Post by Admin on Jun 10, 2015 1:54:50 GMT
The recreational opportunities listed on the webpage for Port Orford are brought to you by wwww.clamdigging.info for the benefit of the members of the Clam Digging and Crabbing Community. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Port Orford is a small harbor in the shelter of a southjutting promontory. There is no river mouth and hence no bar; boats enter and exit directly from the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is protected from summer northwesterly winds but wide-open to winter southerlies. There is one jetty on the north side of the harbor, and Battle Rock (named for an 1851 skirmish that took place there between would-be settlers and Indians) serves as a breakwater to the south. There is no boat ramp, but the Port of Port Orford operates a hoist and offers transient moorage. A visitor center is a short walk from the waterfront.
Crabbing from the dock at Port Orford is allowed all year. On 10/06/18 crabbers report that crabbing has been great.
Port Orford is the only port in Oregon that offers crabbing in the Ocean from a dock facility. Crabbing productivity varies from day to day and with the season. Recreational boaters do crab in the ocean south of the port in 60 to 80 feet of water.
We have asked the good folks at Port Orford Docks repeatedly for information about crabbing and fishing from their docks but with no response. Finally, a crabber was good enough to share the following infomation about crabbing from the dock at Port Orford. I for one am looking forward to crabbing there. Bill
"When we were crabbing at Port Orford we were with a friend who was well acquainted with the dock area. If there are fishing boats coming and going there is only about 20 feet of dock available for crabbing because it is very much a working dock. We happened to hit it lucky two evenings in that all the boats were in before 6 p.m. so we were able to use the entire length of the dock where the cranes are located where the boats usually come in for as long as we wanted. If the cranes are in use you cannot safely crab from there. The third time we were there the weather was so lousy no boats had gone out at all so we had the entire dock to ourselves. The water at Port Orford appears to be much cleaner than the water elsewhere where crabbing is done at the mouths of rivers. We could see the bait on the bottom and could actually watch the crabs moving toward and onto the traps in the shallower water. The folks on the dock at Port Orford ask that crabbers spin the females or too small males back into the water so they hit the water on their sides. Since the dock is so high above the water it can kill the crabs if they land on their backs or stomachs. They also asked us to keep the area clean by removing all seaweed from the dock and throwing the snails back as well." Thank you for sharing, Bill
How to humanly kill Dungeness and red rock crabs is the question my wife wants me to answer. She can't stand to see anything suffer. Striking the Thoracic ganglion with a crab mallet kills the crab immediately. The crab does not suffer as it would if submerged in boiling water and neither does my wife. Killing and backing the crabs prior to cooking them shortens the total time it takes to cook and clean large numbers of crabs.
Click on the following video clip to view a professional crab shaker picking a Dungeness crab. Using this method cuts the time to pick a crab in half.
Additional Information for Crabbing From the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Rim:
Click on the following links for additional information about taking crabs in the Pacific Northwest. Click on ODFW's website crab page or click on Washington State's information on recreational crabbing or click California's information on recreational crabbing. Click on Alaska's comments on Dungeness Crabs and on permits and regulations for SE Alaska. Click on Dungeness Crabs at Netarts Bay. Click on Species Profile for Dungeness Crabs PDF file. Click on Species Profile for Red Rock Crabs to view PDF file. Click on Dungeness and Red Rock Crabs to view information on taking crabs from Oregon's Bays and ocean water.
My website, Dungeness and Red Rock Crabs has a lot of useful information about crabbing along the Oregon Coast.
2018 Elk River Fall Chinook State Waters Terminal Area Recreational Season
•Open November 1-30
•Open shoreward of a line drawn from Cape Blanco (42°50‘20" N Lat.) to Black Rock (42°49‘24" N Lat. / 124°35‘00" W. Long.) to Best Rock (42°47‘24" N Lat. / 124°35‘42" W. Long.) to 42o40’30”N / 124o29’00” W to Humbug Mt.
•Daily bag limit of 2 Chinook per angler, but no more than 1 non fin-clipped Chinook per day, and no more than 10 non fin-clipped Chinook in seasonal aggregate with the Elk R., Sixes R., New R., and Floras Cr.
•Terminal tackle limited to no more than 2 single point barbless hooks.
•Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve closed to all fishing.
•Minimum length: Chinook = 24”
Share your fishing, crabbing or clam digging experiences with us at the Association Discussion Forum at crabbing.freeforums.net/.
The digging for littleneck clams at Rocky Point has declined because of a large scale die off late last year. The die off of littleneck clams has occurred in many areas along the ocean beaches of the Pacific Northwest over the last several years. We need current up to date information on digging conditions at Rocky Point.
