Oregon coast fishing offers many opportunities for ocean charters for bottom fish, salmon, halibut, tuna or salmon! River and bay fishing are other great choices for fishing opportunities on the Oregon Coast.

Salmon Fishing Oregon Coast

The Northern Oregon Coast region has long held some of the best Oregon coast salmon fishing, with many locations and opportunities for great Oregon salmon fishing. The Columbia River and Tillamook Rivers both offer salmon fishing experiences on the Oregon coast.

Salmon fishing on the Oregon coast via the Columbia River, just a few miles north of Seaside, offers excellent fishing opportunities in August near the Buoy 10 salmon fishery. A large number of charter boats are available for both river and ocean salmon trips throughout the season. A short drive south of Seaside, you can also experience salmon fishing in the Tillamook Bay area. Large numbers of chinook or king salmon are available.

Sturgeon Fishing

If you are looking for a larger prize, sturgeon fishing is very popular in the Columbia River as well. The record for sturgeon fishing weighed 900 pounds and was caught in The Dalles, Oregon. Oregon sturgeon that are 4 to 6 feet in length are allowed to be kept. Be sure to always check the regulations!

Sturgeon can live to be 100 years old. A female sturgeon takes at least 11 years to mature, males somewhat less. While the sturgeon fishing on the Columbia is usually quite good, sturgeon do not spawn every year. Spawning takes place during the spring and the fish prefer rocky or gravel bottoms. While the season can run from January to July, the best months for sturgeon fishing on the Columbia are May, June and July.

Trout Fishing

To continue the river fishing theme, trout fishing is very popular even in the smaller rivers. There are two types of steelhead fish that run in Oregon. They spend the winter in the freshwater stream or river before maturing and spawning in the spring. Then in summer, beginning in June, steelhead return to freshwater while still immature fish, usually one to three pounds. These summer steelheads typically attract fly-fisherman.

Winter steelheads, ranging from eight to fifteen pounds, return to freshwater sometime between December and April. Winter steelheads enter freshwater already in a state of maturity and are ready to spawn immediately. Trout fishing is one of the favorite pastimes of fisherman all around the United States. For those who are more interested in quantity than size, fly trout fishing does not currently seem to have a limit in Oregon.

The rivers up and down the Oregon coast are good for trout fishing. So bring your hip waders and your fly rods and enjoy.

Ocean Fishing

For the more adventurous souls, there are a number of ocean fishing opportunities among the Oregon coast fishing options. Chinook/king and coho/silver salmon fishing ocean trips are available through numerous charter companies.

You also have the opportunity to catch tuna, halibut, bottom fish and dungeness crab off the Oregon Coast as well during the appropriate ocean fishing seasons.

Ready to pack up and head out for your Oregon coast fishing trip? Be sure to check out season and licensing requirements by clicking here.