When the winds of died down and the swells have diminished, anglers fishing out of the Port of Brookings Harbor have been puttin’ the hurtin’ on limits of rockfish and lingcod, but anglers have had to slow down their presentations in order to get the bottom-grabbers to engulf their baits.

So the smart anglers are taking the metal off and putting the soft plastics on. The theory behind this analogy is based in physics.

Metal lures such as leadfish, sink rapidly, while soft plastic baits such as twin-tail Scampis, single-tail Mogambos and 5-1/2-inch jerk baits such as C.A.L jerk baits made by D.O.A. Lures tend to sink more slowly, and therefore they can be worked in a slower and more-effective manner.

It’s that simple.

Some people however would disagree.  Their thinking would be that by speeding up your presentation, more fish will be able to see your lure. And without a doubt, more fish will definitely see your lure when it’s presented in a faster manner. But that fact doesn’t mean that they will be willing to chase down your bait.

In actuality, the opposite thinking rings truer, especially in November, when a fish’s metabolism is slowing down to a crawl.

A fish might not want to expend a lot of energy in chasing down a bait when their metabolic system has diminished.

So by working a slower-sinking soft plastic lure in a slower manner, it will enable you to cover more sides of a reef in fewer passes.  And the eyes of the larger lings and rockies will get more of a chance at seeing your bait for longer periods of time.

That’s where the color of the lure comes into play.

You can almost always get bit on white in most water conditions. It’s a color that stands out in practically every situation, even high turbidity.  

But my favorite colors as far as soft plastics go are things that glow in the dark for longer periods of time.  They’re the ones that have had more phosphorescent material injected into the plastic.

For detecting the best phosphorescent lures, here’s a little trick that I’ve practiced over the years.

When I see a lure that has been claimed to glow in the dark, I will hold it up to a light and then cup it with both my hands.  I will then look at it in a slot between my fingers. If it not glowing at all, it’s not worth spending the money on it. But if the plastic bait glows when performing the same procedure, I’ll buy it on the spot.

One of the hottest colors is Nite Glow, made by doalures.com.  Another one of my faves, although this one doesn’t glow in the dark, is called Melon Back, made by the same company.

So once you have found a pile of rocks on your fish finder, have the confidence in knowing that the fish are there, even if you don’t see them on the screen.  That means that you will have to work the bottom more closely, and crawl your baits into the fish’s mouth.

Chetco Bay and Tidewater Kicking Out Salmon
Although the action isn’t hot and heavy, fishermen in the Brookings area are still catching a fair amount of kings in the Chetco bay almost every day by trolling spinnerbait rigs.

On Thursday, a friend of mine went offshore to catch a limit of lings, then came into the bay and trolled a spinnerbait rig.  The result was a nice Chinook in the 12- to 14-pound class. Anglers who were trolling the bay were also bringing a few jacks into the fillet station.

Chetco bay action should remain steady as long as the rains hold off.  As soon as a big gully washer raises the river to 800 cfs or higher, and remains steady, salmon won’t hold in the bay anymore and will make tracks upriver.  So pray for rain (or no rain) depending on which situation you favor.

Chetco Tidewater Producing Kings for Bobber Fishermen
With a flow averaging 80 cfs, anglers using bobbers-and-eggs, bobbers-and-sand shrimp or bobbers-and-anchovy tails are managing to catch a few Chinook ranging from jack sizes to over 30-pounds.

The smart anglers are fishing early in the morning, when the light situation is the lowest and the fish are less wary. But a few anglers were also catching salmon mid-day when the sky was overcast.

Last Wednesday I drove up to Social Security Bar.  I was about to drive away when one angler who was using a bobber-and-sand shrimp hooked and landed a nice Chinook.

Fishing will get better when rains raise the river to between 1,000 and 4,000 cfs, when ODFW will hopefully open up the entire Chetco to all forms of angling.  

For now, angling has been restricted to bobber fishing and fly fishing (with an indicator) from rivermile 2.2 up to Nook Creek.  See page 18 of the sportfishing regulations for specific information on gear restrictions.

OSCF and ODFW Seine the Chetco
For the fourth time this year, Oregon South Coast fishermen and ODFW seined the Chetco for Chinook in the Chetco Broodstock Program.  

“We’ve got 122 fish already and we’re looking for another 30 fish today,” said STEP biologist John Weber on Thursday morning.

Weber said that Elk River Hatchery was holding 57 males, 62 females and 3 jacks in the raceways.

Later that Thursday I ran into one of the members of OSCF, who said they had sent 20 more fish to Elk River, and threw back a large amount of smaller fish.  So it is looking like ODFW has nearly met their quota of 75 female and 75 male Chinook, with slightly more females than males.

OSCF and ODFW may seine the Chetco for the fifth time to meet their full 150-fish quota, but ODFW now has enough female Chinook to make production.

The Pacific halibut season is now closed.  Crabbing in Oregon bays from Cape Blanco to the Oregon/California border is also closed, due to finding high levels of domoic acid.

For updates on shellfish closures, call the Shellfish Information Hotline at 800-448-2474.

Tight lines!

Larry Ellis, author, writer, columnist and photographer has had a 50-year passion for fishing in California and Oregon's saltwater and freshwater venues. He is a well-known writer for Oregon, Washington and California Fishing and Hunting News, Northwest Sportsman, California Sportsman and Pacific Coast Sportfishing. He currently writes monthly for Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine, and is the author of two books, "Plug Fishing for Salmon" and "Buoy 10, the World's Largest Salmon Run."  Both books can be bought from Amato Publications (amatobooks.com), Amazon and eBay. Ellis particularly loves living in his hometown of Brookings, Oregon - The heart of salmon country and gateway to fishing paradise.