Tuna fishing out of Westport WA questions?

[wolf]

Hi guys thought id ask on here as its something ive never done or experienced.
GF is planning on sending me to go tuna fishing for my upcoming big 50 BD.

Im wondering if late june is to early to fish for them down there ?
And any charter guys that you know of that are good??
whats needed etc

thanks in advance
Wolf

 

[cj6530]

Charters starting catching late June last year

https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/tuna-on-bait-at-30-miles.629751/

 

[fishbadger]

I think late June is pretty early to have a crack at consistent success in that fishery. I'm not an expert or a charter on that fishery, but it seems like second half of July is maybe when it starts warming up, August can be good, and I'd say September is primetime. Early October is good, up until the weather turns. I do it a couple times a year, sometimes with my own boat, sometimes by charter, and September/early October are my favorite times to do it. Consider planning your trip in avoiding a full moon, as the fish feed at night and will be pretty sluggish in the first half of the day, making a big numbers day hard to attain. A new moon is good for fishing, as long as bar conditions aren't a mess and you need to leave port during a big swell/big ebb situation.

As for a reference, I've fished with Darrell Johnson at Far Corners who runs a great operation a number of times, and he's a great guy to fish with (works hard for your fish, top notch gear, fun to fish with). I've heard same thing with Mark Coleman's All Star charter service, but haven't fished with him or his guys, so can't personally vouch for him. You'll want to book soon, as the quality outfits are already getting filled up.

Have fun, there's nothing like the frenzy of a chaotic live bait stop!

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[Aces]

August

 

[Reeltime]

Charters starting catching late June last year

https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/tuna-on-bait-at-30-miles.629751/

Thanks for posting looking into a trip for my brothers and i , time to change it up looks like a great time ..

 

[Team Tom]

Roy, last year the season kicked off Hot in early June, which is not typical, and by late June and early August we had to search far and wide for fish! Again not typical.

Listed below are four guides I feel you cannot go wrong booking a trip through. All great guys! What’s unique and fun, each charter runs a different style of boat. This may aid in your decision? I myself would give each a personal call and chat with them captain to captain. Schedule your trip based on their guidance. Who knows you may be able to arrange a walk on trip at the most optimal time? I do know that trips book fast.


Far Corners Express Sport Fishing (Darrell Johnson)

All Rivers & Saltwater Charters (Mark Coleman)

Offshore Northwest Charter Service (Kerry Allen)

Tail Walkers Charters (Patrick Walker)

 

[ericl]

Mark Coleman is the man:

http://allriversguideservice.com/

He runs 28ft fast boats. It's about a 1 hour run

They have a discount rate for the hotel that is 100 feet from their boat.

Fish ice can be had 2-3 blocks down the road.

Never done it but fish are closer to shore in Oregon.

Here is a list of Oregon Tuna ports:

http://oregonalbacore.org/the-fleet-is-in/

I have heard Depoe Bay & Newport are good.

I went on a Yellow Fin trip outta San Diego & had the most fun catching them on a knuckle bustser using a method called "fishing the slide":

When one or more troll rods hook-up, the boat will be put into neutral , coast to a stop so that live bait can be used. As soon as a troll rod hooks-up, let a "fish trap lure" slide back to where the troll lures were running & engage the reel. It is an immediate hook-up. You need to be standing at the stern with your fish trap ready to go as the slide only lasts 10-15 seconds. I also enjoyed casting a metal jig (3-4 oz) off the bow while the boat was stopped. You will want a very fast retrieve.

I used 20# spectra. The Tuna were 15-20. You probably need real Tuna gear for 40-50 pounders; probably won't get those up here; Morro Bay in October is the spot for the big one's.

A lot of guys on the forum seem to like catching Tuna; I find it a boring fight - they run like hell, tire-out & then flex their body while you pump them in. Mahi Mahi are much more fun, but that requires a plane trip. Raymond Biaz (boat name is Gold digger)out of Bud & Mary's Marina in the Florida Keys in June-July is the man for that - caught 15 from 15-30lb in about 5 hours. You troll dead bait with a spinning reel with the bail open & your finger holding the line. When the fish hits, release the line, wait 3-4 seconds, then engage. Raymond stops the boat, & while you fight the fish he casts from the bridge & hooks more fish, placing the rod in a rod holder til you are ready for it. On our last stop he hooked 3 fish this way for a total of 4 fish on that stop. When we got back to port we had more fish than the other 4 boats combined.

 

[Old Blue]

The past 2 years they had some killer fishing out of Westport but this is not normal. The big puker boats don't really start charters till July but the 4 Team Tom mentioned are all greatoptions, I'd go All Rivers or 4 corners. August last year was really hit or miss as the fish were staying deep and live bait stops/fishing the slide weren't as productive. Typical the best live bait time is 2nd/3rd week of September (as told to me by a few sport and comi's) I went the 3rd week two years ago and it was chaos where 9 of us landed 125ish in one bait stop a little over 3 hours, that was with the Rampage.

