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49 °F 5 Day Forecast Saturday, November 29, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | 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 November 6, 2003 Fishing and Hunting Report River Outlook ROGUE — The upper Rogue is good for summer steelhead for those fishing bait upstream of Rogue Elk Park, while the rest of the upper Rogue is fishing fair to good with plugs or flies for summer steelhead. The lower Rogue is a mix of coho and steelhead fishing, while the Rogue bay’s wild salmon season appears to be over. Best bet for the week is summer steelhead fishing in the far upper section of the Rogue. Bait fishing returned Saturday after a two-month hiatus, and catches are pretty consistent despite the cold water. Driftboaters are doing best either floating Casey State Park to Rogue Elk, or fishing the run from the hatchery to Casey multiple times. Bank fishing is fair at the Hatchery Hole, with bait out-producing flies. At Gold Ray Dam, 12,375 summer steelhead have been counted as of Oct. 19, which is the most updated count available. Also, there are 22,410 fall chinook in the upper Rogue as well, and anglers are now allowed to target them for catch-and-release fishing. The fall chinook are of poor quality and should not be kept. Less than 200 coho have been counted over the dam as well. In the middle Rogue, steelhead fishing is good with roe in areas downstream of spawning beds, and some good catches of adults have come for those casting spinners downstream of the Applegate River mouth. The Lower Rogue Canyon and Agness areas are fishing well for summer steelhead and halfpounders, with low-water conditions helping fly-fishermen and bait fishermen locate halfpounders in riffles. Some cohos are getting caught on spinners or bright red flies in the waters downstream of Agness, where bank anglers also continue to target late-run fall chinook. Advertisement The bay season is over, with no effort there in the past three days. The water flows of 902 cubic feet per second of 42-degree water out of Lost Creek Lake remain constant. Anglers can keep just one chinook a day downstream of the Illinois River, plus an extra fin-clipped coho. All wild coho and wild steelhead must be released unharmed. For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, call 800-472-2434. APPLEGATE RIVER — The river has some summer steelhead in the lower section, but the river is closed to steelhead fishing until Jan. 1. However, fishing for trout is legal, with catches and effort light. The spawning fall chinook are off-limits to even catch-and-release angling throughout the Applegate. Water releases are holding steady at 270 cubic feet per second. The river is open to angling downstream of the deadline below Applegate Dam. The trout limit is two adipose fin-clipped trout per day with an 8-inch minimum length. UMPQUA — Coho and fall chinook fishing have slowed in the lower river, where only fin-clipped coho may be kept. The Scottsburg area has slowed for salmon and steelhead fishing, and cold weather has caused the fly-fishing to drop off for summer steelhead in the Steamboat area. The South Umpqua is closed until Nov. 15 to all angling. ELK/SIXES — Recent rains have not risen the Elk or Sixes river enough to bring in fresh salmon, but a series of decent high tides could help edge fresh fish into the rivers this weekend. There are reports of fall chinook in the lower stretches of both systems. DESCHUTES — The lower Deschutes was fair for summer steelhead, with angling open through the end of the year. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed. COQUILLE — Fishing for fall chinook salmon was good for those trolling spinners in tidewater. Anglers are reporting schools of striped bass in the Riverton and Johnson Pond areas, with the bass hitting worms or surface lures. Fishing is best at dawn and dusk. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The lake is closed to all fishing. HYATT — The lake is closed to all fishing. DIAMOND — The lake is closed to all fishing. LOST CREEK — The lake is open year-round for trout and bass fishing, with trout anglers out-numbering bass anglers throughout the cold-weather months. Trolling for trout is fair to good near the base of the dam, where the Takelma Ramp is the only useable ramp for this winter. Bank angling is fair with PowerBait, while trollers are using worms with Wedding Ring lures. APPLEGATE — Few people are fishing for rainbow trout or bass, but good smallmouth fishing can be had on calm days near the dam. Worms, small crankbaits and grubs all work. Trolling for stocked coho is slow. The lake is open year-round. EMIGRANT — Trout fishing in the lower sections of the lake is fair from the bank or wind-drifting worms off the bottom. The lake is open year-round. Ocean Outlook Bottomfishing remains good when weather conditions allow for crossing the bar at Brookings. Recent rains have created rough seas that have kept most boats in the bay. Ocean beaches and bays north of Tillamook Head are open to razor clamming because recent testing showed domoic acid levels to be in the safe zone. Ocean beaches south of Tillamook Head remain closed to the harvest of clams due to the continuing presence of domoic acid along the central coast and paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) along the south coast. Mussel harvest is allowed from ocean beaches between Tillamook Head and Coos Bay. Bay clamming between Tillamook Head and the California border is open for all clam and mussel species, except razor clams. Hunting Outlook ROGUE — The general deer season closed Wednesday just as excellent stalking conditions occurred along with good migration and the early November leaf drop. Decent fall turkey