Best Summer Fishing on the Columbia River

BOOK A TRIP WITH A FISHING GUIDE THIS SUMMER ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER

Man, woman, and young boy pose for a photo in a boat with 8 fish they caught at buoy 10

You’ll find the best summer fishing on the Columbia River by booking a trip with an experienced and quality fishing guide. A trip with Hazen’s Guide Service this summer is sure to be the highlight of a memorable and enjoyable vacation!

The Columbia River is full of summer fishing action with lots of opportunities all summer long. Salmon, sturgeon, and steelhead are all catchable during the summer months on the lower Columbia River.

Book Multiple-Day Fishing Trips

Many of our families and friend groups enjoy booking multiple-day trips to get an opportunity to target a variety of fish types. One of our favorite combos is summer steelhead and sturgeon. Especially since sturgeon is a guaranteed day of fish fighting action!

Easy Access from PDX

All fishing trips booked with us embark from boat launches within a short 30 minutes to 2 hours drive of the Portland airport. We’re able to recommend where to stay that’s close to where we’re fishing and where you plan on spending the rest of your time on vacation.

Here’s what we’re catching during the summer months on the Columbia River:

What are you waiting for? We’re happy to help you plan the perfect fishing trip this summer. Get in touch today!

2021 Spring Chinook Salmon Fishing on the Willamette River

SPRING CHINOOK FISHING ON THE WILLAMETTE IS GOING STRONG

We are currently in the thick of spring Chinook salmon fishing season. When we were able to fish on the Columbia River it was fairly productive. In the beginning, it started slow then got good just before the Columbia closed down on April 4. There was lots of action, but having to use barbless hooks really made for a lot of missed or lost fish this year. We found a really good spot to anchor fish plugs on the outgoing tides. This was how we caught the majority of our fish.

At the moment, we are targeting the lower Multnomah channel on the Willamette River. Fishing has been slow and inconsistent for the most part. Although, it does show flashes of brilliance from time to time. One day you’re getting into them good and the next you’re really having to work hard for a few bites. However, it has been a lot of fun and one of my favorite fisheries.

I love the awesome weather, calm waters, and the challenge of the Springer season. Not to mention that spring Chinook salmon are the best-eating fish on the planet in my opinion. We will be fishing here through the end of May.

2021-05-05T11:22:03-07:00May 5th, 2021|Fishing Report, Spring Chinook Salmon|

2021 Winter Steelhead Season Recap

IT WAS A SOLID 2021 WINTER STEELHEAD SEASON

We wrapped up our 2021 Tillamook winter steelhead fishing trips a little earlier than normal. This was mostly due to water conditions and the short window of the overlapping Lower Columbia River spring Chinook season.

We had another fun and exciting winter steelhead season! I learned so much this season compared to any other. As usual water conditions were different on every trip so being able to adapt was key to our success. To sum up the season I would say early on it was a little below average, the middle was good and later was average. Overall, I think it was a slightly above-average winter steelhead season with some really good days in the mix. Probably one of my better seasons. Also, there was a significant increase in the quantity of larger fish which made for some exciting battles!

I’m betting that next year’s run will be very good based on the latest ocean conditions forecasting/modeling. It’s never too early to reserve a spot for next season!

2021-05-05T10:42:41-07:00May 5th, 2021|Fishing Report, Winter Steelhead|

Columbia River Sturgeon Fishing Guide – 2021 Season

Columbia River Sturgeon Fishing Guide

Taking a fishing trip with a Columbia River sturgeon fishing guide is guaranteed to be full of action! Sturgeon jump and thrash as they’re caught on the line providing a fun and exciting catching experience. We’re often blessed with double or even triple hook-ups at one time.

At maturity white sturgeon, commonly called “dinosaur fish” due to their prehistoric genetics, average upwards of 5 feet long. It’s not uncommon for our guests to reel in a sturgeon as large as 8 feet long. Too large to even get the fish in the boat!

2021 Sturgeon Retention Season

For the 2021 sturgeon season on the Columbia River, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife has set a limited retention season. Typically a catch a release fishery most of the year, the agency has set certain dates, times, and limitations on the size of fish we’re allowed to keep. Below are the ODFW regulations for the area Hazen’s Guide Service usually fishes, near Astoria, Oregon.

COLUMBIA RIVER MAINSTEM, Buoy 10 upstream to Wauna Powerlines

Area definition: From the Wauna powerlines (River Mile 40) downstream to the mouth at Buoy 10, including Youngs Bay; and all adjacent Washington tributaries.

