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52 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, May 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 AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental 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 Email Story to a Friend April 15, 2004 Takelma Park boat ramps set for upgrade By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The rustic boat ramps and dirty parking lot at Takelma Park along the upper Rogue will get a full make-over this year thanks in part to a nearly $100,000 grant approved Wednesday by the Oregon State Marine Board. At its meeting in Gold Beach, the Marine Board approved $95,100 of boating license fees and marine gas-tax money to fund the improvements to the Takelma ramp, which is on the upper Rogue halfway between Shady Cove and Dodge Bridge near Eagle Point. The current ramp does not reach the river in most low-water conditions, while the parking lot is dirt and sports a single portable toilet. The new ramp will extend straight into the slack water just upstream of the current ramp, and at 20 feet wide it will provide enough space for dual launchings. The lot will be paved and striped, and two vault toilets will be added. Advertisement The project, which costs $137,000, includes $28,900 cash from Jackson County and about $13,000 of in-kind donations from the county. The new ramp, which is expected to be done this summer, was one of more than $1 million in facilities-improvement projects funded Wednesday by the Marine Board. If you are reading this over your morning coffee, you’re not out turkey hunting. But thousands of Oregonians are spending today’s sunrise decked in camouflage and gobbling to the heavens during the opening morning of the spring turkey season. The season runs through May 31, and hunters can buy up to three tags while hunting in southwest Oregon and a handful of other turkey-rich counties in the Willamette Valley. The daily bag limit, however, remains one male turkey with a visible beard. Hunters can buy the $11.50 turkey tags any time throughout the season. Jackson County is awash with Rio Grande turkeys, which have taken well to the scrub-oak savannas and other woodlands here. Most turkey flocks, however, are on private lands and hunters must ask permission before traveling on them. But good numbers of turkeys are available on public lands around the county, including some areas near Lake Creek, the Elk Creek drainage and Bureau of Land Management lands in the Rogue River and Gold Hill areas. Halibut lovers will be rushing to the office vacation calendars beginning today in hopes of scheduling what typically are the best deep-water halibut fishing days Oregon has to offer each summer. Federal fish managers have set the all-depth season for Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain, a stretch of coastal ports that provides the state’s best halibut excursions. The all-depth dates are considered the best because anglers can go far offshore into the deepest waters; during all other open angling days, fishing is relegated to inside the 40-fathom curve as defined on nautical maps — depths that typically sport fewer and smaller halibut. The spring and summer all-depth fisheries will split a 259,604-pound overall quota. The spring all-depth days are May 13-15, 20-22, 27-29, and June 10-12. Those days will sport all-depth angling unless or until the anglers fill the spring quota of 194,703 pounds. If the quota is not reached in those dates, the fishery will continue on the following dates until the quota is reached: June 25-26, July 9-10, and July 23-24. Any open days will be announced on the NOAA-Fisheries fish-information hotline at 1-800-662-9825. The region’s summer all-depth season opens Aug. 6 under its own 64,901-pound quota, unless spring fishing is so good that the total all-depth quota is used. The fishery will continue on the following dates until the entire poundage quota is filled: Aug. 7; Aug. 20-21; Sept. 3-4: Sept. 17-18; Oct. 1-2; Oct. 15-16; and Oct. 29-30. The NOAA-Fisheries hotline will announce any closures. The near-shore halibut season for fishing inside the 40-fathom curve off north and central Oregon opens May 1 and runs through Sept. 30 under a separate quota of 22,574 pounds. For the area from Humbug Mountain near Port Orford south to the California border, the season opens May 1 and runs daily through Oct. 31 with no quota or depth restrictions. The seasons, dates and quotas are the result of a hodgepodge of federal and international entities that restrict halibut fishing. The International Pacific Halibut Commission sets harvest levels, while the Pacific Fishery Management Council allocates the allowable harvest among the various sport and commercial groups. NOAA- Fisheries (formerly called the National Marine Fisheries Service) sets the fixed days for the all-depth seasons. 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 RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times