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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, April 12, 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 March 10, 2005 Fishing and Hunting Report River Outlook ROGUE — Hot weather continues to squeeze the Rogue River and its anglers, who are still getting decent catches despite the relatively poor conditions. And despite the low and clear water conditions, the winter steelhead are starting to move a bit in the upper Rogue and anglers focusing on the deeper canyons around Galice are finding winter steelhead rather consistently with roe. That makes the middle Rogue the best bet, with driftboaters using light leader, small hooks and small clusters of roe. Focus on the deeper canyons, making a few passes each time while prospecting for steelhead. Water conditions in the middle Rogue have improved slightly; the turbidity is up from 1 NTU to 2 NTUs, and the 1,310 cubic feet per second of water in Grants Pass has warmed to 52 degrees. When rain develops, look for excellent catches to occur. The upper Rogue is starting to stir for winter steelhead as well, primarily because the fish appear to be inspired finally to migrate. More than 130 winter steelhead ventured into the Cole Rivers Hatchery trap in the past week. Up through March 1, only 52 winter steelhead had entered the trap. Fish the upper Rogue with small pieces of roe, crayfish plugs, silver and black plugs and even worms. Bait fishing is legal throughout the upper Rogue at this time. Flows out of Lost Creek Lake were up slightly to 839 cfs, but that’s still far less than a normal mid-March flow. In the Agness area, anglers continue to fare well with roe for winter steelhead, with others using puffballs in the lower end of the Illinois River as well. In the lower Rogue, water conditions remain very low and clear, causing virtually no effort for winter steelhead by plunkers. More than a dozen boats are working the bay in search of the first spring chinook salmon of the year, but non were caught as of midday Wednesday. Advertisement Winter steelhead are trickling over Gold Ray Dam, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife logging just 3,870 through March 5. The fish movement has improved; about 1,300 fish crossed the dam last week. However, they’re not going all the way upstream. Cole Rivers Hatchery counts remain very light. 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. Downstream of Hog Creek, the wild-steelhead harvest began Jan. 1. In the lower Rogue, water levels were so low and clear that plunking with Spin-Glo’s remained very poor this past week. For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, call 800-472-2434. APPLEGATE — A few fresh winter steelhead are present in the lower river, and fishing has been fair to good at times with roe, single-egg flies and spoons. Flows out of Applegate Lake remain hovered at 120 cubic feet per second. Only three winter steelhead have reached the fish trap at the base of Applegate Dam, a good indicator that steelhead simply are not spreading yet out throughout. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed. No fishing from a floating device is allowed, and anglers should get permission before entering private property. CHETCO — Water levels were low and clear Wednesday, causing a major chilling effect on winter steelhead catches and effort. Look for plenty of fresh steelhead when the water rises and greens during the next rains. Most of the fish are in the 10-pound class, and roe is out-fishing plugs. Anglers may keep one wild winter steelhead a day as part of their two-fish daily limit, and no more than five wild steelhead per year. ELK/SIXES — Both rivers were very low and clear, making for poor winter steelhead fishing conditions and bad boating conditions. Driftboat traffic has halted until the river conditions change. Look for more fresh fish when river levels rise. UMPQUA — Anglers are hitting the deeper water of the main-stem Umpqua, where winter steelhead catches have been good with roe, plugs and occasionally flies. Low flows in the North Umpqua and South Umpqua have kept the fish from moving out of the main-stem river. Sturgeon fishing remains slow in the lower river. COOS/COQUILLE — Winter steelhead fishing has tapered off as low and clear water conditions have kept the fish from moving. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The lake is closed for the season. HYATT — The lake is closed for the season. DIAMOND — The lake is closed for the season. LOST CREEK — Trout fishing has improved as warmer weather starts getting the fish more active. The lake remains lower than normal for this time of year, but the surface temperature’s leap from 44 degrees to 50 degrees this week has improved smallmouth bass fishing. Smallmouth bass are starting to get more active in the shallows and near the dam and along the rocks near the marina. Trolling for trout during the afternoons can be good on sunny days, which draws the trout toward the surface. The lake’s elevation remains low for this time of year. It’s 31 feet from full. 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. APPLEGATE — Fishing for stocked chinook and rainbow trout around 12 inches long is fair during midday, especially on warmer days. Bass fishing is very slow. 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. Ocean Outlook The ocean has been extremely rough off the Southern Oregon coast over the past four days. 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 are 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 — Grouse and quail hunting seasons are now over. 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 — Grouse and quail hunting has closed. KLAMATH — Cougar hunters are reporting increasing success using predator calls. Most cougars are taken incidental to other pursuits, and hunters interested in harvesting a cougar are encouraged to have a cougar tag in their possession when hunting other species. BAKER — Coyote numbers remain relatively high and calling and trapping are effective methods. Hunters are reminded to obtain permission before hunting on private property. OCHOCO — Chukar populations are scattered with best opportunities on public lands along the canyon areas of the Crooked and John Day rivers. Increased coyote activity is reported on big-game winter ranges. Scout areas with wintering deer and antelope, and coyotes likely will be present or nearby. 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 last week northward migrants were noted. Tundra swan numbers remain good with almost 1,600 birds present on the last weekly count. Duck numbers increased to 7,100 and geese to over 1,400. Migrant greater white-fronted and lesser snow geese were detected during the past week. Wintering raptors can be found scattered throughout the area as well as on private lands along Highway 31. Northern harriers are especially numerous over marsh and meadow areas and migrant bald eagles should become more numerous as waterfowl numbers increase. 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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