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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, August 3, 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 Prime Times 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 July 29, 2004 FISHING AND HUNTING REPORT River Outlook ROGUE — The Rogue is awash with a mix of spring chinook, summer steelhead and early fall chinook, with most options good choices for fishing now. But the best bet is a last shot at spring chinook in the upper Rogue, where salmon angling closes for the season Saturday night. A late July surge of chinook over Gold Ray Dam has bounced the upper Rogue fish count to almost 34,000 as of July 15. That puts the run above average and back on track. For upper Rogue fishing, roe is out-fishing plugs for boat anglers who are battling water weeds farther and farther upstream. Plug fishing is occasionally very good. At the Hatchery Hole, catches have been excellent early in the morning as large schools of fish are stacked up there awaiting entry into the hatchery collection pond. Hatchery Hole fishing during the day has been light, largely because of triple- digit heat. Fishing in other holes from the Slide Hole on up also has been very good for bank anglers. As of July 22, 12,052 spring chinook had made it into the hatchery and hundreds are entering the collection ponds daily. But summer steelhead are starting to become the story as hundreds of early fish continue to reach the upper Rogue. As of July 22, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has counted 3,727 summer steelhead over Gold Ray Dam. Several 10-plus pounders are in the mix, and they have been biting roe, worms, plugs and flies with great voracity so far this month. Activity remains best right around dusk, but a good early-morning bite has occurred in places like TouVelle State Park. The lower Rogue has been improving for fall chinook as more fresh fish head into the bay with every incoming tide. Some 50-pounders have been caught in the bay already, and fishing should continue to improve weekly throughout the summer. Already, close to 200 boats are hitting the bay on weekends, and five dozen or so on weekdays. In the middle Rogue, steelhead fishing is fair to occasionally good around Grave Creek and in the Gold Hill area. Anglers are ambushing schools of steelhead headed for the upper river. Salmon fishing is slow due to low and warm water conditions. Advertisement Most of the fall chinook in the lower Rogue bay are headed toward the Grants Pass area, but don’t look for any mass migration until flows increase during the second week of August. The daily limits of one wild spring chinook and up to three a year have been lifted on the Rogue upstream to Gold Ray Dam, but the limit remains in place for the upper Rogue through the end of the spring chinook season July 31. Outflows have steadied this past week from Lost Creek Lake, with about 1,700 cubic feet per second getting released. For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, call (800)472-2434. Remember, all wild steelhead must be released unharmed for the remainder of the year. The far upper Rogue near Union Creek is still getting stocked weekly with legal-sized rainbow trout, and catches of these fish are good on small lures, single salmon eggs, worms and flies. UMPQUA — Shad fishing is over in the main-stem near Elkton, but smallmouth bass fishing remains excellent in the South Umpqua and main-stem from Scottsburg on up. Chinook fishing is starting to pick up again in the lower river as the first few waves of fall chinook move in. Sturgeon fishing is fair. APPLEGATE RIVER — The river is open to angling for rainbow trout and cutthroat trout, and fishing is fair to good with flies and small pieces of bait. All wild fish must be released unharmed. Some fly-fishing can be good in the evenings. Anglers may not target any steelhead in the Applegate until January. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The morning trollers continue to focus on natural colored lures, with Tasmanian Devils working best. Trollers are faring best when they start in the 20-25 foot range early in the morning, then go deeper as the day lengthens. Worms behind flashers work well in the late afternoon. Best locations are the whole east shoreline from the resort marina to the dam, the west shoreline from the end of the jetty to Red Rock and then onto Willow point, and around in front of the dam and Klum Landing. Afternoon catches are good in the middle of the lake, right at the bottom. The limit remains five trout a day, with only one over 20 inches allowed. Velveeta cheese and light-colored PowerBait are the most productive baits, although a lot of people are picking up fish on red eggs. HYATT — The lake remains good for rainbow trout and some bass fishing, with good still-fishing successes coming very early in the morning and at dusk. Try a slow troll near the stumps. The warmer, shallower inlets are loaded with small largemouth bass easily taken on worms or small lures. Still-fishing with PowerBait will be best for trout, while worms and single salmon eggs are good back-ups. The limit remains five trout a day, with only one over 20 inches a day allowed. DIAMOND — The mid-season lull has hit much of Diamond Lake, but there are some good catches of large fish for boat anglers still-fishing. Chartreuse and Rainbow PowerBait work well at the Kid’s Hole near the north end of the lake as well as near Silent Creek at the south end. Early morning is good in the shallows, but the fish are going to 30-35 feet deep and near the middle of the lake during the day. Trollers are still catching trout with red Needlefish or No. 5 Rapalas. The lake is stocked regularly with 14-inch rainbows, with the stocking coming every two weeks at the Diamond Lake Resort. The limit is five trout a day, with only one over 20 inches a day allowed. LOST CREEK — As surface temperatures climb toward 76 degrees, the trout either go deep or look for cooler water. This is a great time to fish with light gear at the lake’s far upper end, where a mix of rainbows and brown trout can be caught on bait and small lures. Remember, the waters upstream of Peyton Bridge are a no-wake zone, so it’s a good mid-day refuge from water-skiers. For trollers, get deep and go slow, with flashers and Wedding Ring lures or even worms. Bass fishing remains best off rocky points and near the shoreline. Still-fishermen in boats can search for cool-water refuges and fish single salmon eggs, worms, cheese or PowerBait for rainbows and brown trout. The lake is open year-round for trout and bass fishing, with trout anglers out-numbering bass anglers throughout the cold-weather months. APPLEGATE — Fishing for trout is good in the evenings around points and in the deeper parts of the upper end of the lake. Trolling flies or worms is best. Bass fishing has improved around willows, submerged trees and rocky points. The lake is starting to drop, and catches are starting to wane in the Seattle Bar area. Anglers can keep up to five rainbow trout, stocked salmon or recycled winter steelhead a day, but only one fish can be more than 20 inches long. No bass between 12 inches and 15 inches can be kept, and only one bass larger than 15 inches can be kept. FISH — Trolling and still-fishing for trout remains good near the resort and the boat ramp, while fly-fishing is good in the evenings with woolly buggers and leeches. WILLOW — Fishing for trout and bass is improving as warmer weather comes in. Bass are hovering off points and along weedlines. LAKE of the WOODS — Fishing for rainbow and brown trout is good, with good brown trout angling just after dark. The lake is open around the clock for brown trout, so that presents a unique opportunity for the after-dusk angler. The resort and marina are open. EMIGRANT — Smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing remains good, but the lake is dropping rapidly and the lack of depth is exposing most of the willows. For smallmouth, concentrate on the rocky points regardless of depth, and fewer of the willows are now submerged. The upper end of Emigrant Arm is loaded with perch, with some more than 10 inches long. Trolling for trout is fair early in the morning near the county park before the skiing traffic hits the lake. Ocean Outlook Catches of chinook and fin-clipped coho salmon are fair to very good depending upon the weather and how far anglers can get out from Brookings. Salmon continue to bite around the buoys, but most action is still 10 miles or so offshore. Chinook in the 40-pound range have been somewhat common the past week, and chinook catches are high. Catches of fin-clipped coho also are good, with about half the catch being wild coho that must be released unharmed. Chinook landings are out-numbering hatchery coho landings about 2 to 1. The fin-clipped coho season remains open because the 79,000-fish quota has yet to be reached. Bottomfishing has remained excellent for those who go out early and hit the various reefs. Surf perch fishing has picked up a bit on the open beaches as the perch move back in after last week’s heavy surf. Crabbing remains slow. Shellfish harvest is open for all species except razor clams on the south and central coast. Hunting Outlook ROGUE — The controlled-hunt drawing results are available online by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Check the ODFW’s Web site at: www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/ControlledHunts/DrawQuery/main.html 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. 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