Willamette Spring Chinook With Grant McOmie
In Portland, Oregon the name "Grant McOmie" has become synonymous with Oregon's outdoors. One of the nation's leading outdoor reporters, Grant has enjoyed a long career in network news television. He's won international acclaim for his work as he's covered the challenges of Oregon's water, land and wildlife resources for nearly two decades.
America's Outdoor Journal was privileged to spend some time fishing for Oregon's fabled Willamette River spring Chinook with Grant. We discussed his work and his new book, "Grant's Getaways" (a wonderful compilation of top Oregon outdoor retreats suitable for all skill and age levels), while we tried our hand at a fish we both hold in high esteem. You can get complete information on Grant's book by logging on to www.gacpc.com.
Both Grant and I (Trey Carskadon) have fished for what is arguably the most prized salmon in the world, the Willamette River Spring Chinook for years. Together we've logged several trips for these wonderful fish and it was fitting that he join me (generally it's the other way around) for a day using a trolling system we've succeeded with in earlier trips.
Willamette River Spring Chinook generally start appearing in meaningful numbers sometime early in March. The first fish of the season is typically caught in January, but the run really kicks in sometime in March and peaks through April and the first couple weeks of May. Fish will continue to enter the system well into June but for all intensive purposes angler effort is only slight by the end of May.
Willamette River Spring Chinook have a high fat content which gives them a rich flavor that local restaurants feature as a local delicacy. One "springer" and you'll know why they're so highly prized as eating fare. They are also a particularly robust adversary as evidenced in the show. Roughly 40 angler hours are spent for every spring Chinook landed making them even more challenging.
The technique we used is one we've honed over several seasons. Using a unique dyed and cured prawn that's available at area tackle shops, we thread a large 5/0 Octopus-style Daiichi hook in the Bleeding Bait red color and a 5 foot leader through the middle of the prawn. The hook is snugged up tight to the head of the prawn and a couple of half hitches are placed around the tail, followed by 8 to 10 small beads and a red and white, or pink and white spinner blade that's attached to a small plastic clevis.
The leader's then attached to a bead chain swivel to prevent line twist. Ahead of the swivel is a sliding weight system with a 2 foot dropper line and 4 ounces of lead attached to the dropper.
90% of our fish over the years have come from 15 to 20 pulls using this system. A "pull" is amount of line that's pulled from the reel to the first guide on your rod. Using "pulls" enables you to accurately control and repeat the depth your fishing.
Speed is very important. When trolling for Willamette River Spring Chinook make sure you're going snail-slow. Slower is better when trolling for spring Chinook.
Another important feature is to keep your rods nearly parallel to the water and when you get a bite make sure the rods doubled over and line's coming off the reel before setting the hook. Even though there's lots of discussion on when to set the hook, most any of the area's guides will advocate waiting.
| Show#: |
5005 |
| Host: |
Trey Carskadon |
| Guide: |
Grant McOmie |
| Location: |
Willamette River |
| Species: |
Chinook |
| Date: |
Spring |
| Equipment: |
Appropriate spring Chinook gear includes: 8' to 8 ½' medium heavy to heavy Guide's Collection rod (rated for 10 to 20 lb. test or 15 to 30 lb. test), 20 lb. Trilene XT or Trilene Big Game line, 4/0 or 5/0 Daiichi hooks, and an Ambassadeur 5500C levelwind reel. |
