Coastal Oregon Fishing Report: Bottomfish, Halibut, and Spring Chinook Hotspots

Artificial Lure here with your Pacific Ocean, Oregon fishing report for Friday, May 30, 2025.

We kicked off the morning with classic coastal conditions—cool and a bit overcast, with a gentle northwest wind drifting over the water and air temps starting in the high 40s. Sunrise was at 5:32 a.m., and anglers have a solid fishing window with sunset holding off until 8:54 p.m. Tides at Pacific City ran high in the early hours (2:44 a.m., 8.1 ft), followed by a minus low at 10:17 a.m. (-1.7 ft), then climbing back to a 6.2 ft high at 4:56 p.m. That mid-morning incoming tide has been reliably sparking action along reefs, sandbars, and the halibut grounds, so timing your outing for those tide swings is a good bet today according to tides.net and Oregon State Parks tide tables.

Let’s dive into the action. Bottomfish are red hot right now from Depoe Bay to Newport. Boats are meeting their limits on rockfish—heavy bags of blacks, canaries, and blues, with plenty of fat lingcod finding their way to the filet tables. The halibut fishery, which opened May 1 statewide, is now in full swing. Newport saw catch rates pushing over one halibut per angler last week, with most folks heading home by noon. For bottomfish, root beer or motor oil pattern swimbaits, six-inch curlytail grubs, or strips of herring on a leadhead jig are the ticket. For halibut, you can’t beat a whole herring or a large squid bounced on a spreader bar about 400 feet down—keep it moving and keep the bait fresh for best results.

Salmon season is open as well, with the all-salmon-except-coho fishery running strong from Cape Falcon down to the California border. Chinook are the main target—expect a 24-inch minimum—or steelhead at over 20 inches. Angling pressure has picked up, especially on the more fishable days, but the overall catch rate is still holding at around 0.3 Chinook per angler out of Newport per the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. If you’re headed offshore, try trolling whole herring or anchovy behind a green or chartreuse flasher for Chinook when the ocean lays down.

For those looking to fish the jetties or bays, the North Jetty of Tillamook Bay is producing well for rockfish and kelp greenling, and lingcod are starting to show in better numbers as water temps settle. Tillamook Bay and the Nestucca estuary near Pacific City are your best bets for spring chinook this week, as low river flows are keeping fish in the bays and tidewaters.

Quick recap of today’s hot spots:
- Newport for halibut, rockfish, and steady salmon bites when the bar is open.
- The North Jetty of Tillamook Bay for shore-based rockfish and lingcod.
- Tillamook Bay and Nestucca estuary for spring chinook action.
- Depoe Bay boats are still finding the bottomfish and halibut if you want a mixed bag.

That’s your report for today. Thanks for tuning in to your Pacific Ocean, Oregon update—be sure to subscribe so you never miss a tide, a bite, or a hot spot! This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.