Lake trout fishing along many of Oregon's fresh water lakes can be a lot of fun for the whole family—especially when the kids get to real 'em in.
One excellent way to rig-up your line is to use marshmallows. That's right. The sugary treat that you'll probably have to try and keep little fingers out of. While using about a three foot, 4 to 6 lb. test leader, drop a 1/8 to 1/4 oz. slide weight down the leader to the hook. Next, attach a barrel swivel where the leader meets the main line. Now, using a size eight or ten hook (tied at the end of the leader), push a small chunk of marshmallow (thumb tack size) up the hook shank just past the eye—then put on two cured salmon eggs (found at most sporting good stores) to hide the rest of the small hook. Using a spinning reel, toss your line out and wait for the "take down." The marshmallow actually acts as a float—bringing the bait up off the bottom just enough to be in excellent striking distance.
Note: When you get a trout to make little nibbles on your bait, wait until the fish takes it good before setting the hook.
One awesome spot for this kind of trout fishing is Lake Marie in Winchester Bay. If you walk around the lake on its nature trail, you'll find many coves and picnic areas to fish from. Winchester Bay is located between Lakeside and Reedsport, along Highway 101.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Winchester Bay's Flounder Fishing
fishing for flounder in the Pacific Ocean can be a lot of fun if performed properly. My "home base" for ocean fishing resides out of Winchester Bay, Oregon. It's harbor, Salmon Harbor, pretty much explains things. Winchester Bay is located between Florence (to the north), and North Bend, along the Southern Oregon Coast Highway 101.
Let's say that for what ever the reason, the salmon fishing isn't very hot for the time being, and you are getting anxious to have something, anything, tugging on your line. Not a problem. Just head in towards the mouth of the Umpqua River, near the red whistler (second buoy used for navigation), and drop a surf leader (two or three hooks attached) with half inch strips of squid or hearing, and five to six ounces of lead.
Try jigging with smooth pulls, while feeling the weight "ping" the 120 to 150 foot bottom each time. You are sure to rip into the sand dabs (limit of 25), but every so often, you'll get a nice pull-down. More than likely, this is your flounder fighting to get back down to where it came from.
Let's say that for what ever the reason, the salmon fishing isn't very hot for the time being, and you are getting anxious to have something, anything, tugging on your line. Not a problem. Just head in towards the mouth of the Umpqua River, near the red whistler (second buoy used for navigation), and drop a surf leader (two or three hooks attached) with half inch strips of squid or hearing, and five to six ounces of lead.
Try jigging with smooth pulls, while feeling the weight "ping" the 120 to 150 foot bottom each time. You are sure to rip into the sand dabs (limit of 25), but every so often, you'll get a nice pull-down. More than likely, this is your flounder fighting to get back down to where it came from.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Fishing Tip
When fishing from many of Oregon's jetty's for sea bass or pearch, be sure to bring along some stretchy string. It's the stuff that looks like thread, but has a lot of elasticity to it. You can find it at many sporting good stores. After applying your sandshrimp or what ever bait your using, wrap some of this "stretchy string" around it four or five times. Your bait will last twice as long.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Digging for Cockles in Newport Oregon
Digging for clams can definitely be described as dirty work, but your hard work, if executed correctly, will produce a succulent and buttery reward when finished.
Newport Oregon is located an hour north of Florence, along Hwy 101 and many beautiful sea view cliffs. The cockles can be found in South Beach, which is located on the south side of Hwy 101's Yaquina Bridge and Bay—on the other side of the bay from Newport.
Park at the Hatfield Marine Science Center's front parking lot and unload your gear. You should bring a bucket, rubber boots (old tennies will work too), and a three prong gardening rake with long handle. Along with these helpful tools, you should also plan your trip with a low tide in mind. A minus tide is most desirable, but it is definitely possible to put these Yaquina Bay treasures in your bucket with a tide that is not over a + 1.0.
To find the cockles, you must head from the parking lot to the Yaquina Bay Estuary Trail. This trail is a bird lovers paradise, and actually winds its way around a couple miles of marine life—dotted with informative and educational stands. Immediately starting the trail from the parking lot, you will cross a small wooden bridge, and then walk about 50 yards until you begin your journey across the estuary and towards the water, which is another 100 yards or so. You will see an inlet that cuts its way into the estuary. Just on the other side (upriver side) of this little water channel is where you want to begin raking—at the bay's water edge in the kelp, and even in the water a few inches.
Raking for these cockles can be done by pulling the sandy estuary bottom towards you—making two or three passes a couple inches down each time. You'll know when you find a cockle by receiving a "clunk" sound, which sometimes prompts a little clam squirt of water. Keep digging along the bay's edge, upriver from the small inlet or channel, until you get your limit of 20 cockles. When clamming here at a really low tide, it shouldn't take very long for you to reach a limit.
You're an Oregon coast "old salty" now, and time to head for the cook shack. The flavor that you'll get out of these cockles is amazing. The rich deep clam flavor makes for some excellent clam chowder, and some awesome clam strips if pounded out tender. An Oregon shell fish licence is required for the harvest of these clams.
