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CLOUDY Temp: 38 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, April 2, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 13, 2003 Ocean anglers can get a jump at chinook salmon By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Oregon's ocean anglers will get their earliest chance to fish for chinook salmon at sea Saturday under a new season aimed at allowing them an early shot at a strong crop of chinook. The early recreational season is open Saturday from Cape Falcon near Manzanita south to Humbug Mountain near Port Orford. The open waters include Charleston, the busiest of Oregon's south coast ports, as well as the ports of Port Orford and Bandon. It will remain open through April 30, and there is no catch limit that will force a mid-season closure. A similar season occurred last year, but sport-angling began April 1. Anglers willing to brave unpredictable spring weather and potentially gut-curdling seas will target ocean chinook stocks whose numbers are bountiful now, thanks to good ocean-feeding and rearing conditions of recent years, state fishery biologists say. "We're expecting a fair number of fish out there," says Eric Schindler, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist who leads the ocean salmon monitoring project in Newport. "It may not be as good as last year's great year, but it will be very good." With good ocean conditions providing high levels of feed for salmon, anglers can expect to see the large chinook of last fall show up again. Many of the adult fish off the Oregon Coast have spent the majority of their ocean life with good productivity and feed availability, Schindler says. But, he cautioned, pay attention to the weather. "Things can turn very quickly in the spring and in the fall," he says. "It's hit or miss. Last year, we had great weather in March." The daily bag limit is two salmon other than coho, so any steelhead 20 inches or longer also can be part of the daily catch. No more than two single- point, single-shank, barbless hooks may be used. Wild and hatchery chinook can be part of the daily limit, except in the Tillamook Triangular Control Zone, where only fin-clipped chinook may be kept March 15 through July 31. The early salmon season is separate from other ocean seasons for chinook and coho salmon that will be set next month by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and the ODFW. Sturgeon fishing changes to catch-and-release angling only beginning March 24 on several parts of the Columbia River Basin under this year’s plan to manage the basin’s sturgeon populations. Anglers no longer will be allowed to keep sturgeon they catch on the lower Willamette River, the lower Columbia between the Wauna power lines upstream to Bonneville Dam and the Multnomah Channel. Fishing for the species, however, can continue. The rules were adopted earlier this year to keep the overall sport harvest for 2003 at 32,000 fish between Washington and Oregon anglers. The current plan allocates about 60 percent of the recreational harvest to the estuary area of the river, and the remaining 40 percent to the area above the Wauna power lines. Until the March 24 change, the size limit for keeping sturgeon remains one a day between 42 inches and 60 inches. The yearly limit is 10 fish. The lower Willamette River and Multnomah Channel is managed with the Columbia River for the sturgeon fishery. The Columbia River between Wauna power lines to Bonneville Dam and the lower Willamette will reopen to sturgeon retention seven days a week beginning Tuesday, July 1. Six May days of halibut fishing in deep waters off the central and northern Oregon Coast highlight new sport-fishing seasons that federal halibut managers have set for this year. The spring all-depth season will be May 8-10, May 15-16 and May 17. During these dates, sport-anglers will be able to travel past the 30-fathom curve and fish in deep waters that sport the most, and largest, halibut off the central Oregon Coast. If anglers don’t catch their spring quota, then one or more dates from the following list will be added: June 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28. The summer all-depth fishery will open April 1-2 under a 57,660-pound quota unless sport-anglers exceed expectations. Inside the 30-fathom curve from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain, fishing begins May 1 and runs uninterrupted through Oct. 31, unless a 19,797-pound quota is reached. Farther south, the season for Southern Oregon and Northern California remains the same as last year. Fishing again will open May 1 and go uninterrupted through Sept. 30 without a quota. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S