Tag: Port of Brookings fishing report

Lighthouse trips a hit with customers

Brookings Fishing Charters’ new long-range trips to the historic Point St. George Lighthouse have been a hit with customers, who have caught trophy-size lingcod and rockfish in recent weeks while fishing at the extremely productive reef between Brookings and Crecent City.

Customers hold limits of lingcod caught aboard the Miss Brooke in mid-August 2020 near the Point St. George Reef lighthouse.

“This was one of my favorite saltwater trips ever!,” said customer Brent Foster. “Amazing fishing on a great boat with super captain and crew. Thanks Capt. Travis and Michael for a memorable day with Brookings Fishing Charters.

Capt. Michael holds a lingcod that hitchhiked to the surface on a smaller lingcod near the Point St. George Reef Lighthouse.

“That was a fabulous trip,” said Cole Tidwell. “Thank you for a great time.”

Cole Tidwell of Grants Pass, Ore., holds a trophy vermilion rockfish caught aboard the Miss Brooke.

The lighthouse is approximately 11 miles offshore of Brookings at the edge of the Point St. George Reef. The fishing there is unmatched compared to other local areas, with larger-than-average lingcod, canary rockfish, vermilion rockfish, cabezon and tiger rockfish. Lingcod to 20 pounds are common, and lings over 30 pounds are caught several times a season.

Miss Brooke customers hold limits of lingcod from the Point St. George Reef.

Brookings Fishing Charters is one of the Brookings-based charter companies licensed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to take customers to the reef. A pair of marine reserves border the area, but the open section has world class lingcod and rockfish action, comparable to the best Alaska has to offer. Currently, the Miss Brooke and The Dash have California permits for the lighthouse area.

One of the trophy lingcod caught in August by a Brookings Fishing Charters customer.

Trips to the lighthouse and reef originate in Brookings, but fish in California waters before returning to Oregon. Anglers must have a California and Oregon license for the trip. One-day licenses are available.

Dave Miller of Shady Cove, Ore., with a monster lighthouse lingcod.

The run to the lighthouse is fast and comfortable aboard Brookings Fishing Charters’ six-pack boats. Because only six passengers are fishing, anglers can focus on larger fish, carefully releasing smaller ones with descending devices. Brookings Fishing Charters’ crew also are experts at targeting lingcod, especially larger specimens, and consistently catch large lingcod and limits for the boat. Quality light tackle makes the trip even more exciting.

Don Williams of Brookings with his Point St. George trophy lingcod.
Capt. Michael holds a trophy lighthouse lingcod.
Big lingcod are common at the lighthouse.
Two lingcod caught on the same rod at the lighthouse.

Aside from the lighthouse trips, Brookings Fishing Charters ran several successful halibut charters the past week, with quality fish to 40 pounds. Halibut season remains open through October out of Brookings. It is the longest season for Pacific halibut outside of Alaska.

Capt. Mick and customers from The Dash with limits of Pacific halibut.
Capt. Michael holds a 40-pound Pacific halibut caught aboard the Miss Brooke.
A couple of Pacific halibut caught with Brookings Fishing Charters in August 2020.
Pacific halibut have been making Brookings Fishing Charters customers happy.
Capt. Travis with a tiger rockfish from the Point St. George Reef.
Capt. Andy with a large vermilion rockfish from the Point St. George Reef.
One of many tiger rockfish caught in August aboard the Miss Brooke.
Tiger rockfish are rare out of Brookings, but more abundant at the Point St. George Reef.
Dave Miller with a limit of dandy lingcod from the lighthouse.
The Miss Brooke arrives at the historic Point St. George Reef Lighthouse.
Fish on, calm water, in front of the lighthouse. It doesn’t get any better than that!

To book a trip, visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call (541) 813-1082.

Nice weather improves lingcod, rockfish action

After two weeks of extremely windy weather, the ocean calmed down this week, giving anglers a better shot at lingcod and rockfish. Salmon fishing, meanwhile, slowed after very good fishing the first two weeks of the season.

Nice salmon caught aboard the Miss Brooke in late June. After two weeks of hot fishing, the salmon action slowed over the long Fourth of July holiday in Brookings.

With the calm weather, our charters made it back to Mack Arch for the first time in a few weeks. The rockfish action has been wide open, with rockfish feeding on crab spawn near the surface, while some nice lingcod also have been caught. One of our customers, Julie from Shady Cove, Ore., caught an impressive 27-pound lingcod on July 6.

Julie Jackson holds a 27-pound lingcod caught July 6 aboard the Miss Brooke of Brookings Fishing Charters.

The lingcod and rockfish charters also are yielding lots of color. We are catching vermilion and canary rockfish, along with lunker-size black and blue rockfish. The rockfish action has been some of the best we’ve seen so far this season.

A beautiful vermilion rockfish caught on the guide sled with Capt. Andy.

Brookings had really good salmon fishing from the June 20 opener through the end of the month. But cooler water from strong winds and upwelling offshore pushed the schools of salmon away from the harbor. The water temperature dropped to 46 degrees. It is slowly warming this week, and bait is still thick, so we expect an improved salmon bite this weekend.

Anglers hold the results of a July 4 double-hookup on the Miss Brooke.

Salmon season runs through Aug. 7. The limit is two king salmon, hatchery or wild, a day, with a 24-inch minimum length. The kings are running large this year, with fish to 25 pounds or biggers.

Nice kings from July 3 on the Miss Brooke.

There are reports of albacore tuna off the Oregon Coast. Several boats plan to scout the tuna grounds this weekend. If they find them within 30 miles, we will soon offer tuna trips. A few Pacific halibut also were caught this week out of Brookings.

The average size of the salmon off of Brookings this year has been excellent.

During good weather days, we are offering afternoon bottom fishing charters, along with the normal morning charters. The afternoon trips are popular with families, or people traveling from the Rogue Valley who would rather drive over in the morning instead of the day before.

We have been catching a lot of canary rockfish on our 6-hour bottom fishing charters to the north of Brookings. The grade is excellent.

To book an ocean charter, visit www.brookingsfishing.com or call our booking office, 541-813-1082.