Yaquina Bay salmon fishing questions/help

[sapper77]

I've been hearing about people trolling along side the jetty in yaquina bay/newport for salmon. My father in law got a new boat and we would like to try this out. Should we use divers, flashers with plug cut herring and drop sinkers, down riggers, etc? Anyone with experience on how deep and what type of set up to use would be great to hear from. Thanks

Read More

 

[edslhead]

I've never heard of anybody doing any good in the bay nowadays. Since Ore Aqua closed up there in South Beach the salmon returns just aren't that many. The bar there is one of the easiest to cross so you might consider goin out if the seas aren't too bad. The fishin out is usually prey good. Not sure what size boat you got, but I have taken a 16 " open aluminum down as far as Seal Rocks with no problems ( on a very nice day). If you just want to stay in and crab n troll the depth will depend on the tide. 15' to 40'. Be aware of wing dams coming out off the jetties, can be underwater at high tides. They are up closer to the bridge. For the ocean we used banana weight then flasher, 3' leader, hocoochie n hook ( barbless) and a hearing chunk. Plastic worms on lead head jigs cast in towards the jetties and jigged back to ya might get a sea bass or a ling. Hope ya do good and have fun. They have a nice seafood store over in old town just in case.

 

[The Heretic]

There are rock fish of various types along the jetties but you will do better outside the jetties.

Do NOT try to navigate a boat on the north side of the north jetty - there are submerged rock pinnacles that stick up there (for a ways along the beach) and they can cause serious problems if you run into them.

Also, as mentioned, there are finger jetties sticking out of the south jetty into the channel that are submerged during lower tide.

I would recommend you stay away from the south beach too. I have rescued more than one person and seen another drown there in my time in the USCG at Newport.

In short, stay in the channel going out, go out further than the bar, do not come in on either beach side of either jetty. If in doubt, stop at the UCSG station there and they will steer you clear of hazards. If they see you in those hazardous areas they are likely to come warn you away. They may or may not come to get you if you go in on the north side of the north jetty due to the hazards of the pinnacles.

I would suggest not fishing between the jetties as you need to stay out of the way of traffic, which then puts you too close to either jetty. I have seen more than one boat go on the rocks because of these kinds of problems. Stay away from the ends of the jetties too.

If you want to fish in the bay, you might want to also try crabbing, but again, stay out of the main channel - people fishing or crabbing in the navigable channel have caused a LOT of problems - including one instance of a large freighter running into the CG docks to avoid a small pleasure craft - caused about $1M worth of damage (1979 IIRC) - I was there.

 

[edslhead]

Here's a page might help .

http://www.oregonfishinginfo.com/Yaqunia Bay 1.html

 

[jbett98]

Hire a fishing guide to show you the how and where to fish in that area.
It all looks like fun on a nice day, but the weather can change quickly and coupled with tidal changes it can be extremely tricky to stay out of trouble if you're new to that type of fishing.

 

[edslhead]

The store at the South Beach marina is a great place to get info. They run some charters and can tell ya current conditions and where to find the fish. At least they used to . I haven't had a boat there in quite a few years. When I did have my boat moored down there we'd always go in and ask Chris where the tuna or hallibut were and he'd be more than happy to let ya know.
He'd also let us know ya cant buy beer before 7 am