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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Gov. Brown signs landmark Oregon anti-coal bill into law ... FERC rejects Jordan Cove LNG project; opponents rejoice ... Wet storm will bring mountain snow, valley rain ... Gov. Brown signs landmark Oregon anti-coal bill into law ... FERC rejects Jordan Cove LNG project; opponents rejoice ... Wet storm will bring mountain snow, valley rain ... FISHING REPORT Fishing Report: Friday, March 11 Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 12:01 AM Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: Surly seas certainly stymie salt fishers, who have a better chance of spitting their coffee while reading this aloud than getting a chance to ocean fish this weekend. Today's 10-knot winds and troublesome seven-foot mixed swells are the best forecasts for the weekend, with 45-knot gusts and 10-foot swells forecast for Saturday. Not to be outdone, Sunday brings 25-knot winds and 21-foot swells. Stormwatchers need to be very careful about sneaker waves and should stay off the beach and shoreline rocks. When the water does calm down, lingcod are spawning and aggressive. Anglers can keep up to one canary rockfish as part of the seven-fish bottomfishing aggregate limit, but anglers should release canaries to ensure the quota is not filled, which could close the bottomfishing season. The ocean and bays are open to crabbing coastwide. Catches were somewhat poor in bays because of the high volume of freshwater, but some decent crabbing was seen on calmer days off ocean docks and outside of the jetties at Coos Bay. Razor clamming remains closed south of Tillamook Head, while bay clams and butter clams are available coastwide. Mussels can be taken coastwide. Before digging, check the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474. LAKE OUTLOOK AGATE: The lake was listed Thursday at 96 percent full and is likely to top off by the end of next week if the rains come in as forecast. The boat ramp is usable, but the water is murky and not good for warmwater fishing. No trout stockings are planned. APPLEGATE: The lake got its first infusion of fresh trout this week when 5,000 legal-sized rainbows get stocked. Trout and bass fishing has been slow amid rising water. Few anglers are venturing off the steep bank for trout. Trolling out of boats has been the best bet. The lake is at 1,946 feet above sea level, up eight feet in the past week as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has slowed its filling schedule during the current storms. The outflow was raised earlier this week to 2,000 cubic feet per second, and the inflow is up over 3,300 cfs, but look for that to rise even more through the weekend. If you go, troll for trout up to 16 inches with Wedding Ring lures spiced with a piece of worm and small flashers farther down in the reservoir. Watch for floating debris. DIAMOND: Lake ice has remained soft and not safe for ice fishing this weekend. Four new inches of snow fell on the ice early Thursday but it hasn't helped freeze the surface enough for anglers to venture onto the ice. EMIGRANT: The lake continued to rise and muddy this past week, which is keeping anglers away. The lake was at 74 percent full and rising Thursday. FISH: The lake was up a bit to 45 percent full, and the ice has softened again with this week's rains, so it's likely not a good choice for ice fishers. HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake's ice has been breaking up, and the open water around the banks can be accessed, but the water remains cold, and the rainbow trout are somewhat sluggish. Anglers can bank-fish around the dam or other places where there's open water, but effort is extremely light. PowerBait or worms about five feet under a bobber are good ideas. The lake is up to 44 percent full, and the rising water will break up more ice along the edges and weaken other spots. Don't expect the ice to return this spring. HYATT: The lake is open, and the ice has melted along the shoreline. The lake is 44 percent full, up 6 percent in the past week. The best access is near the dam, but cold water has trout lethargic and bass inactive. LOST CREEK: Rising inflows and fairly strong releases have the lake water in flux, and fishing has been slow for trollers and bank anglers near the Takelma boat ramp. But look for improvement next week when inflows subside and the first 15,000 rainbow trout get stocked there. The fish are usually split between the marina ramp and the Takelma ramp, with trolling better around the Taklema ramp before the trout start to fan out along the lower third of the reservoir. Bank anglers can use everything from PowerBait and worms to Kastmaster lures. Trollers should start with green Wedding Ring lures with a piece of worm. Land-locked salmon remain in the mix and they've been holding deeper than the trout within the water