I’m long overdue for a recap on this years dory season. Leading up to the season there was great anticipation for the rockfish and Coho salmon seasons, that were forecast to be some of the best numbers we’ve seen in recent years. We all know there are times when the forecast don’t hold up to the actual run. This year however was not one of those years.
The fly above is a great example of how the Coho season went. There were many times we experienced wide open fishing with multiple double hook-ups. The diversity and amount of food sources for the salmon was incredible. We saw salmon feeding off of crab larvae, squid and large herring among many other forms of bait. On many occasions we would bring in a salmon that had just fed off of some large herring only to have it attack our 4-5″ fly. This was easy to confirm as the herring would still be hanging out of the mouth of the salmon.
It wasn’t just the salmon that were in good numbers and healthy due to the amount of bait. We experienced excellent rockfish and lingcod fishing on the fly as well. The rockfish were found anywhere from the surface to 30-40′ deep. This year we had a good number of days where we were able to throw poppers to rockfish crashing the surface. Catching 4-6 lb. Black Rockfish on poppers is just incredible.
They’re not on the surface but if your willing to work some big jig flies deep the lingcod and cabezon fishing was great as well. These fish are predators and pull hard!
It was an amazing season on the salt out of Pacific City. It’s just awesome to be able to fly fish from the dory for a variety of gamefish off the Oregon Coast. I’m thankful for this incredible fishery and the awesome people I’m able to share it with each year. I’m already booking for ’23 so get on the list before it’s too late.
