How to fish Tillamook Bay for rock fish

Gorton · 02-22-2004, 07:24 AM

I am new to ifish, and want to know what is the best way to fish Tillamook Bay. I have a small boat, so I doubt I will be going out into the ocean. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

A new guy

Mr. Fisherman · 02-23-2004, 04:57 AM

The best rock fishing I have had in T-Bay is from the Jetty on the rocks. We used to have an annual night fishing party out there.
Good times but be careful. When the tide goes out those rocks are very slick.
Good luck....

Abalone · 02-23-2004, 06:19 AM

You would think that there are lots of fish at the Jetty at Bar View and you'd be right. There are lots of ling and lot of other fishy's. The challenge is in Catching them. So how do you you might ask ?

I saw a boat last year < or was it the year before > using trout gear on the South Jetty. They were catching little fish such as small bass and bull heads and maybe little perch. They put these little critters in a live tank. I wondered ? Why are they doing that. Well a couple hours later they were on the South side of the North jetty catching some nice lings. Live Bait that's how. I have been diving on that jetty and there are lots of lings. Got to get them out of the rocks somehow.

Too many people cast too far out and catch nothing but rocks. Rubber worms work great if the bass are schooling up and down the jetty.

I used to see these guys walking down from the Jetty all the time with large stringers of Kelp Ling.
Wondered how they did it when no one else was catching fish ?

Simple: Use a long pole and heavy leader and poke a long stout rod down between the rocks using
Kelp worms, Sand shrimp or what ever favorite bait you have. That's called Poke fishing and it works well. You can use a long broom handle instead of a pole with 40 # mono and a single hook. The leader only needs to be Fourteen inches long or less.

there are lots of other tricks but you just have to figure them out.

The Jetty has large rocks and they form caves, holes etc. that fish hide in way down inside the jetty were regular gear won't reach. A long rod or pole shoved down inside the rocks can get to them.

goodie · 02-23-2004, 08:55 AM

Is a kelp ling the same as a ling cod?

Abalone · 02-23-2004, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by goodie:
Is a kelp ling the same as a ling cod?

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">You would have to ask ! I have heard these fish called everything but Bad to eat.
But if you want to get technical here you go. Rock Greenling or Kelp Greenling

Not to confuse but I hear people calling Lingcod Greenling all the time because some Lings have green or blue colored meat. And of course I expect to get a lot of Flack over this too but
as far as I know the meat is green because of their Diet.

[ 02-23-2004, 10:17 AM: Message edited by: Abalone ]

Abalone · 02-23-2004, 12:15 PM

Some how I knew I would hear from you Dan. Yepper people don't get to technical when they are talking bout Rock fish. There are more species out there then some people realize. I have caught Vemillians up in Canada. They look like yellows eyes
in every respect except the color is really Dark and I would have to say they are
better eating then anything that swims in the Ocean in these parts.

Sea Trout is what we used to call them but then someone would think you were talking about a Sea Run Cutthroat. I have seen that argument too.

Abalone · 02-23-2004, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Abalone:
Some how I knew I would hear from you Dan. Yepper people don't get to technical when they are talking bout Rock fish. There are more species out there then some people realize. I have caught Vemillians up in Canada. They look like yellows eyes
in every respect except the color is really Dark and I would have to say they are
better eating then anything that swims in the Ocean in these parts.

Sea Trout is what we used to call them but then someone would think you were talking about a Sea Run Cutthroat. I have seen that argument too.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">Have you ever tried Poke fishing Dan ?
It works at low tide around the rockie beaches too.

One of these days I will post a picture of my other boat. The other Black Rocket.

I own a Sixteen foot inflatable and have crossed every estuary between Newport and Astoria except the Necanicum. Don't know if it's do able or not. And I have launched at many Beach's. I like to fish real close in. Sometime less then 100 ft. from shore. I have fished a lot of the area around Depoe Bay in the past. I spend more time up at Nehalem bay and Cascade head.

The one bay I will never cross again is Netarts. I have crossed the surf I don't know how many times and only lost it once and that was at Sand lake in the surf coming in from a Dive. Lesson learned now I have a bigger boat.

Wet Suits and life jackets must be worn and a VHF among other things.
Basically if the Waves are over Six foot or the Seas are over 2ft. I am staying home.

Fish_N_Russ · 02-23-2004, 04:01 PM

another thing that works good for greenling and other little fishies that hide in the rocks, is a bobber and bait. Use about a 4-5' leader and cast just off the edge of the rock jetty (where you can see the rocks end underwater). As long as the tide isnt ripping, your bait will slowly suspend along and many times the fish will dart out of the rocks and take your bait.

Sublime · 02-23-2004, 08:20 PM

I heard that the meat turns green when they diet consists of mostly shelfish

Barviewrocks · 02-23-2004, 09:40 PM

Poke fishing eh? I have always wanted to try that since I read an old Sunset Magazine article about people doing it in Hawaii. I will give it a try sometime and post results. Now to find a long piece of bamboo pole :smile:

Born to be Wild · 02-23-2004, 11:54 PM

Abalone,

They have not been able to identify what makes the meat green, blue or geenish blue at this time.

Yes I have heard the same ling's called green ling that can make things a bit confusing.

I once had an angler tell me some 15 years ago that he caught a 16# greenling.
I said no way, they only get a bout 4 pounds or so!

Well, finally figured out he was talking about a green lingcod.

Greenling are more often called "seatrout" on the Oregon coast and ocassionally but not often they also can have a green tinted meat.

Cabezon quite frequently have the geenish meat.

And then we usually call the black rockfish and sometimes blue rockfish; "seabass"! :grin:

And then some have a tendecy to call a canary or yelloweye or vermillion rockfish a snapper or red snapper! :whazzup: :grin:

And then there are the "pogies"...

Dano

goodie · 02-24-2004, 09:09 AM

Thanks for the clarification, I really appreciate it. Are there any squid caught in Tillamook bay?

Gorton · 02-24-2004, 03:52 PM

Thanks for the inormation you all.
I appreciate it.

Lepper · 02-24-2004, 04:58 PM

so by the wording..

size limit 12"

that mean they can't be over 12? or they have to be over 12??

d

Fish_N_Russ · 02-24-2004, 07:47 PM

actually in OR the min length on greenling is 10".......and you can only catch 10 rockfish in aggregate not 10 greenling. Don't know where those regs Abalone posted came from

Fish_N_Russ · 02-24-2004, 11:11 PM

squids are open ocean critters... :grin:

Abalone · 02-28-2004, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fish_N_Russ:
actually in OR the min length on greenling is 10".......and you can only catch 10 rockfish in aggregate not 10 greenling. Don't know where those regs Abalone posted came from

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">That's a good point Fish_N_Russ: I should have paid more attention to that. I went back and looked
at the source of that Picture and it's from a California Website. I was only trying to illustrate what fish I was talking about and should have deleted that Text.

I rarely kill one of these fish unless it is very large. Besides being so pretty they don't fittet out much meat if they are small. But there are tons of them on the jetty if you know how to catch em.