Outdoors
Rec
LUKE
OVGARD
Dory fishing off
Pacific City yields
some unusual species
P
Dory
Normally, Captain Josh is
booked year-round, but a last-
minute cancellation enabled Dom
to get a trip in, and he generously
invited me along, presumably
for my razor-sharp wit and local
knowledge.
Dom is on track to become the
fourth person in history to catch
1,000 species of fish on hook and
line, which should happen in the
next month or two if all goes as
planned.
The two of us had done quite
Saturday, October 23, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Finding
Dory
CAUGHT OVGARD
ACIFIC CITY— The coffee
lost identity in my nostrils
amidst the pungent miasma
of ocean scents.
All kingdoms were represented
in the damp air: animal, vege-
table and mineral. Gasoline fumes
punctuated the otherwise natural
scentscape as my friend Dom Por-
celli and I met up with our cap-
tain, Josh Putman, in the wan
light of almost daybreak.
We loaded our gear into a
wooden boat painted a cherry red
— presumably just for the aes-
thetic value and high visibility.
The vessel was saddled with two
large outboards and sat resting its
haunches on a trailer in the public
parking lot rather than idling at a
slip in the harbor like most charter
boats on the Oregon Coast. It
was the first signal of the unique
fishery we’d stepped into.
As gray light began brushing
the black sky into a textured gray
watercolor, we towed the boat
down to the sandy beach. As
we descended the small dunes
framing Pacific City Beach and
the coastline unfolded before us,
we saw half a dozen other trucks
and SUVs parked on the sand with
empty trailers behind them.
Captain Josh backed his trailer
into the pounding surf and a man
in waders untied the boat and
began pulling. He slid it off the
struts and turned the bow out to
the open ocean.
Once chest-deep in the roiling
waves, the captain boarded with
impressive spryness, took com-
mand of his ship and fired up the
engines. We braced and charged
into the surf.
B
Dom Porcelli/Contributed Photo
The author with a yelloweye rockfish, his first.
MORE INFORMATION
This was a typical day for Pacific City’s
Dory Fleet, which has operated in
much the same way for more than 120
years just south of Cape Kiwanda. The
flat-bottomed sturdy wooden boats
are known for their safety and stability,
according to the Tillamook County
Department of Tourism.
Of all ports on the Oregon coast, Pacific
City was the only one of any size I’d
never visited. It’s tucked out of the way
and removed from Highway 101 just
enough that you have to be intentional
about visiting, but you won’t regret it.
Windswept dunes, salt marshes, pine
flats and rugged mountains will keep
you busy when you’re not fishing.
There are numerous boats operating
out of Pacific City. Captain Josh is usually
booked solid, but you can try your luck
by calling (503) 708-1141. Otherwise, just
Google “Pacific City dory fishing,” and I
guarantee you’ll find dory.
well the days before, fishing
area jetties, tidepools, rivers and
streams from Corvallis to Bar-
view, but he was hoping to find
two fish on that dory: cabezon and
China rockfish.
Luke Ovgard/Contributed Photo
See, Ovgard/Page B2
The Pacific City dory fleet has been operating for more than 120 years.
Make perfect dove poppers on the grill
TOM
CLAYCOMB
BASE CAMP
S
ince dove season is almost
over and you’ve had time to
ponder on the matter, sud-
denly it hits you. What the heck
am I going to do with all of these
doves in the freezer? As a kid
we’d pick our doves and then
with a pair of scissors clip off the
feet, wings, rear-end and make a
cut down both side of the back-
bone and pull the neck and back-
bone off. Then mom would fry
them whole.
After college I got a real job
and moved in with my hunting
buddy Bob Jett. He told me the
best way to cook doves was on
a grill. So that’s how I cooked
them for the next 35 years.
But there’s a lot better way to
cook them. Make poppers out
of them. It will take a minute to
prepare them but boy, is it worth
it. I just smoked some dove pop-
pers last night that were the best
that I ever had.
Here’s how I did it. First, you
want to breast them out. Pick
them first then, using a 6-inch
boning knife like the Smith’s
6.3-inch boning knife, breast
them out. Cut on each side of the
breast bone. Make an incision
between the breast and the leg.
Then scoop it out.
Tom Claycomb/Contributed Photo
Smoke the poppers over medium heat. When the bacon is done, they’re ready to eat.
On mourning doves you’ll
want to slice the breast in half
longwise. On the bigger Eurasian
doves you will want to slice them
in thirds.
Rinse them off and then put
them in a bowl or, if you have a
bunch, in a plastic bag. Marinate
in Tony Chachere’s Creole Style
Chicken marinade. I also added
a little balsamic vinegar and
Worcestershire sauce.
If you marinate them in a bag,
squeeze out the air so the mari-
nade is touching all parts of the
breast.
I like to marinate meat in a
bag because you can lay the bag
in your fridge and every hour
or two pick up the bag, mas-
sage it and flip it over and never
get dirty, plus it gets better cov-
erage. I like to marinate meat at
least four hours. Doves are dark
meat, and the Tony Chachere’s
Chicken Marinade removes the
gamey taste. Like I said above,
these were the best dove poppers
that I’ve ever had.
To prepare them is simple
but a little time consuming. Cut
some strips of bacon in half.
Also cut thin slices of jalapeños
and onion. Lay a slice of breast,
onion and jalapeño on the ½
strip of bacon. Roll it up and
pin it together with one or two
toothpicks.
I smoke and barbecue all of
my meat on a Camp Chef pellet
grill. Granted, to get the per-
fect smoke flavor you need to use
real wood but they are so easy to
cook with and maintain a con-
stant temp that I now use a Camp
Chef.
Fire up the grill and lay the
poppers on the grill. You want to
cook them until golden brown.
Don’t cook it at too high of a
temp or they’ll be crispy and
taste like you’re eating a char-
coal briquet. Don’t cook them
enough and they’re ... well, no
one likes to eat medium cooked
bacon. So when the bacon looks
perfect, they’re done.
This time by chance I had a
container of sour cream that I
was using to cook another dish.
I put a few dollops of sour cream
on a plate and dipped them in it
and oh my gosh, they were the
best. I’ve always liked dove pop-
pers but with my new marinade
they were the bomb.
See, Claycomb/Page B2