I will again be providing Buoy 10 fishing reports for the 2026 salmon fishing season right here, based on my own success as well as how my many guide and charter friends are doing.
I’ll be fishing the Buoy 10 fishery through the salmon season from August into September. I’ll also be booking salmon trips out on the ocean before the river season opens, so keep checking back here to see how the fishing is. I moor my boat in the Hammond Marina, right in the thick of the action.
Book a Buoy 10 salmon fishing guide
Another way to quickly see how the salmon are biting at Buoy 10, Astoria, Hammond, and the ocean is to follow my Marvin’s Guide Service page on Facebook.
If you are interested in fishing at Buoy 10 this year, book your trip before the best dates slip away. Just give me a call or text at 503-314-5087 or email fast2fish@msn.com.
My Latest Buoy 10 Fishing Report
Thursday, July 9, 2026
The Buoy 10 river fishery is not open yet, but the salmon season is already getting started out of Astoria and Hammond. When the ocean allows and the Columbia River bar has been calm enough to cross, boats have been getting out and catching lots of coho salmon. There have also been some Chinook caught in the ocean.
Fishing seems to be getting better daily, and that is a great sign as we get closer to the August 1 Buoy 10 opener. Right now, the best action is outside in the ocean when conditions allow, but these fish are staging and moving toward the Columbia River. If this keeps building, I expect the Buoy 10 fishery to be awesome once the river opens.
I’ll be moored in Hammond Marina for the season, right where I need to be for the ocean fishery, the Columbia River estuary, and the Buoy 10 opener. I’ll continue updating this report throughout the 2026 salmon season based on what I’m seeing on my boat and what I’m hearing from my guide and charter friends.
If you want to fish the ocean salmon season or get in on the Buoy 10 salmon opener, now is the time to get your date locked in. The best August and early September dates always go fast.
Click here to book a Buoy 10 salmon fishing trip.
2026 Buoy 10 Fishing Reports
The 2026 Buoy 10 salmon season is getting close. The river fishery opens in August, but ocean salmon fishing out of Astoria and Hammond is already underway when ocean and bar conditions allow.
I’ll keep posting current Buoy 10, Astoria, Hammond, and ocean salmon updates here throughout the season. These fishing reports will include what I’m seeing on the water, how the bite is shaping up, what the ocean and river are doing, and when the salmon start pushing into the Columbia River estuary.
For more information about guided salmon trips, visit my main Buoy 10 salmon fishing guide page or check out my Astoria Oregon fishing guide page.
2025 Buoy 10 Reports
Below are last year’s Buoy 10 fishing reports so you can get a feel for the kind of up-to-date information I provide throughout the salmon season.
November 22, 2025
Crabbing is on fire at the mouth of the Columbia River.
On a few recent trips, we put out five pots on the incoming tide and needed less than an hour to soak before we could pull five to six limits of Dungeness crab.
The crab are about 70 percent full at this time, which bodes very well for my peak crabbing trips in November. I think they’re going to be big and full of meat.
Be sure to book that trip to get your holiday crabs.
Friday, September 12, 2025
The Columbia River has really slowed down here in recent days, so of course I’m disappointed. Today, we released two Chinook and kept one hatchery coho, so it’s definitely slower than it had been.
There are some great tides down here this weekend. We’re hoping more fish come in on those tides, but if not, it’s probably wrapping up down here. Fortunately, strong numbers of salmon have gone upriver, and we hopefully will have some great days on the water up around Portland and the Columbia River Gorge when the river reopens on October 1.
Friday, September 5, 2025
Fishing has been excellent above Tongue Point all this week, and there are still plenty of fish in the lower Columbia River.
Saturday is the last day for Chinook salmon retention in this area of the river. Coho fishing has been a bit spottier in the estuary, but it’s still good and remains open for keeping hatchery-marked fish.
Thursday, August 28, 2025
It was definitely a coho rodeo in the Columbia River today. The first seven fish hit the net in the first 45 minutes, and all seven silvers were hatchery keepers.
I’ve heard the whole river has plenty of both coho and kings lately, which bodes well as the season progresses. But I just can’t let another chance for ocean fishing go by, so I’m heading to the big pond on Saturday for that recently added one-day opener.
