ORC 2018

Also, registration is not yet live.

WHY NOT??!!!! I DEMAND REGISTRATION NOW!!!!

 

Also, registration is not yet live.

WHY NOT??!!!! I DEMAND REGISTRATION NOW!!!!

 

Clown.

Nobody is demanding anything.  The subject of ORC registration came up at a tournament last weekend and I asked a simple question.  In rather predictable fashion, that question led to a bunch of other unrelated things, and then it was finally answered by someone who knew the answer.  Not that I was expecting, let alone demanding, an answer, this just seemed like a good place to pose the question.

Perhaps I should just go post an open hookup for Hobuck this weekend and get on with it. 

Also, registration is not yet live.

WHY NOT??!!!! I DEMAND REGISTRATION NOW!!!!

 

Clown.

Nobody is demanding anything.  The subject of ORC registration came up at a tournament last weekend and I asked a simple question.  In rather predictable fashion, that question led to a bunch of other unrelated things, and then it was finally answered by someone who knew the answer.  Not that I was expecting, let alone demanding, an answer, this just seemed like a good place to pose the question.

Perhaps I should just go post an open hookup for Hobuck this weekend and get on with it.

Relax, my comment wasn’t directed at you, I didn’t actually read your earlier post until just now. I was just giving Craig shit. The comment was directed at years past when people would flip out about everything related to ORC registration.

Since ORC is still in the planning phase, can I make a suggestion for this years rules? 

No?

Tough titties, I'm going to suggest it anyways.   



Being that this has always been called the Oregon Rockfish Classic, and the very first one was indeed won with a rockfish, would it be unreasonable to change the winning fish to only include a rockfish?  Not a Lingcod, not a Cabby? 

There are several sides to my reasoning for this idea. 

1. We have a limited quantity of Lings and Cabs (based solely on ODFW and how they manage our limits), yet we have a bit more of an abundance of rockfish available.

2. When I caught a 31" Cab last week last week at Depoe, I was happy to let this beast go live another day.
With that I wouldn't feel right harvesting such an impressively old fish just for the chance to win an event like ORC.
So with everyone registered on ORC game day out hunting a fish to win the ORC with, naturally they gravitate to Lings and Cabs to pull this task off.  A lot of big Lings and Cabs get removed from the drink in that one day.

3. Big rockfish are out there, but not really targeted nor have won the ORC since Marks big Verm.

This is just a thought for this or any future ORC's if anyone is interested.  Or we could change the name to Oregon Bottomfish Classic, or OBC. 




Back to the originally scheduled bickering. 

Did you get an approx weight on the 31” cabby?  That’s gotta be mid 20s I’d think. That’s awesome.   

I liked the multi-species format of last year's ORC.  It required more strategy and planning than a single-species tournament.  Anyone can get lucky and snag a big ole ling or cab if they drag a big bait around long enough, but to pick up quality fish in each category takes effort.

Keeping an old cabezon or lingcod boils down to personal choice.  With regards to impacts on populations, I don't see the ORC being much different from a nice day where the charter boats run back-to-back morning and afternoon trips.

As for the rockfish-only proposal: my sample size is small and I don't specifically target them very much, but I haven't seen much species variety out of Depoe Bay the last two years I've fished it.  Most of the reefs max out at about the 60 foot contour.  I've caught a couple chinas and blues straight out front, but other than that, it's basically Black City out there.  The variety is much better further north on Government Point and other deep reefs.  A five-pound black could win it.

Even if the rockfish format was implemented, would that deter most tourney participants from harvesting big lings and cabezon?  I don't think it would, at least not from what I've seen.

From my experience, charter boats don't waste time targeting ling's and cabs due to the amount of snags and lost lures that would tie up their deck hands. They get paying customers on schools of suspended fish to make quick limits.

I would guesstimate that 90% of charter catches are just rockfish, where ling's and cabs would be bycatch or by seasoned fisherman that know how to bounce a jig off bottom and pick up a long/cab or two without snagging up and losing jigs.

