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72 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, August 30, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 5, 2004 FISHING AND HUNTING REPORT River Outlook ROGUE — The upper Rogue is a steelhead show now, while the lower Rogue has been a little slower for fall chinook. The middle Rogue is starting to get a little chinook action, and steelhead fishing is a bit slow there as well. The best bet for the weekend is summer steelhead in the upper Rogue, where anglers can throw everything from roe, worms, flies or plugs at them with a good prospect of catching fish. The early-run of steelhead over Gold Ray Dam traditionally sports a good crop of fish of more than 10 pounds. Through July 28, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has counted 4,671 summer steelhead, making the early run very strong. These fish will be on the move and can be caught in riffles, particularly near the top of them. Also, catch them during the head of the day within the bedrock crevices around Shady Cove. The upper Rogue is closed to salmon fishing. That includes catch-and-release fishing for salmon, which is not allowed. The lower Rogue has slowed a bit the past two days of fall chinook fishing, but catches remain pretty good. A mix of baits are working, with anchovies or gold-bladed spinners the most common choices. Most fish are coming in on the incoming tide, and fish continue to move out of the bay daily. Chinook and steelhead fishing is only fair in the Agness area, but look for catches to pick up as August moves along. Halfpounder steelhead fishing also remains somewhat slow, but it is still a little early for them. For the middle Rogue, a few chinook are getting caught downstream of Savage Rapids Dam, Finley Bend and other standard bank-fishing spots. The Gold Hill area remains fair for chinook as well. Bans on keeping more than one wild chinook are now off for the remainder of the year. Outflows have jumped up this past week from Lost Creek Lake, with about 1,800 cubic feet per second now getting released. Advertisement For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, call (800)472-2434. Remember, all wild steelhead must be released unharmed for the remainder of the year. The far upper Rogue near Union Creek is still getting stocked weekly with legal-sized rainbow trout, and catches of these fish are good on small lures, single salmon eggs, worms and flies. UMPQUA — Shad fishing is over in the main-stem near Elkton, but smallmouth bass fishing remains very good in the South Umpqua and main-stem from Scottsburg on up. Chinook fishing is starting to pick up in the lower river, but fishing has been a bit slow. Sturgeon fishing is fair. COOS/COQUILLE — Chinook fishing is excellent between the jetties in Coos Bay, with anchovies mooched off the bottom triggering the best catches. Chinook are also present in the lower Coquille, with trolling large spinners fair in tidewater. APPLEGATE RIVER — The river is open to angling for rainbow trout and cutthroat trout, and fishing is fair to good with flies and small pieces of bait. All wild fish must be released unharmed. Some fly-fishing can be good in the evenings. Anglers may not target any steelhead in the Applegate until January. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The morning trollers continue to focus on natural colored lures, with Tasmanian Devils working best. Trollers are faring best when they start in the 20-25 foot range early in the morning, then go deeper as the day lengthens. Worms behind flashers work well in the late afternoon. Best locations are the whole east shoreline from the resort marina to the dam, the west shoreline from the end of the jetty to Red Rock and then onto Willow point, and around in front of the dam and Klum Landing are all producing fish. Afternoon catches are good in the middle of the lake, right at the bottom. The limit remains five trout a day, with only one over 20 inches allowed. Velveeta cheese and light colored PowerBait are the most productive baits, although a lot of people are picking fish up on red eggs. HYATT — The lake remains good for rainbow trout and some bass fishing, with good still-fishing successes coming very early in the morning and at dusk. Try a slow troll near the stumps. The warmer, shallower inlets are loaded with small largemouth bass easily taken on worms or small lures. Still-fishing with PowerBait will be best for trout, while worms and single salmon eggs are good back-ups. The limit remains five trout a day, with only one over 20 inches a day allowed. DIAMOND — The mid-season lull has hit much of Diamond Lake, but there are some good catches of 14-inch "lunker" fish for boat anglers still-fishing. Chartreuse and Rainbow PowerBait work well at the Kid’s Hole near the north end of the lake as well as near Silent Creek at the south end. Early