Recreation Report
Marine Zone
Recreation Report
ALERT: New look for Regulation Updates!
For in-season regulations changes, click the Regulation Updates button which is now a separate page. If you have trouble accessing the page, clear your cache and refresh your browser.
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For the latest regulations, including in-season changes
See the Regulation updates section above.
Saltwater News Bulletins
Be among the first to know about inseason changes! You can subscribe to receive emails and text message alerts for marine topics that interest you. It’s easy to unsubscribe at any time. Your contact information will remain confidential. Three different lists of interest to ocean enthusiasts are available: bottomfish, halibut and ocean salmon.
Bottomfish
With July comes a couple of seasonal changes. (1) Opening day for cabezon is Friday, July 1. The daily limit is one fish, 16 inches minimum, and it counts toward the 5-fish general marine species daily limit. (2) During July and August, fishing for bottomfish is restricted to inside (shoreward) of the 40-fathom regulatory line.
Please remember also that retention of quillback rockfish isn’t allowed in 2022. Scroll up to ‘REGULATION UPDATES’ to see what’s new for 2022 and for a link to the sport groundfish seasons page.
In Garibaldi last week, there was more nearshore than deep-water fishing for bottomfish. Anglers limited on lingcod but had less fortune with rockfish, about 2-3 per angler. Catches consisted mostly of black rockfish with some canary, yellowtail, and copper rockfish mixed in. A handful of deacon and blue rockfish were also landed.
Depoe Bay saw some effort every day last week but not a lot due to high afternoon winds. Many boats that headed out for salmon switched to bottomfish in hope of more action. Boats fishing to the north brought in a mix of black rockfish and canary rockfish throughout the week. Lingcod is still slow (about one per angler on average), although one was a lunker at 44 inches.
Out of Newport, the wind came up and the water temperature cooled (48°F), resulting in hit-or-miss fishing. Better luck was found closer to Waldport; the lingcod bite was good and anglers got near limits of rockfish over bottom depths of 120 feet. Incidental catch included kelp greenling and copper rockfish.
In Charleston, there was little effort most of the week due to bad weather, but Sunday was busy. Lingcod action picked up, with several boats catching their limit. The catch rate for black rockfish continues to be high, and anglers consistently brought in limits, while catches of blue and deacon rockfish have declined considerably. High numbers of large canary and yellowtail rockfish also came in.
Brookings. Wind put a damper on effort for most of last week, but over the weekend, there was a lot of effort for salmon. Anglers who instead targeted bottomfish, caught solid numbers, mostly black rockfish, that were a good grade, despite a fast drift on Sunday. Lingcod fishing was slow, with a few fish caught here and there; boats that went south of the border toward the lighthouse had better success.
The offshore longleader fishery gives anglers an opportunity to fish offshore for rockfish, even during the seasonal offshore closure for traditional gear in July and August. The daily bag limit is large (ten in aggregate) and helps distribute effort away from nearshore species. Only certain species may be retained. We invite you to learn more about the gear and the fishery.
Bottomfish resources:
- Know what you've caught with some helpful rockfish identification tips (including online quizzes and video).
- What can I keep and how many? Keep up with inseason regulation changes.
- Waypoints for fathom lines and other restricted areas.
Pacific halibut
During July and August, fishing for bottomfish is restricted to inside (shoreward) of the 40-fathom regulatory line. Therefore, on days open for all-depth halibut, most groundfish species cannot be retained if there’s a Pacific halibut on the boat, even if halibut fishing takes place nearshore (inside the 40-fathom line).
Columbia River subarea (Cape Falcon, OR, to Leadbetter Pt., WA). Thursday, June 30, is the final day for all-depth recreational Pacific halibut in this subarea.
Central Coast subarea (Humbug Mt. to Cape Falcon). The all-depth halibut fishery is open daily through Thursday, June 30. For July, open dates are July 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 and 28-30 (Thursdays-Saturdays). The summer all-depth season begins in August.
Last week in Garibaldi, halibut fishing was good, with anglers catching their limit (one fish daily). Out of Depoe Bay, limits were caught offshore, and halibut were 34-36 inches on average; closer in, there wasn’t a lot of effort last week, but a few boats got some nearshore halibut. Newport boats brought in halibut from both offshore and nearshore halibut trips. In Charleston over the weekend, boats, fishing primarily south towards Bandon, brought in halibut from water averaging 230 feet. Down in Brookings, halibut was slow.
Weekly landing estimates are typically posted no later than Friday of the following week. Halibut seasons and numbers
Ocean salmon
The ocean recreational Chinook salmon season (all salmon except coho) from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mt. opened on March 15.
In the Columbia River Ocean Salmon Area from Leadbetter Pt., WA to Cape Falcon, OR the recreational ocean salmon season will open on June 25. At that time, it will open for 2 salmon per day with no more than one Chinook, and all coho must be adipose fin-clipped hatchery coho.
The ocean recreational hatchery coho (adipose fin-clipped) season from Cape Falcon south to Humbug Mt. opened on Saturday, June 18. Salmon fishing was very slow from all ports on the opening weekend. Sampled salmon per angler rates over the weekend included 0.32 salmon per angler at Depoe Bay, 0.07 salmon per angler at Newport, 0.20 salmon per angler at Winchester Bay, and 0.26 salmon per angler at Charleston. More of the catch was made up of Chinook than coho at all locations.
The area from Humbug Mt. to the OR/CA Border opens for hatchery coho (adipose fin-clipped) on Saturday, June 18; but Chinook retention remains closed until June 25. For the opening weekend out of Brookings ODFW samplers observed a catch rate of 0.25 coho per angler trip. Sampled catch totaled 19 coho with an additional 37 coho and 24 Chinook reported released.
Find the ocean salmon seasons, catch updates, and more information on the ocean salmon season page.
Shore and estuary fishing
There are plenty of rocky or sandy fishing sites up and down the coast where shore anglers can drop a line for saltwater fish. Read about how and where
Lingcod and many other bottomfish species are available year-round to shore anglers fishing in rocky areas. A common setup for lingcod is a jig head with a rubber swim bait – it’s simple but effective. Also pack a measuring device for lingcod: the minimum legal size is 22 inches.
Surfperch are available in the surf year-round along sandy beaches and rocky shores, 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 issue.