It is common to open the Buoy 10 fishery August 1 & close it near labor day.  The best fishing does not usually start on the opener, but picks up within a couple of weeks, depending on the weather.

Many knowledgeable fishermen who do not want to fight all the hassle associated with the lower section of this fishery.  

The alternative is to launch at Deep River.  You can launch here & run down river to the upper end of the fishery, eliminate the congestion on the shore & water & fish basically the same water as if you launched in Illwaco & ran upriver. The wind here picks up about 1:30PM and there will be chop on the water when you head back if your lower launches. With a small or open boat you can get wet.

 Eva's Bait & tackle 121 Onieda Rd Nasselle WA 98638 360-465-2582.  It takes 30 minutes to run from this launch to the Astoria bridge. This launch is located off State Hiway 4 between Naselle & Cathlamet. If you are coming from Longview on Hiway 4,  you would go thru Cathlamet, Skamokawa, up over a large hill, & there is a  community of Rosburg.  The next river you cross will be Deep River, this is a low concrete bridge.  This is 25 miles from Cathlamet.  TAKE A LEFT AT THE WEST END OF THE BRIDGE ONTO ONIEDA RD.  This is a private single lane blacktop ramp, small loading dock, & a reasonable parking lot, but a large mowed field as an overflow lot.  There is also in an adjacent field of about 5 acres room for dry camping. The one drawback here is at a low tide the channel as you enter the bay is also narrow. The pay/bait shack is on the top of a hill before you get to the ramp area. Launch fee is $5 and camping is $10, or $13 with power,  She also has fresh bait every morning at about 5:30AM during the season. 

This launch is popular with Sturgeon fishermen as well as Salmon fishermen & this time of the year you may have to wait to launch or load at the prime times.  There is not enough dock area to tie up to for more than launching & loading purposes. You would have to load your boat back on the trailer if you were going to stay overnight.  They do not allow power loading because the rock off the end of the ramp can be washed out. There are sanicans for restrooms here. A fish cleaning station is also provided.

At low tide the channel is narrow.  There is a deadhead log that has one end floating, but appear to not be submerged at high tide & are most always showing. It is West & close to Rocky Pt & between Portuguese Point in more open water, but if you hang wide at Rocky Pt, you should be outside of it.

The piling markers for the Deep River channel seem to use their own numbers, & after you get in the bay some of these numbers may be repeated.

When you run out of the river & enter the bay you need to follow the piling markers close, but stay on the right hand side going out, water depth will be between 6' & 9' on a low tide.  These markers are all within sight of each other (150yds)  unless you get fog, which may be occasionally in the mornings.   The 1st piling out will be #16, then #14, & then #12.  From here you start into a right hand corner to #10.  Between #10 & 8  is where it is sanded in.     Swing close toward the RH shore  from #12 to loop around #10, then toward #8, staying to it's right, you will be in the channel.  Now from here you can follow the shore piling on down to Rocky Point.  Do not hold tight to this marker here as it sits on a rock outcropping.  Make another right hand corner beyond the point & head Southwest for about 400yd to within 100yd of the shore.  You will now head South keeping the shore on your right, heading toward but keeping West of piling marker #14A .

GPS readings for the marker piling for the Deep River channel are as follows.
                #16    =  46-18-58        123-42-61
                #14    =  46-18-36        123-42-56
                #12    =  46-18-13        123-42-62
                # 8     =  46-17-31        123-43-62

The point of land here is Portuguese Point, a flat grassy area with the #14A on one side & #13 around the corner next to the shore. Not far around this point is Grays Point. The two are so close together some maps only show Grays Point.  A different piling marker #12  is out away from the shore & downstream. Around here is where Sturgeon fishing usually takes place.  There is a 90' hole off the point, most Sturgeon are not caught in the hole but around the edges of it & down to the #12 piling.

Once you round Grays Point, you can see the Astoria bridge in the distance at a SW direction, to run to the bridge head to the north end of it, keeping the Wash. shore on your right & don't expect to approach the center of the river or try to cross  over if you are using a prop boat.

Later when the DFW closes the Buoy 10 area, you will have to fish above Rocky Point on the Wash. side to Tongue Point on the Ore. side.  The middle of the river above & below the bridge gets shallow & changes yearly, so it is not really practical expect to cross over to fish the main channel above Tongue Point from the Deep River side with a prop boat.  Therefore it might be best at that time to launch on the Oregon shore at Tongue Point, or at Cathlamet & run downriver.

The one good thing about this area is that if you use it to fish down below the bridge & to the church hole, when the wind picks up in the afternoon, you can then slide back upriver toward your home launch without bucking the rough water.  And, as you head back upriver the water conditions usually lessen. Then from Grays Point to Rocky Point you can drop in & fish for Sturgeon if the season is still open.

For those of you who want a motel, there are a 3 in Naselle, but reservations might be prudent.

Naselle Village Inn Motel                    Sleepy Hollow                               Hunters Inn    
827 State Hiway 4                             1032 State Hiway 4                       1060 State Hiway 4
Naselle, WA 98638-8539                  Naselle, WA 98638-8506             Naselle, WA 98638
Phone: (360)484-3111                       Phone: (360)484-3232                  Phone: (360)484-9215

There are, I believe 3 restraunts or cafe's in Naselle & at least 1 mini market that has groceries , ice  & gas.

The Fishing Itself:  There seems to be an imaginary line from the Washington side high spanned section of the bridge to Tongue Pt, that the upriver Salmon seem to follow and cross over the shallows to the main channel on the Oregon side.  The few that stay near the Washington shore will probably be Deep River or Grays River fish.

The water temperature at Bonneville this time of the year usually will be 70 to 72 degrees, but on the incoming tide at Illwaco, the cooler (56degree) ocean water will come in & back upriver on the high tide, cooling the river to near the 56 degrees at times.  As the tide turns and starts running back out the temperature will raise to about 62-65 degrees. Once the fish get above this cooler water where there isn't the cooler salt mix,  this is really to warm for them to comfortably stay in, so the chinook will more than likely then be found in the holes or at the mouths of the rivers dumping into the Columbia..

For those of you who have communication radios in board, the suggestion is to follow the PSA Gig Harbor chapter's  method of communicating.        VHF channel 68,     CB channel 6 or 10

The ramp is located in the upper RH corner of this chart at about the in Deep River just upstream from the first sharp bend.

Shown below is the Astoria/Megler bridge.  On this chart McGowan is about the location of "The Church".  Megler  would be about where the WDOT rest area is located.

Last Revised  08-07-2004
LeeRoy Wisner                                                                     

Copyright  2007 Last Modified 03/30/2007