Dave with a nice Oregon Ling Cod
I made it to the Oregon coast this past weekend with some good friends for our annual rockfish trip. We met at Oregon City at 5:00am and made the two hour treck to Pacific City. We pulled into the Pelican Brewery parking lot where we met up with guide Josh Putman. Josh has a brand new Koffler Dory boat and we were excited to get the day going.
We met at the Pelican Brewery
We loaded up our gear and headed to the beach to launch the new boat. I love this part of the trip, it is a beautiful setting and a unique way to launch a boat - right off the beach.
Launching the Dory at Pacific City
We got out to the fishing grounds and starting working some baits for rockfish. Dave Eng of FishEng products hooked a couple of rockfish, but the action was slow. Josh asked us if we would rather go out to deeper water, or go to a beautiful area where high cliffs meet the ocean and drop off into kelp patties surrounded by big boulders. It was a no brainer - this sounded beautiful and we all wanted to see it.
The new boat provided a smooth ride over to the cliffs, and it was a spectacular view. Tall cliffs above, dropping into crystal clear green water with boulders all around.
The Oregon Coast - Nothing like it!
I was fishing a Storm Largo Shad rigged on a VMC Hybrid Swimbait hook. I cast it up against the cliffs a few times without luck. I foraged around in my bag and found my Atlas Mikes Lunker lotion - Krill Scent - and applied a healthy dose to my swimbait. I cast it out again and right away I got crushed by a nice rockfish! The Black Rockfish absolutely hammered my bait and I could see him deep in the water fighting to get back to the kelp. It was a beautiful sight and fun to land my first fish of the trip. I reapplied some Lunker Lotion and cast out again. This time I worked the lure for about 10 seconds before - WHAM! another one crushed it. My friends Mike and Chris both looked at me, then down at the Lunker Lotion and said " give me some of that". I could have been a stinker, but I gladly passed the bottle around. Next thing I know they were both hooked up too. You can click HERE for more information on the lures I was using.
My first Rockfish of the day on the Storm Largo Shad!
It did not take long for us to get our limit. I was so glad that we came to this spot because it was absolutely beautiful, and there is nothing better than catching rockfish on light tackle in shallow water.
After we got our limit of rockfish, we headed over to another spot to see if we could get a few Ling Cod. Josh positioned the boat in 200 feet of water. Dave was first to drop his jig down and before I could even get ready to fish he was hooked up on a big Ling. He landed it and as I was taking pictures, Mike hooked up on a fish. It turned out to be a beautiful yellow eye. I was taking pictures of Mike's fish, and Chris hooked up on another nice keeper Ling. by the time we got it into the boat it we had drifted off the spot and had to reposition.
Chris with another nice Ling Cod
Josh got the boat back over the spot, and I was finally able to get a bait down. I got a bite right away and it turned out to be a small Ling Cod. Dave & Mike continued their hot streak and caught another beautiful Yellow Eye, a Kelp Greenling and a Quillback.
Yellow Eye, Kelp Greenling and a Qilllback
Time was running low, so we packed up and went to pull the crab pots. we ended up getting 28 dungeness crabs, a limit of rockfish and 2 lingcod. We will all be eating good this week!
Dungeness Crab, Rockfish and Ling Cod
Thanks for reading.
Bill