75% of Sidewinder Charters
business comes from repeat customers: some come back to their favorite fishery
year after year, while others choose to experience each of the options for
variety. We offer the following feedback for your consideration. Please do not
hesitate to contact us at
(360) 880-8000 (mobile) or (360) 740-7888 (office) if you have any
questions about Sidewinder Charters,
the fisheries we target, or what your expectations should be!
"I'm getting bit" Toby shouts at the boat running parallel to our course 20'
off our starboard rail. As the anglers in that boat look up, Toby yanks his rod
up setting the hook on another ocean bright fall Chinook salmon. He then twists
the throttle on the kicker motor and breaks to port, away from our spot in line
with the other boats trolling parallel to the south jetty just outside of
Tillamook Bay and another battle is on. As the water where we are fishing is
only 18 feet deep the fish is left with no choice but to run away from the
boat. Thankfully the other anglers in the area see our bent rod and pull up
there gear or grant us wide berth and eventually another king salmon comes
aboard. Almost as soon as it is aboard, Toby is urging us to get the other two
rods back in the water, as the bite is on.
I fished two days with guide Toby Muck of Sidewinder
Charters, fishing out of Garibaldi Marina in Tillamook Bay Oregon. Toby
specializes on fishing for Chinook salmon on the coastal rivers and waterways
around the mouth of the Columbia River, so where you find Toby, you will find
a robust fishery for King Salmon. His preferred method of fishing is to troll/motor mooch cut-plug
herring and he appears to have a magic touch with matching his trolling speed to
his cut plug angle, as all three times that I have fished with him we have
hooked more fish than those angling around us. As all three of these fisheries
(Lower Columbia Springer; Buoy 10; and Tillamook Bay)
attract a lot of guided and sport angler attention that is high praise indeed. One interesting thing to note is that Toby carries two
landing nets at the ready and the reason for this became apparent on this trip.
We ended up with a double hook-up, so Toby had to deal with getting the boat
away from the other fishing boats, keeping us safely away from the breaking
waves on the jetty, and landing two large ocean bright Chinook. With only one
net on board, this would have added another complication, but with two nets at
the ready, he was able to net the first fish, heft it aboard, and then grab the
second for the other fish. He also is very particular and organized with his
bait, terminal tackle, and rod storage and so insures that his baits are almost
always in the water fishing. This sort of attention to the fine details helps
maximize the fishing opportunity.
If you are looking to catch some quality fish I whole
heartedly recommend Toby and Sidewinder Charters.
Andy / Snohomish County WA
www.troutstreaming.com
PS For full disclosure, I am also the webmaster for this
site, but wrote the previous before doing the site design and would not have
said it if I did not believe it to be true. Pleased feel free to
contact me if
you have any questions about my experience with Sidewinder Charters and Toby.
We've been friends of Toby's for years and have also had the
pleasure to fish with him. For twenty years we've fished most of the same
areas as Toby and rarely get lucky enough to catch as many fish and we fish
almost as often as a charter. We tell anyone who asks that he is the best
guide we know and if fishing is slow he's your best shot. We really enjoyed
your pictures-beautiful, and the fish too. Jeanne / Centralia Wa.
If you would like to offer your feedback or relate your fishing report from
a Sidewinder Charters trip, please
use our feedback form.
