2018 Oregon bottom fishing regulations set

Lingcod season runs Jan. 1-Dec. 31 in 2018, with a two-fish limit for lingcod and five-fish limit for rockfish.

BROOKINGS, Ore. - Anglers fishing off the coast of Oregon will be allowed to keep seven bottom fish in 2018, including two lingcod and five rockfish.
The limits were set during the Dec. 8 Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting in Salem. While the limit of rockfish was reduced compared to 2017, Oregon remains the only state on the West Coast with a year-round rockfish and lingcod season. California, Washington and Alaska have winter closures for bottom fishing. Oregon's season will remain open January through December.
The 2018 limits do no include sub-bag-limits for rockfish, meaning anglers can keep any combination of black, blue, canary, vermilion, yellowtail, China, copper and quillback rockfish.
The lingcod limit remains two a day with a 22-inch minimum size.
"While we had hoped to keep a higher limit of rockfish, we are glad we will have a year-round fishery and anglers will still be able to leave with seven fish a day," said Capt. Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing Charters.
Capt. Andy was one of the charter boat captains who testified before the Fish and Wildlife Commission, which had considered tighter limits of three or four rockfish a day.
Brookings has the safest bar crossing on the Oregon Coast. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, boats are able to cross the bar more days out of Brookings than any other port in Oregon or Washington.
"Since we have the greatest chance of being able to get out and fish during the winter months, this year-round season is very important for Brookings," Martin said. "Some of our best lingcod fishing takes place during the winter months, so we will be able to run charters in January, February and March, when the lingcod are close to shore and easier to catch."
Brookings Fishing Charters will begin its ocean charter season Jan. 1. Capt. Andy and Capt. Travis will be running trips daily, weather permitting.
Brookings Fishing Charters has opened a new booking office and tackle shop at the Port of Brookings, located at 16399 Lower Harbor Road, Suite B.
Visit www.brookingsfishing.com to book a trip, or call (541) 813-1082.

Brookings Fishing Charters expands fleet

BROOKINGS, Ore. - Brookings Fishing Charters, a six-pack sportfishing charter serving the Oregon Coast from the Port of Brookings, has expanded its fleet and added another captain.
Already one of the most popular fishing charters on the Southern Oregon Coast, Brookings Fishing Charters had added a 26-foot bay boat to complement its 29-foot offshore charter boat, the Miss Brooke.

The 29-foot Miss Brooke is one of the newest, fastest charter boats on the Oregon Coast and comfortably fishes six customers. It is pictured fishing for lingcod near Arch Rock off the coast of Brookings, Oregon.

The Miss Brooke will continue to run trips for lingcod, rockfish, crab and salmon, but also will be offering albacore tuna and halibut trips in 2018.
The Miss Brooke, new to the fleet in 2016, is captained by owner Capt. Andy Martin, as well as Capt. Travis Sallander.

The new 26-foot Alumaweld Columbia is Brookings Fishing Charters' new bay boat, and can fish six customers for salmon, lingcod and rockfish. It is equipped to fish the coastal bays as well as near-shore reefs.

New this year is the 26-foot bay boat, a custom-made Alumaweld Columbia, with extra high sides and a deeper vee for saltwater use. The bay boat is mainly used for ocean and bay salmon, as well as lingcod and rockfish trips.
Both boats comfortably seat six anglers, along with the crew. The bay boat is especially popular because of its comfortable seats with arm rests. Anglers get to fish while sitting instead of having to stand on the back deck to fish.

Capt. Andy Martin grew up in Brookings, Ore., and is the owner of Brookings Fishing Charters.

Capt. Andy has run charters in Oregon and Alaska for more than 12 years. He grew up in Brookings and has been fishing the productive ocean waters between the mouths of the Chetco and Rogue rivers his entire life. He fondly remembers fishing the coast of Brookings with his family at an early age. His father worked at a local plywood mill, often taking the overnight graveyard shift. When he got off work each morning, he would wake his children up, including Andy, and take them fishing  before going to bed.
Andy earned his Coast Guard near-coastal captain's license, and ran big party boats out of Seward, Alaska, as well as six-pack charter boats in Southeast Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park before dedicating all his time to ocean and river charters in Brookings, Ore.

Capt. Travis Sallander grew up in Brookings and has a decade experience of guiding in Oregon and Alaska.

Capt. Travis also is a native of Brookings. He and Andy have known each other since grade school. Travis spent 10 years guiding on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers in Alaska, as well as working on halibut and salmon charter boats in Deep Creek, Alaska, and Homer, Alaska. He earned his Coast Guard captain's license and now skippers the Miss Brooke when Capt. Andy runs the new Alumaweld Columbia.

The crew of Brookings Fishing Charters also run drift boat trips on the coastal rivers near Brookings during the fall and winter. Here, Capt. Travis Sallander fishes a group on the Smith River.

During the fall and winter months, both Capt. Andy and Capt. Travis are full-time river guides, taking customers down the Chetco and Smith rivers in drift boats. Both have special-use permits from the Forest Service for the Upper Chetco and the Forks area of the Smith River. They also guide on the Elk and Sixes rivers. Fall salmon season runs October through early December, while steelhead are in the rivers from December through March.

Capt. Shane Brookes works on the Brookings Fishing Charters crew.