hunting has occurred in the oak savannas ringing the valley, with flocks hovering near orchards as well. Turkey tags are still available at point of sale licensing outlets, and the season runs through November. Late-season bow hunting opens for deer Saturday and stays open through November. Good late-season success should come to those working migration trails. Bears are starting to move toward the valley floor, and most bears are taken by deer or elk hunters who carry a bear tag. General-season bear tags can no longer be bought for this year. Good hunting for quail is expected after a good hatch of upland game birds this year. Mountain quail as well as ruffed and blue grouse seasons are open, and the California quail and pheasant seasons also are open, but most activity is on private land. The fee-pheasant hunt is over at the Denman Wildlife Area, but some hold-over birds can be flushed during the current regular pheasant season. Waterfowl hunting is good on private lands with farm ponds, but hunters must get permission before entering private lands. Some goose hunting is occurring on ponds and along the Rogue River in Josephine County, but hunters should be cautious of river-users and residences. APPLEGATE — The muzzleloader deer season opens Saturday to good hunting conditions and weather. Deer are migrating in earnest now, so work game trails and any areas around forest areas thinned for brush. The Applegate’s bull-elk season runs Saturday through Tuesday, and effort is expected to be light in the unit that sports a small elk herd that is continuing to grow in the southwest Jackson County area. KLAMATH — Waterfowl hunting success has been scattered throughout the basin, with recent poor weather causing the birds to fly well and leave open water. BAKER — Lower than normal snowfall last winter allowed for good over-winter survival of wildlife. Above normal precipitation from February through May produced good range conditions this spring and early summer. However, drought conditions since June have caused forage to dry at the lower elevations. Green grasses and forbs are still abundant at higher elevations. At the same time, due to last year’s low snowpack, trees and other fuels in the forest are dry causing fire restrictions to be in place. SUMMER LAKE — Waterfowl hunting during the past week was good due to very favorable weather conditions. A storm system that brought snow and freezing temperatures hit the wildlife area last Wednesday night and remained through the weekend. A total of 713 hunters checked in for the week and reported the harvest of 1,102 birds, which was up 43.9 percent from the same week of the season last year. The bird-per-hunter average for the week was 1.73, up 41.4 percent from last year’s 1.23. With 93.8 percent of the hunters who checked out, the reported harvest for the week consisted of 608 ducks (213 mallards, 98 gadwall, 89 American green-winged teal, 63 American wigeon, 56 northern shoveler, 52 northern pintail, 14 bufflehead, six mergansers, five ruddy, two redhead, two scaup, two ring-neck, one goldeneye and one wood duck). That’s up 73.7 percent from last year The weekly bird count conducted Oct. 29 found nearly 21,300 ducks and more than 13,700 geese present in the wildlife area Watchable Wildlife ROGUE — A covered viewing station on the Denman Wildlife Area provides a good opportunity to view waterfowl, egrets, raptors and songbirds. The structure was built by the Oregon Hunters Association and is accessed by a paved, wheelchair-accessible pathway. It is on Whetstone Pond, just north of the ODFW office. SUMMER LAKE — Viewing opportunities remain very good because of the increased activity of fall migrants and post-breeding dispersal. Waterfowl are staging in good numbers now, but are difficult to identify due to being in the eclipse plumage. The molt into the breeding plumage is occurring and some drakes are becoming very colorful. Canada geese are dispersed throughout the wildlife area, and their use of recently hayed and re-flooded meadows will afford excellent viewing opportunities along Highway 31. ODELL LAKE — Kokanee, landlocked sockeye salmon, can be seen spawning from early October through November at Odell Lake. The best place to see these colorful fish is in Trapper Creek at the Trapper Creek Campground on the west end of the lake. WILLAMETTE — Snowshoe rabbits are found in both the coast range mountains and in the Cascade mountain areas. In the coast range, these rabbits are brownish in color all year. In the Cascade mountains and throughout the rest of their range, these rabbits turn white in the winter. They are very conspicuous during years when winter snows are late in arriving and they have already molted into their white winter coat. These rabbits can be observed by driving slowly on logging roads early in the morning or by following tracks in fresh snow to where they are hiding. NORTHWEST — Brown pelicans are common along the northern Oregon coast in the fall. They can be seen roosting along the south jetty of the Columbia River, and on many offshore rocks along the coast. They are also frequently seen feeding in estuaries. Great egrets are tall, white heron-like birds that can be seen along the northeastern portions of Tillamook Bay, especially Larson’s and Miami coves. They often are seen feeding on the mud flats at low tide, but sometimes roost in trees along the edge of the bay. Peregrine falcons have finished nesting, but still can be seen along the coast feeding on seabirds and waterfowl. They sometimes can be spotted resting on near-shore rocks, such as Three Arch Rocks. 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 | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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