ODFW staff recommended sport halibut dates available:
Based on input received via phone, email, at Monday night’s public meeting, and an online survey, ODFW staff are recommending 15 fixed days for the Central Oregon Coast spring all-depth fishery, skipping weeks with adverse tides (morning low tides greater than -1.0 feet). The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will finalize these dates at their meeting on April 21.
Spring fixed dates: May 11-13, May 18-20, June 1-3, June 8-10, and June 15-17.
Back-up dates (if quota remains): June 29-July 1, July 13-15, and July 27-29.
The other seasons openings are:
Columbia River Subarea
All-depth: opens Thursday May 4, Thurs-Sun, every week through the earlier of the quota or Sept 30
Nearshore: opens Monday, May 8, every Mon-Wed through the earlier of the quota or Sept 30
Central Oregon Coast Subarea
Summer All-depth: opens Aug 4-5, every other Fri-Sat through the earlier of the quota or Oct 31
Nearshore: opens June 1, seven days per week through the earlier of the quota or Oct 31
Southern Oregon Subarea: opens May 1, seven days per week through the earlier of the quota or Oct 31
New in 2017: Descending devices are mandatory. Any vessel fishing for or possessing bottomfish or Pacific halibut is required to have onboard a rockfish descending device, and use to release all rockfish deeper outside of 30 fathoms. Information on descending devices and rockfish recompression can be found on ODFW’s rockfish recompression webpage.
A map with the season dates and additional information can be found on the Sport Pacific Halibut webpage at: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/finfish/halibut/seasonmaps/2017_hbt_map.pdf
Information provided by ODFW
