The pier in Brookings Harbor is a public pier but unlike California where public piers do not require a license, you do need one in Oregon. The one day license I bought was $19.
In September of 2014 I attended an Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC) conference in Smith River. As always, I enjoyed the beautiful area and made sure to visit the piers in Crescent City that were a mere twenty minutes away. The last day, I decided to visit Brooking, Oregon which sits just four miles inside the state line from California.
The pier sits above rocks lining the shore of Chetco River
My main quest was to determine if there were any piers at Brookings since no one I talked to could provide an answer to that question. Lo and behold there was a small pier of sorts in the harbor and soon after I had a couple of rods rigged up and was fishing.
In season there can be a lot of boaters seeking out salmon
The action wasn’t great but an hour and fifteen minutes produced five fish—two black rockfish, two kelp greenling (one a nice 20 inch-long fish), and one striped seaperch.
Black Rockfish
Kelp Greenling
This year (2016) I had a new chance to return while once again visiting the north coast. This time I had a little longer visit and while there caught another nice mix of fish—three small copper rockfish, one striped seaperch, one cabezon and a still unidentified sculpin.
The pier is divided into several section; not sure why.
Looking up the river and towards the harbor
The pier looking toward the mouth of the river.
Copper Rockfish
Boaters were catching salmon
Striped Seaperch
Lots of boats
Small cabezon
Half of the boaters seemed to have a dog in their boat
Unidentified sculpin (checking with the experts)
More people were crabbing than fishing
This angler was using an Eagle Claw star crab trap for his crabs
A lot of Dungeness crabs but almost all were too small
This angler was using his rod and reel and a collapsible crab trap for his crabs but with limited success
Although not in California, I think I will be adding the pier to Pier Fishing In California given its proximity to the state.
A carving near the beach
Looking up the beach to the north
Looking down the beach to the south
Nice photos Ken. I looks like great weather.
Mike, The weather was great while I was there. Not sure if it stayed that way but fall is usually the best time along the north coast.
Mike, Springtime is the best time for perch but can see a lot of wind. But, it probably doesn’t matter too much if your fishing under and around the pier as I usually do.
Ken
This was great news for me and thank you for all the well labeled photos. I will be passing thru Brookings on my way to Coos Bay this fall.
Just wondering what you favorite pier bait is and are you rigging for just off the bottom?
Tips Up!