Garibaldi fishing guides are seeing a great start to their 2019 spring salmon season. So far we have also been getting out for ocean bottom fishing and have seen success. We like to do combo trips where we fish for both Salmon and Bottom Fish whenever weather allows. These trips are lots of fun and the coolers are typically full each time we return to the docks.
The great thing about bottom fishing is that it is a very hands on activity with the rod in your hand the entire time and lots of opportunity to set the hook! Almost every day we are catching a large variety of bottom fish and lingcod. The limit this year is 5 rockfish per person and 2 lingcod.
If you have never caught a lingcod then you are in for a big treat. They carnivores bottom dwellers can grow to 40 pounds or more and are ferocious when they take the bait. They are big and they are ugly, but they have some of the most delicious white meat you have ever tasted. Maybe people prefer lingcod over almost any other type of fish.
Garibaldi Fishing Guides Are Already Catching Salmon
We are also seeing a great start to the spring salmon season. We have fished for spring salmon for 4 days so far. Each time out we have spent about 3 hours trolling and had opportunities every day. So far we have killed fish 2 out of the 4 days. This is also the first year we will see returns on the 400 thousand fish smolt release from Tillamook Bay. Up until this year we have been seeing runs of about 250k fish per year so this years run will be almost double the normal.
We are very excited for this season and still have some great dates open now thru June 20th. Don’t miss out on these tasty, fresh ocean fish from the rockfish and lingcod to the finest eating salmon in the Northwest.