Bottom fish inside yaquina?

[hrspowr]

All right... Time for my first post.

I have been crabbing Yaquina for several months now, and am doing fairly well. I want to start going after rockfish and perch, but I would not venture out on Blue in my 16 foot boat. I know people catch rockfish and such inside the jaws, but can't seem to find out where or the best rigs. Can anyone help? I hope to have a more seaworthy boat in the next year or so, but I can't wait that long!!

Help!!

[Sublime]

hmmmmmm, give us a story :tongue: , and we'll give you some info! :grin: :grin:


(welcome!)

[hrspowr]

Ok, How about an embarrasing, scarry one.

About three weeks ago a friend and I were trying to fish at what I think is the third finger past the bridge in Yaquina. We were anchored just off the channel, and decided to move to pull our crab pots. When I pulled on the achor line, it was stuck. Nothing we did would loosen it. Instead of just cutting the line (probably the smartest thing we could have done), we decided to motor up past the anchor and see if it would pull loose from the opposite direction. Well, long story short, I did not loosen the line from the cleat before starting to move. Of course the anchor would not give, but my 40 year old boat did. The guide at the bow the anchor line ran through ripped from the fiberglass. I killed the motor, but the tide was coming in at a pretty good clip. I had fastened the end of the line to a cleat on the side of the boat. As the slack come out of the line, things got a little hectic. The rope tore one of the rod holders out of the side of the boat, slipped underneath the tackle box, dumping everything out, and wrapped itself around one of the seats, which promptly broke loose from the floor knocking my buddy to his keister. This all happened in about 3 seconds! When the line came to the end of the slack, (remember where the end was tied?) the boat was pulled sideways in the channel, and came close to taking on water. Luckily I cut the line and we were free. Lesson learned. 5 years with the boat and you would think I would know better. I am just glad no one was watching. Would have made a great video though.

[puffins crew]

Welcome aboard!!



Peace, Tom

[Snapset]

Good story.
If the wind is out of the north, try drifting herring or Sassy Shad just inside of the tip of the North Jetty. Of course, only on a low slack or incoming tide with no breakers coming over the top. You will get Lings there. Try for the rockfish (seabass) in the kelp at the hump. I prefer Black 3" grubs. Slack tide is best for this fishing.

Fish around any of the fingers at night for lots of seabass.

[steelhooked]

just out of curiosity how do you rig for drifting herring?

[Chilly one]

Not to spoil the fish fun here, but remember: the end of the North Jetty will kill you!!!!! You need to only be there on certain conditions and certain times of the tide. This time of the year is a NO NO! Careful as the wave action is like a washing machine and then the swell carries to the south at unusual angles and can carry a long way across the channel. Don't turn your back on the oncoming ocean and don't ever go there in the dark. There is plenty of rock fish inside the bay, try some small jigs with rubber and different colors under different lighting. Lots 'o luck. "Happiness is a Bent Rod!" :grin:

[hrspowr]

I guess I am going to sound like the newbie that I am. Where is the "hump"?

[Simon Peter]

I've fished out of a 16' driftboat quite a bit around there and have caught fish all along the fingers and out to the end of the jetty.

I agree the N. Jetty is a killer. If you are fishing during the day, you can at least keep an eye on what is going on.

Here is something that is fun. Anchor anywhere from the Coast Guard Station down to Undersea Gardens. Just anchor there at night on an incoming tide and fish any sort of Sassy Shad, Twister-tail. There are colors that seem to work better, but always take along yellow, white, black and some sort of cafe/brown color.

Cast out into the incoming current and try a bunch of different types of retrieves. Sometimes a jigging motion works well or other wise I will just let it sink and then retreive.

Make sure you have plenty of light on board to keep from getting run over. There are some night operations for fishing boats at Newport. This will produce a ton of 1-2 lb bass.

Good luck!

[Fishmstr]

I used to fish the bay a lot for rockfish, but started venturing out of Depoe the past couple of years and got out of doing it (I have a 15' boat, but I choose my days).
I used to catch a ton of fish off the S. Jetty just West of the last finger jetty (the very short one that is only about 50-75 feet long). There are lots of very big boulders on that bank that extend out into the channel a ways.
I would just drift along there in my boat jigging 1 oz. Dart jigs in 10-20 feet of water. Absolutely lethal. I would drift until I found the school and then try and stay on top of them. A depth sounder really helps to find the fish. Use bass rods and 10-15 pound test...it is a blast. I've fished up and down all those jetty's and that 100-200 yard area is the best (West of the last Finger jetty). I would get limits almost every time I went, with the occasional keeper ling.
Good luck.
steve

[rustyl]

I went to Yaquina bay with my boat for the first time last weekend, and noticed all the fish on the fish finder but I was too preoccupied by crabbing.

How close do you guys get to the jetty rocks when targeting rock fish?

... and I was also wondering what the "hump" is?

I am really looking forward to another trip to one of the bays. I always thought saltwater fishing was more interesting.

[KChookem]

The "Hump" is the noticeable "bulge" in the Jetty wall/rocks about half-way down the North Jetty. There is a deeper hole just off the Hump, but it can suddenly get very shallow as you move in next to the Hump and the Jetty (like boulders that can get your prop).

Both the North and South Jetties can be good. Both Jetties have submerged jetty rocks off the tips which can be hazardous. The North Jetty also has submerged rocks, on the "inside" of the tip, that you have to steer clear of if you are drifting along on an outgoing tide.

There is a Reef that runs north-south just off the tips, and the one that runs north can suddenly become very shallow - I no longer try to fish that reef, because the ocean swell can suddenly rise up as it pushes against the shallow reef.

[Tongass2004]

Echo that. The hump is where the old jetty got blown away by winter storms and the rocks got kind of distributed in the area. We used to catch good seabass right off the shelf when the tide was out (west end), but it's not like it used to be. The end of the current jetty was knocked over back when that Japanese ship capsized out there (visible north of the jetty at low tides, sometimes.) There are still some loose wash rocks to watch for, so don't trend too close to the tip and watch those sneakers from the NW.

Brian

[CAPT KUJO]

Staying away from the Tip of the North Jetty is GREAT ADVICE...I'd take it. Plenty of other spots safer to fish there. Tight lines!!

CAPT KUJO

[Steelhead Hound]

I'm with Kujo. The only time I do it is in the summer. But when I'm out there the ocean is calm enough to just go to deeper water. Seal Rock.