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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 14, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 14, 2005 Fishing and Hunting Report River Outlook ROGUE — Recent storm fronts have caused some on-again, off-again opportunities for late-season winter steelhead and early-season spring chinook fishing river-wide. But steelhead fishing is clearly phasing out in favor of spring chinook. That makes the best bet the Gold Beach area, where some great early-season spring chinook fishing days have been interspersed with some slow ones. The water temperature plummeted to 47 degrees in Gold Beach, slowing chinook catches Wednesday after a few solid days of boat and bank angling. The various waters around the old Champion mill site were best for boat anglers, while the Coyote Hole has out-fishing Huntley Park this week among bank anglers. In the middle Rogue, spring chinook are on their way and catches should start to improve soon. Catches have been spotty despite some of the best angling conditions of the year. Water flows at Grants Pass were up to 2,200 cubic feet per second of 50 degree water and the turbidity rating as 6 NTUs on Wednesday. Best catches have been at Rainie Falls and downstream of Savage Rapids Dam. In the upper Rogue, late-season winter steelhead are keeping anglers busy despite rapidly changing water conditions. The flows out of Lost Creek Lake were just 730 cubic feet per second Wednesday. starting to scream over Gold Ray Dam, and look for catches to remain steady for the remainder of the month until anglers change over to spring chinook. As of April 1, 9,244 winter steelhead have crossed the dam, and that’s a fantastic number. It’s also the most recently available number. Rogue anglers can now keep up to one wild winter steelhead 24 inches or greater a day and no more than five wild steelhead a year. Advertisement For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, call (800)472-2434. APPLEGATE — The river is closed to all angling. CHETCO — The river is closed to all angling. UMPQUA — The Umpqua is pulling into good spring chinook fishing shape after high waters late last week, with catches good up to Elkton. The North Umpqua was starting to pull itself into fishing shape after a week of heavy rains, and winter steelhead catches should be best around Rock Creek. The South Umpqua is closed to steelhead angling. Sturgeon fishing remains slow in the lower river. COOS/COQUILLE — The four forks on the Coquille all close to winter steelhead fishing tonight, but the main-stem remains open. The main-stem Coos remains open for steelhead fishing, which is spotty. Striped bass have moved into the lower Coquille and have been caught as high as Arago. TENMILE — The creek remains open to winter steelhead fishing through April, and a few fresh fish can still be in the mix. Most of the steelhead, however, are spawned-out and heading back to sea. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The lake opens to angling on April 23. HYATT — The lake opens to angling on April 23. DIAMOND — The lake opens to angling April 23. LOST CREEK — Trout fishing as well as smallmouth fishing have both improved. Trollers near the dam are doing well for rainbows, while most of the shallows have been producing good catches of smallmouth. A few brown trout have been taken in the far upper reaches of the reservoir while drifting the bottom with night crawlers. The lake has filled rapidly this past week and is now a hair less than 20 feet from full. The surface temperature also dropped to 47 degrees. 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 and largemouth bass has been very good during the days, especially during the warmer weather. The shallow lake warms faster than most area waterways. Fishing for trout has improved. Crappie fishing remains poor, but the yellow perch are getting very active. ALL-SPORTS POND — The pond near Grants Pass recently was stocked with rainbow trout. APPLEGATE — Fishing for stocked chinook and rainbow trout around 12 inches long is fair during mid-day, especially on warmer days. Bass fishing is improving. No recycled winter steelhead have been stocked yet 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. No winter steelhead yet have been recycled from the Applegate River to the reservoir. No bass between 12 inches and 15 inches can be kept, and only one bass larger than 15 inches can be kept. EXPO POND — The pond has been stocked with rainbow trout. FISH — The lake is ice-free and boat anglers are doing well for rainbow trout. Ocean Outlook The ocean has remained rough off the Southern Oregon coast all week thanks to the recent series of rainstorms. Crabbing has been fair in the bays. Anglers can keep up to eight marine rockfish a day, and up to two lingcod over 24 inches a day. Surf perch were starting to get caught along the Winchuck beach as well as the open surf north of Coos Bay and the mouth of the Rogue River before the surf churned things up. Beaches around Port Orford, Gold Beach and Brookings remain closed for razor clam. To check for updates on the closure, telephone the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Shellfish Hotline at 800-448-2474. Hunting Outlook ROGUE — Turkey hunters will be shackled somewhat by poor weather conditions, but the birds are gobbling and opening weekend successes should be good. The turkey season opens Friday and runs through May 31. Tags are available throughout the season. 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. DOUGLAS — Spring turkey hunters can expect good success on opening weekend. Most hunting will be done on oak savannas where the birds are most dominant. Seek permission before entering private property. 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 WILDLIFE AREA — Wintering waterbird populations are still present and northward migrants are appearing in good numbers now. Migrant goose numbers (esp. snow geese) are in excess of 25,000. Early nesting Canada geese and mallards have paired and are beginning to establish nesting territories. Nesting Canada geese have been observed recently. Waterfowl and other waterbirds are widely dispersed throughout the Area taking advantage of excellent habitat conditions and very favorable weather. An influx of migrants, especially arctic nesting geese (lesser snow and greater white-fronted) and ducks is now occurring. Tundra swans are beginning to depart the area en route to northern staging areas and ultimately arctic breeding grounds. Snow geese are scattered in several flocks located on the Area, with one large raft on Summer Lake . Major movements to feeding areas occur near dusk each day. Tule greater white-fronted geese are most numerous in the Gold Dike Impoundment 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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