2019 Oregon Coast Lingcod, Rockfish Seasons Begin

Big swells and strong winds have kept anglers at port for much of the new year, but for a few days in early January, the ocean was calm enough to venture offshore and get in on the hot winter lingcod and rockfish bite.
Capt. Andy of Brookings Fishing Charters took the Miss Brooke to the House Rock area on New Year's Day, with easy limits of big rockfish for six anglers and more than a lingcod per person. After an initial stop in the shallow kelp beds, which only produced smaller rockfish, Capt. Andy headed to deeper water and got the crew into non-stop action on large black and canary rockfish in 110 to 120 feet of water. After getting everyone's limits, the Miss Brooke returned to shallow water to fish large herring for lingcod.

Anglers hold two of the limits of lingcod caught Jan. 1 aboard the Miss Brooke of Brookings Fishing Charters while fishing on Jan. 1, 2019, out of Brookings.

The lingcod fishing was not as hot as the the first trip of 2018, but several anglers limited out and everyone caught at least one lingcod. The fish ranged from 6 to 14 pounds.

Frequent Brookings Fishing Charters customer Glen Thil of Shady Cove, Ore., holds three rockfish caught as part of a triple hookup during the first charter boat trip of the year on Jan. 1.

Capt. Andy said the grade of rockfish was really good for the first trips of the year, with large blacks, large blues and some nice-size canary rockfish. There also are big numbers of smaller rockfish in the kelp beds, a positive sign for future seasons.

Some of the big canary rockfish caught Jan. 1 aboard the Miss Brooke.

For 2019, the rockfish and lingcod regulations will remain nearly identical to 2018. Anglers can keep two lingcod a day at least 22 inches long. There is no annual limit on lingcod. The daily rockfish limit is five rockfish a day, with any combination of blacks, blues, canaries, Chinas, vermilions, quillbacks, coppers and kelp greenling.

Brookings Fishing Charters offers year-round charter boat trips out of Brookings. Visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call (541) 813-1082 to book a trip.

Chetco, Smith salmon season off to good start

Jackie of Bend, Ore., with a nice Chetco River king salmon caught in October with guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing and Brookings Fishing Charters. The fish hit a 5.0 MagLip plug.

With ocean fishing practically over for the year, the attention has turned to the fall salmon runs on the Chetco and Smith rivers. Fishing is off to a good start on the Brookings-area rivers.
We knew we were likely in for a good run when the Rogue River and Rogue Bay had one of it's best seasons in recent memory. Like the Rogue, the Chetco and Smith river fall salmon runs are south-migrating fish, which means they spend the ocean portion of their life off of Northern California and extreme Southern Oregon instead of heading to Alaska like other salmon runs. The Feather River, another south-migrating run, had an incredible early fall season.
Brookings Fishing Charters and Wild Rivers Fishing began fishing the Chetco estuary in early October. Fishing was good. The short ocean season at the mouth of the Chetco also was good, with lots of quality fish. The Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife estimated 300 salmon would be caught during the four-day sport season in the ocean off of Brookings in October. The final count was 530 fish, an indicator there are a lot of salmon off of Brookings right now.
The first rains arrived the week of October 20. Brookings Fishing Charters and Wild Rivers Fishing guides Andy Martin and Travis Sallander were among the first to float down the Chetco this fall, and they encountered a lot of bright king salmon. The Smith River also fished well for a few days, but the Chetco was the bright spot during the good flows of mid-October.
Another big rain is expected this first weekend of November. We are expecting good fishing on both rivers. Most of our fish have been caught on Yakima Bait Company MagLip plugs, but we also caught some nice kings on roe fished below bobbers. Beginning Nov. 4, we will be back-bouncing roe was well as running the MagLip and FlatFish plugs.
Here are a few photos from the first part of our salmon season on the Chetco and Smith rivers and in the ocean out of Brookings in October.
To learn more about our river trips, visit www.wildriversfishing.com or www.brookingsfishing.com.

Peak steelhead season arrives on Chetco, Smith rivers (Jan. 20, 2016)

When the weather has cooperated, steelhead fishing has been good on the Chetco and Smith rivers. We've been steelhead fishing from the drift boat since Christmas, but high, muddy water has limited the amount of tume we've been able to spend on the rivers.
Currently the Chetco and Smith are both high, because of heavy rain. The forecast looks like it will allow us to get back on the rivers early next week.
We have been side-drifting roe with light spinning gear, and also running small plugs, such as the MagLip 3.5.
Steelhead season runs through March. After that I will resume ocean charters out of the Port of Brookings Harbor. When the ocean lays down in March, I also will be running some early lingcod, rockfish and crab charters.
Below are some of the photos from the current steelhead season on my boat.
To book a river trip, please visit my river guide service web site, www.wildriversfishing.com.
For ocean charters, visit www.brookingsfishing.com.
You can also call (541) 813-1082 or my cell (206) 388-8988.
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