My Fishing Guiding Boat & My Gear

I Only Use the Best…

I run a 26.5′ Alumaweld, a true do-it-all boat that’s just as at home in six inches of river water as it is crossing the Columbia Bar into the ocean.

At the very end of March, I repowered it top to bottom: new main motor (225 hp), new kicker motor, new batteries, new electronics, new bow-mount trolling motor, and new GPS and a new live-view transducer.

One boat, every fishery: I switch between prop and jet to fish everything from skinny river to open ocean., crab, and bottomfish are all in a good day out of Hammond, Oregon (near Warrenton and just a few miles from Astoria).

Shallow water: on full plane she only draws about an inch and a half, so I can run six inches of water whenever I need to.

Big water: comfortable up to about a six-foot ocean. Beyond that we don’t push it.

Gear: I hand-tied most of my tackle and it makes a difference in terms of what we catch and how well it holds up to the conditions I fish in.

The best gear matters

Top Gear, All Tied Built by Hand

I fish Shimano reels and rods, G. Loomis rods, and Power Pro line. But the gear that matters most is the stuff you can’t buy off a shelf: I tie all my own leaders and terminal tackle and build a lot of my own bottomfish gear.

Premade leaders are expensive and, more importantly, they’re not right – there are little details that change how a rig fishes, and those details put fish in the boat. Half the guys out there couldn’t rig what I rig. That’s part of the edge you’re paying for.

All of this matters because not only will it help to hook a big fish but the knots and gear will hold together while you fight that fish and I net it at the boat for you.

The difference of high quality gear is the fish you bring home at the end of our trip together

Give me a call or drop me an email and let’s go fishing and catch some fish!

Ask me about guided fishing trips for:


If you want to arrange a guided fishing trip and don’t see what you want email me at benparkerfishing@gmail.com or call me on 503-310-5724.