Fishing in Tillamook

Including Bay City, Netarts, Oceanside, Garibaldi & Rockaway Beach

With three bays, five major rivers, numerous lakes and a vast ocean nearby, you can guess that fishing is central to this region of the North Coast. Anglers flock to this region, as the Tillamook Coast offers a year round spot to drop lines, cast nets or dig shovels into the sand. The highly sought after chinook salmon is at its peak in both in size and numbers during the fall as they make their runs in the Wilson, Trask, Nestucca and Nehalem rivers. The rivers also welcome the increase of steelhead during the winter. The chinook salmon returns to Tillamook’s coast in the spring, though they’re a bit smaller then than they are during the fall. You can also catch lingcod lurking around rocky areas near the shore.

Summer introduces a lot of variety to Tillamook fishing, and you’ll have a blast reeling in coho salmon, sea trout, cutthroat trout, steelhead and albacore tuna. The low tides accompanying the daylight hours during the spring and summer also make clamming a popular player in Tillamook fishing, and you can dig for horsenecks, quahogs, steamers and cockles.

Now that you know about the abundance of fish just waiting in Tillamook, it’s time to decide how you want to catch them. Perch at docks, jetties and marinas and cast your line.

Fly fishing is also a go-to method for many anglers. Several businesses are available where you can charter a fishing boat or let a guide take you out in the rivers and show you the prime locations for exactly what you want to catch.

For an experience where it really is all about the fish, try deep sea fishing where it’s just you, your crew and a heck of a halibut catch. Tillamook fishing requires a valid Oregon Angling License.

However, the first weekend after the first Monday in June annually brings the Free Fishing Weekend to Tillamook, where no license, fees or even your own gear are needed for the activity.