Port Orford, Oregon

Port Orford will celebrate its 158th birthday, in 2009, as the oldest town site on the Oregon coast. It had it's beginnings over a century and a half ago when Captain William Tichenor sought to establish a settlement on the coast to supply the miners who would certainly come in search of gold.

The Port Orford cedar market took off in the early 1920s' and over 60 freight ships visited the harbor each year. Several decades later in the 40's the Trans-Pacific Mill was shipping millions of board feet of lumber a year out of Port Orford.

There was a notion in the early 1950's that if Port Orford had a breakwater (jetty) it might become as big as San Francisco. That never happened, although the Army Corps of Engineers did build a breakwater in 1968 and changed the harbor forever. For more background information on the dock, see About the Dock.

Today, Port Orford is a remote fishing village and artist community as well as a retirement town. While the initial appearance of Port Orford lacks the sparkle and flash of bigger cities, visitors soon find that it is as comfortable as an old pair of slippers and has more characters and intrigue than a mystery novel.

Sport fishermen love the nature-filled charm and pristine beauty of the Elk and SixesRivers. Divers love the enchanting underwater spectacle at Nellie's Cove behind the dock at the Port. Beachcombers find driftwood and agates on long, protracted walks along the ocean's edge at Paradise Point and CapeBlanco beaches. Surfer's clad in wetsuits ride the waves at Hubbards Creek and at Battle Rock beach. Without the high pressure and fast pace of a big city, Port Orford provides a buffet of nature and ocean based good times to those wanting to just relax and enjoy themselves.

FISHING

Elk and SixesRivers:
Both rivers are pristine and the Elk boasts the some of the best salmon fishing in the contiguous U.S. When the rains start (October or November), fall chinook salmon and coho salmon (also known as silvers) run. After Thanksgiving sea-run cutthroat trout (also known as bluebacks) and winter steelhead lure fishers from near and far. More information on the Elk and SixesRivers on Camping Guide webpage.

Elk River Fish Hatchery:
In early June, the Elk River Fish Hatchery sponsors a free fishing weekend for children 10 years old and younger. Fish caught can be 10 inches to 9 pounds and include chinook salmon, winter steelhead, and rainbow trout. Rods, reels, bait, and tackle are provided. Phone 541-332-7025 for exact date and times.

Garrison Lake:
With 130 acres of lake in the middle of Port Orford, everybody gets a chance to catch their limit. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, and chinook salmon (also known as king or blackmouth) are plentiful year round. See web page on GarrisonLake for locations of fishing docks and boat ramps.

Laird Lake:
This small isolated lake, on the way to Powers, has been stocked with trout in the past. Wily and hard to catch, only experienced fishers need make the trip up the Elk River. Four-wheel drive vehicles recommended. See Camping Guide for more information on LairdLake.

The Pacific Ocean:
In a kayak, canoe, or rowboat, you can catch bottom fish including lingcod, kelp greenling, red snapper, cabezon (a rockfish), and black snapper just waiting to snap up your bait around Nellys Cove. Or if you want bigger fish to fry, charter a boat at the Dock (see Port Orford Dock for more information). There are more than fifty species of fish in the deep waters off shore.

Port Orford Dock:
Fish off the Port Orford Dock or the jetty for smelt, sardine, herring, bottom fish, snappers, lingcod, halibut, and perch to name a few. Plus beach fish on the DockBeach.

Shoreline fishing:
Pink fin perch and surf perch can be caught from any beach in the area.

You can find Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations handbooks at McNairs True Value Hardware, where licenses, bait, tackle and fishing supplies are also sold. The Dock Tackle Shop also sells 1-day licenses and fishing supplies. For additional fishing information, seasons, regulations, restrictions, visit the Oregon Fish and Wildlife website: www.dfw.state.or.us or phone 503-872-5263.