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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 28, 2005 Fishing and Hunting Report River Outlook ROGUE — The upper Rogue’s spring chinook season is winding down with a last-week flurry of mostly wild chinook getting caught, with most of the action in upper Rogue fishing holes. The chinook season closes Sunday evening upstream of Gold Ray Dam and the season ends not a day too soon. The spring chinook run has been a disappointment, with just 16,767 counted at Gold Ray Dam as of July 18. That’s close to half the normal run for that time of year. The upper Rogue is improving daily for summer steelhead, with a good mix of hatchery and wild steelhead already over Gold Ray Dam. Through July 18, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has counted 3,345 summer steelhead over the dam, and there’s a good mix of fish up to 10 pounds moving through daily. Early summer steelhead can be caught on a wide range of baits, lures and flies. Worms and small single rubber eggs work well side-drifting or when bank fishing. Crayfish lures or black-and-silver Hot Shots are good plugs, while swinging flies like red ants and green-butt skunks are good ideas. Flows out of Lost Creek Lake were down to 1,803 cubic feet per second and should hold steady until the spike of increased water releases for migrating fall chinook in two weeks. The middle Rogue is slow for steelhead and chinook, but some steelhead are getting caught early in the morning and right at dusk. Water temperatures around 66 degrees are plaguing the steelheaders there. Advertisement In the lower Rogue, trolling the bay is starting to pick up, with Tuesday being the first good day for early-run fall chinook now moving into the bay. Catches are best trolling anchovies, with gold-bladed spinners a distant second now. Some large summer steelhead have been caught in the bay on anchovies, and some steelhead are getting caught just downstream of the Illinois River mouth. Effort there, however, has been light. For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, call 800-472-2434. The upper Rogue reaches upstream of Lost Creek Lake are now open to angling, with catches good amid now normal stream flows. APPLEGATE — The river is open to angling. The river is home to out-migrating smolts and some resident cutthroat. Fishing pressure has been light. CHETCO — The river is open to fishing, but no chinook salmon have been caught yet. Bait fish are starting to move into the bay, and some chinook salmon could start getting caught in the bay soon. There has been no real effort yet in the bay. UMPQUA — Summer steelhead fishing continues to improve on the North Umpqua as more steelhead cross the dam. Excellent bank access is near Idleyld Park. Summer steelhead also are being caught in the fly water in early mornings and late evenings in the shade. As of June 30, 8,113 spring chinook and 2,793 summer steelhead have been counted at Winchester Dam. Those are the last available counts. Smallmouth bass fishing remains excellent on the South Umpqua, with top-water lures and flies working best in the mornings and evenings. COOS/COQUILLE — Chinook salmon have entered the lower stretches of both river estuaries now. Sea-run cutthroat also have hit the Coos system, while striped bass are working the waters of the Coquille around Riverton and they can be caught early in the morning on large Rebel lures. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The bass fishermen are working the shallows and rock piles on the west side of the lake, with the best catches coming in waters at Red Rock Cove and off the end of the jetty at the resort. Nightcrawlers, rubber worms and crawfish lures are working best. Some of the smallmouth have hit the 5-pound range. Trout have gone deep during the hot weather, with wind-drifting nightcrawlers or slow trolling of them the best bet. The daily limit remains five trout per day, with an 8-inch minimum length. Only one of those trout per day can be more than 20 inches. HYATT — Catches of small bass are out-numbering trout now, but trout remain the target of choice for anglers there. Catches are fair early in the morning and at dusk. Trollers can do well, provided they troll large Needlefish or Tasmanian Devil lures slowly in search of the bigger, predatory trout. The daily limit remains five trout per day, with an 8-inch minimum length. Only one of those trout per day can be more than 20 inches. DIAMOND — The lake continues to be fair for stocked rainbow trout, with the last batch of mid-summer fish placed in the lake two weeks ago. Trolling for trout should remain decent through the weekend, but catches will drop off once the latest batch of trout are caught. The daily limit remains five trout per day, with an 8-inch minimum length. Only one of those trout per day can be more than 20 inches. LOST CREEK — The lake is now down about 26 feet from full and the surface temperature has hovered around 76 degrees all week, marking good conditions for smallmouth bass fishing. Casting jugs along the northern shoreline has been good for smallmouth, with a good group of 1-2 pound fish in the mix. Trollers are doing fair for trout near the dam and the marina, while wind-drifting for trout is good near the lake water sources upstream of Peyton Bridge. The lake is open year-round for trout and bass fishing, with trout anglers out-numbering bass anglers throughout the cold-weather months. EMIGRANT — Fishing for smallmouth bass remains good early in the morning and late evenings around rock out-crops and brush. The yellow perch remain dominant in the willow along the lake’s upper reaches. Trolling for trout is fair, while bank-fishing for trout has been good near the dam’s face. Crappie fishing remains poor. No excess adult winter steelhead will be stocked in the lake this year. ALL-SPORTS POND — The pond at Grants Pass was stocked for the recent Youth Angling Enhancement Program event. The event is over, so adults can target these fish guilt-free as well as kids. Worms and PowerBait have worked best. APPLEGATE — The lake has dipped slightly to 12 feet from full Wednesday, pushing the trout out of the Seattle Bar area toward deeper water. Smallmouth bass fishing also is good near the dam. A mix of trout and stocked spring chinook salmon are available year-round, and the Hart-Tish Park boat ramp is operational. No excess hatchery winter steelhead will be recycled into the lake this season. 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. Also, no bass between 12 and 15 inches can be kept, and only one bass larger than 15 inches can be kept. WILLOW — The lake is fishing well for stocked rainbow trout, bass and bluegill. EXPO POND — The pond has been stocked with rainbow trout. FISH — The lake is fishing fair to good for rainbow trout. Ocean Outlook Bottomfishing was still good this week and the ocean has settled down to help out boaters. The new limit on groundfish is five instead of eight in aggregate per day. The ocean remains a bit too rough to run far offshore in search of tuna. Some large perch were caught earlier this week along the beaches around Gold Beach, with mussels and clam necks working best. Sandshrimp also work well for perch. The peak perch catches usually come in July. The beaches coast-wide are now closed to razor clam digging. To check for updates on the closure, call the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Shellfish Hotelmen at 800-448-2474. Hunting Outlook ROGUE — General-season bear hunting begins Sunday, and good bear populations are present. Cougar hunters can expect an average year. Cougars are abundant throughout with indicators pointing to stable or increasing numbers and distribution. Hunting cougar is a challenge because these animals are very secretive, but harvest success is greatest adjacent to private land with high deer populations using a predator call. 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. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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