Green Label & Fillet-O-Fish

My main fishing goal each year is not to catch more fish than my father in-law (that's goal #2) but rather to share the experience of fishing and boating with as many people as possible.  With a variety of people joining me on the water each year, two common questions I get are "What is green label herring" and "Why do you cut your fish that way"

Green label herring doesn't refer to an environmentally friendly form of bait fish - although it is 100% natural and organic.  Rather, the label color simply refers to the size of herring being packaged/used.  So, from the smallest size of around 3.5 inches to the largest at 10 inches - Orange, Red, Green, Blue, and Black label.  The green label we use is between 5 and 6 inches.

When I fillet a salmon, I use the iFish/eyeFish method instead of a traditional, long fillet from head to tail.  I do this for two reasons 1) I can't seem to filleting salmon without butchering it and 2) because the traditional methods leave so much good meat on the bones.

 Demonstrating with a tasty, candy red Buoy10/Estuary Coho Salmon (Silver Salmon).

Cutting from top down following the lateral line and spine

Cutting back sections along the bones

Very little wasted meat

2011 Spring Salmon Season Set!

This week, ODFW finalized the spring Chinook season on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers (finally!!)

The most appealing aspect of this spring, is the run forecast of nearly 105,000 fish on the Willamette which is more than double last year's run.  The much larger Columbia River has a so/so run forecast of around 200,000 fish which is about half of its 2010 run.

• Willamette River - 2 fish a day limit - No close date 
• Columbia River - 1 fish a day limit - Closes April 4th (bummer!)
• (daily maximum is 2 fish if we fish both rivers)

Keep in mind, during the spring my boat is generally fishing the Columbia down below the mouth of the Willamette, so we have an excellent chance of intercepting both salmon runs.

Also note that ODFW watches the salmon escapement over Bonneville very closely and reserve the right to shut down or extend the season as necessary.

As a reminder, here is what we're targeting (2010 pictures)

Early Season 2010 Spring Chinook

J-Law with a fair weather 2010 Springer

Tabasco Todhunter demonstrating what we don't want to catch!

Looking Back, First Salmon!

I've been spending a lot of time lately "looking forward" to the spring salmon season; with a close eye on February 8th when ODFW will set the spring salmon season for the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.  The anticipation has been driving me nuts so I thought I'd take a break from the forward thinking and look back at my first salmon.

This good looking fish was caught using down-riggers and plugs during the summer of 1991 off of Possession Point in Puget Sound, just north of Seattle. Up there, they call these black-mouths, but we call them Chinook down here in Oregon.  I guess I had beginners luck on my first salmon adventure!

1991 Black-mouth (Chinook) - lbs. unknown (but I could make a # up)

Keeping The Yamaha's In Shape

Given it's been several months since I last had a line wet, it also means the Yamaha's haven't been dipped in the water in a while either.  So, with some sun in the forecast, last weekend (1/22), we got the boat out on the water to run some fuel through the motors to make sure everything is in good working order.  I couldn't be more pleased with how the Hewescraft and Yami's ran.  The whole family decided to join, including our latest addition born just 2 months earlier for his first boat ride.  Tabasco Todhunter (better known as "bait boy" or "camera boy") joined us for the ride as well.

Ross Island Bridge, Willamette River, Portland, Oregon

My Co-Captain (Big-G)

My Co-Co-Captain (Little-G)

Is Springer Season Here Yet?

I can't believe that it's been 108 days (October 9th, 2010) as of this posting since I caught my last fish, let alone wet a fishing line (accomplishing both last on 10/9).  108 days is a long time to watch the vacuum packed stock of krill fed, red fillets dwindle in the freezer while one thinks about their next fishing opportunity.  One thing is for sure, I haven't had a single day go by that I wasn't preparing for my spring attack; at least mentally.

This year, we're going to go even harder after the prized catch, leaving no chance for missed opportunity.  In preparation, earlier this month, I purchased a case of the finest green label Puget Sound herring money can buy.  That's 420 rock solid herring that are ready to spin and swim; into Mr. Chinook's mouth.   It's only fitting that the first post on "Herring Bytes" is about herring to be used for this year's salmon fishing.

Given I purchased a years worth of bate at once, along with my anticipation of a lot of salmon needing freezer space this year, I purchased a new upright freezer for our food, and am using the old freezer above the garage fridge strictly for bait.

1 full case = 35 dozen green label herring (420)

Stacks of green label!