Buoy 10 Salmon Fishing Madness! | PNW Angler Series Pt. 2

The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the greatest fisheries on earth, but what makes this place truly special, it isn't the rivers, it's not the bays, and it sure isn't the salmon and steelhead that return each year. It's the people. It's the community. The anglers who dedicate their lives to understanding these waters. The guides who spend thousands of days on the water. The innovators, the teachers, and the storytellers who have helped shape the sport and those who are still writing their own legacy. The purpose of the Pacific Northwest Angler Series is to preserve those stories, share their knowledge, and introduce you to the people who have left a lasting mark on fishing in the Pacific Northwest and those who are still making their mark. On our second featured angler is someone whose name has become synonymous with salmon and steelhead fishing. His passion, his relentless work ethic, and decades of experience have earned him respect of anglers from every corner of the region. This is Jason Harmsen. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest Angler Series, part two. Well, addicts, as you know, because this episode is already underway, me and Jason are on our way to Bowie Tent. It's going to be an epic episode, I think. Should be a good one. Yeah, you're going to find out coming up next, but this is a few days beforehand, and what are we doing here? We are stopping in at our partners at Les Schwab and doing a little pre-trip check. Going to get the trailer checked out, just make sure everything's good to go. Don't discount the fact that you can do this at Les Schwab. You can come in here, you can take your trailer, your boat, your truck, your lawnmower, it doesn't matter, and they will just give you a free checkup. They'll look at everything. Look at the brakes, look at the hubs, look at the bearings, tires, all that. And when you're driving somewhere like Bowie Tent, it's happened to me, hopefully it doesn't happen to you, but you don't want a flat tire or a bearing to go out of your trailer. Dude, it's the worst. Dude, it's the absolute worst. We thought, why not go into Les Schwab, show you guys that you can do this. Shout out to Les Schwab for sponsoring this video. Let's get in here and have them do the pre-checkup. Let's do it. All right. Hi, how can we help you? What's up, man? I just want to get a pre-trip on basically just everything. Just want to kind of go through the truck and the trailer. All right. Yeah, absolutely. Do you have a minute? Do you mind if I pull it in real quick? Yeah, sure. Nevermind. Your wheel's bent. What? Yeah. Thank God for Les Schwab. All right. Just picking this thing up after the old pre-trip check from our good friends over at Les Schwab. And ended up getting some new tires, needed some new rubbers. One of the tires is actually showing the cords. That's not good. But guys over at Les Schwab hooked me up with some new tires, check the brakes, check the grease, check the pretty much everything on the trailer. So the trailer's dialed. We're ready for buoy 10. Here we go. It's a beautiful morning out here at West Basin. It's going to be a glorious day. Glorious day. My name is Jason Harmsen with Steel Obsession Guide Service and Addictive Fishing. And I am obsessed with salmon and steelhead fishing. What got me addicted to fishing was, I mean, it was just all the days back in the day with my dad, grew up fishing the Columbia River and enjoying salmon and steelhead and sturgeon fishing too. I mean, everything that went into my childhood was fishing and hunting. And I feel like fishing kind of took over once I got my license and I became obsessed. Hold on. There we go. Got to pop it. Okay guys, let's go ahead. Let's go. 24, 20, 18. A lot of bait right now. A lot of bait. Here you go, buddy. Right here. Right here. Come on. Here, get him. Start reeling. Start reeling. Reel, reel, reel, reel. Reel, reel, reel. Yeah, just walk back to Jason and don't stop reeling. Okay? Oh yeah. Ripping her. Beautiful. Oh yeah. You got yourself a little zipper. Keep on reeling for me. Keep on reeling. You're doing great. You're doing great. Doing great. She's on it. All the way to this guy's a little shorty, but good first fish of the day. Yeah. Good start to the morning. Didn't troll for five minutes. Didn't go 20. I've only caught a trout. First salmon ever. Oh, we got to get it. We got to get a little picture. One, two. All right. There you go. We're going to send him on his way. He's a little stanky. Here he goes. A good old popsicle bait. It's a frozen bait. Works really well. Comes off the hook kind of easy, but once it thaws out, once it gets in the water, be good. They fish good. They fish good. Real good. Yup. That's a fish. Yes, please. Need to reel these back rods in, please. Real quick. Real quick. Real quick. This is a nice fish. Keep reeling. Keep reeling. Keep reeling, buddy. Keep reeling. Keep