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SUNNY Temp: 67 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Monday, July 28, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 26, 2003 Fishing and Hunting Report River Outlook ROGUE — Spring chinook fishing picked up this past week when cooler weather conditions helped drop water releases and get springers back on the bite, in both the lower Rogue and upper Rogue. The middle Rogue is still suffering from its June doldrums until summer steelhead arrive in force. The best bet for the week remains the upper Rogue, where chinook returns are starting to heat up. Through June 9, more than 25,000 fish have crossed Gold Ray Dam, and another 2,600 have been recycled from Cole Rivers Hatchery down to TouVelle State Park and the Denman Wildlife Area. Roe and sandshrimp have out-performed Kwikfish lately, in part because heavy amounts of algae downstream of Shady Cove makes plug fishing frustrating. Catches, though, have been good. Several driftboaters caught limits of spring chinook downstream of Shady Cove, with wild fish catches out-numbering hatchery fish. Water flows were down to 2,550 cubic feet per second out of Lost Creek Lake, making for good fishing conditions. Look for the releases to increase later this week if the hot temperatures hold. The far upper Rogue bank anglers have seen some slower action this week, with effort and success in the Hatchery Hole slowing down. The bite, however, is good for the first hour of the day. A few people are starting to target summer steelhead, but only 176 fish have been counted over Gold Ray Dam through June 9. Figure that by now at least 500 summer steelhead ought to be over the dam, and fly-fishing for them in the lower stretch of the upper Rogue could be good now. The lower Rogue is still seeing some springers caught daily, but the warm water has the fish spread out and on the move. The most effective method for catching springers there at this time of year is to find a narrow area where the fish must pass, then anchor there with spinners or Kwikfish left behind the boat. Bait like roe generally doesn’t work well at this time of the run in the lower Rogue. Advertisement A few people are trolling the bay, but it’s still too early for coho salmon or fall chinook salmon. The stonefly hatch is over in the upper Rogue. The river opened to trout fishing Saturday, with anglers catching primarily steelhead and chinook juveniles. Only fin-clipped fish over 8 inches long may be kept as part of the legal trout limit. For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, telephone 800-472-2434. Anglers can no longer keep any wild steelhead as part of their two-fish bag limit. Wild spring chinook, however, are legal to keep as part of the two-fish limit. APPLEGATE RIVER — Angling for resident rainbow trout and large juvenile steelhead is fair to good, with water releases holding steady at 358 cubic feet per second out of the lake favoring fly-fishermen and those throwing small lures for trout. The river is open to angling downstream of the deadline below Applegate Dam. The limit is two adipose fin-clipped trout per day, 8 inch minimum length may be kept downstream from the Applegate Dam. All non-adipose fin-clipped trout and steelhead caught downstream of the dam must be released unharmed. UMPQUA — Spring chinook fishing remains good in the main-stem Umpqua around Scottsburg and Elkton. Shad fishing remains good in the Scottsburg area, with Sawyers Rapids and Yellow Creek the top spots for shad on jigs or flies. Warming water temperatures have improved the smallmouth bass fishing in the Elkton area as well as the Roseburg area. WOOD/WILLIAMSON — Trout fishing has been good in both streams for fly-fishermen. The annual grasshopper hatch has not yet kicked in. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — Trolling for trout remains the most productive method for a quick limit, but do so early. The trolling bite has been slowing down around 7:30 a.m. daily. For trollers, focus on trolling 15-25 feet beneath the surface. Be flexible and try different depths if you get no action. Brass Needlefish and Tasmanian Devils are good producers. Still-fishing in the morning is also really good, and is easily the best way to go after 8 a.m. Try Velveeta cheese or the glittery PowerBaits. The limit remains five trout more than 8 inches long, with only one of them allowed to be more than 20 inches. A few bass are getting caught daily as well. HYATT — Rainbow trout fishing is good in the early morning and very good in the evenings for trolling and still-fishing around stumps and just outside the weedlines. Trollers can use Triple Teasers or black Roostertails, while still-fishermen should focus on glittery PowerBaits or worms. The lake was recently stocked with 10,000 more legal-sized rainbows and they are biting baits and trolled lures fairly aggressively already. Fly-fishermen using dragonfly nymphs and woolly buggers are also faring well in the evenings near the resort. The upper end of the lake is choked with weeds and not fishing well. The limit remains five trout more than 8 inches long, with only one of them allowed to be more than 20 inches long. DIAMOND — Trout fishing remains good for a mix of trout stocked all throughout June, with most of the trout now moving into the 20-25 foot depths amid warming air conditions. For bait fishermen, rainbow-colored PowerBait and worms floated on a mini marshmallow are best. The lake’s north end, particularly