The ocean fish, including the puny little 29 pounder, were caught with whole herring on barbless mooching rigs behind a diver. The river fish were on a red/white/brass spinner. I try to avoid the flashers and the hoochies and the other jewelry. The fish that hit with all the stuff on there would have hit the same lure or bait without the stuff, I always figure, so why deal with the hassle. Although, out of superstition based on the only thing that would get us fish last year, I do use the divers with the fluttery wings.
The ocean fishing doesn't matter too much on the tide times, but the tide does dictate when the smaller boats can go out. A morning incoming tide is always the best bet for a smooth bar, so most of the fish we took from the ocean were on the flood. We did have a couple weeks with real small tide exchanges, so the bar was passable during the ebb. Like I say - the fish hanging around the mouth of the river outside don't care what time it is if they see your bait.
The best time for the river bite this year has been the last hour of the incoming, through the high slack, and an hour or so into the ebb. Right as the ebb starts there is a feeding frenzy at the big Astoria bridge that lasts for a half hour or so if the fish are there.
With the rain last weekend and the gillnetters this week, the river fish have all been driven up river or slaughtered. All those natives I so carefully released that may have been unlucky enough to find the gillnets were likely tossed back for sea lion food.
