My wife, Boni, and I traveled to Reedsport Oregon to visit our daughter Vicki over the Father's Day weekend. On the agenda was a visit to the Oregon District chainsaw carving championship at Reedsport, and a fishing trip for me out of Charleston, with Betty Kay charters. The chainsaw carving championship was amazing, as was the fishing. On Saturday AM, drove to Charleston and was on the "Betty Kay" and headed out to sea by 6:00 AM. There were 15 fishing off the "Betty Kay" this morning, half a dozen were ladies. After about a 45 minute run to the southwest, The skipper throttled down and we were into fish. Action wasn't fast and furious, but we were catching fish pretty consistently. Rigging consisted of a ten ounce lead jig at the terminal end of the leader, with a red and yellow fly on a dropper about 8" above. The limit is seven Rockfish of assorted species, plus two Ling Cod. Only one legal Ling was landed all morning (24") but everyone took home Rockfish limits. Some were a bit more adroit at the technique of jigging off the bottom... I've done it for many years... loose bail until the jig hits the bottom (140' to 160'), reel up about 5 or 6 cranks, then jig up and down. At some points the fish were suspended at 20' to 30' above the bottom. I actually caught 9 Black Rockfish, 2 Blue Rockfish, and one large Kelp Greenling. On four occasions I reeled up a "double" (a fish on the jig and the fly). Had one hit that I am nearly certain was a Ling, felt the headshakes before the line began to peel off the reel, then the line went slack. Except for some heavy thunder showers early in the morning which the skipper was able to avoid, the weather was terrific... some heavy swells on the tide change and the wind picked up in the later hours of the morning. Had our limits by 11:00 and headed in.
A very enjoyable trip... crew (skipper and deckhand) were great. Was very surprised at the reasonable price ($75.00) for a six to seven hour trip. Salmon fishing will begin in the month of July and the price of a day trip will be $140 and there does not seem to be any shortage of salmon in the forecast for the Umpqa River at Winchester Bay.
Had a wonderful weekend visiting our daughter, taking in the sights on the Oregon coast, marveling at the artwork in the chainsaw competition and bringing home a great mess of Rockfish fillets. PTL!

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