accompanying story.
Salmon destined for the Frasier River
system number in the millions, same with
Puget Sound. Continuing farther south, the
Columbia River can see upwards of a million
salmon depending on the year and species.
There are some runs heading to southern
Oregon (Rogue River and its neighboring
rivers) and the Sacramento River often gets a
good return of salmon. All of these fish will
be intermixed on the highway at the same
time, and you never know where that fish is
heading to. This is what makes this fishery so
interesting. When a fish comes to the net it
always crosses my mind, where is “home” and
how far is the journey?
Not only is each species an intermix
of stock and where they are from but the
entire highway is a melded blend of species.
Coho are known to be top-water salmon,
often seen jumping and surfacing. Chinook
are deep-water fish and tend to stay near
the bottom and chums can be found in the
middle of the water column, but when a bait
ball comes onto the screen it seems all of the
fish are blended together. Working a bait ball
back and forth with a “figure eight” pattern
results in multiple hook-ups with doubles
and even triples common. If you have a rod in
the water it is likely it will be bent over with
a fighting fish when you find the highway.
Always be ready when putting gear out as the
coho will come right up to the prop wash and
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grab spoons or herring.
It is common to catch dozens of fish a day
when fishing the highway. Barbless hooks are
a must and careful fish handling is needed.
The brief stop at the boat needs to be quick
so the fish can continue on. When retention
limits are allowed then it is best to keep the
fish that are mortally hooked instead of just
trying to keep the largest fish of the day.
The open ocean calls for tactics that will
intercept the moving fish. This is where
spoons are a good option as they are always
“fishing” unlike bait that gets hit and if the
hook doesn’t stick then you need to reel up
and re-bait. When a salmon short strikes
a spoon and it doesn’t come free from the
downrigger clip you can keep on trolling. If
you prefer to mooch then kicking the motor
into neutral and lowering the bait down will
get you fish but be aware of the rollers of
the open ocean. I am prone to sea sickness
and mooching is not the technique I prefer
for this reason as rolling along the waves is a
good way to get sick. But if you can handle
the waves then there is nothing better than
the grab of a chinook while holding the rod
in your hands and setting the hook. Since
the fish are on the move another “old school”
tactic is to troll large Tomic spoons. This
is a high speed trolling technique and can
feel more like you are targeting sailfish than
salmon.
Since the highway is located along the
When the bite is fast and furious spoons are
great “bait” to use because they’re always
fishing.
continental shelf from Alaska to California it is
best to use the right boat. It should be able to
handle a long ride out to the fishing grounds
and be seaworthy. Double main engines are
a plus so you can make it back if one stops
working. Radar is also a must, especially since
commercial boats will be in the area and so
will ocean liners and even the possibility of
a cruise ship going by. Keep in mind that
commercial trollers have several cables out on
booms and that they can’t turn very quickly.
If you are in the path of a commercial troller
and you can see the boat then you are in their
way. The radar helps in fog and bad weather
but it also can let you know how close you are
to a fast approaching troller.
Safety should be your top priority and a
GPS unit, compass and radio are a must. It is
best to fish the highway with a “buddy boat”
and keep in contact with each other. Plus,
with two boats out searching for the fish you
will find them twice as fast. Fishing the high-
way means being ready, properly equipped
and making good decisions about finding the
fish and responsible angling. Catching fish is
fairly easy once you merge into rush hour fish
traffic.