Pacific City Dory Fishing Report

I don't know how fair this fishing report really is. I just got back from a week of fishing for Kings in Alaska, and it was good. So I’m definitely still riding that high. I had a dory trip already scheduled for right after I got back, so this was just going to be the icing on my cake. 

I met up with my good friend Rob from Connect Outfitters early on Monday morning for a trip. We hit the beach around 6:30 a.m.; the surf was calm, and it seemed like it was going to be good conditions to start. However, the forecast was for the ocean conditions to be deteriorating and to be really bad by the early afternoon. 

If you haven’t been dory fishing, you’ve got to do it. The fleet has been launching and fishing out of Kape Kiwanda for more than 100 years. This is one thing that is unique to Oregon: launching the boat on the beach and running out through the breakers.

Our plan was to focus on Lings and Rockfish. If the fishing was hot, maybe we would switch to Coho. The basic technique is to fish an 8wt or 9wt rod with a fast sink shooting head that’s 24-30’ long. We are typically fishing an array of weighted flies like clousers or other baitfish. And you’re trying to jig them close to the bottom. The best-case scenario is that the rockfish are on the surface, and you get to cast to them with a skater or a popper. 

Rob ran us out to one of the shallower reefs(we are looking for spots that are 40’-80’ deep). Rob set us on a line to drift down the reef, and we cast out our flies and started feeding our line. We made a pass and didn’t connect with any fish. We moved on to the next spot, and as we were pulling up to it, we could see fish rising everywhere. We started casting the floating lines, but as soon as we were in position, another boat drifted by us and ran right over the top of them, putting them down. 

We switched back to the sinking lines and were quickly into fish. We ended up catching quite a few big rockfish, a few lingcod, and a couple of big Cabezon. 

While we were out there we saw a whale surfacing and blowing about 50 yards away from us. Beyond the whale we saw a whole lot of wildlife,Seal lion pups on the rock, and all types of birds. 

The fishing will continue through September and it’s a good escape from the Portland heat. We had an awesome time and I can’t recommend it enough.