Capt. Shane Brookes works on the Brookings Fishing Charters crew. He mainly works on the Miss Brooke, and has spent time working on charter boats in Alaska. He also is a river guide during the fall and winter months on the Chetco River.

The Miss Brooke is a six-pack charter boat and one of the fastest boats in the fleet. It gets to the fishing grounds quickly and has plenty of room for six anglers.

Our ocean charter season runs February through October. We focus on the rivers the rest of the year. The Miss Brooke is usually the first charter in the Brookings fleet to begin running ocean trips, as soon as we get a break in the weather in late winter to allow fishing offshore.
All of our captains hold U.S. Coast Guard near-coastal captains licenses, are first aid and CPR certified, are licensed fishing guides through the state of Oregon and California. Our boats have the latest safety equipment. The Miss Brooke is the only six-pack charter in the Brookings fleet with a self-inflating life raft, radar and EPIRB, items normally required only for much larger inspected party boats.

To learn more about Brookings Fishing Charters, visit www.brookingsfishing.com. Call (541) 813-1082 to book a trip.

Easy,delicious beer-battered fish and chips recipe by Brookings Fishing Charters

Nothing caps a day of limiting out on Oregon Coast lingcod and rockfish like enjoying the catch with a feast of beer-battered fish and chips.

Beer-battered rockfish and lingcod served with homemade tarter and cocktail sauce.

Deep fried fish is not only delicious, but also quick and easy to make. 

To ensure the fish cooks evenly and quickly, cut the fillets into smaller pieces. Four- to five-inch sections works well. Examine the fillets to make sure there are no bones. Pat dry with a paper towel.

Season flower with salt and other seasonings, such as Johnny's or creole seasoning.

In a bowl, mix flower with salt and other seasonings. I like Johnny's original seasoning, and Tommy Chachere's creole seasoning. Two to three cups of flour will suffice. 

Roll the fillets in the seasoned flour.

Roll the pieces of fish in the seasoned flour. You can roll them in a bowl, or put the seasoned flour in a plastic bag and shake with the fillets. Flour the fish in batches or two or three pieces.

Floured fillets.

Once the fish is rolled in seasoned flour, the beer batter will stick to it better instead of parting from the fish as it is deep fried. The seasoned flour will also give a little kick to rockfish fillets, which have a mild flavor.

Add one part beer to one part flour to make the batter.

The simplest beer batter is one part flour and one part beer. For several servings of fish, mix four cups of flour with four cups of beer. Use cold beer and keep the batter cold.

Stir the beer and flour until a thick batter forms.

The key to good beer battered fish is a thin coating of cold batter, and frying in hot oil. When the cold batter hits the hot oil (350 to 400 degrees), it instantly seals the fish, making a much better finished product.

Drench the fish with batter and gently scrape the fillet against the inside of the bowl to give it a light coating of batter.

Coat the pieces of fish with the batter by submerging the fillets in the cold batter and then gently rubbing the fillets against the inside of the bowl. That will give each fillet a thin coating of batter, and prevent the fish from being too oily or soggy when finished. A thin coating of batter is all that is needed.

Deep fry the fish in 350-400 degree oil for 4 to 5 minutes.

Submerge the fillets, two or three at a time, in hot oil (350-400 degrees) for four to five minutes. Allow the fillets to drain for a moment and then place on a paper towel.

Mix lemon juice, ketchup and horseradish to make homemade cocktail sauce.

Mix chopped onion, chopped dill pickles, a little mayonnaise and lemon juice to make tarter sauce.

Homemade tarter and cocktail sauce.

While the fish is cooking, I like to make homemade cocktail and tarter sauce. To make cocktail sauce, mix ketchup with pure horseradish (not horseradish sauce), and lemon juice. A little horseradish goes a long way. Add more if you like hot cocktail sauce.

To make tarter sauce, combine a little mayonnaise, chopped fresh onion and chopped dill pickle. Equal parts of each generally works well. Add a little lemon juice as you stir it.

Beer batter fish and chips!

To catch a limit of lingcod and rockfish to make your own beer-battered fish, contact Capt. Andy Martin of Brookings Fishing at www.brookingsfishing.com, or all (541) 813-1082.

Brookings ocean fishing report (July 2, 2015)

Hot weather continues to bake much of Southern Oregon and Northern California, while we enjoy mild weather,morning fog, and great fishing here in Brookings.
The lingcod and rockfish action continues to be very good. We are getting quick limits of quality rockfish, and some really nice lingcod, including some fish in the upper 20-pound range.
Salmon continues to be hit and miss out of Brookings. Saturday and Sunday produced decent fishing, but it has slowed again.
High temperatures in Brookings have been in the upper 60s and lower 70s. Perfect!
Aside from really nice black rockfish, we have been getting some nice canary rockfish, and have released a few big yelloweye and quillback rockfish (we are are not allowed to keep).
If you are shopping around for a charter, please keep a couple of things in mind. We run small groups of six or less people, and use quality, light tackle, while fishing in shallow water. This puts the fun back in ocean charters. And we are catching lots and lots of fish.
To book a trip, please visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call (541) 813-1082 or my cell (206) 388-8988.
- Capt. Andy Martin
BrookingsFishing.com

Below are just a few photos from the first half of this week!