Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW BLM plan focuses on environment and recreation ... Drive-by shooter gets 8 years ... OSF and bookstore at odds over banned books display ... BLM plan focuses on environment and recreation ... Drive-by shooter gets 8 years ... OSF and bookstore at odds over banned books display ... FISHING REPORT Fishing Report: Friday, Aug. 5 Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 5, 2016 at 2:00 AM Posted Aug. 5, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Social News OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: A gale warning is in effect today amid 20-knot winds and wind waves up to nine feet. Things will get a little better Saturday with 20-knot winds and five-foot wind waves, followed Sunday by 20-knot winds and swells of up to six feet. Wind and waves all week have forced bottomfishers to stay in close to work kelp beds in coves. When anglers do return to the open water, they must stay inside the 20-fathom line while fishing for rockfish to reduce pressure on yelloweyes. The change is at least through September, and possibly for the rest of the season, to avoid a mid-season shutdown of bottomfishing. It does not impact salmon, tuna or halibut fishing, but anglers can't venture past the 20-fathom curve if they have rockfish on board. The ocean was pretty rough for anglers much of this past week, but good bottomfishing was reported early in the week, with strong catches of ling cod and black rockfish common out of Coos Bay and Brookings. Jigging just off kelp beds and on rock humps is good along the South Coast. Anglers can keep one cabezon a day. Fishing for chinook salmon and fin-clipped coho has been slow coast-wide. In Southern Oregon, the ocean salmon season closes Sunday evening and will remain closed until the Labor Day weekend. The halibut season out of Brookings is open south of Humbug Mountain. Catches in water around 200 feet deep and due west of the Thomas Creek bridge have been good for anglers using big jigs or large sardines bumped off the bottom. Catches have been light, so anglers still have 84 percent of their South Coast quota remaining. The all-depth halibut season off the Central Coast reopens today and Saturday, but poor weather forecasts could dampen catches. The near-shore season also remains open in the Central Coast. Tuna fishing was pretty much a bust this past week because of bad weather. Tuna anglers had been running 30 to 50 miles out of Charleston and coming back with four to six tuna per angler. The ocean and bays are open to crabbing coastwide. Crab quality has improved after the recent molt and their shells are starting to firm up. Razor clamming is closed south of the Siuslaw River because of domoic acid levels, and razors are off limits through September on the North Coast for the annual conservation closure. Bay clams, butter clams and mussels are available coastwide. Before digging, check the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474. A nice morning minus tide greets today's clam diggers, but no other good tides are in the offing for the rest of the week. LAKE OUTLOOK AGATE: The lake was listed Thursday at 54 percent full and dropping quickly, with anglers starting to lose interest. Fishing is fair at best for a mix of bass, crappie and perch, but mostly perch around submerged willows. Smallmouth are near the dam. No trout stockings are planned this year. No gas motors are allowed, but electric trolling motors are fine. APPLEGATE: Fishing is slowing down for anglers after a good showing into mid-summer for trout eight to 16-plus inches. The lake hasn't received any new trout since 8,000 legal-sized trout were released in early June. That hasn't deterred anglers, particularly off points high in the reservoir. All the boat ramps are open and operational. Trollers and still-fishers off the bank high up in the reservoir are doing best. The lake was listed at 32 feet shy of full Thursday, and that takes away Seattle Bar. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to release 325 cfs of water, and that led to another five-foot drop this past week. DIAMOND: The lake is fishing fairly well for rainbows, with PowerBait and worms out-fishing trolling. Fly-fishing chironomid patterns with long leaders is working well, especially on cloudy days. Use long leaders. The rainbows are spread out. Mornings are more productive, especially during recent hot weather. Another 300,000 fingerlings were stocked recently and should be avoided until they are of legal eight-inch size. Also be careful when releasing tiger trout, all of which must be released unharmed. EMIGRANT: The lake was listed Thursday at 57 percent full and dropping fairly quickly. Trout fishing has slowed dramatically, with a mix of warmwater species taking up the slack. Fish crankbaits, plastic worms or grubs very slowly around structure on cloudy days. Fishing plastic worms, jigs or grubs is very good in and around submerged willows in the Emigrant Arm. FISH: The lake was at 51 percent full Thursday and is dropping faster than it has all season. Another 3,000 legal-sized trout were released earlier this month. However, a recent algae bloom has cut visibility and slowed the trout bite significantly from what it was just a few weeks ago. Fish PowerBait for a mix of holdover rainbows and landlocked chinook near the