Guys, if you have a boat that is safe on Puget Sound, you can do the Columbia mouth. Just stay inside. Put in at Chinook, call Chinook Bait and Tackle for tips and to reserve fresh bait. Fish right out in front of Chinook and a bit down river from just before low slack for about three hours, fish just below and above Astoria bridge from just before high slack to just after, troll downriver from the bridge in the conga line on the outgoing, troll upriver or downriver near chinook and sand island on the incoming.
There is no secret spot - look for the six pack guide boats and the old farts, and you'll see where to fish. It'll be pretty obvious. Use delta divers, fish flashes, and 5 to 6 foot leaders, and fish from 8 to 30 pulls. Troll the same direction as everyone else. Watch where the six packs start to fish, and where they pick up to go back upriver. If they all start running to some spot in a hurry, go check it out. Bring binos, and watch for nets and boats starting to cluster together. Boats close together, bite is on. Boats spread out, nothing going on.
Watch out for strong (20mph) upstream winds on outgoing tides, and downstream winds on incoming tides. They can make it pretty bumpy pretty quick.
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