near where the lake flows into Lake Creek, is the most consistent producer. Trollers are catching the majority of the fish, with Needle fish or medium-sized Rapalas the best choice when used with a half-ounce of lead to get your lure deeper. Troll from the Diamond Lake Campground boat ramp to the Thielsen View Campground ramp. The limit remains five trout more than 8 inches long, with only one of them allowed to be more than 20 inches long. LOST CREEK — The lake is dropping faster now that the Army Corps of Engineers has stepped up water releases to the Rogue River. However, catches of the stocked coho salmon and the hold- over rainbow trout from last year’s stocking remain good upstream of Peyton Bridge, where the fish are nosing into the cooler water. Anglers should remember that the waters upstream of the bridge are a no-wake zone. The lake’s surface temperature has yo-yoed this week, dropping back down to 64 degrees after eclipsing 70 degrees last week. That’s causing the trout to jump around in the water column, so trollers need to experiment with depths until they get locked into where they are on any given day. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently released 27,500 legal-sized rainbows into the lake, putting half at the Lost Creek Lake Marina and the other half at the Takelma boat ramp near the dam’s face. These trout are biting an assortment of offerings, from worms and PowerBait to small spinners and leech flies. Smallmouth bass fishing is improving in the shallows and around rocky structures. Grubs and crankbaits both have been good. The daily limit is five trout at least 8 inches long, but only one trout over 20 inches. For bass, the limit is five a day with no more than three over 15 inches long, but most bass fishing is catch and release. Angling is open year-round. APPLEGATE — Fishing for rainbow trout and stocked coho is still good for those trolling points and coves, as well as bank fishing in the upper portions of the reservoir. The lake has dropped 2 feet in the past week, and that will get the fish to ease out of the Seattle Bar area and head toward deeper water. Worms, single salmon eggs and Velveeta cheese are the baits of choice. For fly-fishermen, the bigger rainbows are biting green or brown leeches or nymph patterns. The smallmouth bass bite has picked up amid warmer weather and better water temperatures. Bass anglers are reminded that they cannot keep any bass between 12 inches and 15 inches, and just one bass longer than 15 inches can be part of the five-bass daily limit. EMIGRANT — Fishing for legal-sized rainbows is good near the dam and in the cooler water sections of the upper end of the reservoir. Bass fishing with crankbaits has improved in the upper arms, but schools of perch are dominating the catches there. Crappie fishing is very slow. The willows areas of the lake continue to be well-flooded, but the lake is starting to drop quickly. KLAMATH/AGENCY — Fishing for rainbows near the springs has been good for fly-fishers and early-morning trollers. LAKE of the WOODS — The lake was stocked recently with rainbow trout, and fishing is improving as the water warms and both the rainbow and brown trout get more active. The lake is open to night fishing as a way to target the brown trout. SELMAC LAKE — The lake was stocked recently with legal-sized trout for Free Fishing Weekend, which generates a big crowd. Fishing is good with bait and lures, chiefly near the boat ramp. Bass fishing was very good at the lake, with grubs fished near submerged vegetation a good first choice. WILLOW LAKE — The lake was recently stocked with legal-sized trout and catches were good but activity was light. Bass fishing was improving as the weather and water has warmed. The campground, cabins and ramp at the Willow Lake Resort are open, but the restaurant remains closed. Ocean Outlook Chinook salmon fishing has been slow because of windy conditions and rough seas most of this week. The fish have moved in to within 2-5 miles of shore, but the choppy seas have kept everyone in bay at Brookings. Marine forecasts for the immediate future are not favorable, either. The chinook season is open daily and runs to Sept. 14, with a two-chinook daily limit and no weekly limit or mid-season closures. All wild and hatchery coho salmon must be released unharmed. Surfperch fishing has held its own in the Rogue River bay at Gold Beach, and it’s also good near the mouth of the Elk River, but wavy conditions have made afternoon fishing difficult. Clam necks or sandshrimp are good baits. Crabbing is slowing down, and crabs may begin to get soft-shelled as the spring and summer progresses. The razor clam closure has been expanded to include all razor clamming in Oregon, regardless of where the razor clams are found. Testing conducted two weeks ago reveals domoic acid levels are elevated in razor clams found at the mouth of bays, including Yaquina, Alsea and Coos. Other clamming remains closed on the beaches and at the entrance to bays north of Port Orford at Cape Blanco. On beaches south of Port Orford, non-razor clams tested safe and may be harvested. For more information, call the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s shellfish line 503-986-4728 or visit its Web site ( www.oda.state.or.us ) under "Warnings and Alerts." Hunting Outlook KLAMATH — Squirrel hunting should improve with warmer weather . 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. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times