Family and I headed down to Oregon Coast for a 10 day break. Managed to miss the heat wave, but as a consequence the mornings were pleasantly foggy and gloomy, and by afternoon, much of the fog burned off.
I wasn't expecting much by the way of fishing. In the past the lines of boats trolling kings up tide through the N rivers of Coastal Oregon just did not seem all that fun to me. So I stuck with mainly land based attempts. Last year I had tried surf perching. The beach was beautiful, the holes and troughs on the beach easy to find, though the fish were elsewhere. I did not even attempt it this time.
I decided to give the clam flats a try instead. Digging for clams, yes, but also fishing there. The first night I went out and fished a tide line on a bay and connected with six good SRC. I was surprised, this was over a mud sand mix and not at all the classic fish the cobble and oyster shells scenario of Puget Sound. (Plus over time, I am increasingly convinced the prevailing orthodoxy of only fishing over rocks and oystershells for SRC leaves a proverbial shit-ton of other uncrowded water for me to explore).
There was bait everywhere, as you waded through the sand, all manner of sculpin and minnows were racing off to avoid me. Boots would sink to about ankle deep in perfect clam water. It is a little disconcerting. Plus, beyond knee deep there were dungeness crabs. Lots of them, stay still too long and they check you out. Sometimes their claws would poke out from beneath a matt of green grass, waving around. Just the claws, you couldn't see the carapace. You had to keep moving a little when fishing the sand and mud. I returned near daily, fished the up and drop, trying to figure out which was better. When the tide was up I stuck to the points, when it fell I looked for the intersection of gullies and washes with current. Like Puget Sound, a walking paced-current was important. Sculpin loved the flat stillness, SRC did not.
You can't sneak away and fish all day though. We did a lot of hikes, sometimes they started out foggy. But then you would get a break in the clouds and fog to catch a glimpse of just stunning coast.
Some of the really popular sites, like Hug Point, you had to avoid on the weekend and find an AM low tide midweek just to find a park. And man was it worth it, just gorgeous, around the corner from here there's a shelf waterfall that dumps straight onto the beach....
Did some hikes in Ecola St Park, and from there you can see Tillamook light, a mile offshore. It has a super creepy vibe to it, and those shiny things on the tide line, and even all the way up the stairs, are- I think- sea lions.
My son and I
Short Sand beach, took a few swims here, caught some waves but without a wetsuit, did not last long
Went clamming, went crabbing, had a blast, females:males were about 10:1 so we had to work to get our one keeper.
Anything trolled off the crab boat kept picking up juvenile salmon, so we packed that up pretty quick. The juvenile salmon were super abundant and held in water that did not overlap with SRC or sculpin. They each had their zone.
Earned Dad points on two ends, the old train ride for my youngest, and to later share pics with my old man who loves trains
One morning I fished the tide line and noted on the ebb the line came also close to shore and intersected with a back eddy beyond which all the weed and floating debris was accumulating. I tied a bastardized cross of zonker and soft hackle and bead head, in orange. Cast out and that first cast was hooked up with what is probably my personal best SRC, about 20 inches, fat, fast, full on runs and man, so fun. This wasn't into the backing or anything, but super fun for the fishing highlight of this trip. That same tide line vs eddy kicked out about 4 other decent fish before the tide fell still further and the fish moved on
Took the long road home, via Cape Disappointment, where Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific. Bluebell day for it, climbed the tower and was a mite bummed they moved the Fresnel elsewhere, but still, what a view....No disappointment from me this trip!
I wasn't expecting much by the way of fishing. In the past the lines of boats trolling kings up tide through the N rivers of Coastal Oregon just did not seem all that fun to me. So I stuck with mainly land based attempts. Last year I had tried surf perching. The beach was beautiful, the holes and troughs on the beach easy to find, though the fish were elsewhere. I did not even attempt it this time.
I decided to give the clam flats a try instead. Digging for clams, yes, but also fishing there. The first night I went out and fished a tide line on a bay and connected with six good SRC. I was surprised, this was over a mud sand mix and not at all the classic fish the cobble and oyster shells scenario of Puget Sound. (Plus over time, I am increasingly convinced the prevailing orthodoxy of only fishing over rocks and oystershells for SRC leaves a proverbial shit-ton of other uncrowded water for me to explore).
There was bait everywhere, as you waded through the sand, all manner of sculpin and minnows were racing off to avoid me. Boots would sink to about ankle deep in perfect clam water. It is a little disconcerting. Plus, beyond knee deep there were dungeness crabs. Lots of them, stay still too long and they check you out. Sometimes their claws would poke out from beneath a matt of green grass, waving around. Just the claws, you couldn't see the carapace. You had to keep moving a little when fishing the sand and mud. I returned near daily, fished the up and drop, trying to figure out which was better. When the tide was up I stuck to the points, when it fell I looked for the intersection of gullies and washes with current. Like Puget Sound, a walking paced-current was important. Sculpin loved the flat stillness, SRC did not.
You can't sneak away and fish all day though. We did a lot of hikes, sometimes they started out foggy. But then you would get a break in the clouds and fog to catch a glimpse of just stunning coast.
Some of the really popular sites, like Hug Point, you had to avoid on the weekend and find an AM low tide midweek just to find a park. And man was it worth it, just gorgeous, around the corner from here there's a shelf waterfall that dumps straight onto the beach....
Did some hikes in Ecola St Park, and from there you can see Tillamook light, a mile offshore. It has a super creepy vibe to it, and those shiny things on the tide line, and even all the way up the stairs, are- I think- sea lions.
My son and I
Short Sand beach, took a few swims here, caught some waves but without a wetsuit, did not last long
Went clamming, went crabbing, had a blast, females:males were about 10:1 so we had to work to get our one keeper.
Anything trolled off the crab boat kept picking up juvenile salmon, so we packed that up pretty quick. The juvenile salmon were super abundant and held in water that did not overlap with SRC or sculpin. They each had their zone.
Earned Dad points on two ends, the old train ride for my youngest, and to later share pics with my old man who loves trains
One morning I fished the tide line and noted on the ebb the line came also close to shore and intersected with a back eddy beyond which all the weed and floating debris was accumulating. I tied a bastardized cross of zonker and soft hackle and bead head, in orange. Cast out and that first cast was hooked up with what is probably my personal best SRC, about 20 inches, fat, fast, full on runs and man, so fun. This wasn't into the backing or anything, but super fun for the fishing highlight of this trip. That same tide line vs eddy kicked out about 4 other decent fish before the tide fell still further and the fish moved on
Took the long road home, via Cape Disappointment, where Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific. Bluebell day for it, climbed the tower and was a mite bummed they moved the Fresnel elsewhere, but still, what a view....No disappointment from me this trip!
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. Guess I gotta find one out here on the east coast, keep the dream alive.
