Experience Oregon history and launch your next fishing adventure off the sand near Tillamook.
At Cape Kiwanda near Pacific City — a small coastal town about 25 miles southwest of Tillamook — dory boats launch into the ocean in a dramatic fashion. One by one, trucks bearing boat trailers head down to the beach and get close to the water. Then the action starts. The flat-bottomed dory boat is dropped right into the surf from the boat trailer stern-first in the face of the oncoming breakers.
With one person holding it steady and the captain firing up the motor, the boat is guided forward into waist-deep water until the helper — in this case me — can scramble aboard.
In the space of a few moments I’m standing in the boat next to the captain — who just happens to be my brother — as he drops the motor down into the water and guns it through the surf heading to a fishing spot just minutes away, beyond the giant sea stack known as Oregon’s other Haystack Rock, rising up from the water.
The magic of launching a boat off the beach is a tradition at Cape Kiwanda dating back more than 100 years. Here’s what to expect from a day on the water.
Geography and Traditions at Cape Kiwanda
The geography of Cape Kiwanda, a sandstone headland located in the long stretch between the ports of Garibaldi and Depoe Bay, juts out into the Pacific Ocean at a perfect angle near Pacific City. This giant sand dune blocks the winds out of the north during the prime spring and summer fishing seasons, giving the Pacific City dory fleet a perfect place to launch their boats off the beach.
Although only about 20 feet long, dory boats are unique in their ability to haul heavy loads and handle rough surf, making Cape Kiwanda the only commercial port of its kind on the West Coast. The Dorymen, as the intrepid seafarers who’ve been launching off Cape Kiwanda since the early 1900s are called, are a tight-knit group organized through the Pacific City Dorymen’s Association.
You can be a part of the tradition by booking a dory fishing charter to get the full experience of launching and landing on the beach.
If you can’t make it out on the water in June, the Blessing of the Fleet, a traditional ceremony to wish the fishing families well during the season, is a great opportunity to see the full fleet. Dory Days in July may be the coolest way to understand these historic boats and their community; head to Pacific City for an annual family-friendly celebration complete with a parade, live music and a fish fry.
What to Catch
The second most beautiful thing about dory fishing out of Pacific City is just how close to the fishing grounds you are. Most of the time, you’ll enjoy a catch of rockfish.
While not as well known as Oregon’s Chinook or coho salmon, more than 25 rockfish species are caught along the Oregon Coast, many near shore, including black rockfish, deacon rockfish and canary rockfish. They’re part of a larger group of fish called groundfish, which includes some that are commonly caught by dory anglers like lingcod, kelp greenling and cabezon. You’ll find them inhabiting the rocky intertidal zones, the continental shelf and the slope of Oregon’s coastline.
Oregon’s groundfish species are monitored regularly, and bag limits can change year to year or even within a season to protect fish populations. Make sure to know the current regulations and get a license before you go fishing. Charter companies will help navigate all you need for a successful trip.
Getting Back on Shore and Eating Rockfish
A dory trip out of Pacific City ends just the opposite of how it begins. The captain points the bow of the boat toward the beach, gives a couple blasts of the air horn to warn surfers and beachgoers, and motors straight at the beach.
Though the direct shot to the sand may get your heart pumping, it’s perfectly safe. The motor pivots up when it hits the sand, and the flat-bottomed boat slides cleanly up onto the wet sand, where it will be loaded onto its trailer until the next trip.
Then the feasting can begin. Groundfish are among the best tasting you can catch in these waters. They all make excellent grilled-fish tacos or blackened fillets to serve over rice, and lingcod can easily substitute for halibut in recipes. After your charter crew helps to clean and prepare your catch, it’s easy to freeze or grill that evening.
To sample these delicacies without a charter trip, you’ll find dory-caught fish-and-chips in Pacific City at Sportman’s Pub-n-Grub and fresh dory-caught fish at Chester’s Market and West Fish Co. — a fish market owned by dory fishermen — to prepare at home.
– By T.A. Akimoff
Top photo: Cape Kiwanda by Nathan Holstedt