North OR coast

Where is everybody fishing/launching from off the North coast?  I've read lots of threads here about Pacific City,Depot Bay, Newport, Coos, etc..  Who's fishing between Sand Lake and Astoria?  What's the drill?  Thanks in advance.

If you are going to be near sand lake go to pacific city. It offers the best launch and close structure. You can launch off cannon beach or seaside but most of us make our way to PC.

Well that's that huh?  Pacific City or bust.  I suppose it's just as well.  I usually take Hwy 6 into Tillamook anyway.  I was scoping Oceanside as a potential launch site.  It looked like a lot of structure off the shore.  Are you timing your launch to match a certain tide or do you just take the surf you get when you show up?
Thanks,

If you ride the outgoing tide,fish the slack tide and the incoming tide,then CME in on the incoming tide your paddle will be much easier.

Tides aren't an issue when fishing the near-shore area of the Oregon coast in my experience.  The surf zone on most beaches will change from low to high tide, but there's really no way to know if it will be better or worse at any given point in the tidal cycle because the bathymetric profile of every beach is slightly different and constantly changes.  You would know, however, if you spent a lot of time at a particular beach.  The currents that you experience while fishing on the coast are either going to be heading to the north or south along the shoreline, usually it's heading south in the nice-weather half of the year but things like upwellings can affect the direction.

People do launch and fish at Oceanside, but the fishing isn't really any different than Pacific City.  Some would say it's actually worse because it gets pressure from the charter fleet out of Garibaldi.  Plus, the surf launch is more difficult.  If you're heading out that way, it's better to drive the extra 10 minutes to get to Pacific City.

Tides aren't an issue when fishing the near-shore area of the Oregon coast in my experience.  The surf zone on most beaches will change from low to high tide, but there's really no way to know if it will be better or worse at any given point in the tidal cycle because the bathymetric profile of every beach is slightly different and constantly changes.  You would know, however, if you spent a lot of time at a particular beach.  The currents that you experience while fishing on the coast are either going to be heading to the north or south along the shoreline, usually it's heading south in the nice-weather half of the year but things like upwellings can affect the direction.

I don't have nearly as much salty experience as some of the people commenting, but what experience I do have is exactly in line with this quote.

I've been eyeing Oceanside for a launch since before my first surf launch. Hopefully trying it this year. I'm not expecting the fishing to be better or worse than anywhere else, I'm just looking forward to trying something new.

Pick your days carefully at Oceanside.  If there's much swell, you'll have 100+yds of breakers to push thru/ride back.  It stays shallow for a long way out and there aren't any fixed rips to ride out.

BTW:  There is a ridiculous amount of structure (gravel, rock, stacks, reefs etc) between Astoria and Sand Lake.  Most of it is fishy.  I've fished a lot of it once.  Not because it wasn't good but because there were other areas I hadn't tried... Still are.

-Spot-

I've launched out of Cannon Beach once and got absolutely pounded by the surf .... Long breaking area .... No fun

Thanks for all of the great info.  I guess I'll be seeing you guys around PC.  I'm still all ears if anyone does have a good spot north of there.  I've also wondered about a surf launch from Manzanita.

I've also wondered about a surf launch from Manzanita.

Yup, it's do-able.  Pick your days well and make sure you have a good amount of experience in the surf because it is unprotected.

Yes, there are good options outside of PC. Got my quickest limit of big rockfish at a spot between Oceanside and Astoria.  I think it was 7 fish in about 20 minutes from when my line hit the water.  I found the right school of hungry fish.

If you don't want to fight the surf and are in the Garibaldi area hit me up for some south jetty rock fish and a little crabbing if you want. Cosmo and I ran it yesterday first for me , loved it . I did loose a pot to the channel but that's how it goes, no crab for me but 7 fish each , not the biggest but hey it was fun.

If you don't want to fight the surf and are in the Garibaldi area hit me up for some south jetty rock fish and a little crabbing if you want. Cosmo and I ran it yesterday first for me , loved it . I did loose a pot to the channel but that's how it goes, no crab for me but 7 fish each , not the biggest but hey it was fun.

Losing a pot sucks but that is a nice haul of rockfish. I had the same thing happen to me while fishing Sand Lake. Luckily later in the day we took a drive down Tierra del Mar and the ocean had returned my crab pot to me a km or so from where it was spit out of the bay.