reeling. Oh, he's got double. We're double. We're double. Hey, Brandon, someone get this rod. Todd, get this one. Reel. Reel. Reel. Lift. Lift. Lift. Reel. No, you got to get down to that weight. There you go. There you go. Now, let's get him nice. Nice scoop, Jason. Nice. Get that second net. It's another really nice one. We got twins. Sorry. Sorry. We got twins, Jason. This one's coming in the boat for a boat ride. Easy. Watch your feet. You're good. He's got the drag set. Just keep reeling. Don't even stop. Let it go down. No, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, just let him go. You just keep reeling. Reel. Reel. Reel. Reel. Never stop reeling, and then I'll help you when he gets to the boat. Nope. Reel. Back. Reel. Oh, that was a little bit of chaos. Jason was freaking out a little bit, but look at that, boys and girls. That's a good old classic boot 10 double. That's a perfect double here at Mr. Steel Obsession, baby. Wow. All right. Let's go, baby. You are good just like that. Here you go. You lost the lead on that? Honestly, that's probably how we didn't lose that fish. Look at that right there. That's a little bit of twin action, except wait a second. This one appears to be missing something. This one still has it, and we get to kill both of them. It's been what? An hour and a half? I don't even think it's been that long. That's your second salmon ever. That's your first keeper salmon you've ever caught. My first salmon ever. What? Yes, sir. No way, dude. Couple firsts in the boat. That's awesome. Good job, guys. Beautiful. The name Steel Obsession came from when I started, I was just a part-time guide, and I really only did winter steelhead, a couple summer steelhead trips, and I kind of just assumed that that's kind of all I would do. I never really imagined myself becoming a full-time fishing guide and doing all the separate seasons of salmon and steelhead, so that's where the name Steel Obsession came from. Don't move them. There's a fish. There's a fish. That's a fish. That's a real one. All right. Give it to someone else if you can, buddy. We literally only had two rods in the water, and Todd's already on. Jason wasn't even reset. He's over here trying to bait. Oh, it's coming right at him. Okay, okay. Todd's playing him like a fiddle. Playing him like a fiddle. Let's go. Let's go, pops. Don't let me down. Wow. If we lose the fish, I'm blaming it on Todd's pumping, 1,000%. If we don't, then I'm going to say good job, Todd. Usually, guys, we always preach to not pump the rod because most people don't understand that when you pump and you drop the line, you lose pressure. Todd is one of those guys that's been fishing for longer than all of us, so he understands that when you drop the rod, you have to reel down to the slack of the fish, so it's okay to do it if you understand it, but a lot of times, you drop that tip too fast, and you lose pressure, barbless hooks, fish is gone, but Todd's got it, and it's here. We're about to land it. Bingo. Another nice one. Let's go. Oh, and a harbor seal. Oh, dude, he almost got eaten by the seal. Oh, my God. He almost got eaten by the seal. Let's get a look at that platinum. Oh, my gosh. Look at the purple on that one, dude. Hey, that's the second one. Give him a whack Oh, that super bait's on fire. A little custom action. Who painted that for you? Good old Carson up there in the battle. That's about as picture perfect as it gets. Nice job, Todd. Purple back, baby. All right, we need a- Yeah, bud. Oh, what, dude? Oh, my God. Oh, yes. Well, he's bleeding a little bit, guys, but we had to get a little clip here. Look at this, guys. How long you been fishing, Todd? A long time. A long time, and then we got his protege right here coming up behind him. When I was born, I was born on March 29th, and this guy was springer fishing. My mom actually had to call him and tell him, hey, you better get to the hospital. Your son's being born. Nice. That's fact. Now look at it. So that, folks, is where I gained the old sickness. My dad definitely had the biggest impact on me. He's taught me a lot over the years. I mean, I remember a lot of trips as a kid just grinding away, and he's taught me a lot of dedication, and hard work pays off. Dude, what is going on? This is the craziness of Boot Camp, guys. This is why this place can be so fun, but it can also humble you big time. Big time, but we were getting humbled there for a second, but we've redeemed ourselves big time. There he is. There he is. Get him. Somebody get that. I think he already was gone before I grabbed him. No, he was gone. I watched him. He was gone before I grabbed him. Dang. What'd you have this one at? 26. Dang it, dude. First time I went for a rod, and I lost him. That's how I'm going to start my buoy 10 season. What a joke, dude. I don't believe this. Look at how foggy it is. You can barely even see this boat. Look at this, Seth. This is gnarly. One thing out here, guys, when it's like