Quotable “That’s some serious water from the hatchery down to just below Erickson’s. It’s the real deal.” — Guide Tim Juarez on the North Fork Nehalem. In the Jan. 25, 2007 issue FISHING Nestucca River steelhead * Well-known guide dies * Willamette Valley trout stockings * Roslyn Lake steelhead * Nehalem Bay sturgeon * Tillamook Bay sturgeon * Umpqua sturgeon * Willamette River sturgeon * Brookings surfperch * Brookings lingcod * Depoe Bay lingcod * Newport lingcod * John Day River steelhead * Lower Rogue steelhead * Middle Rogue steelhead * Upper Rogue steelhead * Guides share steelhead tips * Photos from the Field * Small stream steelhead techniques * Detroit Lake trout * Eagle Creek steelhead * Sandy River steelheadHUNTING Photos from the Field EVERYTIME Statewide Trends * Quotable * Editor’s Picks * Outdoor Lineup * Trophy Tale * Astro Tables * Pro Guides * Gearing Up * In the Bullseye * Where To Go * Photo Contest Winners * Where To Go on the Web * Outdoor Outlet |
This Issue’s Featured Article |
An angler holds a lunker ling caught last year near Brookings. (F&H; News photo by Larry Ellis) Shore anglers nail big lingcod Newport — Lingcod are moving close to shore to spawn, putting them within range of shore-bound anglers along the Oregon Coast in late January and February.Boat anglers also will enjoy good lingcod close to shore. Charters throughout the coast will be going ling hunting but everything will be dependent on weather conditions. Just wait for a string of good days, grab your favorite leadfish, Scampi or a large herring, and hold on.”If the weather lays down we’ll be out there,” says Jim Tate from Dockside Charters in Depoe Bay (800-733-8915).Charters expect good fishing. “Weather permitting the fishing’s usually really good,” says Carol Heikkinen from Newport Marina Store and Charters (541-867-4470; www.nmscharters.com). “You can get some really nice lings if we can get out.”Aside from Newport and Depoe Bay, Brookings is another winter ling hot spot and a favorite port because of its calm bar crossing. “They always bite better in February,” says Mike Ramsay, owner of Sporthaven Marina (541-469-3301) in Brookings.Shore fishing: “I think all the jetties on the whole coast will be good for lingcod,” says Todd Pietsch, inventor of the Spin-R Min-R (541-270-8091). “I’m getting out my heavy stick.”The tidepools near Brookings and Port Orford should also be kicking out some lingasaurs. Fish with 1-ounce jig heads with twin-tail plastics as well as white plastic worms rigged Texas-style.”February’s a great month for fishing off our jetties,” says Rick Hurliman from Barview Jetty and Tackle (503-322-2644) in Garibaldi. “The females spawn and then the males stay and protect the nest. There could be four or five males protecting each individual egg cluster, and they’ll literally strike at anything that goes by.”Hurliman’s likes to use a floating bait rig. Slide a 1-ounce egg sinker up your main line. Attach a barrel swivel. Tie a 24-inch leader with a 6/0 hook on the end. Attach your bait so its head faces away from you. Insert a small piece of styrofoam in the bait’s mouth. Tie the mouth shut with Magic Thread or use rubber bands.Newport South Jetty: The Newport South Jetty should also be kicking out rockfish as well as lings. In January, Pietsch caught a grassie and copper rockfish that weighed in at just under 6 pounds a piece. Consequently, you might want to keep an eye out on your stringer for hitchhiking lings.”The biggest one my brother and I got was on a Martin Luther King holiday in late January,” Pietsch says of a previous season. “It hit a snapper that was on our stringer. It was a 40-inch lingcod, a 21-pounder.”Regs: Two lings a day at least 22 inches long.— Larry Ellis |