Tillamook Bay fishing conditions and tides
Oregon · Pacific coast · 7.2 ft mean tide range · 24 ppt
Fall Chinook, big tide swings and five rivers feeding one shallow Oregon bay
Current conditions
Excellent
Fishing score 82/100
How this score is calculated
53°F against a 48–58°F band for fall chinook salmon.
Outgoing (ebb) at 2.5 ft, moving 1.4 ft/hr. Strong water movement is positioning bait on structure.
22 mph out of the NW. Too much wind for most inshore presentations.
5 ft at 8 seconds. Building surf; watch the bar and jetty conditions.
Good working clarity with some colour for cover.
29.69 inHg and falling.
56% illumination — neap tides with a smaller exchange.
Fall pattern is fully established for this zone.
What should I do today?
The highest-percentage pattern for this tide and this wind.
Backup pattern
Coho Salmon — trolled spinners and cut-plug herring in 6–25 ft. Arrive with the fall rain and hold in the upper bay and river mouths.
Right now
Current conditions
Tide
Outgoing (ebb)
2.5 ft, -1.4 ft/hr
Next high
8:32 AM
6.5 ft
Next low
2:19 AM
1.1 ft
Mean range
7.2 ft
Typical high-to-low swing
Water temp
53°F
-0.7°F / 3 days
Water clarity
Stained
Salinity about 24 ppt
Swell
5 ft
8 second period
Wind
22 mph
Out of the NW
Pressure
29.69"
Falling pressure — a change is moving in
Air temp
47°F
84% cloud cover
Moon
56%
First Quarter · solunar 12/100
Daylight
6:46 AM
Sunset 5:14 PM
Timing
Today's tides and fishing windows
- Low tide (1.1 ft) — tide change window1:19 AM – 3:19 AM
- Solunar major 25:57 AM – 7:57 AM
- Morning prime window6:21 AM – 9:06 AM
- Sunrise6:46 AM
- High tide (6.5 ft) — tide change window7:32 AM – 9:32 AM
- Low tide (0.7 ft) — tide change window1:44 PM – 3:44 PM
- Evening window3:14 PM – 5:49 PM
- Sunset5:14 PM
- Solunar major 15:57 PM – 7:57 PM
- High tide (6.1 ft) — tide change window7:57 PM – 9:57 PM
Targets
Target species in this zone
| Species | Activity | Depth | Best tide | Technique | Bait | Active temp | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Chinook Salmon | ★★★★★ | 8–35 ft | Incoming tide, especially the first big tide after rain | Trolling herring on a spinner blade, bobber and eggs in the holes | Herring, salmon eggs | 48–58°F | August through November |
| Coho Salmon | ★★★★☆ | 6–25 ft | Incoming after a rain event | Trolled spinners and cut-plug herring | Herring | 48–58°F | September through November |
| Winter Steelhead | ★★★★☆ | 2–12 ft | River flow dependent rather than tide | Drift fishing and float with jigs | Roe, sand shrimp | 40–50°F | December through March |
| Dungeness Crab | ★★★★★ | 8–30 ft | Slack water for setting and pulling pots | Crab pots and rings in the lower bay | Chicken, fish carcass | 46–60°F | Best August through December |
- Fall Chinook Salmon: Push through the jaws on the incoming tide and hold in the deeper bay holes before running the rivers.
- Coho Salmon: Arrive with the fall rain and hold in the upper bay and river mouths.
- Winter Steelhead: Run the Wilson, Trask and Kilchis rivers into the bay through the winter.
- Dungeness Crab: Crabbing in the lower bay is excellent, best when the bay is saltier in late summer and fall.
Structure
Habitat and structure that holds fish
- River mouth
- Tidal channel
- Mud flat
- Jetty rock
- Oyster bed
- The Jaws (bay entrance)
- Ghost Hole
- Oyster House hole
- Bay City channel
- Kilchis River mouth
Surf and beach notes
Crossing the bar at Tillamook is dangerous on an ebb tide against an incoming swell — check the Coast Guard bar report every time.
Bait in the zone
Green-label herring for trolling; sand shrimp and roe for river fishing.
Patterns
Season-by-season patterns
Spring
48–55°FSpring Chinook trickle through the rivers; the bay itself is quiet and crabbing is fair.
Summer
56–62°FCrabbing peaks as salinity rises; the first fall Chinook stage outside the jaws in August.