Newport Oregon is located an hour north of Florence, along Hwy 101 and many beautiful sea view cliffs. The cockles can be found in South Beach, which is located on the south side of Hwy 101's Yaquina Bridge and Bay—on the other side of the bay from Newport.
Park at the Hatfield Marine Science Center's front parking lot and unload your gear. You should bring a bucket, rubber boots (old tennies will work too), and a three prong gardening rake with long handle. Along with these helpful tools, you should also plan your trip with a low tide in mind. A minus tide is most desirable, but it is definitely possible to put these Yaquina Bay treasures in your bucket with a tide that is not over a + 1.0.
To find the cockles, you must head from the parking lot to the Yaquina Bay Estuary Trail. This trail is a bird lovers paradise, and actually winds its way around a couple miles of marine life—dotted with informative and educational stands. Immediately starting the trail from the parking lot, you will cross a small wooden bridge, and then walk about 50 yards until you begin your journey across the estuary and towards the water, which is another 100 yards or so. You will see an inlet that cuts its way into the estuary. Just on the other side (upriver side) of this little water channel is where you want to begin raking—at the bay's water edge in the kelp, and even in the water a few inches.
Raking for these cockles can be done by pulling the sandy estuary bottom towards you—making two or three passes a couple inches down each time. You'll know when you find a cockle by receiving a "clunk" sound, which sometimes prompts a little clam squirt of water. Keep digging along the bay's edge, upriver from the small inlet or channel, until you get your limit of 20 cockles. When clamming here at a really low tide, it shouldn't take very long for you to reach a limit.
You're an Oregon coast "old salty" now, and time to head for the cook shack. The flavor that you'll get out of these cockles is amazing. The rich deep clam flavor makes for some excellent clam chowder, and some awesome clam strips if pounded out tender. An Oregon shell fish licence is required for the harvest of these clams.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Winter Crabbing the Yaquina
Oregon Coast crabbing during winter months can be very productive if you plan things just right.
In Oregon, you can still crab year round, and are able to keep a combination of twelve 5 3/4" male Dungeness crab and up to twenty four non-native "red rock" or Japanese crab of any size or sex. This means that each person (using no more than three catching devises) can keep a total of THIRTY SIX crab per day! Ok. That is if you want to keep little red rock. The little ones aren't worth your while, so go for the 5" range and expect to land lobster-like claws.
Crab season generally peaks for river & bay crabbers during summer months, especially August through September. This increase in crab is brought on by a much higher salinity in the water. Many crabbers tend to just say, "let's go crabbing," no matter what the weather & tidal conditions or time of year is. This lack of research or planning can make for good crabbing, and not so good catching.
Yaquina Bay
The Yaquina Bay is located in Newport, Oregon, situated between Depoe Bay and Waldport along Hwy 101, and is an excellent river/bay to crab during winter months when the water salinity is low and the rain keeps coming. The Yaquina River is a very short drainage, which means that when the rain finally stops for about a week, it's time to load the crab pots up and go get 'em.
Before heading out in your boat or for the public crabbing pier in South Beach (just south of Newport), you should make sure and check the tides. An aggressive and fast moving tide is not the one you want, even if the rain drops have subsided for about a week. High tides are most successful, however, crabbing into a low tide, at times, can produce limits.
When planning a crab trip going into either a high or low tide, make sure that there isn't a big difference from one side of the tide to the other. For example, if you're planning on crabbing into a high tide, and the prior low tide is a huge difference, perhaps you can plan for another day. Basically, if the low tide is a minus 1.3 ft. and the high is a plus 7.2, then the water will be moving so radically that the crab can't stay still long enough to get into your trap—a better tide would be a low tide of plus 2.4 with a high tide of 6.7.
If crabbing from the Newport Fishermen's Pier, you should remember to throw your traps out according to the tide. This means that if the tide is coming in, you should throw your traps from the upriver side of the pier so you don't lose them in the pier's structural pilings. If you plan to crab through a couple of tides, make sure that you keep an eye on you trap lines. If they begin to move straight down, the tide is about to change and pull your gear into the pilings. All you have to do is move to the other side of the pier. More rings and traps are lost because of tide changes than any other.
BAIT: Especially in Yaquina Bay, because the sea lions are such a nuisance to crab rings and traps, use chicken or turkey for bait. The crab love it and the seals won't mess with it. Don't forget about getting an Oregon shell fish licence, provided by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which can be located at a very wide range of sporting good stores.
In Oregon, you can still crab year round, and are able to keep a combination of twelve 5 3/4" male Dungeness crab and up to twenty four non-native "red rock" or Japanese crab of any size or sex. This means that each person (using no more than three catching devises) can keep a total of THIRTY SIX crab per day! Ok. That is if you want to keep little red rock. The little ones aren't worth your while, so go for the 5" range and expect to land lobster-like claws.