Permanent rules for sturgeon are in effect, including closed to the retention of sturgeon, except for the following modifications:

  • This area will be open to retention of white sturgeon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays during May 10, 2021 through June 5, 2021 (12 days: May 10, May 12, May 15, May 17, May 19, May 22, May 24, May 26, May 29, May 31, June 2, and June 5).
  • On days open to white sturgeon retention, angling for sturgeon is prohibited after 2 PM, including catch and release.
  • Daily bag limit is one white sturgeon, 44-50 inches fork length (fork length is measured in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the fork in the caudal fin (tail) with the fish laying on its side on a flat surface, with the tape measure/ruler positioned flat under the fish).
  • Annual bag limit is two white sturgeon (applicable to any/all 2021 retention fisheries).
  • Retention of green sturgeon prohibited.
  • ODFW fishing regulations

2021 Sturgeon Catch and Release Season

Outside of the regulations listed above, catch and release sturgeon fishing on the Columbia River can be even more fun! Later in the season after the retention dates have passed we get more bites, with bigger fish. Catching a 9-11 foot sturgeon is not uncommon during this part of the season. The months of June and July are best for peak sturgeon fishing action.

This is a world-class fishery where we host anglers from all across the planet. Dreams of catching a once-in-a-lifetime fish (or two!) are easily fulfilled on these guided fishing trips. . Read more about sturgeon fishing here.

2021-05-01T17:48:03-07:00April 23rd, 2021|Fishing Report, Sturgeon|

2021 Winter Steelhead Guided Fishing Trips – Mid-Season Update

2021 WINTER STEELHEAD FISHING UPDATE

We are officially at the halfway point of guided fishing trips for the winter steelhead season. The last couple of weeks have been very good fishing. Especially compared to early on when it was mainly hit and miss. I figure that the fishing will stay good through the end of the season. Typically late February and March is peak time.

What stands out to me the most so far this season has been how large the average fish size is. I have never in my career seen this many big fish hooked in one season.

Another thing that has been kind of interesting is the number of different offerings I have been using to get fish to bite. Being versatile is key and I think we have literally thrown every kind of bait and lure imaginable to get the fish to bite this year compared to other years. It’s definitely paid off!

OPEN WINTER STEELHEAD FISHING DATES

It’s turning out to be another epic winter steelhead season! We will probably be fishing into mid-April so don’t miss out!

Dates are getting limited now so please let me know if you want to get out-

Open dates remaining…

March 6, 19, 27

Possible March dates I might be able to make work once confirming our schedule 1, 2, 4, 5, 15, 16, 17, 22

April steelhead dates overlap with Spring Chinook salmon fishing. Which gives us lots of options to follow where the fish are. Get in touch for availability.

Looking forward to fishing with you all again😊

Tight lines!!

Signature

2021-03-01T13:30:52-08:00March 1st, 2021|Fishing Report, Winter Steelhead|

Lower Columbia Spring Chinook Salmon Guided Fishing Trips in 2021

2021 LOWER COLUMBIA SPRING CHINOOK SALMON GUIDED FISHING TRIPS

The upcoming guided fishing trips for the 2021 spring Chinook salmon season have got us stoked!!

We just got some exciting news that we are going to have a spring Chinook season on the lower Columbia River for the first time since 2018!! The fishing area considered the lower Columbia Region spans from Buoy 10 near Astoria and runs upriver to Bonneville Dam.  Depending on many variables, we will likely target Spring Chinook Salmon near Clatskanie, Westport, and St. Helens, Oregon.

This fishery is literally in my backyard and can be very productive for these unbelievable tasty fish (best-eating fish on the planet in my opinion!). Our local knowledge of the waterways and fishery is what gives us the advantage here.

Our plan is to start fishing from March 24th through when it closes on April 4th. There also could be an extension for the spring Chinook season after April 4th where we may get an extra opportunity on the Columbia near St. Helens. Otherwise, we will be fishing the Willamette River near St. Helens just outside of Portland through the remainder of the spring Chinook season.

We’re super excited and can’t wait to fish with you this spring! 😊

Tight lines!!

Signature

2021-03-01T13:29:28-08:00March 1st, 2021|Fishing Report, Spring Chinook Salmon|

Fishing Report – 2020-2021 Winter Steelhead

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2020 was certainly a tough year for everyone and a year most of us might like to forget. As we reflect back on the year, our business faced many challenges from the fishing closures that happened in early spring that canceled one of the best winter steelhead seasons we had in a long time to fishing through the wildfire smoke in early September.

Although we faced some challenges the fishing industry in general thrived. Fishing was a safe and fun outdoor activity that everyone could participate in. We fished guests from all over the U.S and made many new friends! With all the challenges along with the huge amount of people fishing and limited stock of fishing supplies at outdoor retailers, I can honestly say this was by far my most successful year of fishing (and catching). Fortunately, all our salmon and steelhead returns ended up being a lot higher than what was expected.

We would like to thank every one of you that supported our family business this year. Personally, fishing was great therapy for me. Being out on the water with so many awesome people definitely made the year so much better!

2021 WINTER STEELHEAD GUIDED FISHING TRIPS

Our next chapter going into 2021 has us Winter Steelhead fishing out of Tillamook, Oregon. Winter Steelhead season starts around mid-December and runs through April. We mainly fish the Wilson, Trask, and Nehalem Rivers.

