Pacific City Dory Report

This is the second week in a row during prime-time steelhead season that I’ve been at the coast, neglecting my steelhead fishing duties. Last week was for a good cause with Project Healing Waters, and this week was for a more selfish cause of dory fishing in the ocean with my good friends Rob Perkins and George Cook. 

Rob has been very booked, and I haven’t been able to fish with him for two years. It’s easy to understand why he’s so booked. He’s a great captain, knows where the fish are, and is extremely enjoyable to spend the day with on the boat. 

George and I met Rob the night before and went out for dinner to formulate a game plan for the next day. George has spent quite a few days recently fishing in Alaska doing the same thing, and he had his head set up catching as many Lingcod as possible. 

We met up early to get out on the ocean while the sea was still calm. If you haven’t been in a dory it’s quite a special thing. Dory fishing and launching from the beach is very localized to Pacific City and  Cape Kiwanda. For more than a century, these Dory fishermen have been launching from the beach and fishing these waters. The Dorymen meet up in the morning at the beach, getting ready to launch their boats in the surf. We get out into the ocean early; the seas are calm and flat. 

We head straight to the shelf with an arsenal of rods and high hopes for a great day of fishing. George is the Sage rep and never disappoints. He has a pile of rods rigged up with an assortment of different lines and flies. We set up for our first pass over the shelf and hook into a fish before long. This is just what we are looking for a big Blue Ling. This day is getting off to a great start. 

We end up hooking quite a few different species of fish, Lingcod and Greenlings, Cabazon, Black Rockfish, and more. 

If you haven’t been out and had the pleasure of launching from the beach, partaking in a unique Oregon tradition, and spending time in the open ocean, I suggest you do. I promise you won’t regret it. Unless you get sea sick then maybe…