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24th Annual North Coast Rendezvous
Posted on: Nov 13, 2008
Posted in: News From Chris, Wright & McGill
This week I had the chance to travel to one of my favorite places, the Oregon Coast. I had been working with Tim and Shana Juarez since May, setting up an Eagle Claw and W&M sponsorship for the North Coast Rendezvous, which is a Chinook Salmon derby (503-842-6313) that is in its 24th year. This event is more than just your typical derby or tournament. All proceeds go to salmon and fishery habitat and recovery in the area. When they say all proceeds, they mean it. Everyone involved is 100% volunteer, from the people who run it to all the great guides involved, even the people who cook the dinners to the cleanup crew, everyone gives their time at no cost to ensure all money raised goes back to hatcheries, habitat and stream habilitation.
I flew in on Wednesday and was greeted by a typical NW afternoon on the coast, windy and rainy. After all, those trees don’t grow like that without a little rain. I met up with my first day partner, Al King. Al is a longtime friend and had never had the chance to catch a big King Salmon. We both hoped this was his chance. After getting settled in at our hotel in Tillamook, Oregon, we went over to see Tim and Shana for the kickoff dinner and guide meeting. One of the best parts of this event was how you get teamed up. By random draw, you and your partner get teamed up with two other anglers to make a team of four. It gives you the chance to meet new people and really evens out the teams. We met out team, Bobby Joe and Gary. It was Bobby Joes sixth event and the first time for Gary, just like Al and me. Bobby Joe works in sales for a local lumber company and Gary was one of her customers. The second half of the draw process is for your guide. Just like the team draw it is totally random and each team of four gets two guides. This way, based on your guide and what they like to do, you get the chance to fish a wide range of ways. Also the other half of your team may be doing something totally different. We all traded phone numbers so we could keep in touch the next day and trade fish stories as the day unfolded.
I was able to meet with all the guides and the captains to go over some of the W&M items designed for fishing in the Northwest. These guides make a living putting people on fish. With the right stuff, it makes it easier to be successful. The W&M Essentials salmon rods are built and designed for this purpose. With over 25 models to choose from and the exclusive KevlarTM built into the butt sections, these rods are perfect for this event. The other item I showed everyone was our guide bib and jacket. This heavy-duty rainwear is designed with guys like this in mind. With the weather predicted as rainy and windy for the next two days, this was the hottest item I talked about. Everyone knew they would be putting rainwear to the test over the next couple days. We kept the meeting short, answered a few questions, gave everyone a catalog and raffled off a set of rainwear and two rods and then called it a night. We all knew 4:30 am. would be coming early.
Al and I got up early the next morning ready to get out on the water. The Rendezvous Team had a great breakfast ready for everyone. We ate quickly and headed out.
DAY 1
We met up with our guide, Dave Steele, for Chinook Charter www.chinookguide.com at 6:15 am. sharp at the Garibaldi boat ramp. The rain was coming down but with the W&M rain gear on, we were dry, warm and hopeful about what the day would bring. Dave’s plan was to fish the “Jaws” the area just inside Tillamook Bay. He knew the weather would make the area rough but the tides were right and Dave felt it was our best chance at getting a good fish in the boat. He warned us on the way out that, based on the conditions, he would call his clients and cancel a normal guide trip on a day like this. Regardless, we were going to give it a shot.
Well, the wind and rain were pretty tough and the ocean waves made the Jaws area very rough with 4-6 foot swells. Fishing was tough. We fished plug cut herring with a 20 oz. weight just to keep our bait on the bottom while we battled wind and waves all day. About 10:00 am. we had a good solid hit on my rod. The rod bent over hard a couple times and just as I was about to give it a good hookset, it stopped. I reeled up to check the bait - nothing. A miss. Since Dave uses another brand of hook, not Lazer Sharp®, we had a good-humored discussion on the reason we missed that one! The day wore on and nothing more. We heard from other guides that fishing was tough all over so we stuck it out. Dave had a few crab pots out so we ran them and picked up a few nice crab but no fish. We decided to call it a day about mid afternoon, disappointed but still happy for a fun day on the water. Dave gave it his all and never gave up or slowed down trying to put us on fish. He is great guide and a good fisherman. I know days like this are not the norm for Dave. If I ever get the chance, I would love to fish with Dave again.
The dinner and auction that night was one event you did not want to miss. The crew served up a seafood dinner that was second to none. Fresh Oregon halibut, oysters and clams and all the dungeness crab you could eat. Fantastic.
