Oregon Coastal Saltwater Fly Fishing Time With the Family

I was just out at the coast with my wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law. We did a bunch of fishing along with other coastal activities. Out of the group, I am the one who fly fishes in the saltwater of Oregon, and everyone else throws spinning gear. We had all sorts of conditions ranging from calm to windy, and fishing times ranged from dead as a doornail, to moderate, to off the hook. The more I fish out there, the more I can say there is no rhyme or reason to when it will be good out there. People typically say that the two hours before high tide is the time to go. Other people say around the slack tides is the time to go. Many people say night time is the best, but I fished at night and it was good at times and sterile at times.

Calmer conditions are a must for successful Oregon coast fly fishing off the rocks

The one thing I see over and over again, is that it is all about the currents. Converging currents, and foam lines seem to be more about the success. The other issue is the current speeds, and by that I mean that fish are very fickle in what current speed they seem to be able to be caught in, or what current speed makes them want to bite. Whatever that part of the equation is, it seems to have correlation likely with feeding desire, and how hard the fish are working to be comfortable in their environment. Big currents and washy conditions seem to make the fishing shut down, while foam lines, and foam blankets on the surface, slow current speeds, converging currents, current breaks, and other features that provide cover, comfort, ambushing ability etc, seem to be the times when I am catching fish consistently.

A nice Pacific Black Rockfish that was on a converging current boundary

When I am out there, the conditions are ever changing and the features I just mentioned change dynamically. One moment you are fishing a foamy giant eddy, and getting fish on about every cast, and then you get a hard current pushing straight along the bank, and your line seems to be getting slacker and slacker with a subtle current pushing straight into where you are fishing from. Minutes later is settles down, and gets a soft chop slow mellow current and you are roping into a fish on every third cast for 10 minutes. It keeps on changing, and also depending on where you are standing matters too. Sometimes 50 yard to your right has a perfect setup, and you are in a fast current that feels unproductive. Walking down that 50 yards could be the difference of success for that 20 minute period, but then you may have to find another spot that fits the what you are looking for.

This Lingcod was caught near dead low tide as it was starting to slacken out.

It is ever changing as the tides are always moving higher or lower. The winds influence the currents and the tides also. Swells are another variable, and then the direction and interval of the swell also plays a big role in how the fishing pans out. The one thing I have come to realize is that you cannot tell how the fishing will be unless you simply go out try it. Only then can you know if the fish are biting. Tight lines!!!

Nice grill on this Ling

The Helios2 Saltwater 6wt is a fun lightweight rockfish rod (typically 7wt or 8wt). It also handled the Ling very nicely (lings are a 8-10wt fish).

Nikki eclipsing the sunset while casting for rockfish......

Not a bad view to check out while fishing......

Getting ready for a cast.....

These jellyfish were all over the beaches

A little kite flying time.....

A Quillback Rockfish that fell to a swim bait

Blacktail deer strolling on the beach in the early morning

A Pacific Loon patrolling for baitfish....

Jetty Class Pics & Report

This past weekend offered two differing scenarios. Saturday was postponed to the alternate date of April 6th due to a super windy storm that rolled into the coast right when our class was scheduled. We went by the forecast which was a tough decision; since the coast was semi calm and nice for the morning hours. The class was scheduled to start at 2:45pm, so I went with the gut instinct, and we opted to go for the class on the alternate scheduled date. It turns out that Chris from Sunday's class came down with his wife on Saturday, and said it was one of those days where you could barely get out of the car to see the beach. Super windy and stormy; which does not agree well with casting shooting heads and larger flies. Postponing the class was a wise choice in the long run. 

A Pacific Black Rockfish taken on a large white conehead bunny leech

Sunday's class was a whole other story regarding the weather. Swells were small rollers; so the jetty fishing was nice since the water was relatively calm. Winds were light, and never went over 10 knots; so all of the students were able to cast the shooting heads very well. It was really nice to see the students bombing out big nice casts with tight loops. Everyone in the class fished very well, and looked really good casting off of the awkward jetty rocks. Fishing was relatively slow for what I am used to seeing out there, but that is why we call it fishing and not catching. Several students had some action from the Pacific Black Rockfish, and one of the students who did not land one said he was receiving bites on some of the presentations. There was just enough action to keep things interesting, and it was refreshing to let the students know it was ultra slow; even though we were still catching something. Nice to know that slow equals to several fish, and not zero fish like we can experience with something like steelheading.