Crab season generally peaks for river & bay crabbers during summer months, especially August through September. This increase in crab is brought on by a much higher salinity in the water. Many crabbers tend to just say, "let's go crabbing," no matter what the weather & tidal conditions or time of year is. This lack of research or planning can make for good crabbing, and not so good catching.
Yaquina Bay
The Yaquina Bay is located in Newport, Oregon, situated between Depoe Bay and Waldport along Hwy 101, and is an excellent river/bay to crab during winter months when the water salinity is low and the rain keeps coming. The Yaquina River is a very short drainage, which means that when the rain finally stops for about a week, it's time to load the crab pots up and go get 'em.
Before heading out in your boat or for the public crabbing pier in South Beach (just south of Newport), you should make sure and check the tides. An aggressive and fast moving tide is not the one you want, even if the rain drops have subsided for about a week. High tides are most successful, however, crabbing into a low tide, at times, can produce limits.
When planning a crab trip going into either a high or low tide, make sure that there isn't a big difference from one side of the tide to the other. For example, if you're planning on crabbing into a high tide, and the prior low tide is a huge difference, perhaps you can plan for another day. Basically, if the low tide is a minus 1.3 ft. and the high is a plus 7.2, then the water will be moving so radically that the crab can't stay still long enough to get into your trap—a better tide would be a low tide of plus 2.4 with a high tide of 6.7.
If crabbing from the Newport Fishermen's Pier, you should remember to throw your traps out according to the tide. This means that if the tide is coming in, you should throw your traps from the upriver side of the pier so you don't lose them in the pier's structural pilings. If you plan to crab through a couple of tides, make sure that you keep an eye on you trap lines. If they begin to move straight down, the tide is about to change and pull your gear into the pilings. All you have to do is move to the other side of the pier. More rings and traps are lost because of tide changes than any other.
BAIT: Especially in Yaquina Bay, because the sea lions are such a nuisance to crab rings and traps, use chicken or turkey for bait. The crab love it and the seals won't mess with it. Don't forget about getting an Oregon shell fish licence, provided by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which can be located at a very wide range of sporting good stores.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Siletz River Fishing
Fishing along the Oregon Coast allows for some of the best salmon and steelhead fishing in the world. Many of Oregon's coastal rivers and tributaries hold amazing treasures for fishermen to sink their hooks into.
One favorite of mine is the Siletz River, located northeast of Newport, along Siletz Highway 229. There are many great riffs and holes along the highway to catch both salmon and steelhead. Many drift boat fishermen take advantage of this river's curving nature.
In the town of Siletz, where one can buy sandshrimp and eggs at local markets, there are two boat ramps–one to put in, and one to take out. This convenient feature in Siletz is just awesome. Imagine putting your drifty in at the wee hours of the morning, and after fishing nearly 3 miles of the best steelhead fishing you'll ever encounter, you simply pull your boat out only throwing distance from where you put in at. That's right, you just spent half or all day fishing 2.7 miles on the Siletz, and now with no need for a shuttle, you drive a Red Man chew spit over to get your boat. You just did a huge loop around the town. What the hay, go make another drift if you released too many fish the first time.
Fishing techniques for the Siletz River include slide bobber (with salmon/steelhead eggs, sandshrimp or marabou jig), pencil lead drifting (eggs, sandshrimp), spinners (blue fox number 4), and Hot Shot lures. If you're the guy behind the oars, don't let that stop you from fishing while under way. My salty old man taught me this one: just simply throw a Hot Shot lure out the stern of the boat (about 12 to 15 feet), set your clicker and row away (doing a lot of back rowing) until something hits. I've caught more fish using this technique while piloting the drifty than any other!
One favorite of mine is the Siletz River, located northeast of Newport, along Siletz Highway 229. There are many great riffs and holes along the highway to catch both salmon and steelhead. Many drift boat fishermen take advantage of this river's curving nature.
In the town of Siletz, where one can buy sandshrimp and eggs at local markets, there are two boat ramps–one to put in, and one to take out. This convenient feature in Siletz is just awesome. Imagine putting your drifty in at the wee hours of the morning, and after fishing nearly 3 miles of the best steelhead fishing you'll ever encounter, you simply pull your boat out only throwing distance from where you put in at. That's right, you just spent half or all day fishing 2.7 miles on the Siletz, and now with no need for a shuttle, you drive a Red Man chew spit over to get your boat. You just did a huge loop around the town. What the hay, go make another drift if you released too many fish the first time.
Fishing techniques for the Siletz River include slide bobber (with salmon/steelhead eggs, sandshrimp or marabou jig), pencil lead drifting (eggs, sandshrimp), spinners (blue fox number 4), and Hot Shot lures. If you're the guy behind the oars, don't let that stop you from fishing while under way. My salty old man taught me this one: just simply throw a Hot Shot lure out the stern of the boat (about 12 to 15 feet), set your clicker and row away (doing a lot of back rowing) until something hits. I've caught more fish using this technique while piloting the drifty than any other!
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