Saturday Pacific Ocean Fishing Report: Tides, Limits, and Bountiful Bites

Artificial Lure here with your Pacific Ocean, Oregon fishing report for Saturday, August 16, 2025.

We’re greeted by spectacular summer conditions this morning. As the sun rises over the coast at 6:19AM and sets tonight at 8:19PM, it’s prime time to hit the water around places like Newport, Pacific City, and Tillamook Bay. The air’s crisp and the swells have mellowed, making for smooth launches and good visibility through most of the day.

Let’s look at the tides: At Taft, Siletz Bay, you’ll catch a low tide at 1:10AM (0.3 feet) and another low at 12:21PM (2.21 feet), with high tides at 7:11AM (4.38 feet) and a robust evening push at 6:27PM (6.78 feet). These bigger evening tides should churn up bait, boosting the late-day bite.

Fish activity has been lively through August. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, July’s sunshine roused the bite—over 80 metric tons of black rockfish were brought in, peaking mid-month. This week, limits have shifted: starting Monday, August 18, the general marine species daily bag limit drops to four fish, but the one-fish limit for cabezon and canary rockfish remains, and quillback and yelloweye rockfish are still off-limits. Be sure to count your catch as quotas tighten.

Salmon anglers, take note: Ocean sport salmon closes August 19 in the Columbia River Subarea, but fin-clipped coho action is still open from Cape Falcon down to the California border through August 24—or until quotas are hit. The projected tally for marked coho near Cape Falcon is just shy of the season quota, so get out before it’s gone. Most recent counts suggest nearly 49,000 fin-clipped coho will be landed by closing, so don't miss your last chance for a solid silver.

Bait reports say mackerel and shrimp are bringing steady results for bottom fish. Refresh your offerings every 20 minutes for best odds. For rockfish and lingcod, shrimp flies, bars, jigs, and cut baits are reliable—try to mimic the look and scent of local prey. Sablefish are on a separate 10-fish bag limit, and those deeper drops can produce some hefty dinners.

For those casting for bass in brackish or freshwater pockets nearby, topwater frogs, diving crankbaits, and finesse worms are pulling hawgs. The Strike King medium diving crank, Missile Baits worms in Junebug Dream, and classic soft stickbaits like Berkley PowerBait MaxScent are winning local anglers consistent strikes. If you’re chasing halibut, cut herring or squid, drifted near structure during twilight, will draw big bites.

Hot spots today:
- Pacific City’s reef zones, especially around Nestucca Bay entrance, are productive at dawn and dusk. The morning high tide should activate the bite for rockfish, lings, and greenling.
- Newport jetties and close offshore reefs remain reliable for mixed bags—especially as evening tide pushes in baitfish.
- Tillamook Bay’s mouth at slack tide or the early outgoing is worth a shot for coho, chinook, and big rockfish.

Remember to refresh bait often, work the current seams, and keep casts short when conditions get windy. Lighter tackle is best for shallow rocky reefs, but pack some heavier jigs for deeper structure.

Thanks for tuning in to this update. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite! This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn