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Mark Freeman's Commentary New fishing hole could overshadow the others TRAIL - There's the left side of the boat ramp at Casey State Park, and the first flat rock from the top at the Slide Hole just downstream. And who can forget the two big boulder ledges downstream and south of Rainie Falls. Rogue River bank anglers know these rocks are some of the premier platforms from which to cast for spring chinook salmon, the spots where a cast of lead, beads and a single hook has the best chance of all to coax a chinook from the river depths. But those traditional hot spots could be overshadowed as early as Tuesday if anglers get a crack at a new set of casting rocks at what could be the Rogue's next dynamite spring chinook fishing hole. The heretofore closed fishing waters within the shadows of Cole Rivers Hatchery may be opened as an experiment to see if anglers can catch more excess spring chinook without making a major nuisance of themselves. Under an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife order that could be signed as early as today, the Rogue's uppermost salmon-fishing boundary will be extended almost a quarter-mile upstream to within 60 yards of the hatchery's collection-pond entrance. The proposal is still in draft form and could get an 11th-hour revision or get dropped altogether today. But it is the latest in a wave of changes statewide that are meant to get more excess hatchery salmon in the hands of sport-anglers. The upper Rogue proposal calls for allowing bank angling and wading from both sides of the river, but no fishing from boats, in the new hole. The rule would be an interim one and run as long as six months. But for spring chinook fishing, it would apply only through July 31, which is the end of the upper Rogue spring chinook season. This would open about 200 yards of waters that sometimes teem with hundreds of spring chinook. The hole's north bank sports a rocky dike that has protected the hatchery grounds from high water since the facility was built almost 30 years ago. But if the change is adopted, the race will be on to see which rocks provide the most advantageous spots for catching chinook. If opened Tuesday, fishing would legally begin an hour before sunrise. That would be 4:39 a.m. Bank on the "bankies" having the hole figured out by 4:41 a.m. "It'll take them two minutes to figure out where the best rocks are, where the good slots are that will hold fish," says John Billows at Pat's Hand-Tied Flies, the unofficial hub of upper Rogue springer fishing. "And from then on, it'll be tough to get those spots," Billows says. "It'll be a zoo." The new zoo still relies on whether state fishery biologists, police and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can hash out an agreement each group can live with. The waters along the hatchery have traditionally been closed, chiefly because anglers could not be trusted to behave themselves while fishing shoulder-to-shoulder in a hole that may have more than 1,000 fish in it on some mid-summer days. But a glut of 20,000 excess spring chinook expected at the hatchery this year led ODFW biologists to ask for the stretch to be open for fishing. Oregon State Police troopers who patrol the river have argued strongly against opening the hole, saying it will generate conflicts among boat anglers, bank anglers and rafters as well as pose safety concerns and security concerns at the hatchery. Corps officials have objected to the original proposal because of conflict issues and congestion, primarily at the boat ramp across from the hatchery and the small parking lot there that would get overrun by bank anglers. But ODFW Director Lindsay Ball, who used to run the OSP's Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division, told ODFW biologists to work with the Corps and the OSP to reach some sort of compromise. The original proposal called for bank fishing only from the south side of the river, with no fishing from the hatchery side. But the latest version of the proposal includes fishing from both sides of the river, which ODFW biologist Mike Evenson says would take some pressure off the boat ramp and put more bank-anglers along the hatchery side. Those parking on the hatchery grounds would be directed through the facility to the fishing zone. This would reduce some of the burdens for the Corps, which controls the ramp and parking lot, and the OSP's concerns about boater-angler conflicts, Evenson says. But this move would open the hatchery to more potential troubles, like vandalism, theft and infection of fish there, Evenson says. "The guys at the hatchery are aware of that, but they're willing to take the risk," Evenson says. ODFW leaders hope they can reach some sort of agreement on the proposal today with Corps and OSP representatives. If they can't get an agreement, the Hatchery Hole will remain off-limits to anglers indefinitely. "We want to get everybody on the same sheet of music," Ball says, "so we're all singing the same verse." If that verse is sung, the refrain anglers will hear over and over is this: The onus is on them to prove the state police wrong. Anglers will have to be on their best behavior when they take to their new fishing grounds. Cases of illegally snagging fish, harassing rafters and confrontations over the most coveted of casting rocks will put the padlock back on the Hatchery Hole even faster than it was lifted. "Well," Evenson says, "I guess we'll see how it goes." (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. 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