Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Pacific Ocean Oregon coastal report, from about Tillamook Head down through Newport.
We’re riding a mellow winter pattern offshore: the latest marine forecast from the National Weather Service out of Portland calls for light to moderate southerlies this weekend with building seas Sunday into Monday, so the *window* to get out is really today and early tomorrow before it gets snotty again. Nearshore in the morning you’ll find the fishable stuff—generally under 6 feet of swell early, then stacking up later in the day.
Tides are a bit soft but workable. For Newport’s Yaquina area, tide-forecast.com shows a pre-dawn high around 1:20 a.m. at about 6½ feet, dropping to a mid‑morning low near 5:45 a.m. around 4 feet, then building again mid‑day. Over at Nestucca Bay, Tides4Fishing has a high just after midnight around 6½ feet, a morning low near 1½ feet around 6:30 a.m., and another solid high just after lunch. That gives you two decent movement windows: first light on the outgoing, and the early afternoon flood.
Tides4Fishing also pegs sunup on this stretch right about 7:50 a.m. and sunset near 4:35 p.m., with best solunar activity centered around the midday tide. In plain terms: expect a slow first hour of gray light, then a good push late morning into early afternoon when that flood starts rolling.
Fish activity: bottom fish and crab are the headliners. Oregon Fish Reports notes charters still running rockfish, lingcod, and Dungeness trips Friday through Sunday, with consistent scores when the ocean lets them out. Fishing the North Coast’s recent coastal notes echo that—lingcod and mixed rockfish on the chew on any weather window, especially tight to structure.
Catch reports out of boats working out of Garibaldi, Depoe Bay, and Newport have been showing full limits of mixed rockfish with 1–3 lingcod per rod common on good days, plus solid pots of keeper Dungies, especially just ahead of the commercial opener on the north coast reported by ODFW for later in the month. That means crabbing pressure is about to spike up there, but right now the recreational gear is still doing very well.
Best offerings:
- For **lingcod**: big swimbaits in motor oil, root beer, or glow on 2–4 oz leadheads, and classic copper or chrome pipe jigs. Tip jigs with herring or squid strips if the bite is shy.
- For **rockfish**: smaller 3–5 inch grubs in white, chartreuse, or black, or shrimp flies above a weight. Fresh squid, sand shrimp, or a strip of herring on those flies will seal the deal.
- For **crab**: oily baits—turkey legs, fish carcasses, or mink if you can get it. Soak on the edges of the channels, 40–80 feet, and give them a full tide cycle if traffic is light.
Couple of hot spots to circle on your chart:
- **Stonewall Bank off Newport**: when the ocean is kind, this mid‑shelf structure is still kicking out quality lingcod and big blacks. Work the breaks, not just the top, and watch your drift—keep that jig in the rocks.
- **Garibaldi / Three Arch Rocks zone**: inside weather allows, the reefs and rockpiles off the Three Arch area have been steady for limits of mixed rockfish with a bonus ling or two. Launch out of Garibaldi and stay flexible; locals slide between nearshore humps and slightly deeper breaks until they mark fish.
Close‑to‑home quick hits: jetties at Newport and Barview are still worth a few casts on the top of the flood with 3–4 inch swimbaits for black rockfish. Just mind the swell—if it looks spooky, it is.
That’s the word from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next tide change.
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