Species: Copper Rockfish (Sebastus caurinus) Location: Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR Date: March 24, 2016 If you’ve never been on the open ocean on a small boat intended for use in the lake, then you haven’t lived. My first trip was on a 17-foot Bayliner with high gunwales out of the Port of Brookings-Habor. It was a little rough,…
Species: Brown Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus spinosus) Location: Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR Date: July 22, 2015 This fish frustrates me for a number of reasons. After returning home from my trip to Washington D.C., I landed in Portland, and my brother Gabe picked me up. I stayed with him in Corvallis and convinced him to come fishing with me…
Species: Widow Rockfish (Sebastes entomelas) Location: Off the coast of Depoe Bay, OR Date: December 18, 2014 I wrote about this in my January 30, 2015 column in the Herald and News. Read it below: In 1988, the United States government outlawed the production and sale of three-wheeled ATVs, commonly known as “three-wheelers,” because the third…
Species: Grass Rockfish (Sebastes rastrelliger) Location: Mill Beach, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: July 14, 2012 Over the years, I’ve been admittedly quite blessed when it comes to fishing. I’ve captured rare species, rare color morphs, rare body types, and frankly, I can’t complain. One such catch was a Grass Rockfish, and I caught it on a trip…
Species: Canary Rockfish (Sebastes pinnager) Location: Off the coast of Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 15, 2010 Many people experiment with drugs in college. Don’t spit out your coffee, but I was one of them. I experimented with Dramamine in the fall of 2010, and it wasn’t bad. If you were looking for more dirt, that’s the end of…
Species: Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) Location: Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA Date: March 24, 2010 During college, trips to the coast were a somewhat regular occurrence for Ben Blanchard and myself. But when our other friend Christopher Puckett decided to go as well, we were pleasantly surprised. Christopher is a good friend, but he was never really…
Species: Yellowtail Rockfish (Sebastes flavidus) Location: Brookings-Harbor Coastline, OR Date: September 10, 2009 Good and bad often go hand-in-hand. This was one of those days. In less than 12 hours, I landed 26 fish representing 11 species (six of them new). Since this series on my blog showcases a story for each individual species, I was presented with a…
Species: Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) Location: Brookings Coastline, OR Date: May 26, 2005 It had started the day before. My first time on the ocean, I rode out in a small Bayliner in the afternoon. The handful of students and three chaperones who decided to brave the afternoon waves thought it would be worth it. The newness of the experience…
Species: Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinis) Location: Brookings Coastline, OR Date: May 26, 2005 This part of the trip was uneventful. After catching several of the larger Black Rockfish, I pulled up a much smaller fish with a bluish tint and faint stripes on its face. I was told “That’s just a small blue,” and I should “throw it back.”…
Species: Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops) Location: Brookings Coastline, OR Date: May 25, 2005 Elementary school was terrible, junior high was better, and high school was all right. As a freshman, I was awkward in the way most freshman are, but I was also extra awkward in my own, special way. I’m not sure I really knew what I wanted,…
