent is important, yet not the biggest factor when developing good steelhead bait. I’ve come to this conclusion after spending time using beads and still catching steelhead. The last few years […]
By: Kyle Buschelman Winter steelhead season on the Oregon Coast is in full swing and we are catching fish daily. However, I don’t think we have a lot of fish in the systems right now. I’ve had to adjust my program and be flexible based on daily pressure and rapidly changing river levels. I’m hoping […]
By: Kyle Buschelman In the fall when coastal Chinook are available my success is a reflection of how good my bait is. Quality eggs and arming myself with multiple cures filled with different bite stimulants is the main ingredient to success. Using Fire Cure as the base I have three-to-four different cures in my boat […]
By: Kyle Buschelman Experts anticipated an above average run at Buoy 10 this year and that’s meeting expectations. I think this year is a normal Buoy 10 year. It’s not super good and it’s not slow like last year when we struggled largely due to water challenges. The run is lining up the way it’s […]