Port Orford and Depoe Bay are the safest ports of entry for the small boater along the Oregon Coast. Port Orford is located on the southeast side of Nellie’s Point and is protected by a 550 foot breakwater that extends SE from Graveyard Point. The Port offers protection from NW summer storms into early fall, but is exposed to the winter storms that come from the south. The fishing for shallow water rockfish, greenling and perch species associated with jetties and the rocky shore along the Port Orford jetty varies from fair to excellent. The fishing offshore for all species is excellent. Fish for rockfish to the south at Red Fish Rocks and for rockfish and salmon off Orford Reef and Blanco Reef. Orford Reef is located between Nellie’s Point and Cape Blanco. Blanco Reef is located off Cape Blanco. ODFW sponsors a fishery for Chinook salmon off of Port Orford between Cape Blanco and Humbug Mountain. The Elk River Ocean Terminal Area Fall Chinook Salmon Fishery extends seaward 3 miles from Cape Blanco to Humbug Mountain and is open from November 1st to December 15th. The majority (71%) of the Chinook landed during the commercial component of the fishery were 4 year old fish followed by an equal number of 3 and 5 year old fish and 1 six year old fish.
Internet Links of Interest:
Click on to view the navigational hazards to avoid when boating at Port Orford.
Click on to view the tidal projections for Port Orford.
Click on the following link to view the tidal projections for the mouth of the Rogue River.
WEATHER FORECAST: Click the following link to view the local weather forecast for Brookings.
Click on the Marine Forecast from Florence to Cape Blanco to view the marine forecast featuring Small Craft Warning.
Click the following link to view the Marine Forecast for the NWS Medford Zone: Coastal waters from Cape Blanco OR to Pt. St. George CA out 10 nm (PZZ356).
The following NOAA link for detailed information for the Oregon Coast is a great source for planning your razor clam digging adventures. Click on the following link to see a detailed hourly forecast for weather and surf conditions on the southern Oregon Coast.
NOAA Coastal Forecast for Curry County
Email us with any suggestion how we can improve the information we provide at crabbinginfo@yahoo.com
Recommended website: Click on the following link to see an detailed hourly forecast for weather and surf conditions on the southern Oregon Coast. Then click your coastal zone of interest to view the detail information compiled on the Marine Digital Point Forecast Matrix Interface.
Recreational Advisories:
Always call the Oregon Shellfish Hotline at (503) 986-4728 or 1-800-448-2474 toll free outside of Oregon before harvesting clams or mussels for messages listing the areas closed to harvesting shellfish due to high levels of marine toxins.
Fish and Shellfish Consumption Advisories and Guidelines In mid July the State issued shellfish advisories for elevated levels of arsenic in soft shell clams and gaper clams. The CDAO does not recommend consuming contaminated clams or fish species of any species. The Oregon Health Authority has prepared a series of asked and answered questions about the soft shell clams taken from Oregon's Bays. Click on Questions and Answers (pdf).
However the purple varnish clams common to most of Oregon's Bays have tested free of contamination from arsenic; and to date the clams have not been contaminated by Domoic Acid or PSP that have closed the Oregon Coast to the taking of razor clams and mussels.
Oregon's Beach Monitoring Program is a part time program that occurs between Memorial Day in May and Labor Day in September.
Oregon's Beach Monitoring program helps protect people who come into contact with beach water contaminated with elevated levels of fecal bacterium called enterococcus. The program does regular water testing to look for high levels of bacteria and issues a public health advisory when bacteria counts exceed acceptable risk levels.. Beginning in 2017 the EPA has implemented new higher standards to requiring Oregon to issue an alert notifying the public of the health risks.
New Beach Action Value for the 2017 beach monitoring season
The Oregon Beach Monitoring Program (OBMP) is beginning a process to adopt a new beach action value (BAV) for bacteria of 70 MPN that will be used as the basis for public health advisories at Oregon beaches starting in 2017. .
What type of bacteria? Ocean waters are tested to see if a fecal bacterium called enterococcus is present. Enterococcus is found in the intestines of warm blooded animals, including humans. High levels of these bacteria show there is fecal material in the water and that microscopic disease-causing organisms may be present.
How does the water become contaminated? Fecal contamination can be due to multiple causes near anybody of water. Some of the reasons of contamination are due to: animal feces deposited by domestic animals and all wild animals including beavers, seals, migratory waterfowl and seabirds , swimmers with diarrhea, children not properly cleaned after using the bathroom, the improper disposition of diapers, the vomiting or fecal matter in the water, agricultural and storm water run-off, sewage treatment plant spills, inadequate or the absence of public septic systems, failing or leaking of both public and private septic systems or the improper disposal of boat waste. The list of offending agents is seemingly endless. Do your part it reduce contamination of our waterways.
The Algae Bloom Surveillance program advises the public when a harmful algae bloom has been detected in a lake or river. Not all blooms are harmful, but some species of algae, such as cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, can produce toxins that can cause serious illness in pets, livestock, wildlife and humans.