morning is good in the shallows, but the fish are going to 30-35 feet deep and near the middle of the lake during the day. Trollers are still catching trout with red Needlefish or No. 5 Rapalas. The lake is stocked regularly with 14-inch rainbows, with the stocking coming every two weeks at the Diamond Lake Resort. The limit is five trout a day, with only one over 20 inches a day allowed. LOST CREEK — As surface temperatures have dropped to 74 degrees, but the trout continue to go deep or look for cooler water. This is a great time to fish with light gear at the lake’s far upper end, where a mix of rainbows and brown trout can be caught on bait and small lures. Remember, the waters upstream of Peyton Bridge are a no-wake zone, so it’s a good mid-day refuge from water-skiers. For trollers, get deep and go slow, with flashers and Wedding Ring lures or even worms. Bass fishing remains best off rocky points and near the shoreline. Still-fishermen in boats can search for cool-water refuges and fish single salmon eggs, worms, cheese or PowerBait for rainbows and brown trout. The lake is open year-round for trout and bass fishing, with trout anglers out-numbering bass anglers throughout the cold-weather months. APPLEGATE — Trout and stocked chinook have been surface-feeding during clear days, but there are few anglers taking advantage of it. The lake continues to drop rather quickly. Fishing for trout is best around points and in the deeper parts of the upper end of the lake. Trolling flies or worms is best. Bass fishing has improved around willows, submerged trees and rocky points. Anglers can keep up to five rainbow trout, stocked salmon or recycled winter steelhead a day, but only one fish can be more than 20 inches long. No bass between 12 inches and 15 inches can be kept, and only one bass larger than 15 inches can be kept. FISH — Trolling and still-fishing for trout remains good near the resort and the boat ramp, while fly-fishing is good in the evenings with woolly buggers and leeches. WILLOW — Fishing for trout and bass is improving as warmer weather comes in. Bass are hovering off points and along weedlines. LAKE of the WOODS — Fishing for rainbow and brown trout is good, with good brown trout angling just after dark. The lake is open around the clock for brown trout, so that presents a unique opportunity for the after-dusk angler. The resort and marina are open. EMIGRANT — Smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing remains good, but the lake is dropping rapidly and the lack of depth is exposing most of the willows. For smallmouth, concentrate on the rocky points regardless of depth, and fewer of the willows are now submerged. Ocean Outlook Catches of chinook and fin-clipped coho salmon are fair to very good depending upon the weather and how far anglers can get out from Brookings. Salmon continue to bite around the buoys, but most action is still two to 10 miles offshore. The weather has been good this week, and good conditions are forecast for the immediate future. Catches of the larger chinook have tapered off, and lots of small fish were reportedly caught and released this week out of Brookings. Catches of fin-clipped coho also are good, with about half the catch being wild coho that must be released unharmed. Bottomfishing has remained excellent for those who go out early and hit the various reefs. Surf perch fishing has picked up a bit in the open beaches as the perch move back in after last week’s heavy surf. Crabbing remains slow. Shellfish harvest is open for all species except razor clams on the south and central coast. Hunting Outlook ROGUE — Bear season opened Sunday, and hunters can expect an average year throughout most of southwest Oregon. The very dry weather conditions will concentrate bears near streams where foraging will be better. Hunters should concentrate their efforts in the berry patches in early morning and late afternoon. Bear numbers are good with the highest numbers at moderate to low elevations in the coast range, and with smaller populations in the Cascades. Successful bear hunters are reminded to turn in a bear tooth for the ongoing bear population study in Southwest Oregon. Cougar hunters can expect an average year. Cougars are abundant throughout with indicators pointing to stable or increasing numbers and distribution. Hunting cougar is a challenge because these animals are very secretive, but harvest success is greatest using a predator call adjacent to private land with high deer populations. Watchable Wildlife ROGUE — A covered viewing station on the Denman Wildlife Area provides a good opportunity to view waterfowl, egrets, raptors and songbirds. The structure was built by the Oregon Hunters Association and is accessed by a paved, wheelchair-accessible pathway. It is on Whetstone Pond, just north of the ODFW office. 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