this, don't be the guy that's on plane cruising around in this fog, because it is so dangerous, and that's how some of the most boat accidents happen down here, is guys that are just being reckless in the fog. Go slow, putt around, make sure you know where you're at, because it can get real scary in this fog for sure. Be safe out there, folks. If somebody had to only listen to one piece of advice that I had to give, it would just be never give up. Just keep trying. You're going to run into them eventually. You're going to have the right thing in front of their face, and it's going to happen. You just have to give it time. Fishing is a big sport of patience, and you have to have a lot of patience being a fisherman. I'm doing it dirty, dude. I'm just top hooking it. Shack chain. Shack chain like a Sprinting Harry. Somebody go grab that. Who hasn't got one? Somebody grab that. Somebody grab it. Somebody grab it. Somebody grab it. He's not really doing much here, Jason. He's just kind of... That's good. He's just kind of coming right to me, you know? We don't really want him to do any crazy stuff. I do. I want him to rip 400 feet off of this reel. There's 430 feet on the reel, so we'd be all right. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Okay. Reverse. Nice and easy. He's coming back at you. Oh, wow. Get him. Get him. Get him. That's a freaking... Yes, sir. Let's go, dude. What a freaking... That's a freaking... Yes, sir. That's another one. There we go. There we go. Get him back out, guys. Get him back out. All right, dude. Fine. I'll take the handoff. I'd take a handoff if it was that fish, too. Yeah, so a lot of times, guys, in this buoy 10 fishery, you know, we have six rods, and we're allowed to party fish, so they've already got their fish, so usually when the rods go off, you kind of just got to ring around the rose and give it to whoever's up, and I just happen to be the lucky guy that got that one. Carson's wishing he would have came back here now. Oh, yeah. That thing, guys. That's a freaking good fish. That is right there is the one you are looking for here in Astoria, guys. What a freaking chunky monster. Jason, thanks, dude. That's my first 2026 buoy 10 fish, baby. Let's go. The biggest mistake that I've made on the water that has become a valuable lesson is chasing something, because if somebody's getting a bite over here, you know, you want to be over there, but you know where you're at is eventually going to work. You know, it's one of those things where you just stick and stay and make it pay. You know, don't be chasing whatever somebody else is doing. Worry about yourself, and everything will work out. We just ran back up to the top, dropped in the lines. I was questioning Jason's decision of running back up. I was even talking him in my head, and look at that fish on. Yeah, let's leave this side in and see if we can What is he? Did you get a look at him? Carson's just playing him, dude. He knows. He knows how to work him. He knows how to work that rod. Come on, little salmon. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Come on. Oh, we're about to see him. About to get a look at him. What is he? What is he? Oh, nice one. That's another nice one. Good work, Carson. Let's go. Just keep bringing him in the boat one at a time, baby. We left these in trying to get a double. We're trying to limit before noon. It's 10.15 right now. 10.15, so we got an hour and 45 minutes. Can we do it? Stick with us. Coffee in the morning, energy drinks in the afternoon. Artificial. Boat. Sunrise bite. Most fish. Summer Chinook. Sturgeon. March. The pink worm. Probably an Okuma 1062H just because it's so versatile. You can do everything with it. My biggest pet peeve would probably be people not being organized. I can't stand when I get on somebody's boat and it's just everything thrown together. Nothing is set aside ready to go if something messes up or something gets tangled. Organization. Who is it? Get it. Get it. Reel that rod in, please. Reel that rod in, we'll get it from him. We'll get it. Hey, thanks, guys. Jason, that's you, dude. Somebody grab that rod, please. You got to spin the boat. You got to spin the boat. You got to spin the boat. You got to spin the boat. It's right here. It's a beauty. It's a shorty. It's a stinker. I tried, Jason. I really wanted the jump net, dude. That one was worth risking. Oh, yeah. I was wondering, Jason, if... What in the hell? It's a steelhead, dude. I was wondering if those fish... I'm the old little Scotty, baby. Little Scotty. Let's go. A little shower, everybody? Dude, I'm not going to be able to get the smell out of my hands for weeks on that one, dude. I have just the spray to get rid of it. It's called brake clean. Oh, here we go, guys. Here we go. Here we go, guys. Here we go. Oh, my goodness. Absolute wolf pack. We should get bit. Come on, baby. Still there? Oh, yeah. It's either a coho or another short. Yeah, it's a shorty. It's a shorty, guys. Yeah, we'll