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.