Where would you live in Oregon if saltwater fishing was your passion?

B-Ville!
 Brookings is a very nice section of the upper west coast, the weather, river and ocean fishing, wilderness hiking, seasonal mushroom picking, deer, elk and bear hunting(mountain lions too if you like to eat cat).
 That said....it is still a bit redneck here but most of those folks are old and dying off.
 The biggest complaint in this place seems to be the lack of good health care.
 We are predominately a retirement area for what seems to be mostly So-Cal folks.

Brookings/Harbor is a sports paradise for sure.  But be sure your spousal unit is totally on board with the distance from civilization.  I lived there many years ago and three friends who moved there ended up divorced within 1 year, the wifes didn't like driving so far to find amenities.  It's 110 miles to shopping and that's Coos Bay!  Brookings does have a Fred Meyer store now so maybe it's not such a big deal.

Salem is a good half way point to a lot of good fishing (I live in Salem 6 months of the year).  The other great place is Garibaldi Oregon.  Right on Tillamook bay with fantastic rivers for salmon fishing. (I live in Garibaldi 6 months of the year).  Best of all worlds!!!

None! Stay away! No more California transplants! Ok... just kidding.

Lived here my whole life (well except for my service career in the Navy). I am born the 6th generation from the original family's that homested on the Willamette river. They were on the 3rd "wave" Pioneer settlers that were from Ohio that came over the Rockeys on the new "wagon trail". In fact.Now remember, back then the rivers would naturally flood the Willamette Valley. That was before the Army Corps of Engineers built the dams. Well... as it turned out, the family homestead WAS on the river, but is now underwater where there is now a big reservoir. 

I'm telling you this because there was a reason the pioneer claimed here as "home".
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orlane/history/histbris.htm

Salem is a good half way point to a lot of good fishing (I live in Salem 6 months of the year).  The other great place is Garibaldi Oregon.  Right on Tillamook bay with fantastic rivers for salmon fishing. (I live in Garibaldi 6 months of the year).  Best of all worlds!!!

Ok since you said I'll second it Garibaldi, it IS A FISHING TOWN and TLW & I live here 12 months a year as does the daughter.

I'm going to generalize here:

If you like rain and wind, live on the coast or the Willamette Valley north of Eugene.
If you like dirty hippies, live in Eugene.
If you like city life, move to Portland.
Warmer Weather, South West Oregon.

I personally think Salem wouldn't be the worst place.  Every once in a while I consider moving to the wet side of the state.  I don't like city life though.

The only thing Justin missed, was if you wanna live in Gods country live in Central Oregon and do more fishing in the lakes and catch a lot of really nice trout!  And you are a four hour drive to the ocean.........

I'm going to generalize here:

If you like rain and wind, live on the coast or the Willamette Valley north of Eugene.
If you like dirty hippies, live in Eugene.
If you like city life, move to Portland.
Warmer Weather, South West Oregon.

I personally think Salem wouldn't be the worst place.  Every once in a while I consider moving to the wet side of the state.  I don't like city life though.

Hahaha! You had me right until Salem. (no offense intended to anyone on here)

To the original question: It really does depend on what style of life you like. If I were in that position I would get as far away from civilization as I could and become a southern coast hermit, appearing a few times a year to buy bulk rice and beans. But that's because I'm sick of living near the city. What do you like? What do you value? From Portland you can hit several coastal fisheries within a moderate drive. Eugene seems like an awesome place for any fisherman who wants to have some culture and access to some of the state's best fishing.

I'll be curious to hear where you land.

The only thing Justin missed, was if you wanna live in Gods country live in Central Oregon and do more fishing in the lakes and catch a lot of really nice trout!  And you are a four hour drive to the ocean.........

I left out central and eastern Oregon since it was about fishing the salt.  I have a 7 hr drive from Baker City if I want to fish Depoe Bay or PC.

Definitely stay away from Coos Bay/ North Bend. The fishing is terrible here 

I would never live there! The fishing definately sucks! And there are sharks and killer whales always trying to eat you 

You're singing my tune! 

I'll piggyback off what others have said, Eugene isn't a bad spot (I'm here due to the fact my wife grew up in the area, otherwise we would've moved to the coast). You've got your hippies/hipsters......but they usually stick to downtown area. If you stay on the westside of town, isn't too bad and the lakes/rivers area short drive. Coastal launching points are about 2 hrs away from here (Depoe Bay/Sunset). Eugene isn't too bad, puts me about 2 hours from anywhere I'd want to be. Just my .02 on this and like others have said, it'll be interesting to see where you land.

Live in Brookings and have a second home in Ashland. When the ocean is blown out, go inland.

I'm in Newport Or and leaving for Prince of Wales Island AK in six hours but with the fifty pounds of Halibut I put into my freezer three weeks ago and the 75 jars of Tuna I still have on the shelf as well as the assorted packs of Lingcod and Surf Perch I'm wondering why.  With two friends we picked up a nice load of Herring jigging in the Yaquina Bay for three hours last weekend, I pump sand shrimp at low tide for bait and a few Chinook are starting to show up off shore.  I landed terrific Coho last year when they ran in my little neighborhood creek as well as the Alsea River and I'm not much of a fisherman but I'm getting there.  Newport is getting a new 53 million dollar hospital and the housing market is still "undervalued" so compared to other markets it is a steal.  I'm retired and yes there are lots of geezers that I run into.  There are six I meet daily on a bluff over looking South Beach Jetty.  We surf that spot unless it's firing up at the Lighthouse or at Otter Rock.  The weather is better then Monterey California was.   Steve 

Thanks for all the info guys.  Brookings is looking better and better, we'll be checking it out in a couple months when my son starts backs up at UO.  Thanks for taking the time.

Portland.  It's a great city with all the amenities, but only a 90 minute drive to the coast.  You can launch a yak at Oceanside/Netarts.  Or go another half hour to Pacific City where you can launch a yak or go in for a 22' surf dory.  Check out the Pacific City Doryman's association website.

Living at the coast is tough.  I lived in Tillamook for 3 years.  Retail, restuarants and services tend to be low-quality.  And the gray weather can get you down.  It can feel pretty isolated.  In Portland you have the brew pubs, coffee houses, bookstores, world-class restaurants and arts as an antidote to the gray weather.