When the Pacific swells cooperate, a bottom fishing charter out of Depoe Bay is one of the most productive and exciting fishing experiences in the Pacific Northwest.
Depoe Bay calls itself the world's smallest navigable harbor — a narrow slot in the basalt cliffs of the central Oregon coast, barely wide enough for two boats to pass. Watching a charter vessel thread that gap in a swell is either terrifying or exhilarating, depending on your perspective. After twelve years of making this trip, I've settled on exhilarating.
The Charter
I book with one of the local outfitters out of Depoe Bay for an all-day bottom fishing trip. The target species are black rockfish, lingcod, and cabezon — the bread and butter of Oregon nearshore fishing. On a good day, you can limit out on rockfish and go home with a cooler full of some of the finest eating fish the Pacific has to offer.
The boat leaves the harbor at 6 AM. By the time we're past the breakers and heading south along the reef systems, the sun is just clearing the Coast Range. The Oregon coast in the morning light is something else — sea stacks rising from the fog, pelicans skimming the swells, the smell of salt and kelp.
The Gear
Bottom fishing on the Oregon coast is not a finesse game. The standard setup is a heavy conventional rod — 7 feet, 50-pound class — with a level-wind reel loaded with 65-pound braid. Terminal tackle is a dropper loop rig with two hooks and a 12-ounce sinker to get down through the current.
Bait is squid, cut herring, or artificial shrimp flies. The rockfish aren't picky. Drop to the bottom, feel the sinker tick the rocks, and start a slow retrieve. The strikes are aggressive — rockfish don't nibble, they commit.
The Catch
On my last trip, we found fish immediately on a reef about three miles offshore in 80 feet of water. The action was nearly constant for the first two hours — black rockfish from 2 to 5 pounds, the occasional vermilion rockfish with its brilliant orange-red coloring, and a lingcod that went about 12 pounds.
The lingcod are the prize. They're ambush predators that often grab a rockfish you're already fighting — a fish-on-a-fish situation that never fails to get the blood pumping. They're also exceptional table fare: firm, white flesh that holds up beautifully to any cooking method.
Practical Notes
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Born in Portland and raised in McMinnville, Oregon, Allan has been fishing for most of his life — from the rivers of the Willamette Valley to the Oregon coast, Cabo San Lucas, and the California Pacific. His oldest brother Steven runs a sports fishing business in Oregon. This blog is his way of sharing what he's learned.
