Where all your fishes come true

It’s a-boat time you visited Depoe Bay

Story & photos by Hazel Fiedler

Oregon Coast TODAY

The first fishing boat of the morning unloaded at 10 am. I walked with the fishermen as they hauled their buckets filled with rockfish, ling cod and salmon to the cleaning station. They were windswept and excited. A buzz of conversation and laughter filled the air as they recounted their time on the water. Even people who had not been on the trip gathered around to watch the shiny fish be laid out and cleaned.

Dockside Charters’ deep-sea fishing trips and whale-watching tours leave from the picturesque Depoe Bay Harbor. As you head out into ocean, the colorful town comes into view, perched atop enormous basalt cliffs. 

Enock Addison has been fishing since the age of nine. He and his family would come up regularly from the San Francisco Bay Area.

“When I moved to Salt Lake City as an adult, I continued to travel to the coast to fish,” Addison said. “I told myself, ‘When I retire, I’m moving here.’”

Addison now lives right up the hill from the harbor.

“I go fishing with Dockside Charters at least once a week, sometimes more,” he said.

Tyler Turner, a Dockside Charters captain and owner, has been a huge inspiration to Addison.

“He is the greatest skipper and has taught me so much,” Addison said.

Addison fishes so often that he gets a kick out of the reactions of first-time anglers.

“One of my favorite parts about being out on the water is watching the joy on people’s faces when they catch a fish,” he said.

After a five-hour excursion, he was bringing his catch of the day, salmon, to be cut and cleaned by Dockside employees.

“My favorite catch is ling cod,” he said. “They are plentiful here on the coast.”

Dockside offers multiple unique fishing experiences that vary in length of time on the water, distance traveled and types of catch including salmon, tuna and bottom fish, like halibut. They also offer seasonal crabbing.

As soon as the fishing boats were unloaded, people began gathering at the dock for whale watching. The group included visitors from nearby towns like Seaside, as well as people who had traveled from as far as Texas and Pennsylvania, all excited to get out on the water. As we pulled away from the dock, a spotted gray seal surfaced right alongside the boat and then, almost playfully, dipped back into the harbor. We skimmed under the Depoe Bay Bridge, powered through the surf, and suddenly were out on the open ocean. 

The boat had not gone far before a whale was surfacing and spouting only a few yards away. Because of the kelp beds that line the Depoe Bay coastline, these marine mammals spend hours each day feeding in the area.

Janice Hanks was visiting from Vancouver, Washington, for a family reunion. Her relatives had traveled all the way from North Dakota and Colorado.

“We love the coast and are always looking for outdoor excursions that everyone can enjoy,” she said. “This boat trip was perfect. Even my dad, who is in a wheelchair, was able to go.”

This was Hanks’ first time whale watching.

“I was amazed at how close we got,” she said. “My favorite part was being able to see the barnacles on the back of the whale.”

We got lucky. A whale surfaced and rolled only 10 feet from the boat as the passengers gasped and cheered.

Our captain, Craig Calkins, has been piloting boats with Dockside Charters for 34 years, starting right after graduating high school.

He leads the fishing trips in the morning and heads out on whale watching tours in the afternoon, where he guides the boat along the coast for the best view of the whales, pointing them out and sharing interesting facts and history about marine life and the Oregon Coast.

“Most people I get to take out aren’t from a place with an ocean,” he said. “So just being out on a boat let alone seeing a whale is an amazing experience.”

On a tour you might spot a gray whale, or if you’re really lucky, a humpback. Whales are not the only marine mammals you'll see. Harbor seals and sea lions sun themselves on rocky outcroppings or roll in the waves. The ocean is full of birds, from pelicans flying overhead to cormorants and pigeon guillemots swimming through the water.

“I love it when a little kid from somewhere like Iowa sees a whale for the first time,” Calkins said. “That excitement is unforgettable.”

Dockside Charters is located at 270 Coast Guard Drive in Depoe Bay and is open daily from 5 am to 7 pm. For more information, go to docksidedepoebay.com or call 541-765-2545.