Please see the Oregon fish consumption guidelines for more information abut the health benefits of fish and how to make healthy fish choices.
Port Orford is a small harbor in the shelter of a southjutting promontory. There is no river mouth and hence no bar; boats enter and exit directly from the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is protected from summer northwesterly winds but wide-open to winter southerlies. There is one jetty on the north side of the harbor, and Battle Rock (named for an 1851 skirmish that took place there between would-be settlers and Indians) serves as a breakwater to the south. There is no boat ramp, but the Port of Port Orford operates a hoist and offers transient moorage. A visitor center is a short walk from the waterfront.
Crabbing from the dock at Port Orford is allowed all year. On 10/06/18 crabbers report that crabbing has been great.
Port Orford is the only port in Oregon that offers crabbing in the Ocean from a dock facility. Crabbing productivity varies from day to day and with the season. Recreational boaters do crab in the ocean south of the port in 60 to 80 feet of water.
We have asked the good folks at Port Orford Docks repeatedly for information about crabbing and fishing from their docks but with no response. Finally, a crabber was good enough to share the following infomation about crabbing from the dock at Port Orford. I for one am looking forward to crabbing there. Bill
"When we were crabbing at Port Orford we were with a friend who was well acquainted with the dock area. If there are fishing boats coming and going there is only about 20 feet of dock available for crabbing because it is very much a working dock. We happened to hit it lucky two evenings in that all the boats were in before 6 p.m. so we were able to use the entire length of the dock where the cranes are located where the boats usually come in for as long as we wanted. If the cranes are in use you cannot safely crab from there. The third time we were there the weather was so lousy no boats had gone out at all so we had the entire dock to ourselves. The water at Port Orford appears to be much cleaner than the water elsewhere where crabbing is done at the mouths of rivers. We could see the bait on the bottom and could actually watch the crabs moving toward and onto the traps in the shallower water. The folks on the dock at Port Orford ask that crabbers spin the females or too small males back into the water so they hit the water on their sides. Since the dock is so high above the water it can kill the crabs if they land on their backs or stomachs. They also asked us to keep the area clean by removing all seaweed from the dock and throwing the snails back as well." Thank you for sharing, Bill
How to humanly kill Dungeness and red rock crabs is the question my wife wants me to answer. She can't stand to see anything suffer. Striking the Thoracic ganglion with a crab mallet kills the crab immediately. The crab does not suffer as it would if submerged in boiling water and neither does my wife. Killing and backing the crabs prior to cooking them shortens the total time it takes to cook and clean large numbers of crabs.
Click on the following video clip to view a professional crab shaker picking a Dungeness crab. Using this method cuts the time to pick a crab in half.
Additional Information for Crabbing From the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Rim:
Click on the following links for additional information about taking crabs in the Pacific Northwest. Click on ODFW's website crab page or click on Washington State's information on recreational crabbing or click California's information on recreational crabbing. Click on Alaska's comments on Dungeness Crabs and on permits and regulations for SE Alaska. Click on Dungeness Crabs at Netarts Bay. Click on Species Profile for Dungeness Crabs PDF file. Click on Species Profile for Red Rock Crabs to view PDF file. Click on Dungeness and Red Rock Crabs to view information on taking crabs from Oregon's Bays and ocean water.
My website, Dungeness and Red Rock Crabs has a lot of useful information about crabbing along the Oregon Coast.
2018 Elk River Fall Chinook State Waters Terminal Area Recreational Season
•Open November 1-30
•Open shoreward of a line drawn from Cape Blanco (42°50‘20" N Lat.) to Black Rock (42°49‘24" N Lat. / 124°35‘00" W. Long.) to Best Rock (42°47‘24" N Lat. / 124°35‘42" W. Long.) to 42o40’30”N / 124o29’00” W to Humbug Mt.
•Daily bag limit of 2 Chinook per angler, but no more than 1 non fin-clipped Chinook per day, and no more than 10 non fin-clipped Chinook in seasonal aggregate with the Elk R., Sixes R., New R., and Floras Cr.
•Terminal tackle limited to no more than 2 single point barbless hooks.
•Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve closed to all fishing.
•Minimum length: Chinook = 24”
Share your fishing, crabbing or clam digging experiences with us at the Association Discussion Forum at crabbing.freeforums.net/.
The digging for littleneck clams at Rocky Point has declined because of a large scale die off late last year. The die off of littleneck clams has occurred in many areas along the ocean beaches of the Pacific Northwest over the last several years. We need current up to date information on digging conditions at Rocky Point.
