Late Summer on the Wild Oregon Coast

Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure checking in with your August 24th Pacific Ocean Oregon fishing report—a true taste of late summer on our wild coast.

Out on the salt this morning, we’re seeing classic Oregon weather: cool in the low 50s early, reaching up into the high 60s as the fog burns off. Winds are coming northwest, steady at 15 to 25 knots, so be ready for some chop out there and waves running 6 to 8 feet, according to the Ocean Prediction Center. Plan carefully and stay alert, especially on the open water.

Sunrise hit the horizon at 6:23am and today’s sunset falls at 8:07pm, giving us a broad window for long sets or a lazy late bite. Tides are moderate, with a negative low around 8:20am and a decent high at 2:25pm according to Surfline’s Pacific City tide chart, making that mid-morning to early afternoon switch prime time for bottom bouncers and jetty wranglers.

Let’s get to the action: Bottom fishing has carried the weekend. Dockside Charters out of Depoe Bay reported the rockfish bite improved over the last couple of days, producing mixed bags—lots of black rockfish and a sprinkle of canaries if you pick through. Lingcod are finally snapping with purpose again; one boat came home with 8 lings and there’s been steady chatter about some over the slot size. If you stay grinding on the reefs or closer rock piles, you’ll pull fish, but you’ve got to work for them.

Offshore, salmon fishing slowed right down yesterday. A few boats cut trips short and switched to bottom drops after fighting wind and waves. Remember, the last day for summer salmon is today; the season reopens September 1st. Not much on the silver front, but a couple wild chinook have shown, mostly on the troll with white hoochies or chartreuse flashers behind a deep diver.

Halibut is fair—nothing lights-out, but boats prowling the deep water, especially those running past 200 feet, have found a few slabs willing to eat herring or large glow grubs on dropper loops. Albacore tuna are around, but most charters report you’ve got to make a long run to find them, and the weather’s been bumpy.

Crabbing remains solid—pots dropped in 30 to 50 feet are coming up stuffed near every port north and south, and Dungeness are full and strong, making for a great bonus after a tough fish day.

Best bets for lures and bait:
- For lingcod, stick with large white swimbaits, blue-and-white jigs, and fresh-cut herring if you’ve got it.
- Rockfish are taking shrimp flies, metallic spoons, and curly tail grubs in root beer or motor oil colors.
- Halibut hunters should drop their biggest glow grubs or soaked herring on heavy gear out beyond 200, especially off rocky structure.
- Until today’s salmon close, chartreuse hoochies and anchovy baits are your best friend.
- Tuna chasers: cedar plugs and purple-feathered jigs trolled in our usual late-summer temperature breaks out 30+ miles.

Hot spots to try:
- Depoe Bay reefs just north and south of the harbor are producing numbers.
- Pacific City’s nearshore rockpiles always seem to hold a few bonus lings.
- If the wind gives you a break, the nearshore halibut bite outside of Newport can be sneaky good with the right tide swing.

Bring a rain shell, check your bar crossing times, and mind those wind forecasts—August on the Oregon coast is about patience and flexibility.

Thanks for tuning in to your local fishing update with Artificial Lure. Don’t forget to subscribe for more daily reports and fish tales. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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