Anyone need some Herring?

[Matt H.]

Just got back from jigging Herring this afternoon (Sunday the 17th). I heard there was going to be a Herring shortage this year, so I decided to catch some extra for some folks here.

I still have around 40 or so in my cooler. If anyone is interested in grabbing a dozen or so, give me a call at 503-649-0708. First come first serve.

[Captain and Marie]

Hey Matt,

Where were you jigging?

I heard the herring are coming in down at Newport.

I want to give it a try again.

Marie @ TBC

[Matt H.]

Marie, Newport is the place =). We caught most of ours just across from the coast guard station.

The hot jig seemed to be this one that had a glow in the dark bead along the head.

Oh, and someone already came over and got all of the extra herring I had.. sorry folks.

[hound]

hi marie

the wife and i we're at newport yesterday..
we got 2 limits in a couple hours down by the big green tank in that little cove there...

mike

[Captain and Marie]

I fished hard at the GREEN tank last year and got

zero ! Nata !

Maybe better luck this year!

I used the glow in the dark herring jigs and got

not a single bite! I fished until dark!!!

:-(

Marie

[StreamSide]

Hey Matt,

Thanks much for fishies :smile:
Their all vac-packed and freezen!

John

[Pilar]

'Puffin' reports herring as many as you want between the concrete ship and the green tank.

He went Saturday and Sunday.

BTW the fresh bait was tested under the Sellwood bridge and bagged a nice springer Sunday.

[Matt H.]

Steve, we fished the incoming tide.

John, no problem =). Hope you have good luck with them.

Matt

[mirage]

Two of us :cool: fished high tide at jetty fingers, using sand shrimp, and herring hunks-no lings but plenty of perch, sea trout and rock cod. Limits on herring near coast guard station and canneries. Ling should be there too.

[Steve]

Any particular part of the tide? I saw the boats as I was headed steelhead fishing on the Siletz. Should have gone to the bay..... Steve. Did anyone take some of the fresh herring down by the jetty's???? should be a gimme on Lings now...

[moman]

I was at Newport this weekend and the water pump on the motor went out Saturday morning as we left for crabbing. It didn't matter. We were limited to the crabbing dock at the Embarcadero and we pulled out around 6 dozen herring in 20 minutes right at the dock. If they are there, they're likely everwhere. Oh, yeah, we got crabs as well as one native on the Siletz town drift.

[Bait O' Eggs]

Giz - I got the vac packer, you just come on by and my cut will be just like always 90/10, I forget who gets the 10 and who gets the 90, but my pile is bigger, that part I remember very clear. :grin:

If you want to vac pac them, let me know.

[Johnson_Bar]

Is everyone jigging for herring from the dock or froma boat? Anything a person needs to know that has never done it before? If the fishing is good I might be persuaded to trade some herring for information, let me know

[Matt H.]

Bill,

I fished from a boat, but saw plenty of folks bringin in lots of herring from the docks on both sides of the river.

Heck, you could probably catch them just about any old place, I imagine =).

[Johnson_Bar]

Thanks for the info, where do you launch from when you go for the herring, is it there alot of boats doing it? Is it pretty obvious on how to do it?

[Matt H.]

Bill,

We launched from the boat landing on the south side.. like you were going to the Mark O. Hatfield marine science center. The boat launch and marina is just on the other side of the Rogue Ale brewery, ya cant miss it.

Just pick up a few herring rigs, some 1 ounce leads, a cooler and you are all set. I used a herring rig with 6 jigs that had a glow in the dark bead on them. I routinely pulled up 6 at a time with it.

Technique that worked for me was simply to cast out and let your lead hit bottom, then slowly reel in. Half the time you are catching fish before you even begin to reel in =).

Have fun and good luck.

Matt

[Johnson_Bar]

Thanks Matt, I appreciate the info, I think we'll give it a try this weekend, sounds like alot of fun

[Nanook]

We can vacumm pack here too Giz for a small cut. I can count better than BOE anyway. :grin:

[mirage]

Newport this weekend, Fri. thru Sun is having it's 25th annual Seafood and Wine Festival at South Beach boat ramp. Trailer parking will be limited. Sat. will be very busy with lots of happy people in town. Go Early.

[Bait O' Eggs]

To late ****** :grin: I already got all of them in my freezer, er, ah, .. I mean giz gave them to me to vac pac and with the shortage of herring I got mugged on the way home. I dont have any herring now. :wink:

Maybe I can give Giz smelt back, I doubt he would know the difference. :wink:

Bill - when you get a herring on, dont reel in right away, you are in the zone, give it a minute for the other 5 jigs to hook up, so you bring up a whole string at a time. :grin:

[Joe]

What is the best way to handle fresh herring in preparation for freezing? Are they as good frozen as the commercially starved ones?

[Hookset]

I'd like to know how the commercial outfits package herring to keep the scales on. My guess is they apply a anesthetic in the water, then place them on trays for a quick freeze, then vacuum pack or regular pack the herring. Keeping the scales on the herring is important and I doubt jigging and vacuum packing keeps the herring in good shape for salmon.

I've thought about flash freezing before vacuum packing. Place plastic wrap on some trays, lay out the herring in singles and freeze. After herring are frozen, vacuum pack to keep bait from burning. You end up with a better bait this way. I've also seen Gene at Tackle Time spray water on the bait after freezing on trays, they called this flash freezing. I certainly would think the bait would fish better prepared this way.

[Gizmo Man]

After fishing the Sieltz with Scott Kappas and Guide Grant Scheele, Scott and I ran down to Newport and got about 18#'s of herring jigging from the dock next to Mo's annex. At times we had from 4 to 6 on at a time. It went dead just after the tide started to go out. Guess we hit it just right.

Now does anyone have a good way to put them up so they are fresh for fishing...I do not have a vacumm packer.

Giz..

[fishchaser]

How's the bait fishing Giz. I want to go down this weekend maybe. Not sure what's going on yet. I know I'm fishing Sellwood tomorrow. I NEED BAIT THOUGH. :whazzup:

[David Johnson]

Commercial herring are starved for about three weeks in pens before they are killed and then placed on the trays for freezing.

When a fish is starved it's body will start to
re-absorbe it's fat and then it's scales. That is why commercial herring are so much firmer and all the scales are so nice.

[scrod]

Does anyone soak the fresh herring in brine before freezing?