We met up with the other half of our team and found out they had faired no better. Their guide tried the local rivers, and after switching rivers three times and still finding no good fishable water because it was so high, they ended up on day one with no fish. Not many fish were caught on day one so we were one of many teams tied for last place, but still in the hunt.
We drew for new guides for day two and we hooked up with Lee Darby LINK, a local guide with over 10 years experience on Tillamook Bay. Lee really wanted to drift fish the rivers but was worried about high water. We decided on the lower bay and trolled herring again. With day two ahead of us we were hopeful for better results.
My friend, Al, had to change his plans and head back for home so I called another friend, Doug Bellmore. He jumped at the chance and drove over late Thursday night. Doug and I had fished many times before in the Northwest but not for the last couple years and we were looking forward to getting the chance to team up again.
DAY 2
The day started early with more rain and wind. We met up with our guide at the boat ramp and after a short run, we were fishing just after first light. Our guide, Lee Darby, www.leedarby’sfishing.com knew it was going to be a tough day again today and we needed to take advantage of every opportunity.
Lee set us up with fresh plug cut herring and we meticulously checked our depth and baits every few minutes to make sure they were running true and free of weeds. We trolled to the top of the Ghost Hole, a famous stretch of Tillamook Bay, just above where the Miami River enters. We made the turn at the top of the hole and dropped our baits back down. Within 30 seconds, before I could even get the rod in the rod holder, I got a bite. The salmon hit hard with a series of strong tugs on the rod and made a strong run straight away from the boat. He was hooked solid and the fight was on. We played the fish well and after several surges next to the boat, Lee positioned the boat for an easy net job of a nice 23 lb. chrome Chinook.
We were feeling pretty good about things as we finally had a fish in the boat and it was only 7:30 in the morning. We reset the gear, rigged the rods with fresh bait and started making another pass. Today, we had our other team members fishing in a boat nearby. They cheered us on as we trolled past each other with spirits high. We made a few more passes through the hole and saw a few other fish being caught and settled in, hoping for more action.
About 9:00 am. we were again fishing fresh baits at the top of the hole, very near where we had hooked the first fish. My friend, Doug, had just poured a cup of coffee and was standing up looking toward my rod when it went off. The strike was so hard it pulled my rod tip all the way in to the water and the drag started singing as line was stripped from the reel. No subtle bite or nibble here, this fish slammed the bait and never looked back. I leap into action and pulled the rod from the rod holder with the fish still taking line. Since the limit was one wild and one fin clipped fish, with only a few fin clipped fish in the system at this time of the year, I told Doug this one was his. We made a quick hand off and he was on the fish with it still pulling hard as it ended its first long run. Doug started working the fish in as Lee positioned the boat to keep the fish in deeper water. We knew it was a good fish by the way it was taking the drag and staying deep. We took our time and when it finally swirled on top, we were greeted with its silver side and the broad sweeping tail of a 30+ pound Chinook.
Doug played him well through his final surging runs. With one perfect motion Lee netted the big Chinook. We were excited to see the size of him, long and thin. The scale stretched to 36.5 pounds and the high fives and photos ensued. What a day compared to the prior one. It was 9:30 am. and we had two great fish in the boat. We decided to troll through the hole a few more times and see if we could pick up a fish for Lee. As we made the next pass, we saw our other team members fighting a nice fish. After a short battle, we saw them bring it to the net. We trolled through the hole until about noon and decided to call it a day. We had our limit for the tournament and wanted to get the fish filleted and on ice.
We went into the official weight and measure station to get our fish registered. The guys from Tillamook Anglers volunteered to man the weight station. These guys do a great job and were a fun bunch to be around. Normally this group volunteers their time at a local hatchery that is 100% manned by volunteers. It is a great cause and much appreciated by the local fishermen.
At the dinner we hooked up with our other teammates and found they had caught just the one fish. We also found out Doug’s fish was the big fish of the tournament. As the final numbers were being totaled and put up on the leader board, we were shocked that we had squeaked in to first place by three inches!
After dinner and at the awards ceremony, our guide, Lee Darby, received the honor of biggest comeback and finished 3rd overall in the guide two-day totals.
It was a great event and I was able to fish with and meet some great people. Even better, The North Coast Rendezvous raised $64,000 for fish recovery and habitat in the Tillamook area. The people that put this event together, Tim and Shana Juarez and Jack and Tina Smith and all the guides who volunteered there time, are the real heroes. This is one of my favorite events and they can bet I’ll be back next year to defend my title!