 

[Aces]

The past 2 years they had some killer fishing out of Westport but this is not normal. The big puker boats don't really start charters till July but the 4 Team Tom mentioned are all greatoptions, I'd go All Rivers or 4 corners. August last year was really hit or miss as the fish were staying deep and live bait stops/fishing the slide weren't as productive. Typical the best live bait time is 2nd/3rd week of September (as told to me by a few sport and comi's) I went the 3rd week two years ago and it was chaos where 9 of us landed 125ish in one bait stop a little over 3 hours, that was with the Rampage.

The Rampage = Mr Personality

 

[ericl]

Correction - we ran 2 hours from Westport; about 1/2 hour past what my stomach was up for......

 

[Old Blue]

The Rampage = Mr Personality

I loved the guy Shawn hehehe, him and his crew are definitely salty. I went with the Fury last year on a solo last minute trip and they were pretty good but the newbies were losing fish left right and center which was too bad as the captain said everything was communal on his boat

 

[Aces]

I loved the guy Shawn hehehe, him and his crew are definitely salty. I went with the Fury last year on a solo last minute trip and they were pretty good but the newbies were losing fish left right and center which was too bad as the captain said everything was communal on his boat

Just have to google him or check that boat out on the tuna forums. He's not for everybody, just like that guy Sculpin and I went out with in Ilwaco. Think Marine drill Sargent. I'm not saying he didn't know what he's doing but ridiculing the customers is poor form. 2 of the guys in our group wanted to fist fight him. The only good thing about him was he was Adam Bighills cousin so we talked football when he wasn't yelling at us, ha ha!!

 

[seadna]

All Rivers out of Westport is great. Another option is to go out of Ilwaco. The premier ride there is Shake n Bake Sportfishing. You can't go wrong with either. As others have said, I'd try to go in mid August when there are more fish around and the probability of a good weather window is higher. In either case, book the boat and accommodations EARLY.

 

[wolf]

Problem is mid august for me is my busy season and no way i can take that time off , i figured with all ive read before thats when its good , seems mid august is best for all fishing on the west coast be it Tuna springs etc..
I read about rampage WOW not good.....

thanks for all your input guys ill be in touch with some of these guys .....

THANKS Wolf

 

[seadna]

Sorry - Wolf - didn't think about your charter business. If I had to target late June, I'd probably go out of Ilwaco on Shake n' Bake or West Port on All Rivers with a slight lean towards Shake n' Bake. At that time of year, the first fish show up from the south and will likely (but not always) be more abundant farther S. Also, I wouldn't bother with the bigger puker boats as they are slow and weather windows in June are often shorter than in August. All Rivers runs 29' Defiance Guadalupe boats, Shake n' Bake runs a 42' Henrique sports fisher. Both guys can get you out and back quickly in fairly large water but the Shake n' Bake will be more comfortable in bigger stuff. It's the latter factor that would make me lean towards Shake n' Bake for a June trip. Also, and you can already guess this I'm sure, I'd plan for a few days in order to increase the odds that one of them will have a decent enough weather window to get out. Finally, if you go to Westport and get stuck in port, there's not much to do (other than drink). In Ilwaco, there's more places to drink as all of Long Beach and Astoria are fairly close by and there's a few things other than drinking in the area too.

 

[Samnjoe]

Problem is mid august for me is my bust season and no way i can take that time off , i figured with all ive read before thats when its good , seems mid august is best for all fishing on the west coast be it Tuna springs etc..
I read about rampage WOW not good.....

thanks for all your input guys ill be in touch with some of these guys .....

THANKS Wolf

If you are wanting to wait until your charters slow down try mid September to early October.
Still killer fishing. Way more consistent than June.

 

[Team Tom]

Ilwaco is not an option if the marina does not have live bait. Live bait is the fun way to catch these fish. Wolf you can most certainty catch a ride for tuna in late September and still have a blast!

 

[seadna]

Ilwaco is not an option if the marina does not have live bait. Live bait is the fun way to catch these fish. Wolf you can most certainty catch a ride for tuna in late September and still have a blast!

Ilwaco DOES have live bait. And it's consistently available there. Also for anyone who might consider taking their boat down south, Westport wasn't selling fuel at the marina on Sundays and starting in October's they don't sell it on the weekends. For those of us who do tuna trips, no fuel on a Sunday means no or limited fishing after a long tuna run on Saturday - unless you pull the boat and go to the gas station. While the gas station is not too far away, having to pull for fuel and pay for the re-launch, somewhat defeats the point of paying for moorage. Thats why I gave up on Westport 3 years ago. I do Neah Bay for the first half of the season for chinook and bottom fish and Ilwaco for mid-August onward.

 

[apprentice]

https://www.shakenbakesportfishing.com/fishing-reports

 

[fishbadger]

Yeah if you had to choose, then mid-late September definitely better than June, maybe sneak in a trip after your last charter. Aside from weather and abundance, September will be almost exclusively a live bait show, whereas June will be more trolling (on average).

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