Dory Season Winding Down but fishing is still hot

The Dory  Gold Comet slides off the trailer on 21 september, 2016.

The Dory Gold Comet slides off the trailer on 21 september, 2016.

The only reason(s) the dory season out of Pacific City is tapering off (are)

1.  too many days with rough seas

2.  too many people booking salmon trips in the river

The seas were supposed to be rough this morning, but after meeting John Harrell for coffee, we drove down to Cape Kiwanda to see what the real conditions were – compared to the forecast.

“Let’s go fishing” John said as we sat in his white suburban on the beach watching the surf.

Jack Harrell steadies the dory before shoving us off.

Jack Harrell steadies the dory before shoving us off.

30 minutes later, we launched and were through the surf heading for schools of Pacific black rockfish that were cruising 15-30 feet deep in the waters a bare half mile offshore.

It took us a mere five or ten minutes to find receptive bass and the game was on for the three of us that fished.

Capt John Harrell unhooks one of my bass. Gosh it was good to be back out on the ocean today.

Capt John Harrell unhooks one of my bass. Gosh it was good to be back out on the ocean today.

A few of the bass were small but many were very respectable sized, all took Clousers with a little blue in them and flies in the 3 inch size class.

Jack Harrell and bass.

Jack Harrell and bass.

Jack only fished a little but had bass pulling on his fly most of the time he had a fly in the water.

Jay and Tom on the ocean in calm seas.

Jay and Tom on the ocean in calm seas.

Tom shows off a nice black bass.

Tom shows off a nice black bass.

Unloading the crab pot.

Unloading the crab pot.

Limits of bass in the box, it was time to pull crab pots and head for the beach. The crab were abundant, firm, and big.

Taking the dory out with Haystack Rock in the background.

Taking the dory out with Haystack Rock in the background.

The ODFW creel checker counts our catch of bass and crab.

The ODFW creel checker counts our catch of bass and crab.

Pacific black bass are a game species that pull hard and offer unique challenges to the fly angler - and taste great too!

Pacific black bass are a game species that pull hard and offer unique challenges to the fly angler – and taste great too!

A few charters are may still be possible this fall, depending on the weather, but it is time to call and book dates for spring and summer of 2017 already.

Thanks for a great day on the ocean John, it was just what I needed today.

Jay Nicholas – September 21st, 2016

 

 

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