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Coastal Oregon Fishing Report: Rockfish, Lingcod, and Crabbing Opportunities on the Pacific
Published 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Pacific Ocean, Oregon coastal fishing report.
We’ve finally got a break in the weather, with light offshore breeze early and a typical gray ceiling along much of the north and south central coast. Air temps are hanging in the 40s and low 50s, and the ocean is a little lumpy but fishable out of most ports for smaller boats. Sunrise is right around 7:45 a.m. with sunset near 4:30 p.m. along the north coast, so it’s a short window – make that first tide count.
Tides are friendly this morning. Tide-Forecast’s Coos Bay table shows a low just after midnight and a solid high around 7:45 a.m., dropping toward early afternoon. Up north, Seaside and Pacific City charts line up with a pre-dawn low, a mid‑morning high, and another drop into mid‑day. That incoming early tide has been the best bite window for both rockfish and lingcod.
According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Zone report from yesterday, last week’s small weather window turned Depoe Bay into a near‑limit rockfish show, with lingcod averaging about one and a half fish per rod. That same pattern holds from Newport down through Coos: when boats can get out, mixed rockfish limits and plenty of keeper lings are the norm. Halibut is closed, so it’s a bottomfish game now, plus crabbing where it’s open.
Down in the Coos River estuary, ODFW’s Southwest Zone report says jetty rockfish are still biting when the swell lets you get close, especially around slack tide. Crabbing’s on everyone’s mind with the commercial opener looming, and sport crabbers have been picking up decent Dungeness in the lower bay on chicken and fish carcasses in 20–40 feet.
Fish activity is classic early‑winter: slower, but very catchable if you fish tight to structure and slow things down. Black rockfish, canaries (remember the one‑fish sub‑bag), a few cabezon, plus good lingcod numbers on rougher bottom have all been coming over the rails recently.
Best offerings right now:
- For rockfish: 2–4 oz leadhead jigs with white or root‑beer twister tails, or small metal jigs yo‑yoed just off the bottom.
- For lingcod: larger swimbaits in blue/white or green/black, or a whole herring on a dropper loop.
- For surf and jetty: 2–3" Gulp sandworms or sandshrimp on a Carolina rig for surfperch; heavier jigs with curly tails for rockfish and greenling.
A couple of hot spots to put on your list:
- **Depoe Bay reefs** in 60–120 feet: those near‑limit rockfish scores and steady lingcod are coming off the nearshore structure right out front when the swell allows.
- **Coos Bay jetties and lower bay channels**: rockfish and lingcod around the rocks on the top and bottom of the tide, plus solid Dungeness sets in the channels on that morning flood.
Fish slow, stay safe around the rocks, and mind those reduced three‑fish marine bag limits and no‑retention rules for quillback and yelloweye.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
We’ve finally got a break in the weather, with light offshore breeze early and a typical gray ceiling along much of the north and south central coast. Air temps are hanging in the 40s and low 50s, and the ocean is a little lumpy but fishable out of most ports for smaller boats. Sunrise is right around 7:45 a.m. with sunset near 4:30 p.m. along the north coast, so it’s a short window – make that first tide count.
Tides are friendly this morning. Tide-Forecast’s Coos Bay table shows a low just after midnight and a solid high around 7:45 a.m., dropping toward early afternoon. Up north, Seaside and Pacific City charts line up with a pre-dawn low, a mid‑morning high, and another drop into mid‑day. That incoming early tide has been the best bite window for both rockfish and lingcod.
According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Zone report from yesterday, last week’s small weather window turned Depoe Bay into a near‑limit rockfish show, with lingcod averaging about one and a half fish per rod. That same pattern holds from Newport down through Coos: when boats can get out, mixed rockfish limits and plenty of keeper lings are the norm. Halibut is closed, so it’s a bottomfish game now, plus crabbing where it’s open.
Down in the Coos River estuary, ODFW’s Southwest Zone report says jetty rockfish are still biting when the swell lets you get close, especially around slack tide. Crabbing’s on everyone’s mind with the commercial opener looming, and sport crabbers have been picking up decent Dungeness in the lower bay on chicken and fish carcasses in 20–40 feet.
Fish activity is classic early‑winter: slower, but very catchable if you fish tight to structure and slow things down. Black rockfish, canaries (remember the one‑fish sub‑bag), a few cabezon, plus good lingcod numbers on rougher bottom have all been coming over the rails recently.
Best offerings right now:
- For rockfish: 2–4 oz leadhead jigs with white or root‑beer twister tails, or small metal jigs yo‑yoed just off the bottom.
- For lingcod: larger swimbaits in blue/white or green/black, or a whole herring on a dropper loop.
- For surf and jetty: 2–3" Gulp sandworms or sandshrimp on a Carolina rig for surfperch; heavier jigs with curly tails for rockfish and greenling.
A couple of hot spots to put on your list:
- **Depoe Bay reefs** in 60–120 feet: those near‑limit rockfish scores and steady lingcod are coming off the nearshore structure right out front when the swell allows.
- **Coos Bay jetties and lower bay channels**: rockfish and lingcod around the rocks on the top and bottom of the tide, plus solid Dungeness sets in the channels on that morning flood.
Fish slow, stay safe around the rocks, and mind those reduced three‑fish marine bag limits and no‑retention rules for quillback and yelloweye.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI