New to Oregon surf fishing

[Jawsome]

Hello all, I'm new to surf fishing in Oregon and pretty new to fishing in general. I've only fished a hand full of times when I lived in Charleston SC (not the Oregon one) and I really enjoyed surf fishing. I got a 10ft Daiwa Surf rod with a Penn Battle II 6000 reel and some 25lb braided line. Any recommendations on where and what to fish for? I also have a crab pot but left that back in California but was told by a coworker that you can find them buried in the sand and just pick them up.

Tips?

 

[Raincatcher]

Welcome to the forum and to Oregon! I'll let someone with more experience with surf fishing help you with that info. I will strongly advise you to do two very important things. 1) Pick up a copy of the regulations and make sure you meet all the requirements to legally fish in Oregon and what species you are allowed to fish for. 2) Become familiar with the area you intend to fish before you go out. There are dozens of people washed into the surf every year because they are not familiar with the dangers of being on a jetty.
Otherwise, have a great time and post pics of your adventure. Oh, and about picking up crap pots buried in the sand...:sad:

 

[Jawsome]

Thanks Raincatcher! I probably wont be getting on to too many jetties. Maybe keep it on the beach. I figured I'd start off with surfperch and then go from there. After I get more familiar with the area then I'll explore the jetties. Yeah, I probably should of clarified that part about crab pots. I meant to say that I left my pot back in California but that crab can be caught by hand buried in the sand without having to use a crab pot. Sorry!

 

[C_Run]

I'll let someone else address the crab question. If you are fishing from a sandy beach in Oregon, the main species will be surf perch. You can find a lot of old threads on this forum about "how to". The primary method would be to fish within an hour or so of high tide. Most common rig would be a sinker large enough to hold bottom and then two hook up the line a foot or so apart with bait or Gulp sand worms. Search out places with drop offs during low tide and try those spots at high tide. Move if you don't get anything in a reasonable time because the fish school and you might have to locate the school. Good baits would be sand shrimp and mussels. Look at some of "Sammy's" videos on here.

 

[pinstriper]

1) If you can catch it digging in the sand by hand, it ain't a crab. It's either a clam, or a rock.

2) CR is correct about Sammy's videos. I would disagree that you need to fish at high tide. The perch are there and you can catch them at any point in the tide. Our beaches do not tend to be very steep, so yeah you want to look for places with a depression, or a dip between the shore and a little bit of a sand bar farther out. Above all, avoid conditions and locations where there is a sideways rip, because you can cast at a 45* angle one direction and in 60 seconds find your rig has been pushed just as far in the other direction, and all the way inshore. I would say fish in the less extreme tides.

 

[TheKnigit]

You can use the same bait set-up that C_Run mentioned if you are fishing off of rock bluffs or jetties. Which will open up the possibility of a lot more fish species than just surf perch. Not that they aren't a blast when you find a school. If you are jigging the two hook setup then you can replace the weight at the bottom with a jig head and rubber bait of your choice. Like Raincatcher said, be sure to study the regulations for the different species. And be sure to watch the ocean. It is a great place to fish, but it can be sneaky if you aren't paying attention.

 

[twout]

1) If you can catch it digging in the sand by hand, it ain't a crab. It's either a clam, or a

This is a sand crab,mole crab or sand flee but it ain't no clam or rock. And you get it digging in the sand.
An excellent choice of bait for surf perch.

Jawsome what area are you in? Maybe we can go get some together.
Check out this guy he gives a lot of good info.
https://youtu.be/mJ814oEHX8o

 

[seekanddestory]

Welcome aboard mate
Be safe and have have fishing hope to see more of your post
Seekanddestroy

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[TheKnigit]

1) If you can catch it digging in the sand by hand, it ain't a crab. It's either a clam, or a rock.

You can dig edible crab out of the sand as well. I have done it a lot. Especially along the bay side of the North Jetty in Coos Bay. That being said I don't think I have ever found a crab in the sand that was worth keeping. They have always tended to be to small and not worth the trouble. Personally I would not bother trying to collect crab that way and focus on clams if you want to dig a hole. Otherwise go with a crab pot or ring, a lot less of a hassle that way.