Tag: Gold Beach salmon fishing

Lingcod, rockfish biting as Spring arrives

BROOKINGS, Ore. (March 31, 2025) – The Oregon Coast has experienced a stormy, very wet and rainy winter and early spring, limiting the number of days boats can get offshore for lingcod and rockfish. But on calmer weather days between storms, fishing has been good, with limits of rockfish and lots of nice lingcod. Now that Spring has officially arrived, better weather is in the forecast. The second half of this coming week has the best weather forecast so far this year, with light winds, small swells, sunny weather – the making of what should be great fishing off the coast of Brookings.

A pair of nice lingcod from the Nauti-Lady in mid-March.

Our charter boats have seized the weather openings between storms to run trips, returning to port with nice limits of rockfish and plenty of lingcod. On calmer weather days, the lingcod fishing has been excellent. During big swells, rockfish are still eagerly biting, but lingcod have been tougher to come by.

Another limit of lingcod from the Nauti-Lady in March 2025.

Fishing on rocky reefs in shallow water, using light tackle, the rockfish action is often wide open this time of year. We are finding a mix of large black rockfish, blue and deacon rockfish, canaries, vermillion, China and an occasional copper rockfish. Lots of smaller rockfish are mixed in, but with the lighter tackle and shallower water, they are easy to release unharmed. April and May usually signals the start of the surface bite, where rockfish are caught just under the surface as they feed on freshly spawned baitfish and crab spawn.

Deckhand Eric holds a lingcod caught aboard the Nauti-Lady.

Lingcod also are still in shallow water after the winter spawn. Most of the lingcod caught on recent trips have been in 20 to 40 feet of water. Our boats have done best at House Rock and Mack Arch for lingcod, the typical destination of our six-hour long-range charters.

Pacific halibut season opens May 1, along with our trophy lingcod and rockfish season at the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse. This season, the Nauti-Lady, Miss Brooke and Kraken will be running trips to the lighthouse. While halibut is open May 1, the best fishing is from late June through September.

We will learn our 2025 ocean salmon dates for the Oregon Coast next week, after the Pacific Fishery Management Council sets ocean seasons for Oregon, California and Washington. Early indications show a mid-May through early June king salmon season, and early June through August hatchery coho season. The best coho action off of Brookings is mid to late June, when action is often wide open.

Spring king salmon caught on the lower Rogue River with Capt. Rye. April and May are prime time for Rogue springers.

Winter steelhead season closed March 31 on the Chetco and remains open through April on the Smith River. Our river guides are switching gears to the Rogue River for spring king salmon. Capt. Rye, Mick and Sam will be running trips from their jet boats for these hard-fighting, great-eating springer salmon. Call (541) 813-1082 to book a spring king salmon trip.

Ocean charters will run daily now through the early fall, weather permitting. Book online at www.brookingsfishing.com, or call our booking office at (541) 813-1082.

Here are some more recent catches from our ocean charters in March.

Ocean salmon seasons approved!

The ocean salmon season out of Brookings will run June 18-Aug. 21, with coho-only the first week, and king salmon opening June 25. The season is similar to last year’s ocean salmon fishery out of the Port of Brookings-Harbor.

Limits of coho salmon last summer aboard the Miss Brooke of Brookings Fishing Charters.

The season opens during the period when catches historically are at their peak, as king salmon from the Sacramento, Klamath, Smith, Rogue, Chetco and other rivers all congregate near Brookings to feast on anchovies, herring and other bait fish. Anglers will be allowed to fish seven days a week out of Brookings once the season opens, and keep two salmon per day. Wild or hatchery kings can be kept, along with hatchery coho salmon.

A nice load of king salmon caught aboard the Miss Brooke last summer.

Forecasts are good for this summer’s season, and early indications show there are lots of fish off of Brookings. Charter boats already are encountering big numbers of king salmon while running bottom fish trips out of Brookings. There is an abundance of bait within close range of the harbor, with massive schools of herring, smelt, needlefish and anchovies already here.

Federal biologists estimate there are 1.3 million hatchery coho and nearly 850,000 adult king salmon from the Sacramento, Rogue and Klamath rivers off the Southern Oregon and Northern California coast this year. The coho numbers are above average, while the Sacramento forecast also is high.

Coho salmon caught out of Brookings and headed to the grill.
The finished product, delicious coho salmon caught with Brookings Fishing Charters.

Last summer, the Brookings Fishing Charters fleet enjoyed impressive catch rates all salmon season, with lots of limits of coho and kings. Some days when the coho fishing was hot, boats returned early with full limits and released big numbers of wild coho. The kings fishing was good from the opening day into mid-July last summer.

Brookings Fishing Charters captains are the most experienced ocean salmon guides on the Southern Oregon Coast. Using fast, comfortable six-pack boats, they quickly get to the fishing grounds, and use downriggers or divers to get anchovies or herring in front of feeding salmon. All of the captains are year-round fishing guides on both the river and ocean and experts at catching salmon. Many of the Brookings Fishing Charters captains also have extensive Alaska salmon guiding experience.

Limits of kings and coho from the Miss Brooke last summer.
More Brookings limits. Our crew enjoys the highest catch rates of any charter on the Southern Oregon Coast. Capt. Michael, left, and Capt. Travis, right, are two of the very best!

Ocean salmon trips are $200 a person and include all bait and tackle. Trips are 6-8 hours. Catch rates are generally highest in June and July. To book a trip, click here.

A hefty king salmon caught aboard the Miss Brooke last summer.