There are 4lbs China Rockfish there. Big quillbacks too. Would probably give to expand the boundaries of the tournament area to open up the deeper reefs. A rainbow stringer of rockfish tournament would be fun.

Did you get an approx weight on the 31” cabby?  That’s gotta be mid 20s I’d think. That’s awesome.

I didn't get a weight on it, but my semi calibrated arm would say easy 21-22 lbs.  I've caught two 27"@ 17lbs, and one 29.5"@ 19.5 lbs. This 31" beast easily smoked that last one.

I will forever refer to this piggy as "One Eyed Willy".  The left eye was gone, and looked as though it had been gone for more than 20 years. The right eye had bad cataracts. 

Measured real quick and let go to live another day.

Scrolling through their reports, Tradewinds does some work on the bottomfishes.  Some days they do quite well on the lings.

https://www.tradewindscharters.com/fishing-report/

If the goal of switching up the format is to relieve pressure on lingcod and cabezon, perhaps a poll of ORC participants would be helpful.  Ask them if they'd harvest any lingcod over 30 inches or cabezon over 20 inches that were caught on tourney day.  If the vast majority said "no", then I think the rockfish proposal has merit.  If not, then changing to a rockfish-only format wouldn't accomplish anything.

There are 4lbs China Rockfish there. Big quillbacks too. Would probably give to expand the boundaries of the tournament area to open up the deeper reefs. A rainbow stringer of rockfish tournament would be fun.

Ugh, I'd feel pretty bad harvesting a 50+ year old china rockfish  .

The nearest deep reefs would be the northern portion of Government Point, which is more than a few miles from Depoe.  Maybe not an issue on a super-nice day, but if it's rough at all, that'll be a looong trip back to port with the NWers on your back.

I believe this is incorrect. 

"We have a limited quantity of Lings and Cabs (based solely on ODFW and how they manage our limits), yet we have a bit more of an abundance of rockfish available."

They shut down the bottomfish season last year due to the low numbers of rockfish (ODFW September 2017 News Release).  After reading more into the subject they actually said that the Ling and Cabezon population was better and improving.  They shut down lingcod fishing last year because they feared it would produce a large bycatch of rockfish.  The rockfish quota has been steadily decreasing over the years (2017 was 10% less than 2015) and they are decreasing limits as well.

I honestly think it would be better to have the format exclude black rockfish. I may be a bit biased though as i dont like the wormy meat that comes with rockfish.  And taking a large ling or cabezon has not bothered me too much in the past as I think my outlook is different. Lingcod taste better at the fish fry  .  I would like to see crab added to the list but would fear of the safety issues with that many people dropping traps.

Here is another quote from a news article from last year

"Federal managers lowered the harvest quota of the most popular target, black rockfish, by 10 percent this year after federal stock assessments showed the need for some protection.

Oregon managers believe the species is healthier than believed and are conducting research to improve the accuracy of future assessments."

"Even though just the rockfish quota is filled, the recreational fishing ban was enacted to protect against incidental catch and catch and release mortality."

There are 4lbs China Rockfish there. Big quillbacks too. Would probably give to expand the boundaries of the tournament area to open up the deeper reefs. A rainbow stringer of rockfish tournament would be fun.

Ugh, I'd feel pretty bad harvesting a 50+ year old china rockfish  .

The nearest deep reefs would be the northern portion of Government Point, which is more than a few miles from Depoe.  Maybe not an issue on a super-nice day, but if it's rough at all, that'll be a looong trip back to port with the NWers on your back.

It doesn't have to be a kill tournament.  It always has been, but with the concerns voiced this morning perhaps it's time to change the format to allow CPR.

Even if it moved to CPR unless the "R" Portion was enforced I am certain folks would still harvest fish. Many of us don't get that many oceans days and I personally like to harvest fish as allowed to feed my family and friends.

Even if it moved to CPR unless the "R" Portion was enforced I am certain folks would still harvest fish. Many of us don't get that many oceans days and I personally like to harvest fish as allowed to feed my family and friends.

I didn't mean mandatory release.  It would just be nice to have the option and still be able to score fish.  It is currently a mandatory kill.