Pacific Salmon Charters

We are from Southern California and decided to hit up a fishing charter for some salmon this past Friday. The scenery was amazing. The weather was perfect, (besides a really choppy ride out of the harbor).
We had an amazing time with 5 guys in our party, and another guy fishing solo. It was awesome we had the boat pretty much to ourselves.
Having so few people on board is a far cry from we are used to fishing on the cattle boats in San Diego. We’re used to people elbow to elbow, crossing lines, standing in the way, just making it miserable.
The captain and deckhand were super cool. We caught our limit and headed back in. First boat back. It was also unusual for us to have a (biologist, fish/​game?) greet us on the dock, scan the salmon for microchips, & then remove the snout.
But even with the rougher seas, and the scanning at the end, we absolutely loved it, and will do it again when we come back up next year!

Went in a party of 4 with Pacific Salmon Charters. Caroline was wonderful booking our charter and answering our numerous questions before we flew from Texas to Oregon.
We fished for salmon. We fished on the 27′ Sarah Kay with Captain Brian and First mate Patrick. I think there were 10 fishermen on the boat. There was plenty of room for all of us to fish without getting in each other’s way.
We didn’t have particularly good weather. Moderate wind, moderate swells, and ¹⁄₈ mile visibility going out. We fished about 7 – 8 miles past Cape Disappointment in about 200 feet of water. From the moment we started fishing until everyone on the boat caught their limit we were catching salmon. Most were not legal so we released. My party of four took home 2 Chinooks and 6 Coho. Captain Brian said the fish would be larger later in the summer.
As far as I recall, only one person on the boat became seasick. Captain Brian worked hard to make sure everyone on the boat caught their limit and more importantly had a good time.
Our party of 4 used Pacific Salmon’s fish processing service. They gutted the fish on the boat (for the cost of the trip) and then filleted the fish, vacuum sealed them, and flash froze them to –25 degrees F. We picked up a hard sided cooler in Portland, 5 lbs of dry ice and brought them back to Austin TX. They were still just as cold when we got home as when we picked them up from Pacific Coast Salmon Charters.
We had no negative surprises on the trip. We were treated very well and everyone we had contact with at Pacific Coast Charters was friendly and enjoyable to be around.
This was my first time salmon fishing and I hope it isn’t my last. I will very likely come back to Pacific Coast Salmon Charters if the next time I go fishing is in Ilwaco, WA.

Went bottom fishing on the Westward.
Rich the captain did a great job of keeping us on the fish. And the deck hand Dan made sure everyone had fresh bait. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back and do it again!

My family and I have used this charter for many, many, years. Usually we used the «Sea Venture» every year because we always had good experiences but since it is no longer operating my husband used the «Pacific Dream» and «Katie Marie». While his experience on the «Pacific Dream» was good; good deckhand, good captain, etc. The «Katie Marie» was a whole different experience. The captain was awful and rude. Yelling and cursing at everyone the entire time. The deckhand was only okay. Overall the charter service is pretty good but there is no excuse for a captain to treat customers so poorly– especially when they are spending so much to be there! If we choose to go again in the future we will definitely use the «Pacific Dream» and avoid at all costs «Katie Marie». I recommend the same for others!