Yaquina Reef

Tackle & technique

Albacore tuna

Albacore hold 30 to 100 miles off Oregon and Washington in clear blue water around 60 to 65 degrees, usually along a temperature break. Troll clones, cedar plugs and diving plugs at 6 to 8 knots until a fish hits, then stop and work the school near the surface with live anchovies, swimbaits or iron. Bar conditions and the long run decide most trips before the fish do.

Pacific halibut

Halibut sit on sand and gravel bottoms near drop-offs, bars and pinnacles, most often in 90 to 500 feet in Alaska and on the shelf off Washington, Oregon and far northern California. Anchor up-current of a likely edge and fish herring, squid, octopus or a salmon head on a circle hook with 24 to 32 ounces of weight, or bounce a large jig on the bottom. The best bite usually comes in the hour around slack tide.

Coho salmon

Coho feed in the top 30 to 50 feet along tide rips, kelp edges and bait schools, and often hit within a few feet of the surface. Troll faster than for Chinook, 2 to 4 mph, with a small flasher and hoochie, bucktail fly or herring, or cast spinners and flies from beaches near stream mouths as fish stage in late summer. The hour around a tide change is often the best window.