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Fishing in the Buoy 10 area is simply excellent.
We’re bringing lots of kings and plenty of coho to the net pretty much every time out.
I’ve been catching salmon on Spin-N-Fish, Super Baits, and anchovies. I think the most important thing is just getting in front of their faces. The Oregon side between Hammond and the sawdust pile has been one of my good spots this week.
I’m also hearing there are plenty of fish caught upriver, including Davis Bar clear up to near Bonneville Dam.
The ocean reopens to salmon fishing for one day this Saturday.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Today was a big day with Andy Carson, who was on board to film an upcoming segment of “Andy’s Adventures” for Good Day Oregon on KPTV.
We started across the river on the Oregon side and hooked a coho before deciding to go down and join the crowds at Buoy 10. There was an excellent bite happening at the tide change that we got in on, landing one and losing another before things slowed down a bit.
We decided to head back upriver to get out of the crowds again, and we hooked another keeper before calling it a day.
A day earlier, we did well first thing in the morning on an incoming tide, putting a couple in the boat before the tide changed and fishing slowed down.
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Fishing has been very good in the lower Columbia River in recent days, with lots of coho starting to show along with the kings.
Yesterday my clients canceled late, so my son and I went out for a few hours in the morning and quickly netted two keepers before we headed in to do some maintenance.
We have noticed that there are lots of natives in the river this year. We let four go today.
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Fisheries managers have determined that anglers will soon reach the coho quota for the fishery off the mouth of the Columbia River west of Astoria.
That water, known as the Columbia River Subarea, will be closed to salmon fishing starting this coming Tuesday, August 19. Boats passing through it may not have salmon on board.
That means that, for the near future at least, I will be fishing with clients inside the river within the Buoy 10 management area. It’s nice to have the option of heading out on the Big Pond, where fishing has been on fire for weeks now. Luckily, more and more fish are moving into the Buoy 10 area, so we have lots of salmon catching ahead.
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Today dawned with fog and big tides, so we started late and trolled from the bridge downriver toward Buoy 10, where much of the fleet was or was heading.
At the tide change, I decided to go try off Hammond, and bang-bang, we got two back to back. One was a Chinook and the other a silver. The father and son who chartered the whole boat said they were good to go, and we finished.
There are some really nice-sized coho entering the river now, along with the kings. Overall, there has been a good bite on the incoming tide right at Buoy 10.
Saturday, August 9, 2025
The Columbia River near Astoria is definitely starting to fill up with kings as August continues. There have been a few coho caught in the river as well, but lots more Chinook in the estuary.
Meanwhile, the ocean is still on fire for coho with kings in the mix. Today we had to battle through releasing lots of natives to get all of our keepers, which included hatchery silvers as well as two Chinook.
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
The coho fishing on the ocean west of Astoria is still fast and furious, with early limits the rule on my boat.
There also are quite a few Chinook on the ocean as well, with better catches for the kings in shallower areas.
The Columbia River below the Astoria-Megler Bridge has been producing regular Chinook. I’m not hearing of coho being caught as high as the bridge quite yet, but they have been making it to around Buoy 10.
The river area above Buoy 10 has had relatively little pressure so far, but I expect more boats to be in that area over the coming several days. The ocean forecast calls for rougher conditions than what we’ve enjoyed recently. I also will stick to fishing the estuary for a bit if the ocean forecast holds.
Friday, August 1, 2025
The Buoy 10 area opened up today, and the handful of guys that I talked to who fished the river did very well on Chinook salmon. I know of a few boats that boated five or six kings today.
For my boat, we went back on the ocean where fishing has continued to be on fire every day. In the Pacific, most of the catch continues to be coho, but there are Chinook in the mix as well. Our limits today included seven coho and one Chinook, for example.
By contrast, most of the catch in the river so far are kings, with very few coho heading into the river so far. Of course, that’ll change as the season continues.
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Fishing was definitely on fire today. My clients had their limits in 45 minutes.
Yesterday we also came in with limits, which for the boat was 10 salmon including two Chinook. The majority of the catch continues to be coho.
The ocean was a bit choppy today.
Because I’m still hearing about fish being caught in the Willamette River, I think the lower Columbia River will fish good on opening day Friday because I believe the whole river has fish in it.
