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Estuaries to have longer seasons By MARK FREEMAN REEDSPORT -- In a decade when salmon-fishing rules have tightened more than ever for sportsmen, here's some news of relaxed rules for estuary anglers. Winchester Bay is one of three estuaries that will have a longer sport-fishing season for chinook and fin-clipped coho salmon this summer, as well as a larger portion of the estuary to fish in. The changes come courtesy of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, which last week relaxed the angling rules for salmon in the Winchester, Nehalem and Yaquina bays. This year's season for chinook salmon and fin-clipped coho will open Aug. 1. Last year's season opened Aug. 16. Also, the western deadline for legal angling has been moved 1,000 yards downstream to encompass the waters where hatchery chinook are reared and released from a sunken net pen. The net-pen chinook are imprinted to return to that particular area. The expansion of fishing opportunities comes as the state fish biologists adjust the angling season to reflect the habits of the fish in Winchester Bay. In previous years, chinook have been present during the Aug. 16 opener, indicating that the salmon seem to enter the bay plenty early, says Curt Melcher, an ODFW biologist. "So we figured we'd move the opener to allow some more angling opportunity," Melcher says. The season for fin-clipped coho also was changed to keep the seasons concurrent, Melcher says. Remaining unchanged are rules banning harvest of all wild coho salmon, which are a threatened species. In Nehalem Bay, chinook salmon fishing will be allowed from July 1 to July 31 below the state park boat ramp. In Yaquina Bay, chinook angling will be from July 1 through Aug. 15 below the Highway 101 Bridge. The commission also allowed chinook salmon anglers in the lower Coquille River tidewater to keep any fin-clipped coho they catch while chinook fishing. The Coquille rule runs Aug. 16 through Oct. 15, and encompasses tidewater from the river mouth 8 miles upstream to the mouth of Bear Creek. The rejuvenated Rogue Valley Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation raised more than $92,000 during its recent chapter fund-raising banquet in Medford. More than 300 people packed the DoubleTree Hotel in Medford on April 10. The foundation's Rogue Valley Chapter was once the most successful chapter in foundation history, but the original banquet committee disbanded and no banquets were held in 1996-97. The chapter re-formed last year and held a fund-raiser that netted more than $77,000, eclipsing expectations for success. The auction included plenty of wildlife art work, bronzes, guns, sporting goods and trips. The trips include a youth deer hunt on a private ranch in the Cascades, turkey and bobcat hunts and a fishing trip to the Fox Bay Lodge in Alaska donated by Don Grieve of Trail. GRANTS PASS -- Two new bowhunter safety courses will be offered during the evening this summer in an effort to expand opportunities for would-be archers. Local representatives of the International Bowhunters Education Program have added the evening classes for June and July. They will follow the same format as the two-day weekend courses that the group has conducted in recent years. One course will be held 6-9 p.m. June 8 and June 10, followed by a full day of range shooting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 12. The next session will be 6-9 p.m. July 19 and July 21, followed by the range day on July 24. The final bowhunter education course for the summer will be Aug. 14-15, and will follow the traditional Saturday-Sunday format. All the sessions will be held at the Josephine County Sportsmen's Park near Grants Pass. For registration and more information, telephone Dick Bonney at (541) 479-7488. The 12-hour course costs $10, and participants must attend all three days in the course sequence to become certified in bowhunter education. The classes are voluntary in Oregon and Washington, but completion of the class meets bowhunter education requirements in most other states. Topics will include ethics and responsibilities, sportsmanship, techniques and gear, game management, tracking, first aid and survival. Students will do classroom and field exercises, with field work focusing on shooting and judging distances. Instructors are certified by the state's Hunter Education Program. Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA