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Fishing rules will change in 2001 By Mark Freeman When the ball drops in Times Square on New Year�s Eve, so does the hammer on a whole slew of old fishing rules that disappear as Oregon rings in the true new millennium with all sorts of sport-fishing changes. Beyond the controversial ones involving bait-fishing bans on the upper Rogue and the Rogue River Canyon, as well as a ban on fishing with weighted flies and fly lines for summer steelhead in the North Umpqua�s flies-only waters, are two relatively low-key changes impacting anglers fishing close to Ashland. Beginning next spring, sport-anglers can start fishing for resident trout in the two main feeder creeks flowing into Reeder Reservoir, the city of Ashland�s municipal water source. The new rule, proposed by Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Don Denman, allows angling from late April through Oct. 31 in the East and West forks of Ashland Creek upstream of the reservoir, with bait, lures and flies all legal. The area would likely be fished only lightly by anglers who will have to walk in about a half-mile from two trails, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ashland anglers less interested in walking above the reservoir can instead start fishing in Emigrant Creek and its tributaries upstream of Emigrant Lake. The commission allowed angling in the creek, where large rainbow trout and stocked adult steelhead often congregate throughout the spring, summer and fall, as a way to create more angling opportunities for kids and others, according to commission documents. The Emigrant Creek season will mirror that of the new Ashland Creek fishing dates of late April through October. The creek and its tributaries flow primarily over private lands, so anglers will need to ask permission for access. But fishermen likely will keep to public lands at the creek�s lower end around the reservoir. The commission adopted the rules in late September and they will go into effect Jan. 1. The rules are meant to remain on the books until 2004 because the commission is not scheduled to revisit Oregon�s batch of sport-fishing regulations again until 2003. Two relatively large changes to statewide rules involve salmon and steelhead. Beginning Jan. 1, it will be illegal for anglers to keep any fish with a radio tag inserted for research purposes. The fish can be identified by an antenna trailing from its mouth or body, and they are present on all sorts of coastal rivers where salmon and steelhead tracking studies are done. Salmon and steelhead anglers throughout Oregon may no longer fish for jack salmon after they have caught and kept their legal limit of adult salmon or steelhead. The rule, according to ODFW, closes a loophole that for years has allowed anglers to catch and release adult chinook, or keep an extra rod in the water for a fishing partner who has yet to catch a limit, under the guise of fishing for jacks. Other rule changes: New rules coastwide allow anglers to catch and keep native sea-run cutthroat, some of which were recently on the threatened species list but were taken off in 1999. Anglers in the mid-coast area can keep two trout over 8 inches long a day, but bait-fishing for these trout is banned upstream of tidewater. The rule change allows harvest of both resident and sea-run cutthroat trout. In the Umpqua Basin, anglers may again start fishing for cutthroats from late May through Sept. 15. The bag limit is two trout per day, eight-inch minimum, flies and lures only. The Upper South Umpqua River, Steamboat Creek, Rock Creek and Mill Creek will remain closed. The Umpqua Basin mainstem rivers and estuary fisheries are catch and release for trout, including cutthroats, from late May through Oct. 31. Bait is allowed with hook restrictions. The lower South Umpqua River, estuary streams, and the Smith River will be closed in September. The mainstem Coquille River in Coos County will be open in July for salmon fishing west of Highway 101, where it previously had been closed. The remainder of the mainstem up to the South Fork remains open all year. Open dates for the finclipped coho fishery in the mainstem also change slightly to Aug. 1 through Oct. 15. Bass anglers in the Willamette Valley will find fewer fish for the fryer now. The daily bag limit was reduced to just one bass longer than 15 inches from a previous limit of three in the Bybee and Smith lakes and canals. In Henry Hagg Lake and St. Louis Ponds, the limits were reduced to one bass per day, any size. All the size and catch limits were removed for smallmouth and largemouth bass in Klamath Basin lakes, Warner Basin lakes and Thompson Valley Reservoir. Fishermen will have a chance to take home some nice rainbow trout now in the Deschutes River from Wickiup Reservoir to Crane Prairie Dam and from Crane Prairie Reservoir to Little Lava Lake. The new rules allow the keeping of two trout per day from late May to Aug. 31. In an effort to increase the number of bigger smallmouth in a popular stretch of the John Day River, bass fishermen will not find a slot limit upstream of Tumwater Falls to the North Forks. Of the five bass daily limit there, no more than one may be over 16 inches and bass between 12 and 16 inches must be released. But those who think this is a bunch of bull meant only to limit your fishing opportunities, take heart � the new rules do provide a extra little bit of free bull for the taking. No longer are angling licenses required to take bullfrogs, a species non-native to Oregon. Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470, or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.