Marine Zone

Attention anglers – we want your photos!

Whether you’re out after trout or bass, steelhead or salmon, surfperch or rockfish, we’d love to see photos of your adventure. When you submit your photos to ODFW they could appear on our website or signs, or in social or brochures. What a great way to share your experience with others!

Photo submission form

Saltwater News Bulletins

You can subscribe to receive e-mails and text message alerts for marine topics you are interested in. It’s easy to unsubscribe at any time. Your phone and e-mail information will remain confidential. Six different lists of interest to ocean enthusiasts are available: Bottomfish (recreational), Halibut (recreational), Ocean Salmon (recreational), Ocean Salmon (commercial troll), Commercial Nearshore Groundfish, and Marine Reserves.

Saltwater News Bulletins

You can subscribe to receive e-mails and text message alerts for marine topics you are interested in. It’s easy to unsubscribe at any time. Your phone and e-mail information will remain confidential. Six different lists of interest to ocean enthusiasts are available: Bottomfish (recreational), Halibut (recreational), Ocean Salmon (recreational), Ocean Salmon (commercial troll), Commercial Nearshore Groundfish, and Marine Reserves.

BOTTOM FISHING

As usual, autumn finds bottomfish anglers pursuing other activities, but some level of effort is common throughout the winter months when safe ocean conditions allow. This past week, ocean conditions did not favor the recreational fishing fleet, with bar restrictions in place for most ports, for multiple days. However “Black Friday” turned into “lingcod Friday” for some anglers out of Central Coast ports. The weather was calm enough for some anglers to head out in search of lingcod, with reports of some pretty good success and a nice grade of fish.  Rockfish may still have been full from Thanksgiving, as they didn’t seem to be on the bite that day. Anglers are reminded to carefully check the weather forecast before venturing out to go ocean fishing.

Excited to go bottomfish fishing but find yourself wondering what you can keep and how many? Click here

The bottomfish fishery is open at all depths. The General Marine Species bag limit is 5 fish; a separate bag limit allows retention of 2 lingcod. Retention of cabezon, China rockfish, copper rockfish, and quillback rockfish is prohibited. The quotas for these species have been reached. Shore-based fishing for these species remains open because quota is set aside to accommodate shore anglers. For shore anglers, no more than one of the five fish may be a cabezon (16-inch minimum length).

Retention of yelloweye rockfish is prohibited by all anglers.

Anglers participating in the offshore longleader fishery frequently catch limits (10 fish) of large canary rockfish and yellowtail rockfish. The longleader gear fishery outside of the 40-fathom regulatory line is open all year.

Want to work on your identification skills of commonly caught bottomfish? Try the Common Bottomfish online quiz by clicking here. And also try the “Yelloweye Rockfish or Not?” quiz.

Vessels fishing for or retaining bottomfish (including flatfish) species or Pacific halibut in the ocean are required (1) to have onboard a functioning rockfish descending device, and (2) use it to descend any rockfish released when fishing outside of the 30-fathom regulatory line. For more information and videos, please see the rockfish recompression webpage.

In addition to the descending device rule, ODFW continues to encourage anglers to use a descending device when releasing ANY rockfish with signs of barotrauma. Signs of barotrauma, such as bulging eyes and a gut protruding from the mouth, are reversible when fish are returned to depth with a descending device. Use a descending device to safely return fish to a depth of 60 feet or more. Even fish that are severely bloated can survive after being released at depth.

Waypoints (for fathom lines and other restricted areas)

Longleader gear

2019 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations

Catch estimates

What can I keep and how many?

PACIFIC HALIBUT

Halibut fishing season is closed.

Additional information about sport halibut management, including landing estimates, can be found on the ODFW halibut management webpage.

OCEAN SALMON

Seasons now closed.

Details for the 2019 ocean salmon season, full catch and quota updates are available here.

You’ll find a guide and tips to identification of salmon and steelhead on the Ocean salmon fishing page here.

SHORE AND ESTUARY FISHING

Public piers provide opportunities to catch surfperch and baitfish and to drop crab pots (but check first for crab health safety closures).

Surfperch are available in the surf year-round along sandy beaches and rocky shore, with the best fishing (and safest fishing) occurring when swells are small. Learn about ocean surfperch fishing.

When fishing from shore or inside estuaries and bays, it is important to check the tide. Many fish that swim into estuaries and bays, including salmon, surfperch, and Pacific herring, tend to come in with the tide. Catch of these species is more likely to occur closer to slack tide. Additionally, the accessibility of some areas can be completely dependent on the tide. Do not allow the incoming tide to become a safety