Oregon Anglers Get One More Day to Fish for Coho on Central Coast
OutdoorHub 09.19.12
Salmon anglers fishing in the ocean on the central Oregon coast will get one more day to fish for both wild and hatchery coho on Friday, Sept. 21. It will be closed on Thursday, Sept. 20, and Saturday, Sept. 22, the other two days scheduled as part of the final three-day opening.
“This has been another very successful September coho season off the central coast,” said Eric Schindler, supervising biologist for ocean salmon with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“The weather for this last open day is looking good and the fishing should still be very good. The best coho catches have been from Pacific City to Florence, but that is a bit deceiving as many anglers off Tillamook Bay, Winchester Bay, Charleston and Bandon were more focused on catching chinook.”
Anglers have caught all but 1,490 coho out of the quota of 11,800 coho for the popular non-selective coho salmon season on the central Oregon coast (from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain), which opened Sept. 1. Fisheries managers determined the remaining quota was enough for one more day of fishing so anglers may fish for non-selective coho on Friday, Sept. 21 only.
“There were not enough coho for more than one weekday of fishing or for Saturday,” said Schindler. “Fishery managers selected Friday as the best option for getting closest to the quota with minimal risk to going over.”
This is the second year in recent times of the September non-selective coho fishery on the central Oregon coast, where anglers can keep any legal sized coho they catch as part of their two-salmon limit.
Fishing for coho in the ocean off the Columbia River (from Leadbetter Point, Wash. to Cape Falcon) will continue until Sept. 30 or the 9,500 coho quota is reached, whichever comes first. This area opened up to non-selective coho fishing on Sept. 3.
On the central Oregon coast, anglers may still fish for Chinook salmon until Oct. 31.