column. The lake is on the rise despite releases of 4,000 cfs to the upper Rogue. The lake was listed Thursday at 1,854.5 feet above sea level, more than three feet higher than last week. LAKE OF THE WOODS: Ice conditions have deteriorated amid recent rains, and next week will bring rain after weekend snow, so it's too early to tell whether ice fishers will return next week. WILLOW: Trout fishing is very slow, but look for fishing to improve next week when 4,000 rainbow trout are scheduled to be stocked at the county ramp. The lake is almost full. RIVER OUTLOOK ROGUE: Rogue River anglers have plenty of time to tie flies and egg-loops into next week as a series of storms and high water releases from Lost Creek Lake have put them out of business into mid-week next week at the earliest. When it does finally settle down next week, look for excellent winter steelhead fishing in the Grants Pass area and likely decent to good winter steelhead catches in the upper Rogue, but a lot will depend upon how much water gets captured behind Lost Creek Dam and how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decides to draft it down if the lake gets too high over its standard filling schedule. Flows out of Lost Creek Lake were up to 4,000 cubic feet per second this week and that's enough to make even the Hatchery Hole difficult to fish despite clean water. The river has been green enough to fish despite the high flows earlier in the week, because the Lost Creek water represented two-thirds of the flow. That shifted to about half the flow Thursday, and it gets worse from there. Flows at Dodge Bridge were over 10,000 cfs Thursday and forecast to hit a bit above 8,000 cfs today before peaking Monday at 12,000 cfs. That's well short of flood stage but it makes for sloppy fishing conditions and troublesome boating conditions. The Rogue is forecast to drop quickly and strongly beginning Monday, so look for a mix of bait and plug fishing from the Hatchery Hole on down. Worms with watermelon corkies work well after storms, as does roe and egg flies soaked in anise or egg juice. Darker rattling plugs also will be good bets. Focus on slower water and the inside turns of gravel bars, because the winter steelhead will be on the move. Another 96 winter steelhead were captured this week at the Cole Rivers Hatchery trap, upping the count to 213 so far. That's a good sign. Flows Thursday at Grants Pass were already over 10,000 cfs Thursday and forecast to hit 14,000 cfs Friday. The turbidity Thursday at Grants Pass was a very doable 6 NTUs and that allowed some seasoned anglers to fish high-water holes into Thursday, but that too has washed out for the weekend. Flows are forecast to peak Monday at about 25,000 cfs Monday then fall fast and hard, meaning high-water angling will resume Wednesday or Thursday for driftboaters and side-planers with dark, rattling plugs. Anglers riverwide can keep one wild winter steelhead 24 inches or longer per day and five per year. In the lower Rogue, a few wild springers and a few winter steelhead were caught this past week before major winds and heavy flows shut down the action. Flows Thursday were at 20,000 cfs and rising, with a peak of 50,000 cfs expected Monday before dropping consistently for a week. That fast drop should bring in more springers and create a good bite later next week. Spring chinook bite better in higher water than lower water, but anglers should focus on the inside turns on gravel bars. Plunkers should see good action with black and white or pearl-pink Spin-Glo's. Boat anglers anchored in migration lanes can fish with anything, as long as it's a spinning anchovy with a Rogue blade. CHETCO: The river was up and out of shape Thursday at 14,000 cfs and rising. It is forecast to drop down to about 8,700 cfs Saturday before spiking again. It's possible to see some high-water steelhead fishing far up in the system with roe, spinners and big streamer flies. ELK: The river was up and out of shape Thursday, with the gauge height at 6.2 feet at the hatchery with muddy conditions. The Elk could pull into shape for fishing late today or Saturday before it rises again. The forecast, however, is too iffy to make the drive from the valley to Cape Blanco. APPLEGATE: Water conditions fell off this week when the Corps of Engineers jacked the outflows to 2,000 cfs amid inflows hovering Thursday at 3,300 cfs. The lake is rising quickly, leading to the high outflows to keep the reservoir at or near the filling schedule. Another 108 winter steelhead were captured this week at the trap at the base of Applegate Dam, upping the count to 171 so far. The high water has made a mess of winter steelhead fishing, with side-planing in slow-water areas best. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed. There is no fishing from a floating device. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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