The Oregon Coast in January

Kevin and I went to the coast for a couple days hoping to catch some steelhead. Kevin got one native fish the first morning, but the river was pretty flooded. We decided to head for the beach in search of some surf perch instead of spending all our time on the river. We dropped a couple crab pots and then Kevin showed me how to fish at the beach. This was the first time I’ve done this and was some of the most fun I’ve had fishing in a while. You bait up your hook with some sand shrimp and then wait. When the waves recede to an especially low point you run out as far as you dare and cast your line as far as possible. The important part is the quick retreat to the high water mark before you get pounded by the especially large wave usually following an especially low one. Then you just wait for the little guys to take your bait. It’s pretty fun and even though the bite was a little slow we managed some tasty fish. Overall, we had one of those rare January beach days where the temps are in the 50s and it is sunny and clear.  A crab and surf perch dinner is in my future.