Woahink Lake is a fairly large natural lake, at 820 acres, but is somewhat overshadowed by the larger and better-known Siltcoos Lake just to the south.
Woahink is easy to get to, sitting just off Highway 101 just a few miles south of Florence on Oregon’s central coastline.
For anglers, Woahink offers a smattering of cold- and warm-water fishing opportunities, including being one of the best places in Oregon to catch yellow perch, sometimes to a good size.
Yellow Perch Fishing
While yellow perch aren’t one of Oregon’s most popular gamefish, they certainly have their fans because they are very tasty and can be easily caught in good numbers when you can locate a school of decent-sized fish.
Yellow perch bite well on natural baits such as worms or pieces of nightcrawlers. Some anglers will tip the hook of small crappie jigs with bait to fool perch.
Yellow perch can be caught all year long, and they often are the first warm-water species to go on the bite in the late winter and into early spring.
Woahink is good for yellow perch, partly because it’s the deepest lake on the central coast, with a maximum depth of 72 feet.
Other Warm-Water Fishing
Warm-water anglers also find fair angling for other species.
You might catch largemouth bass, bullhead catfish, crappie and sunfish here, but often in more modest numbers than in nearby coastal lakes. On the bright side, it’s a fairly big lake and you can find areas to fish with little pressure from other anglers.
Trout Fishing
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife also stocks a modest number of trout in Woahink Lake.
Stocking schedules show more than 1,000 trout planted there in March and April. See our easy-to-read schedule below based on ODFW’s annual stocking plan.
Woahink also has a population of native coastal cutthroat trout that are common to streams and many natural lakes in the region. These may be retained under trout bag limit rules for the lake.
Salmon
Fishing for coho salmon is not allowed at Woahink, unlike seasonal fisheries in Siltcoos Lake and Tahkenitch Lake. If you catch a salmon, whether an adult or trout-sized smolt, it must be released unharmed.
Also, young coho are sometimes confused with kokanee, a landlocked sockeye salmon that are not present in Woahink.
Access and Camping
Much of Woahink’s shoreline is in private property, and your best game plan for both bank and boat access likely will be heading to Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park on the north side of the lake.
Honeyman is one of Oregon’s biggest state parks, with hundreds of campsites for all types of visitors.
You’ll also find plenty of space for bank fishing and picnicking and can launch your boat here to get around the full lake from the main park area on the lake. (Honeyman also provides access and amenities to the smaller Cleawox Lake on the other side of Highway 101.)
The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area provides many recreational opportunities throughout this part of the coastline.
2024 Woahink Lake Trout Stocking
| Date Range | Total |
|---|---|
| Mar 11-15 | 1,332 |
| Apr 8-12 | 1,332 |
Oregon Resources
ODFW Weekly Fishing Report
ODFW Trout Stocking Schedule
Oregon Fishing Regulations
National Weather Service