Early Steelhead returns have been above average which generally bodes well for a great season. The average fish size seems to be bigger than normal from what I have seen myself.

Winter Steelhead season is one of my favorite seasons to fish due to how productive the trips can be. We’ll typically hook multiple fish per day, sometimes in the double digits! Steelhead are very aggressive fighters and are super fun to catch on light tackle. I can’t wait to get out there this winter and early spring!

2023-08-09T08:10:41-07:00January 9th, 2021|Fishing Report, Winter Steelhead|

Fishing Report – Buoy 10, Fall Chinook & Coho Salmon Updates

It’s been a while since our last update, but I can say I’m happy to report salmon fishing has been excellent in the last couple of weeks!

SUMMER RECAP

We started our Fall season at Buoy 10 around mid-August after spending a few months targeting Columbia River summer steelhead and sturgeon. Both steelhead and sturgeon fishing provided plenty of action this summer. Our biggest sturgeon this year measured a whopping 9 feet in length! Our best day steelhead fishing we hooked over twenty and landed around 12 or so- lots of action!

Buoy 10 season was really good when the tides and conditions were favorable. A lot of NW wind this year made fishing a little bit of a struggle compared to other years but most days were filled with limits or near limits of nice salmon. Of course, there were some tough days mixed in too where the bite was off — but that’s fishing!

After Buoy 10 closed, we moved upriver in the Columbia River around the St Helens area and found plenty of willing biters there too. We have been catching a mixed bag of Coho and Chinook salmon. Fishery managers gave us some additional days to fish in that area which provided some great extra opportunity as well.

Thanks go out to all the wonderful people that fished with us so far this 2020 season. So many new friends have been made, as well as getting to see many old friends and familiar faces. You are all very special to me and I enjoyed every minute I get to spend with you all 😊

Here’s a highlight reel from the summer action…

LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE FALL SALMON FISHING

We’re really looking forward to the latter part of this fall season. I’m thinking It’s going to be action-packed!!

COMING UP…

  • Both Chinook and Coho fishing at Buoy 10 and Nehalem Bay! Beginning this Saturday, September 19th, the Columbia River will be open every day through the end of December 2020. Which is great news!!!
  • Mid-October through early December (after fall rains) we’ll head to Tillamook for drift boat fishing for fall Chinook salmon.
  • Crabbing out of Hammond Oregon – months that end in “r” (September, October, November, December).

Remember it’s never too early to get a trip on the books for the popular winter steelhead season (mid-December through April). These dates are limited so don’t wait!

BE IN THE KNOW

We recently started to add open seats to our contact page on our website so you can see when we have immediate openings in the near future. It’s been helpful for us, and clients as well, to reduce back and forth communication for scheduling. It sure has made life easier while we’ve been super busy the past few months!

Fishing Report – 2020 Columbia River Summer Steelhead

Bust out the sunscreen and flip flops, our favorite fishing season is just getting started! Word on the street is that summer steelhead are already being caught on the Columbia River. This is an indicator of a great season ahead of us!

Hazen’s Guide Service will be running our first guided fishing trips for summer steelhead once water flows stabilize from Bonneville dam and spring runoff. This will probably happen over the next week or so.

Summer steelhead fishing is super fun! We typically enjoy great weather and acrobatic fighting fish using light tackle. A family trip with the kids is perfect for this type of fishing.

Usually, we launch our 22’ aluminum powerboat from Westport or Beaver boat ramp in Clatskanie. The boat launches are conveniently located just over an hour drive from Portland and a short 35-45 minute drive from Astoria. Your booked fishing trip includes all gear, tackle, bait, fish cleaning, filleting, and bagging. All you need to bring with you is lunch and snacks, your fishing license from ODFW or WDFW, and sunscreen and sunglasses.

The summer steelhead season runs through the summer months into August when our next fishery, Buoy 10 salmon and coho, begins. Get in touch to book your trip today!

2020-05-30T11:39:14-07:00May 30th, 2020|Fishing Report, Summer Steelhead|

Fishing Report – 2020 Spring Chinook Salmon

Fishing on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers for Spring Chinook salmon is well underway and continues to have consistent action. The Multnomah Channel on the Willamette is open to fish, while there have been limited fishing dates on the Columbia River this season. We’re expecting to book guided fishing trips on the Multnomah Channel through June. All trips launch from Scappoose Bay Marina.

Spring Chinook salmon fishing trips are fantastic for the whole family! It’s a great way to get out of the house and get outdoors while avoiding crowds and air travel. You may find that local hotels are beginning to open up reservations for when it’s not convenient for a day trip.

As of today (5/28/2020), under the current Phase 1 Covid-19 reopening of Oregon, we are able to accommodate up to 2 people from different households or 3 people from the same household. We have thorough cleaning and sanitation procedures in place to provide a safe fishing trip for everyone.

2020-05-30T12:14:18-07:00May 28th, 2020|Fishing Report, Spring Chinook Salmon|
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