Coast Weather:    Very nice day here on Thursday with calm winds and nice ocean seas to deal with and to top it off pretty much a sunshine kind of day.  More of the same is in the forecast for the next several days with Sunday looking like a possible wet day with an increasing swell in the forecast. 

Whale Watching:    We did get out on a whale adventure on Thursday but were not able to find any of the migrating whales.  It has been a bit slower lately and possibly a sign of the end of the Northerly migration.  However, our local or resident whales should be showing up in our area any day now for the best whale watching of all through the summer months into the fall. 

For your May and June whale plans this is the time when the Orca's begin  to appear more readily.  They are not as clockwork as the Gray whales but do frequent our area quite often during this time.

Dockside Departure Times:        Departure times for fishing trips for the summer months will be as follows:

May            7:00am              Halibut trips   6:30am

June 1-21    6:30am      Halibut trips    6:00am

June 22-July 31     (all trips)    6:00am

August 1-31        (all trips)    6:30am

ODFW Invites Public Comment On Proposed Fishing Rules for 2009:    The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife invites members of the fishing public to comment on proposed changes to the 2009 sport fishing regulations at 11 public meetings held throughout Oregon in May.

The comments received at these meetings will be presented to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission when it considers changes to the angling regulations at its August meeting in Salem.   The ODFW initiates a comprehensive review of the sport fishing regulations every four years.   More than 330 proposed regulation changes were considered, including 265 submitted by members of the public. Some of the changes to be considered by the Commission include these that would effect ocean fishing are:

~    A requirement that anglers turn in Harvest Tags to ODFW before they can obtain         a new tag
~    Reduction in the daily surf perch limit from 15 fish per day in aggregate to 10             fish per day.
~    Opening up the ocean to year-round sport crabbing

Newport Meeting Time & Date: Thursday, May 22 at Hatfield Marine Science Center, 7pm