Finfish

Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus

Bizarre mottled sculpin; thick tail yields sweet, lobster-like meat. Yaquina jetties.

Jan 1 – Dec 31

Lepidopsetta bilineata

Third pillar of Oregon's premium estuary flatfish: thick, firm, sweet. Yaquina flats.

Jan 1 – Dec 31

Hexagrammos stelleri

Delicate flaky white fillet. Dominates North Coast estuaries: Yaquina jetties, kelp.

Jan 1 – Dec 31

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

The king, Oregon's essential fish. Chrome-bright and fat as it stages in the bays each fall, before it darkens and ripens upriver to spawn.

The fall run pushes into tidewater on the big autumn tides and the first freshets.

Aug 1 – Nov 30 · peak Sep–Oct

Sebastes melanops

The nearshore staple: schooling black rockfish off every jetty and rocky point, good eating and reliable whenever the ocean lays down.

Any calm-water day on rocky structure; fish the jetties and reefs on a low swell.

Jan 1 – Dec 31

Scorpaenichthys marmoratus

A big, mottled sculpin of the jetties and tidepools; homely, but the thick blue-green flesh cooks up firm, white, and prized.

Low tide on rocky structure; ambush fish holding tight to the rocks.

Jan 1 – Dec 31

Ophiodon elongatus

The jetty prize: firm, sweet, white meat and a mouthful of teeth. Males move shallow to guard nests through the cold months, within reach of the rocks.

A calm, low ocean over rocky structure; best when winter–spring fish hold shallow.

Jan 1 – Dec 31 · peak Dec–Apr

Amphistichus rhodoterus

The beach fish: no boat, no jetty, just a rod in the surf. Bears live young, and gathers thick into the wash to do it through late spring and summer.

Read the beach for troughs and cuts; fish the incoming tide into the inner bar.

Jan 1 – Dec 31 · peak Apr–Jul

Prosopium williamsoni

Overlooked but rich, sweet, oily white meat, a smoker's fish. Sandy & Columbia.

Cold, clear winter flows.

Dec 1 – Mar 31 · peak Dec–Jan

Thaleichthys pacificus

Oily smelt that runs the Sandy River in late winter. A dip-net frenzy: one good day.

ODFW announces a one-day (or short) opener on the Sandy when the run arrives.

Jan 15 – Apr 15 · peak Feb–Mar

Acipenser medirostris

Olive body with a dark belly stripe, 23–30 sharp scutes. Commingles with white sturgeon.

Protected· Protected: release