Port Orford and Depoe Bay are the safest ports of entry for the small boater along the Oregon Coast. Port Orford is located on the southeast side of Nellie’s Point and is protected by a 550 foot breakwater that extends SE from Graveyard Point. The Port offers protection from NW summer storms into early fall, but is exposed to the winter storms that come from the south. The fishing for shallow water rockfish, greenling and perch species associated with jetties and the rocky shore along the Port Orford jetty varies from fair to excellent. The fishing offshore for all species is excellent. Fish for rockfish to the south at Red Fish Rocks and for rockfish and salmon off Orford Reef and Blanco Reef. Orford Reef is located between Nellie’s Point and Cape Blanco. Blanco Reef is located off Cape Blanco. ODFW sponsors a fishery for Chinook salmon off of Port Orford between Cape Blanco and Humbug Mountain. The Elk River Ocean Terminal Area Fall Chinook Salmon Fishery extends seaward 3 miles from Cape Blanco to Humbug Mountain and is open from November 1st to December 15th. The majority (71%) of the Chinook landed during the commercial component of the fishery were 4 year old fish followed by an equal number of 3 and 5 year old fish and 1 six year old fish.
Internet Links of Interest:
Click on to view the navigational hazards to avoid when boating at Port Orford.
Click on to view the tidal projections for Port Orford.
Click on the following link to view the tidal projections for the mouth of the Rogue River.
WEATHER FORECAST: Click the following link to view the local weather forecast for Brookings.
Click on the Marine Forecast from Florence to Cape Blanco to view the marine forecast featuring Small Craft Warning.
Click the following link to view the Marine Forecast for the NWS Medford Zone: Coastal waters from Cape Blanco OR to Pt. St. George CA out 10 nm (PZZ356).
The following NOAA link for detailed information for the Oregon Coast is a great source for planning your razor clam digging adventures. Click on the following link to see a detailed hourly forecast for weather and surf conditions on the southern Oregon Coast.
NOAA Coastal Forecast for Curry County
Email us with any suggestion how we can improve the information we provide at crabbinginfo@yahoo.com
Recommended website: Click on the following link to see an detailed hourly forecast for weather and surf conditions on the southern Oregon Coast. Then click your coastal zone of interest to view the detail information compiled on the Marine Digital Point Forecast Matrix Interface.
Recreational Advisories:
Always call the Oregon Shellfish Hotline at (503) 986-4728 or 1-800-448-2474 toll free outside of Oregon before harvesting clams or mussels for messages listing the areas closed to harvesting shellfish due to high levels of marine toxins.
Fish and Shellfish Consumption Advisories and Guidelines In mid July the State issued shellfish advisories for elevated levels of arsenic in soft shell clams and gaper clams. The CDAO does not recommend consuming contaminated clams or fish species of any species. The Oregon Health Authority has prepared a series of asked and answered questions about the soft shell clams taken from Oregon's Bays. Click on Questions and Answers (pdf).
However the purple varnish clams common to most of Oregon's Bays have tested free of contamination from arsenic; and to date the clams have not been contaminated by Domoic Acid or PSP that have closed the Oregon Coast to the taking of razor clams and mussels.
Oregon's Beach Monitoring Program is a part time program that occurs between Memorial Day in May and Labor Day in September.
Oregon's Beach Monitoring program helps protect people who come into contact with beach water contaminated with elevated levels of fecal bacterium called enterococcus. The program does regular water testing to look for high levels of bacteria and issues a public health advisory when bacteria counts exceed acceptable risk levels.. Beginning in 2017 the EPA has implemented new higher standards to requiring Oregon to issue an alert notifying the public of the health risks.
New Beach Action Value for the 2017 beach monitoring season
The Oregon Beach Monitoring Program (OBMP) is beginning a process to adopt a new beach action value (BAV) for bacteria of 70 MPN that will be used as the basis for public health advisories at Oregon beaches starting in 2017. .
What type of bacteria? Ocean waters are tested to see if a fecal bacterium called enterococcus is present. Enterococcus is found in the intestines of warm blooded animals, including humans. High levels of these bacteria show there is fecal material in the water and that microscopic disease-causing organisms may be present.
How does the water become contaminated? Fecal contamination can be due to multiple causes near anybody of water. Some of the reasons of contamination are due to: animal feces deposited by domestic animals and all wild animals including beavers, seals, migratory waterfowl and seabirds , swimmers with diarrhea, children not properly cleaned after using the bathroom, the improper disposition of diapers, the vomiting or fecal matter in the water, agricultural and storm water run-off, sewage treatment plant spills, inadequate or the absence of public septic systems, failing or leaking of both public and private septic systems or the improper disposal of boat waste. The list of offending agents is seemingly endless. Do your part it reduce contamination of our waterways.
The Algae Bloom Surveillance program advises the public when a harmful algae bloom has been detected in a lake or river. Not all blooms are harmful, but some species of algae, such as cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, can produce toxins that can cause serious illness in pets, livestock, wildlife and humans.
Please see the Oregon fish consumption guidelines for more information abut the health benefits of fish and how to make healthy fish choices.