Document text
55 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 9, 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 Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley 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 October 28, 2004 Bait-fishing returns to upper Rogue By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Bait-fishing returns Monday to a part of the upper Rogue River in what will be the last Nov. 1 under the 4-year-old rules banning bait-fishing during part of late fall here. Anglers will be able to use bait while fishing for summer steelhead and coho salmon from the boat ramp at Rogue Elk Park upstream to the deadline at Cole Rivers Hatchery. From the Rogue Elk ramp downstream to Gold Ray Dam, anglers can use artificial flies and lures, but not bait. Nov. 1 traditionally is a busy day in the bait-fishing stretch, where summer steelhead have been holding in riffles munching on the eggs laid by chinook salmon. Casting small clusters of roe typically leads to double-digit catches of steelhead that day. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in September voted to adjust the deadlines for bait-fishing on the upper Rogue, but those new regulations will not go into effect until 2005. Advertisement Next year the downstream deadline for legal bait-fishing beginning Nov. 1 will be the boat ramp at Shady Cove, about six miles downstream from the Rogue Elk ramp. The change was adopted, in part, so driftboat anglers can get a full day of drifting and fishing from the Cole Rivers Hatchery ramp downstream to Shady Cove. Under current rules, anglers often floated and fished down to Rogue Elk Park, then hauled their driftboats back to the hatchery for a second drift in the afternoon. The limit remains two fin-clipped hatchery steelhead a day. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed. Catches for Nov. 1 bait-anglers should be very good. As of Oct. 19, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife had counted 9,200 summer steelhead over Gold Ray Dam. Less than 1,200 of those have entered Cole Rivers Hatchery’s collection pond, so several thousand fish are present in the upper river. A small spike in the numbers of dead or sick California sea lions washing onto Oregon beaches has state wildlife biologists urging people to steer clear of them. The sea lions are suffering from leptospirosis, a form of kidney infection, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It impairs the animal's ability to concentrate urine, leaving them dehydrated. As a result, the sea lions often beach themselves near streams to seek out fresh water. The disease can be transferred to humans, prompting the warning to stay away from these animal, according to the ODFW. The disease appears regularly in sea lions. The last "spike" in cases occurred in 1984, when 252 California sea lions were found dead on Oregon beaches. Anyone who comes upon a beached sea lion is asked to notify any local office of the Oregon State Police. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities