Iwalco, Washington - August 15-19, 2018

Started by alantani, September 01, 2018, 06:18:09 AM

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alantani

i was contacted by one of the guys at ifish.net a while back, inviting me up to washington to fish for albacore.  now, for the last 5 years, the san francisco bay area has been a ghost town as far as albacore have been concerned.  northern california, oregon and washington, on the other hand, have been doing pretty well.  so this guy says, "come on up!  i've got a boat.  there's a club house so we've got a place for you to stay, we'll feed you and take you fishing.  hell, we'll even pay for your plane ticket!"  um, that last one was different.  i've never flown on anyone else's dime before.  so, what can i do in return?  "well, post a report.  oh, and maybe take a look at a few reels.....".  ok, that i can do!  being the dutiful husband, i asked my wife first.  she just rolled her eyes and said, yeah, just go....


august 15, 2018

even though alaska airlines destroyed my penn 50 vsx and refused to pay for it, i still like these guys and i still fly with them. 



what you see is not clouds.  this is smoke from the northern california fires.  there is smoke choking out northern california and a good part of oregon. 



i landed in portland and was picked up by joe and his wife.  they were nice enough to drive me all the way from portland to ilwaco!  the scenery on the way was beautiful!



it was a 2 hour drive and there was alot to see!   we arrived in ilwaco and found the http://ilwacotunaclub.com/ without any problem.  the side facing the water is the club.  the side facing the street is http://www.trefinfoods.com/ and http://www.dayboattuna.com/!



here's the club house side entrance.



the deck overlooking the water.





no club house is complete without a bar!



they even sell tackle!



gary was one of the first guys i met.  he was loading live bait into a little dockside receiver for our trip the next day. 



so our host for this trip turns out to be mike colbach.  he runs a boat called shake 'n bake https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/  it's a henriques 42 sportfisher and it's, um, pretty awesome. 



remember the part about, "and we'll feed you..."?  dinner that night was at The Depot.  they have a fabulous rib eye!




August 16th, 2018

first call was 6am.  i barely slept and was up and ready to go at 5:30!



this fishery is all about live bait.  the tank was loaded up.  not sure how may scoops, but the anchovies were packed in like sardines!



the dockside receiver makes it easy.



looks nice when it's lit up!



we're going to take a quick tour of the boat.  the latest in electronics. 



shimano rods and accurate reels. 



compared to what i have locally, ilwaco is a HUGE harbor. 





these guys are used to it, but navigating the channels out of the harbor is pretty involved. 



exiting the mouth of the columbia river, the seas are starting to pick up.



now we're crossing the columbia bar



we ran 60 miles all total and finally got to the spot where guys had picked up fish the previous day.  we were just getting set up and john was giving instructions to the group.



once we got the deck cleared, we set up the troll lines again and got hit again.



and again!



53 albacore in less than 3 hours.  live bait really makes a difference.



here's the 8 of us on the transom with mike taking the pictures, plus 53 albacore!



captain's recap of the day.  just another day of tuna fishing in southern washington!



thanks to mike colbach and https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/ for a great day!


august 17th, 2018

mike already had another charter scheduled, so i was given the opportunity to fish the columbia river at buoy 10 with friends of the tuna club. matt garner, his wife kate, and their 8 year old son axil, would be my hosts for the day.  matt runs a 24 foot grady that is very similar to my own.  we soon worked it out so that i was at the wheel and he ran the deck.  it was an easy choice because i knew the boat, but i knew nothing about the local fishing.  ok, so albacore fishing is fun, but being behind the wheel of a boat is where i am most comfortable.

for those of us that never fished buoy 10 on the columbia river, our skipper is going to give us an introduction.



kate was the one catching all the fish!





and then there is the ax man, axil garner.  the kid is a stone cold killer. 



there were literally a thousand boats on the water.  this poor lady could not control her fish and it ran under matt's boat, picked up our lines and hung a U-turn.  in san francisco, this would have resulted in a fist fight.  people really are more hospitable up north!



ok, we're going to take a minute here to pose for our christmas picture.



hmmmm, not quite......



ok, got it.  here's your card for christmas 2018. 



and a recap of the day!



after a day of fishing, i was invited back to the garner's home for dinner.  thank you matt, kate and axil for a great day!


august 18, 2018

had an offer for another day of fishing but decided to pass.  i'm getting older and these old bones start to creak too much if i try too many days of fishing in a row.  decide to check out the town and found a local place for breakfast. 



they had a corned beef that was really tasty!



walking back, there was something as simple as the parking lot.  during the winter, ilwaco has 1000 residents.  during tuna season, it swells up to 4,000!!!  the place is just packed!!!



there are a couple of businesses.



most of the harbor activity is geared towards the commercial fleet.



saturday mornings feature a crafts fare. 



this place has a great bar!



and don't forget the harbor!



cornered barrett and ray with http://www.trefinfoods.com/ and http://www.dayboattuna.com/ for a little video.  so, a word from our sponsors!



spent the rest of the day working on a big pile of fishing reels that had accumulated over the last few days.  i think i went through about fifty.  next time i need to bring all of the tools and parts.  there is certainly a need for a reel repair guy in this town!


august 19th, 2018

hitched a ride back to portland with gary and had an easy flight back.  this was fun.  the fishing up north is alot like what we have in the san francisco bay area.  well, except that our albacore have vanished.  and the other difference?  people up here are really nice.  it is very different from california.  thanks to shake 'n bake sportfishing, the ilwaco tuna club, tre-fin, dayboattuna, and the garners for a great time!
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Shark Hunter

Keep living the Dream Boss.
I don't fly anymore.
I just drive the 700 miles to Florida.
Whenever I hear the term Shake and Bake.
It always reminds of the dumbest movie ever.
I laugh every time I watch it. :D
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Will+Ferrell+Shake+and+Bake&&view=detail&mid=6646F6F2CE923D01C7C06646F6F2CE923D01C7C0&rvsmid=0776144695EB2A9C4EBE0776144695EB2A9C4EBE&FORM=VDQVAP
Life is Good!

Ron Jones

Getting in and out of Ilwaco is always interesting! We love it down there and have stayed quite a few times.
Ron
Ronald Jones
To those who have gone to sea and returned and to those who have gone to sea and will never return
"

baitboy

It was great to see you again Alan! The Opportunaty crew thanks you for the service of some of our Reels, and I put the TLD 25 that you sent to Craiger to work this week on a few Albies! pretty good week for us with around 400 fish landed for the 3 days I fished. Sad to say the Lexa that you worked on lasted one trip. I'll do a tear down and rebuild here in the next few weeks if I get some down time.
Rick,
Dont forget your Baitboy
Team Time out
Team Sea Ya
Pro Staff, Hogg's Jo/Mar Hardcore Tuna Tackle 362 SW Oak St Hillsboro, OR 97123 (503)887-6845 carrying JB hollow and solid. Custom topshots in any size or length!

alantani

Sorry to hear about the Lexa. It's a pretty small reel.
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Gfish

#5
Cool, Allen. Thanks for takin us along. Good cinematography. I love alla detail in a post like this. Fishin trips are much more'n just puttin a line in the water. On the Shake n' Bake, it was like I's right there.

I just don't know about crowdin fisherpersons onto a charter trip when targeting Salmon or schooling pelagics.  Then again, maybe it's more fun for others that way. Works ok with me for bottom fish.

After spending time on a commercial Albacore trip(docking in: Annacortes, Wa., Port Angelis, Wa., Astoria, Or., Westport, Wa.), my impression of Pac. N.W. places like that is that indeed the people are more down to earth and friendly/less business like, but behind the scenes there's alota rural-low income community problems that can be bothersome to you, if you grow up in a place like the Bay Area. In stark contrast to the above mentioned places, we docked on San Jaun Island, Wa., a yachting and living destination for the rich( the boat owners home), way too high-class for me. After one trip to town and the boss's home,  I stayed on the boat the next few days.
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

gstours

Thanks Alan for the great pics and story shown of the trip to Ilwauko.   As an old time washingtonian  we would always go there as it was the hub of activity during the summer. 
   You are richer than you can beleive if your good wife sends you fishing.   Hope she watered the lawn waiting too!
   Best wishes to your good health.   Your Forum is Much Appreciated. 8)