ilwaco, washington, usa - august 15-19, 2018

[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!

[alantani]

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. #

https://youtu.be/1MIr8Igl_Q8

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

https://youtu.be/C07Tjrm5D20

now we're crossing the columbia bar

https://youtu.be/1Qzr0BoUgH4

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.

https://youtu.be/0M9Ws5oCxSA

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

https://youtu.be/0xFlINw7YIU

and again!

https://youtu.be/TwC2uC-jLd0

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!

https://youtu.be/NNNCMlGAio4

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

[alantani]

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.

https://youtu.be/hwuP0jM7jb0

kate was the one catching all the fish!

https://youtu.be/7NZgFFUXS44



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!

https://youtu.be/yR5BMEKN-Sk

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!

https://youtu.be/oD8cis9nX_s

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!

https://youtu.be/nbn6T68A2HQ

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!

[shaungonemad]

It sounds like a good trip thanks for the report