Two of the students were lucky enough to tie into a lingcod each. One of the fish was what I would consider "leader landed"; while the other fish was officially landed. The first lingcod took a small chartruese and white Clouser Minnow tied with bucktail. The second fish was caught with a 2/0 white tungsten conehead bunny leech. Everyone was fishing with 28' long shooting heads ranging from type II through Type IV with intermediate running lines. We were using rods in the 8 - 10 wt range and one student was using a 8wt switch rod. It was a really fun class, and we were gifted with perfect fishing conditions. The fishing could have been much better, but it also could have been worse. It was a great primer to show 5 people the underutilized fishery that exists right here at the Oregon coast.

The Saturday class that was postponed to April 6th (7:30am-12:00pm) had one spot open up due to a student having to cancel out of there spot due to something that has come up for them. if you are interested in the Rockfishing/Lingcod class that will be on April 6th email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com or call me at (541)-232-6360. For more information on the April 6th Rockfishing/Lingcod Class Click Here.

Due to Popular Demand - Rockfish/Lingcod Class Day Added - 3-17-13

The same class as Saturday 3/16/13 will be offered also on Sunday 3/17/13. The original class filled up really fast; so another date has been offered. Everything will be the same format, but the meeting time will be at 3:00 pm (45 minutes later than Saturday's meeting time), and the class will end at 7:30 pm. (The backup date will be Sunday April 7th 8:30am-1:00pm - If really severe weather strikes for original scheduled date.)

White Conehead Bunny Leech took this black rockfish

There are three spots open for the class; so it is first come first serve to get signed up. Class costs $75 per person, and you have to prepay to get your spot/s reserved. Email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com or call me at (541)-232-6360 to get signed up.

For details about the class CLICK HERE, and remember this class is for Sunday 3-17-13, and the description you are reading is for the Saturday the 16th class. Saturday's 3/16/13 is full already, but Sunday was added to accommodate more people due to high interest in this type of fly fishing. 

Rockfishing - Fly Anglers Can Offer Sound Advice to Conventional Anglers

This past Tuesday, I went to the coast to attempt some jetty fly fishing. I was out to target both pacific rockfish and lingcod. The day ended up being pretty nice; considering that it was supposed to be raining hard and semi windy over there. Instead it was relatively calm in regards to the winds, and the weather was between sunny and showers. The showers were short lived and the sunshine was warm and pleasant. The fishing was so so, and by that I mean that at times I was catching them on every cast, and at times I went a while between a grab. All in all it was a pleasant day of fishing, and it was worth the trip. It was especially fun having several guys conventionally fishing asking me what I was doing and what I was using. They saw me catching fish more consistently than anyone else out there; so they were prying me for information. That was a good feeling to have the fly guy being the source of how to get into the rockfish while fishing the jetty. Especially the fly guy from the city giving passing on information on how to be a more successful salty dog!

Warm Water Fishing - Now That it Actually Feels Like Summer Out!

Well the weather this week is actually feeling like it's summer in Oregon, and so I have had to get my fill of warm water fly fishing. The other day, I had a few hours; so I took a ride up the Columbia with my wonderful girlfriend, and tried wetting a line for a carp. I succeeded with a fish that was rooting around in the weeds, and it was with the replaced 6wt rod that had been blown up a couple of weeks back on a huge smallmouth bass. The fish tore me up, and it was on the smaller side for a big Columbia carp. I was just dinking around in my flip flops when I hooked it; so it qualified as my flip flop fish for 2011. I always love to land something like a steelhead in flip flops; so this is at least a flip flop fish, and we will see if I can get a more glamorous species before the summer ends.

A nice little Columbia River Carp

I am about to take off for a few days to catch some smallmouth on the Umpqua River, and then I am heading towards the coast to target rockfish, lingcod, cabezon, etc. Hopefully, we can score some heavenly saltwater fish to pull on our lines. On the way back, we are going to harvest some clams (hopefully several types) to bring back to feast upon. It is time to enjoy the summer!