Columbia River Bait Co.

Columbia River Bait sits at 171 Howerton on the Port of Ilwaco, in the middle of the dock row where the local charter fleet ties up. Ed and Jackie McClure started commercial-fishing anchovies aboard the BK Deck in 1983; a year later they opened the bait company. Ed still delivers anchovies and herring up the Lower Columbia, including to the Chinook Country Store the McClures sold in 2017.

The inventory follows what the fleet runs: live and frozen anchovies, frozen herring (fresh by reservation), live jumbo sand shrimp for sturgeon, and IQF anchovy chum-blocks for the August albacore boats. In summer the doors unlock at 5 a.m. — that's the hour Buoy 10 boats want bait in the cooler before they launch. See the California tackle directory. See also: Englund Marine Westport and Hookers and Blow two harbors north.