Oregon anglers are getting another weekend of Halibut fishing that is open to all depths. Ports up and down the coast will be busy June 22 – 22 if the weather holds well and the seas are calm fisherman should have an excellent opportunity to catch a halibut and with the warming weather coming even possibly go a little further and catch an early summer albacore tuna.

Here is the latest release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Game
June 13, 2013

NEWPORT – Fishery managers added three more days to the popular all-depth sport halibut fishery off the central Oregon coast. Fishing for Pacific halibut will be open Thursday, June 20, Friday, June 21, and Saturday, June 22, at all depths.
The spring all-depth season for the central coast area – from Cape Falcon (30 miles south of the Columbia River) to Humbug Mountain (south of Port Orford) – opened May 9 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It could have closed as early as June 8 if anglers caught the entire 120,947-pound quota.

“After the June 20-22 opening, fisheries managers will again look at the catch and see if there is enough quota remaining for additional back-up dates,” said Lynn Mattes, halibut project leader for ODFW.

Subsequent decisions on open dates will be posted on the ODFW Marine Resources Program Web site at: www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/ and sent out on the Halibut News Bulletin. To sign up go to http://dfw.state.or.us/MRP/bulletins/index.asp and enter your phone for text alerts and e-mail information to subscribe to email updates. Future dates will also be on the National Marine Fisheries Service hotline (1-800-662-9825).

Potential dates for additional fishery openings include: July 4-6 and July 18-20, until the quota is met.

The summer season for the central coast all-depth fishery opens Aug. 2 and is scheduled to be open every other Friday and Saturday until the combined spring and summer season all-depth quota of 168,942 pounds is taken or Oct. 26, whichever comes first.

descending devices when rockfish are released, to increase the survival rate. The closed area of Stonewall Bank is defined by latitude and longitude waypoints, which are available on the Marine Resources Program Web site: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/regulations/sport_fishing/docs/stonewall.pdf

The daily bag limit for Pacific halibut is one fish and there is no minimum length requirement. The possession limit is one daily limit at sea and three daily limits on land. The annual limit per angler is six fish.

Sport anglers are reminded that possession of groundfish is not allowed north of Humbug Mountain when a Pacific halibut is aboard their vessel during all-depth Pacific halibut dates. The exceptions are Pacific cod (true cod, not lingcod) and sablefish (black cod) which may be retained with halibut between Humbug Mountain and Cape Falcon. Other non-groundfish species (such as tuna and salmon) may be possessed with halibut on open all-depth Pacific halibut days (as long as such species are taken during authorized seasons and caught with legal gear).

More details on regulations can be found at: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/finfish/halibut/index.asp or in the booklet 2013 Oregon Sport Ocean Regulations for Salmon, Halibut and other Marine Species. General regulations can be found in the 2013 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations booklet.