Guide

Ocean fishing seasons, explained

Checked September 16, 2026 against the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and NOAA Fisheries.

The fishing tile on the board says whether Chinook, coho, halibut and bottomfish are open in the ocean off your town, worked out from the season ODFW set and every notice since, and it says CHECK when it cannot be sure. This page explains where each rule is actually published, how to read a notice yourself, and which area your town fishes, from Astoria to Brookings.

Three fisheries, three clocks

What OPEN, CLOSED and CHECK mean on the tile

• OPEN and CLOSED are worked out, not copied. They start from the season ODFW set for the year and apply every notice since, to the minute it takes effect, and each one links to where it came from. Halibut and quota coho always add “or until the quota is caught”.
• CHECK means the board could not be sure. A notice worded in a way it has not seen before, part of an area closed while the rest is open, a season page ODFW has edited, a year whose seasons nobody has read yet, or ODFW’s list not read for six hours. CHECK is never a guess in either direction. Read the rule it links to.
• The word is our reading. The rule is ODFW’s, and it is the rule you are held to.

How to read a salmon action notice

• The heading says where, and who it is for. “SOUTH OF CAPE FALCON RECREATIONAL OCEAN SALMON ACTION NOTICE” is for anglers. The same page carries COMMERCIAL TROLL notices for the same water, which are not rules for a sport boat. The tile shows only the recreational ones.
• The decision is federal, and ODFW posts it. Notices open with the National Marine Fisheries Service meeting “in consultation with” the state and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The rule still reaches you through ODFW’s page.
• ACTION TAKEN is the rule. RATIONALE is why. The tile repeats the action whole. A shortened rule is a different rule.
• The date at the top is not the day it starts. Each action says when it takes effect, often at 11:59 PM or 12:01 AM, a day or several after the notice is dated.
• A notice covers its own stretch of coast and nothing else. A change for Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain says nothing about Gold Beach.

Which area your town fishes

Ocean salmon and Pacific halibut share two lines on this coast: Cape Falcon, at 45°46′00″ N, just north of Manzanita, and Humbug Mountain, at 42°40′30″ N, between Port Orford and Gold Beach. The board places each town by where it sits, not by its county: Curry County runs across Humbug Mountain, so Port Orford and Gold Beach read different areas.

The tile is about the ocean. Towns up a bay or a river, such as Toledo, Tillamook or Coquille, are shown the ocean area they open onto. Bays and rivers have their own salmon rules, which are not on the tile. ODFW covers them in its recreation reports for the Northwest Zone, Nehalem Bay to the Siuslaw, and the Southwest Zone, the Umpqua to the Chetco.

Halibut

Each subarea has its own season and its own quota, and every season on ODFW’s page ends on a date “or until the quota is caught,” whichever comes first. The Central Oregon Coast Subarea also has a nearshore season, inside the 40-fathom regulatory line, for when an all-depth season closes early.

Because ODFW does not post halibut changes as dated notices, the tile gives you two places to check: ODFW’s halibut page, where the page carries its own “Updated” date and a sign-up for regulation updates, and the NOAA Fisheries Pacific halibut hotline, 800-662-9825. ODFW’s halibut page also points to its catch estimates, for anyone who wants to see how much of a quota has been taken.

Bottomfish in 2026, as ODFW published it

These are the 2026 rules from ODFW’s bottomfish page, which was marked “Updated December 31, 2025” when this guide was checked. They are this year’s and will be replaced by next year’s. They are here because they seldom move during a year; the page itself is still the rule.

Two rules that do not change with the bag limits: yelloweye and quillback rockfish may not be kept — in ODFW’s words, they “are prohibited at all times and in all waters” — and a descending device is mandatory, and must be used to release any rockfish outside the 30-fathom regulatory line. A long-leader fishery outside the 40-fathom line has its own limits, on the same page.

Crab is on the shellfish tile

Whether crab is safe to eat is decided by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, not by ODFW, and it is on the board’s shellfish tile. The shellfish guide explains how those closures follow the coast.

Before you go

• Read the newest recreational notice for your area on ODFW’s salmon page on the day, and read what it says about the date it takes effect.
• For halibut, check ODFW’s halibut page and call the NOAA Fisheries hotline, 800-662-9825.
• For bottomfish, read ODFW’s bottomfish page, and carry a descending device.
• Before crossing a bar, check the bar report; the bar guide explains what it means.

Sources

• ODFW, ocean salmon: recent management actions and updates — the action notices, their headings and effective times, and the September 10, 2026 coho closure
• ODFW, Pacific halibut sport regulations — the three subareas and their boundaries, “or until the quota is caught,” and the nearshore season
• ODFW, sport Pacific halibut estimates
• ODFW, sport bottomfish seasons — the 2026 bag limits, the prohibited species and the descending device rule
• ODFW recreation reports, Northwest Zone and Southwest Zone — the bays and rivers
• NOAA Fisheries Pacific halibut hotline, 800-662-9825