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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, October 10, 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 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 September 30, 2004 Anglers get a special yellowtail rockfish season Outdoor Notes By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Sport-anglers will have a limited opportunity for some deep-water bottomfishing beginning Friday under a special season crafted to provide Oregonians some angling opportunity without threatening other species close to angling for the rest of the year. Beginning Friday, sport-anglers may fish for yellowtail rockfish, sable and various flatfish outside the 40-fathom line. Bans on lingcod, cabezon, greenling and all other rockfish remain in place because anglers had caught their quota set by federal fish managers. This yellowtail rockfish season was crafted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and accepted by NOAA-Fisheries biologists to provide some rockfish angling opportunities during an unprecedented mid-season closure announced in late August. Anglers need to be aware, though, that fishing for yellowtail rockfish is different than virtually all other rockfish species, particularly in deep water. Most rockfish hug the bottom, particularly along underwater humps. But yellowtail rockfish school in the middle of the water column. Advertisement Anglers properly fishing for yellowtails should not hook any of the protected species, according to Eric Schindler, a biologist with the ODFW’s Marine Resources Program. The daily limit for yellowtail rockfish is 10. The season runs through Oct. 31, and no yellowtail may be caught inside the 40-fathom curve. Inside 40 fathoms, angling is relegated to surfperch and flatfish species like starry flounder, Pacific sanddab and sand sole. For a list of waypoints for the 40-fathom curve off Oregon’s coast, check the ODFW’s Marine Resources Program Web page at www.hmsc.oregonstate.edu/odfw/regs/reregs.html . Halibut lovers also got some unexpected good news when federal fish managers opened all-depth halibut fishing on weekends through October between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain. The rule change, enacted last week, opens 12 extra days to this year’s all-depth halibut fishing, where anglers fish past the 40-fathom curve in the best halibut waters off the Oregon coast. The rule does not change the current open halibut fishery inside the 40-fathom curve. The extra days are tacked on because poor halibut fishing and poor ocean conditions have kept anglers from filling the vast majority of their halibut quota for 2004. Anglers must keep the first halibut they catch that is 32 inches or longer, and only one legal-sized fish can be kept daily. The annual limit is six halibut. 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