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Bait banned on upper Rogue for fall of 2001 In setting rules for summer steelhead fishing, wildlife panel ignores advice from ODFW By Mark Freeman Fishing with bait will be illegal on the upper Rogue River during November and December beginning next year under new sport-fishing regulations, leaving anglers with only flies and lures for summer steelhead fishing in late fall. In making its decision, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission ignored a recommendation from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife against further angling restrictions. Department biologists said the action would create no real advantage for wild steelhead. The new rules for fall steelhead fishing were sought by some fly-fishermen for the Rogue River upstream of Gold Ray Dam. Beginning in 2001, bait fishing upstream of Gold Ray Dam will be allowed only from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31. The current flies-only season of Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 will remain in effect, but will be followed by a flies-and-lures-only period through Dec. 31. The change mainly targets steelhead angling techniques in early November, when bait-casters use small egg clusters or roe to catch a mix of hatchery and wild adult steelhead busy feeding on the eggs from spawning chinook salmon. The rule approved Friday bans such baits as roe, worms and even the molded, rubbery imitations of roe clusters. It allows, however, fishing with plug lures like WeeWarts and Rebel crayfish. "It represents a compromise between those who want it purely fly-fishing and those who wanted it to stay the same," said Don Denman, a Medford attorney and commission member who helped shepherd in the change. "I think it will definitely save some wild fish," Denman said. ODFW biologist Mike Evenson had recommended no changes to the upper Rogue�s rules, which had come under fire this year by some fly-fishermen who believe wild summer steelhead need a break from heavy bait fishing in the fall. Evenson disputed those claims and wrote a lengthy opposition to the proposal, maintaining that banning bait would provide no real biological help but would likely hurt efforts to catch excess hatchery steelhead. "They didn�t seem to put a lot of emphasis on the biological aspects," Evenson said Monday. "They didn�t dispute the information. It just really wasn�t referred to." That irritated John Billows, owner of Pat�s Hand-Tied Flies in Trail, who believes the change will needlessly legislate some anglers away from the Rogue. "I have a hard time understanding how someone can arbitrarily do that when the whole (ODFW) recommended against it," Billows said. "They�re turning it into an all-fly-fishing show," Billows said. Denman said the commission also intended to ban bait-fishing in the upper Rogue during August. But an Oregon attorney general�s office review of the new rules Monday determined that August was not specifically addressed, so current rules remain intact, ODFW spokeswoman Anne Presentin said. The commission also banned bait fishing Sept. 1 through Oct. 31 along the 31-mile Wild and Scenic Section of the Rogue. Fishing in those months will be limited to artificial flies and lures. The rule not only will ban bait for half-pounder steelhead fishing, but also will allow only lures for salmon fishing in those months and effectively eliminate any fall sturgeon fishing, which is done chiefly with bait. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA