Late Spring Fishing on the Oregon Coast: Chinook, Halibut, and Rockfish Bites

Artificial Lure here with your Pacific Ocean, Oregon fishing report for Monday, May 26, 2025.

The Pacific is waking up to a classic late spring day. Sunrise was just after 5:30 AM with sunset expected around 8:45 PM. Morning conditions were cool and cloudy with light winds, and the forecast calls for scattered clouds clearing in the afternoon. We’ve had some rain over the past week, cooling water temperatures and keeping fish active closer to the surface.

Tide-wise, we’re in the midst of a moderate swing today, with a morning incoming tide peaking mid-morning and the outgoing running through the afternoon. These current transitions have been key for dialing in bites near the jetties and inshore reefs.

Chinook salmon season is open from Cape Falcon to the Oregon-California border, but last week’s rough weather limited most angling to Thursday and Friday. Newport saw the most action with roughly 0.3 Chinook per angler, and Depoe Bay and Charleston lagged behind due to low effort and tough conditions. Coho is still off-limits, so it’s all about the Chinook and the occasional steelhead, which must be 20 inches or longer to keep. Most productive lures have been green label herring trolled behind a flasher or hoochies in chartreuse and pink, working best around 40 to 80 feet down over deeper water[1].

Halibut opened May 1 and the central and southern coast is now open daily at all depths. Newport stands out again, with just over one halibut per angler on the best days last week. The most effective setups have been heavy jigs like Norwegian-style metals up to 16 ounces, paired with a chunk of herring or squid. Try to hit the deeper reefs in 150 to 250 feet just off the Newport and Depoe Bay bars for your best shot[1].

Closer to shore, North Jetty at Tillamook Bay is seeing an uptick in rockfish, kelp greenling, and some early season lingcod. Soft plastic swimbaits in white and root beer, as well as shrimp-tipped jigs, are fooling the most fish right now[2]. Bays and tidewaters like Tillamook and Nestucca are holding spring Chinook, which are slow to fair, but any push of rain or a strong high tide brings in fresh fish. Trolling spinners with a small herring strip or drifting eggs has been the winning ticket here.

Latest reports show that trout are still active in coastal lakes if you want a break from the salt, with best action during the cloud cover periods[2].

Top hotspots for today: Newport for halibut and Chinook, North Jetty at Barview/Tillamook Bay for mixed rockfish and possible lingcod, and the mouth of Nestucca Bay for spring Chinook.

That’s the word from the water. Good luck out there and tight lines.