Forest Service boat ramp and near springs. Tiger trout as big as 18 inches have been caught, but they must be released unharmed. Fishing around the springs is best. HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is slowing down for anglers as it normally does in midsummer. Morning fishing is best either from anchored boats using rainbow or chartreuse PowerBait off the bottom near shore or trolling Triple Teasers, Tasmanian Devils and Wedding Ring lures in the old creek channel. Lots of holdover trout in the 16- to 19-inch range are being caught, but rainbows eclipsing 20 inches continue to be caught with regularity in deeper water. The lake has dropped a hair to 58 percent full. HYATT: Trout fishing has slowed, and bass fishing has improved. Anything red works for bass, especially around the Orchard and in the bay near the BLM ramp. Not much size to the largemouth, though. The lake dropped this week to 55 percent full. LOST CREEK: The lake is dropping more slowly now, which has stabilized conditions for trout and bass anglers. Fishing is fair to good for the 10,000 legal-sized trout and 1,075 trophy trout stocked there last month. That's the last trout stocking scheduled for Lost Creek until October. Fishing is good with worms in the area where the Rogue flows into the lake above Peyton Bridge, where trout are searching for cooler water. Trollers should start with green Wedding Ring lures with a piece of worm. Landlocked salmon have been holding deeper than the trout. Fish for largemouth in the submerged willows and for smallmouth off rocky points. The lake was listed Thursday at 30 feet below full pool, down about three feet lower than last week. LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake is fishing very well for a mix of rainbows, brown trout and perch near the resort with worms under bobbers and PowerBait off the bottom. WILLOW: Trout fishing improved after 3,225 legal-sized rainbows and 425 pounders were stocked last month at the county boat ramp. The lake is dropping but water clarity is good. EXPO: The pond got 1,000 legal-sized trout in June, and that was the last stocking for this summer. Use worms under bobbers, PowerBait and small spoons slowly retrieved. RIVER OUTLOOK ROGUE: The upper Rogue is a mix of steelhead-only fishing upstream of Dodge Bridge and a steelhead-chinook show downstream of Dodge. Summer steelhead fishing is somewhat slow in the Grants Pass area, and the fall chinook are stacking up downstream of Rainie Falls. The lower Rogue remains very good for early fall chinook salmon, with 30 to 40 boats a day averaging more than a fish apiece, despite tough winds. That makes the upper Rogue the best bet, particularly for those fishing downstream of Dodge Bridge, where they have their pick of wild and hatchery spring chinook and hatchery steelhead available to catch and keep. In the upper Rogue, the demarcation is Dodge Bridge. Upstream, a mix of roe, plugs and flies are enticing summer steelhead most evenings and mornings, with hot-weather days not as productive. Downstream of Dodge, anglers fishing roe or plugs are finding a mix of summer steelhead and late-run spring chinook. Wild springers can now be kept downstream of Dodge Bridge as part of the two-fish daily limit. Not all are in great shape, but fish are around. Those fishing smaller Kwikfish or MagLip lures like 3.5 or even 2.5 will have the best bet for catching either a springer or an early-run summer. Back-bouncing roe and sandshrimp is also a good bet. The early summer steelhead run is a good one. The 191 new steelhead collected Wednesday at Cole Rivers Hatchery pushed the total so far to 1,118 fish, and that doesn't include the 779 steelhead recycled back downstream to the Modoc Unit at Denman Widlife Area so far this season. Of those, 603 steelhead were released there last Friday and they are making their presence known as they work their way upstream. Flows in the upper Rogue are 1,600 cfs this weekend. Flows at Dodge Bridge are just over 1,800 cfs, 1,729 cfs at the old Gold Ray Dam site and 1,567 cfs at Grants Pass. Flows at Agness will be down to just under 2,000 cfs for the first time this year. Lost Creek Lake releases will tick upward Wednesday under the state's water-release strategy for chinook in the Rogue, which could spur salmon below Rainie to start moving upstream. In the lower Rogue, the bay continues to be good for early fall chinook for bank and boat anglers, with lots of 20- and 30-plus-pound chinook getting caught daily by trollers and bank anglers. Trolling smallish anchovies with a Rogue blade rig is best. Fishing is best near the mouth and around the bridge. There appear to be lots of jacks in the bay, as well. Bank anglers in the Indian Creek area are starting to get into the action, tossing pink RoosterTails or Little Cleo's for chinook. Another 2,375 legal-sized trout were stocked this week in several locations in and around Union Creek along the far upper Rogue. These releases will continue weekly through Labor Day. APPLEGATE: The river is open to trout fishing. All wild trout must be released unharmed. No fin-clipped rainbows are stocked there. CHETCO: The river is open to trout fishing. Look for some sea-run cutthroat in tidewater and far upper tributaries. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 5, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501