Fall
50–58°FThe main event — fall Chinook trolling in the bay, timed to the incoming tide and the first big rains.
Winter
46–50°FSteelhead in the rivers; the bay is mostly fresh, muddy and slow.
Outlook
7-day fishing forecast
| Day | Score | Water | Wind | Swell | First high tide | Best species | Morning window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 69Good | 53°F | 22 mph NW | 5 ft | 8:32 AM (6.5 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:21 AM – 9:06 AM |
| Tue | 71Very Good | 55°F | 19 mph SW | 4.1 ft | 9:22 AM (6.9 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:22 AM – 9:07 AM |
| Wed | 92Excellent | 53°F | 16 mph E | 3.1 ft | 10:13 AM (7.2 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:24 AM – 9:09 AM |
| Thu | 89Excellent | 55°F | 18 mph N | 3.6 ft | 11:03 AM (7.5 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:25 AM – 9:10 AM |
| Fri | 93Excellent | 53°F | 3 mph NW | 1.9 ft | 11:54 AM (7.8 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:26 AM – 9:11 AM |
| Sat | 84Excellent | 54°F | 21 mph NE | 4.9 ft | 12:19 AM (8 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:28 AM – 9:13 AM |
| Sun | 92Excellent | 56°F | 4 mph NE | 0.3 ft | 1:09 AM (8.1 ft) | Fall Chinook Salmon | 6:29 AM – 9:14 AM |
Trends
Last 7 days
Water temperature
55°F → 53°F
Wind
5 mph → 22 mph
Swell
2.2 ft → 5 ft
Daily score
92 → 69
Water temperature has dropped 2°F this week. Expect fish to slide toward deeper channels and to bite best in the warmest part of the afternoon.
The water
About Tillamook Bay
Tillamook Bay is shallow, muddy and fed by five rivers, which makes it a funnel for returning salmon. Tide range near 7 ft moves an enormous volume of water through the jaws, and salmon time their push into the bay with the incoming tide. The fall Chinook run here produces some of the largest salmon on the Oregon coast.
Local knowledge
Expert notes
- Chinook enter Tillamook on the incoming tide, and the bite window tracks the tide, not the clock. Two hours before high is the most productive window in the bay.
- After the first three-inch rain of the fall, fish the river mouths instead of the jaws — the new freshwater pulls staged fish straight through the bay.
- Troll a herring slow enough that the bait rolls, not spins. A spinning herring is the most common reason a boat does not get bit here.
Logistics
Access, ramps and launches
boat ramp
Garibaldi boat ramp
Main launch near the jaws with crab and tackle shops nearby.
boat ramp
Memaloose Point ramp
Upper bay access closer to the Ghost Hole.
pier
Garibaldi pier
Crabbing and bay fishing from shore.
kayak launch
Kilchis Point kayak launch
Quiet upper bay paddling near the river mouths.
Rules
Regulations
- Oregon angling license plus a Combined Angling Tag for salmon and steelhead.
- Wild coho retention is prohibited in most years — know hatchery vs wild marks.
- Shellfish license required for crabbing, with separate limits for male-only Dungeness.
Always verify current regulations with the relevant state wildlife agency before fishing. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Transparency
Data sources
Where this data comes from
Conditions are modelled from each water's documented climate, structure and seasonal patterns. Modules marked “Live data integration pending” are not yet pulling from their API, so those values are clearly labelled as sample data rather than presented as real-time readings.
Weather API
PendingNOAA / National Weather Service — Air temperature, wind, cloud cover, rainfall and barometric pressure with a 7-day forecast.
Water Level & Flow API
PendingUSGS Water Services — Reservoir stage, discharge and 7-day level trend from the nearest gauge.
Water Temperature
PendingUSGS / NOAA buoys — Surface water temperature and its multi-day trend.
Tide & Current API
PendingNOAA CO-OPS — Tide predictions, current direction and speed for coastal zones.
Moon & Solunar
LiveComputed on-site — Moon phase, illumination and solunar major/minor periods are calculated from date and coordinates.
Water Clarity
PendingSatellite imagery + angler reports — Visibility estimates by lake arm, refined by submitted fishing reports.
Fishing Regulations
PendingState wildlife agencies — License, size and creel rules, linked to the official agency page for verification.
Map Data
PendingBathymetry + access point database — Depth zones, structure locations and boat ramps for the lake infographic.
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