just gaff release them. Oh, yeah. You're good. Come on, dude. Grab them with the gaff first. And that is why we run the gaff. My biggest piece of advice for the next generation that wants to make fishing a career is to never give up. Adapt, learn, every day you're on the water. Don't go a day on the water without learning something. If you're not learning something, you're not doing something right. Just make sure you're always being mindful of what's going on around you. All right, guys. So before we end the day, we're kind of wrapping things up. We've been grinding a little bit trying to get these guys a couple of fish, but we should have just left after that hot morning bite. Probably should and just went and got breakfast. Yeah, exactly. But it was still a fun day. The weather was beautiful. The breeze kind of kicked up and it wasn't as scorching hot. But we figured we'd go over the setup, guys. We've been trying to do this in every video, really show you what we're using every day to be successful out here. So what do you got, Jay? So we have for the rod, it's just an X-Troll Okuma 1092H. And I will argue with anyone on earth that wants to argue with me that this is the best 360 trolling rod on the market. Fight me in the comments. Agreed. Agreed. And then down here, we just have our Lowepro line counter along with 65-pound Hi-Viz braid. And then that goes down. Addicted braid. Don't forget it. Enforcer. And then that just goes down to a clear eight mil bead to a short bus line lock and a six bead chain, and then a 24-inch, 50-pound pre-tied bumper. And then another bead chain and a dual lock to our 360 flasher. Short bus. And one thing you're going to always see, guys, is these guys are, most of these guys are going to always have some sort of variation of chrome. Like one maximum flash. You just want maximum flash. So they'll have some different colors and stuff on there, but usually you're going to have chrome. Yeah. And then a lot of our bites came on spinners. A lot of our bites came on super baits. You know, it's kind of just a combination of the two. There's also some bait thrown in the mix, but that's kind of, that's the overview of the gear. And then this thing, guys, right here, this short bus line lock, this is really important. So you're, if you don't have one of these on your setups, all your braid is going to absolutely spin up and just get ruined. So you have, this is super, super important that you use this line lock on your sliders. All right, guys. So hopefully that helps you. If you've got any questions, let's hear them in the comments, but let's head back to the dock and flay some fish, huh? Let's do it. All right, guys, just getting back from a day fishing at Bowie Ten. One of the things that I love about coming back to the dock and flaying fish is using my Flay-A-Way fish mats. It's a perfect non-slip surface that cleans super easy, and it's just a great product. And now I'm going to show you how to use them. Super easy, non-slip. You can just kind of power through these things. Really, when we start doing the actual fillets, like doing the rib bones and everything, you'll see how they really stick on these mats. So as you can see here, if I put any sort of down pressure on this thing, this thing is not going to move. You can just power right through that fillet, and you end up with a super nice product. Same thing with the other side, right through that thing. So just to show you how really sticky these mats are, guys, I'll do one rib cage on the mats, and I'll do one off the mats, just to show you guys the difference. So you can really see, like, you're trying to push down and slide this thing around, it doesn't do it. It's going to stick and stay, and we're going to make it pay. So now you can really see if you don't add any surface, and you're just doing it on some slick surface, this fish is going to slide all over the place, and you're not going to end up with a good quality fillet. The best quality fillet job that you're ever going to get is from using these Filet-A-Way fish mats. You can see, guys, like, they're just a super easy cleaning mat. Cleans off really, really easy. All right, guys, that's the Filet-A-Way mats. Get yourself some. You won't regret it. I appreciate you guys watching the video today, and if you guys want to follow me, want to go fishing with me, just search Steel Obsession Guide Service on Instagram, Facebook. You can also go to my website, steelobsession.com, book a trip, and we'll get you on the water. What's next for Steel Obsession is within the next year, you know, I'd like to be fishing a little bit more throughout the year. I would say in the next five years, I want to have, you know, fully booked seasons with, you know, maybe a couple boats, and then definitely within 10 years, you know, I'd really like to see a couple of Steel Obsession boats running around. All right, guys, appreciate you guys watching, and we'll see you out on the water. Cheers!