Brookings lingcod and rockfish action remains very good (May 22, 2015)

We are now beginning to see more salmon show up out of the Port of Brookings, as conditions are coning together nicely for good king fishing on the Southern Oregon Coast. The water temperature is close to 50 degrees, and there is a lot of bait, both herring and krill. The pelicans are here. The rockfish are stuffed full of small shrimp and krill. And we are actually snagging herring on our shrimp flies while fishing the baitballs for rockfish. We will start focusing on salmon more now, but for the past week have enjoyed more great lingcod and rockfish action out of Brookings.

Ocean conditions have been perfect. Small swell, light winds and no rain. 

The light tackle rockfish action is great right now. Several days this past week we found schools of rockfish suspended off the bottom and hammered them on small jigs and grubs in 30 to 50 feet of water. These fish are great fighters on light tackle, especially when hooked in shallow water.

The lingcod fishing has been fair one day, then wide open the next. We are enjoying an exceptional lingcod season this year, with limits or near limits on many days. The grade of rockfish is also very nice now, with big black rockfish (also known as sea bass, snapper, rock cod and black bass). 

We offer three kinds of trips this time of year. Rockfish and lingcod charters are $100 a person and include all bait and tackle and the filleting and bagging of your catch. You will be fishing with a local, experienced captain in small groups (up to 6 on my boat, up to four with Capt. Scott). On my charters Joey is helping out as a deckhand. He is a local kid who is done with college for the summer and is gaining experience to be a guide, both on the ocean and the rivers he grew up fishing. Salmon charters are $150 a person. This is a longer trip, which allows us to venture further offshore to find the kings. Salmon/botton fishing combos are $175 a person and are a great way to fill the freezer with prime fillets. 

To book a trip, call (541) 813-1082 or my cell, (206) 388-8988, or click the book a trip link at brookingsfishing.com.

Below are a bunch of photos from the past week on my boat.

- Capt. Andy Martin

brookingsfishing.com

wildriversfishing.com

(541) 813-1082 or (206) 388-8988

Catching rockfish two at a time.

Lingcod and rockfish action remains strong out of Brookings (May 14, 2015)

Shrimp and krill is now abundant in the near-shore waters out of the Port of Brookings Harbor, fueling wide-open rockfish action, while lingcod fishing remains good.
Over the past week we've watched water temperatures rise from 46.5 degrees to 50 degrees. Another degree warmer and we should start to see some good salmon action.
For now, the rockfish and lingcod action is very good. We've had some exceptional weather the past few days, and that has resulted in great fishing for rockfish. Yesterday, we found a giant school of big black rockfish (also known as sea bass, black snapper or rockcod) at the surface near Twin Rocks. We enjoyed wide open action on light spinning gear, tossing 1/2-ounce dartheads with small grubs and nailing the rockfish just under the surface on the retrieve. It would have been a freshwater bass angler's dream, as these fish fight hard on light tackle, especially when they are at the surface.
Remember, unlike many of the other charters out of Brookings, we use light spinning rods for rockfish, and also have heavier gear on board when fishing lingcod in deeper water, or halibut. We also use top-quality G.Loomis rods for salmon fishing with Shimano reels.
After weeks of limits on lingcod, we are now seeing the lings move back into deeper water as the spawn concludes. We are still catching several lingcod a day, and will continue to do so all summer, but the epic fishing we see each spring has winding down. Yesterday's customers took home six nice lingcod and full limits of black rockfish and canary rockfish.
The day before we had similar action.
Flat seas are expected again through the weekend and into next week.
With the warming surface temperature, we will be spending a lot more time trolling for salmon. Out of Brookings, the salmon tend to bite best with temperatures slightly more than 50 degrees. 51 or 52 would be ideal, and we probably will have those temperatures by the weekend.
There is a lot of bait here - unreal amounts of krill and shrimp - so it will soon be some hot salmon action.
We have seats available throughout the next month and will be offering salmon charters, salmon/rockfish charters, and shorter trips just for lingcod and rockfish. Aside from my boat, Capt. Scott, another light tackle specialist, also has open seats.
To book a Brookings Oregon fishing charter, visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call (541) 813-1082. You also can call my cell (206) 388-8988.
Below are some photos from the last couple of days. This is light tackle Oregon Coast ocean fishing at its finest!
- Capt. Andy Martin
Brookings Fishing
(206) 388-8988 cell

Kenny and Matt double up on lingcod.