Friday, July 25, 2025
It was an amazing day salmon fishing on the ocean today. Lots of fish everywhere, and we even caught two Chinook along with the coho.
Unfortunately, lots of the fish we hooked were wild and had to be let go, but there’s lots of action and shots at keepers.
I’ve had a couple more spots open up, but overall it’s best to reach out to me soon to snag your seats during the busiest season of the year, especially once the Buoy 10 area opens in August. Check my current open seats at this link. I’m doing my best to keep my schedule of open seats updated between trips.
You also can text me at 503-314-5087, and I’ll do what I can to get you in on the action. It’s shaping up to be a great year.
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
The ocean is outstanding for coho fishing. It is just absolutely on fire. How hot? This morning, three anglers in my boat caught limits of six coho within 20 minutes.
I did hear of a few kings being caught, but it’s mainly a coho show right now.
One thing to keep in mind: If you do fish too shallow, you will find jellyfish fouling your lines. Plan to fish deeper to avoid this.
With a flat ocean, some guys ventured farther out to the canyon today and did extremely well on bottom fish.
For the next few days, the forecast calls for great ocean conditions. I see awesome fishing going right along with that.
Friday, July 18, 2025
The ocean finally cooperated today, and the guys that did go out did decent catching coho. However, anglers are having to fight through a lot of jellyfish fouling lines in the water.
Yesterday above the Astoria-Megler Bridge, fishing was surprisingly productive for so early in the year. There were at least a dozen fish caught in that upper estuary. However, today the fishing above the bridge was mostly disappointing as the Chinook run in and out of the river.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Fishing has been excellent in the ocean off of the mouth of the Columbia River, with limits of fat coho being fairly common. The occasional Chinook is finding its way into the net out there as well.
And now Oregon and Washington officials have reopened the mainstem Columbia River above the Astoria-Megler Bridge to hatchery Chinook fishing from July 12 to July 19.
This means that we’ll still have a shot at catching salmon nearby even if the Columbia River bar is too rough to get across.
I’m getting set up at the Hammond Marina for the best salmon fishing of the year. In July, that means either heading onto the Pacific or, for about a week, taking the quick trip above the bridge for Chinook.
Another option open to us is catch-and-release sturgeon fishing on the vast flats in the estuary, where these fish are feeding. Sturgeon hooked in the shallow water very often go airborne, so this is an incredibly fun and action-packed fishery.
The famous Buoy 10 season opens August 1. I have booked a good number of days through Labor Day already, so if you hope to get in on that salmon rodeo, it’s best to reach out sooner rather than later to pick up one of the remaining openings.
Thursday, June 26, 2025
My buddies tell me that the salmon season out on the Pacific Ocean got off to a decent start yesterday. I didn’t hear that it was red hot, but there were limits caught for some boats heading offshore from the Columbia River. Overall, the fishing pressure was very light.
I’ll start my salmon season in a few more weeks when I move the boat down to Hammond. I’m not currently fishing for salmon because my clients are too busy catching and releasing massive sturgeon or stacking up tasty walleye like cordwood in the Columbia River Gorge.
If you’d like a shot at sturgeon and walleye very soon, or want to get in on the world-famous Pacific Ocean and Buoy 10 salmon fishing just around the corner, send me a text or email or give me a call. I’ll get back once we get those fish to the boat.
Friday, May 23, 2025
Oregon and Washington have settled on the 2025 salmon fishing season.
As usual, the season will open August 1. This year the Chinook fishing will go through September 6.
You can keep either fin-clipped or unclipped Chinook from August 1-6 and again from August 26 to September 6. In between those periods, Chinook must be hatchery-marked.
Coho must always be fin-clipped in this fishery. This hatchery silver fishery begins on August 1 but extends through the end of the calendar year, although the best fishing for them is typically in late summer and early fall.
I will again start fishing the ocean ahead of the Buoy 10 opener and keep chasing salmon into the early fall. The fall also brings great crabbing in the Columbia River estuary.
Give me a call if you’d like to get in on the Pacific Northwest’s most reliable salmon fishery.
More Buoy 10 Fishing
Read all about Marvin’s Guide Service Buoy 10 salmon fishing trips.
