Fishin’ was the mission! Shortly after getting the trailer set up at Camp Kalama we strolled over to the fishing hole in the campground. King salmon were jumping, folks were fighting fish, and there were fresh caught salmon on the banks…jackpot!
The fishing hole in the campground at sunrise. The I-5 bridges over the Kalama River.
The Kalama River is about 40 miles north of Portland. It’s smaller than most big west coast rivers and has great runs of salmon and steelhead. I figured that we could catch the tail end of the king salmon run and the beginning of the sliver salmon run. It worked out as planned. Unfortunately, these Washington salmon don’t act like the Alaska salmon I’m used to.
Most days I fished hard the first few hours after sunrise and would fish for another few hours later in the day. I fished the big hole in the campground and multiple holes up river. I really enjoyed one hole that required a tough steep hike to get to. It had two plunge pools below small waterfalls. The falling water was loud, but made it easy to slip into a peaceful trance while focusing on the fishing. One morning I saw a big beaver slip into the water above the waterfall and shortly after a family of three river otters put on a show as they played along the opposite river bank. Occasionally salmon would roll in the turbulent water, but they did a good job of ignoring my offering. I only hooked 4 or 5 and landed 2 from those pretty fishing holes.
Downstream I managed to hook 4 or 5 other fish and landed just 2 of those. After 12 days of hard fishing, that’s pretty sad! The successful “local” fishermen caught them one of two ways. They either did the “drag and snag” or they floated salmon roe under bobbers or along the bottom. I prefer to swing flies or spinners. I fished the way I enjoyed, but it wasn’t effective. Oh well…after working hard to catch fish that aren’t feeding (they’re in the river to make babies, not eat!), I am ready for some aggressive fish!
So how about the campground and the area? The campground was alright. Busy Interstate 5 was just a hundred yards away so it was noisy around the clock. We had full hook ups for a decent price and there was a good café right by our trailer. The town of Kalama was just a mile or two south and had a good Mexican restaurant, small grocery store, and other interesting looking shops (4 or 5 antique stores). The towns of Kelso and Longview were about 7 miles north and they had anything that we would need. I liked the location, but other than fishing, there was little else to do. Arleen was ready to leave after a few days, but she stuck it out because she knew I enjoyed the fishing.
Next we plan to spend 9 nights at Cape Disappointment State Park on the mouth of the Columbia River on the Washington side. From there we go to Fort Stevens State Park just across the Columbia River on the Oregon side. We hope to fish the beach for surf perch, hike and bike the numerous trails, spend time walking the beaches, follow in Lewis and Clark’s footsteps, and hunt down the NW coast’s best clam chowder. Stay tuned…
Guys, you'll find the best Oregon Coast clam chowder at a place called Moe's. There are several locations; Two in Newport, one at Otter Crest, one in Taft, and I think there is one near Pacific Beach. They have one called the Cannon Ball, served in a hollowed out chunk of sourdough bread. Have some of the cheese toast too. It is pretty good with the chowder. We go to the one in Taft, south of Lincoln City, two or three times a year.
ReplyDeleteThat's two votes for "Moe's"! We may spend a few days at "South Beach State Park" just south of Newport. Moe's...here we come!
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