Nice rockfish on light tackle.

Corie with a nice lingcod out of Brookings. This ling nailed a small black rockfish and clamped on clear to the surface.

Ethan and Corie with a couple of nice lingcod.

Another limit of lingcod.

First lingcod.

A tub full of good-eating rockfish.

Lingcod fishing on the Oregon Coast with www.brookingsfishing.com.

Lots of teeth.

Lots of lingcod for the Malone group.

Alexandra and Vanessa with a lingcod and rockfish.

Alex with a lingcod caught on light tackle.

Aaron with a canary rockfish.

Limits of lingcod for Robert and Aaron. These were caught on Monday, May 11, the roughest day of the week. We fished just outside of the harbor and still got 'em.

Rockfish and lingcod. Lots of of good eats here.

Doubling up on rockfish. Great action on light tackle.

Many people go to Alaska to catch this type of variety of fish. You can catch them a lot closer, and less expensive, here in Brookings, Oregon.

Lingcod fishing remains good out of Brookings, big rockfish also biting (May 6, 2015)

This year's lingcod fishing has been the best in recent memory out of the Port of Brookings Harbor. I've been fishing out of here since I was a little kid, and in over 30 years I haven't seen it this good. We have been getting limits almost daily since early March. It used to be you would go out and get a limit of rockfish and be happy with two to four lingcod brought to the boat. Now we are limiting out the whole boat (the Oregon limit is two lingcod per person per day at least 22 inches long) and releasing some small ones as well.
We normally get a few weeks of wide open lingcod fishing during the spawn each spring, but the hot fishing has continued for three months, and even in January and February we were getting them when the ocean was flat enough to fish. It doesn't show any sign of slowing down either.
Unlike some of the other charters out of Brookings, we specifically target lingcod, and it has been paying off. We use baits and lures with the sole intent of catching lings, and are fishing reefs where they are likely to be holding. Lingcod are extremely aggressive fish, and very territorial, and we take advantage of that to trick them into biting.
The quality of the rockfish (black rockfish, blue rockfish, canary rockfish and vermilion rockfish) also has improved in recent weeks. We are finding bigger fish and coming back with limits of them as well. Sometimes rockfish are referred to as black bass, sea bass, rock cod, snapper or black bombers. For them, we use light spinning rods, which makes the fight much more enjoyable.
The last week we've dealt with some extremely strong northwest winds, but we have still managed to find the lingcod close to the harbor and get limits. It looks like the ocean will be laying down beginning Thursday and with lighter winds in the morning we are hopeful of pushing north a little to fish some reefs that haven't been hit in a while.
Salmon season is open out of Brookings now, but the winds have kept us in close. Typically the kings are in deeper water early in the season, and it's been too rough to get that far out. They will move closer to shore as the baitfish push toward the beach. That will happen soon as the krill already is thick just outside of the harbor. The rockfish we are catching are stuffed with krill.
We have open seats throughout the month for both lingcod/rockfish trips, and salmon/bottom fishing combos.
Please call or email if you want to get in on the action. Visit www.brookingsfishing.com, (541) 813-1082 or (206) 388-8988 (my cell), or email wildriversfishing@yahoo.com.
- Capt. Andy Martin
Brookings Fishing and Wild Rivers Fishing
www.brookingsfishing.comn
www.wildriversfishing.com
(541) 813-1082
(206) 388-8988 cell

Here are a few photos from our last trip.

Mike with a nice lingcod caught just outside of the jetties at the Port of Brookings Harbor on May 4.

Terry with a beautiful green-colored lingcod.

A nice tote full of lingcod and rockfish makes for some great Fish and Chips!

Mike, Mike, Don and Terry with some of the lingcod we caught May 4. We also released several smaller ones. The limit in Oregon is two lingcod a day at least 22 inches long.

We have been finding a very nice grade of black rockfish, also known as sea bass, black snapper, rock cod or black bombers. These fish have a nice firm, white fillet that is excellent for deep frying or for fish tacos.

A very nice catch of lingcod.