UTERJanuary
Winter steelhead; lingcod on the jetties
Tidewater drifts on the Wilson, Nestucca and Chetco; release big nest-guarding male lings.
Brookings to Astoria
Oregon Coast fishing
What's biting in Oregon Coast in October: Chinook (king) salmon, Coho (silver) salmon and lingcod at their peak, with albacore, Pacific halibut and steelhead around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 10 fish here month by month, from Brookings to Astoria.
Bay kings and coho; Chetco terminal kings
Three hundred miles of headlands, jetties and drowned river bays — Chetco, Rogue, Coos, Umpqua, Siuslaw, Alsea, Yaquina, Siletz, Nestucca, Tillamook — with Heceta and Stonewall Banks offshore and the Columbia's mouth at the top.
BrookingsCoos BayNewportDepoe BayGaribaldiAstoria
Updated
Now · October
Bay kings and coho; Chetco terminal kings
The bays until the first big rain pulls the fish upriver; big late kings off the Chetco mouth.
Chinook (king) salmonCoho (silver) salmonRockfishLingcod
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakLeavingLeavingAroundAroundAround
Chinook (king) salmon
Chetco and Elk terminal ocean fishery for big late kings, plus the bays until the first big rains pull them upriver.
Coho (silver) salmon
Coho in the bays and lower tidewater — Siletz, Yaquina, Alsea, Siuslaw, Coos on the incoming tide.
Lingcod
Rockfish
Winter swell starts closing the bars.
Cabezon
Albacore (longfin tuna)
Last fish into early October.
Pacific halibut
Last days on whatever quota remains.
Steelhead
Surfperch
White sturgeon
The water
The tide here
Mixed semidiurnal, 6–9 ft
Mixed semidiurnal — two highs and two lows a day, one pair much bigger than the other. The bar crossings decide the day — the Columbia, Tillamook and Coos bars can be deadly on an ebb against a swell; cross on the flood. The bays fish on the incoming.
Structure that matters
Artificial reefLedge / hard bottomBeach / surfPass / inletChannel edgeFishing pierDock / pilingsRiver
After a cold front
Winter storms bring 20-ft swell and close the bars for weeks; steelhead come in behind them. Summer north wind drives upwelling — cold water, bait and salmon close to shore, but rough afternoons; go early.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Peak winter steelhead
Coast river lower drifts after the rain; jetty rockfish on calm days.
March
Late steelhead; black rockfish on the jetties
Big females on the reefs after the spawn; first early ocean kings on calm days.
April
Ocean kings open; redtail perch on the beaches
Troll herring on the 120–200 ft line when the bar lets you out; perch on sand shrimp in the surf.
May
Halibut opens; rockfish and lings on every reef
Spring all-depth halibut days off Newport; nearshore reefs for rockfish; Columbia estuary sturgeon.
June
Halibut, rockfish, kings — and the first coho
Heceta and Stonewall Banks for halibut; hatchery-coho ocean season starts. Albacore arrive late month.
July
Albacore arrive; salmon offshore
Tuna 20–50 nm out on the warm break; coho on the color breaks; rockfish limits inshore.
August
Buoy 10 opens; albacore peak
Fall kings at the Columbia mouth from August 1 on the flood; summer all-depth halibut; tuna out of Newport and Charleston.
September
Bay salmon season; coho at Buoy 10; tuna still on
Troll spinners and herring in Tillamook, Nestucca and Siletz bays on the incoming; Buoy 10 coho.
October · now
Bay kings and coho; Chetco terminal kings
The bays until the first big rain pulls the fish upriver; big late kings off the Chetco mouth.
November
Last bright kings; first winter steelhead
Chetco and Elk mouths after the rain; first steelhead in tidewater.
December
Winter steelhead on; lings begin to spawn
Tidewater and the lower drifts; jetty rockfish on calm days between the storms.
Fish guides for Oregon Coast
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAlbacore (longfin tuna)CabezonChinook (king) salmonCoho (silver) salmonLingcodPacific halibutRockfishSteelheadSurfperchWhite sturgeon
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