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FISHING REPORT Fishing Report: Friday, Oct. 23 MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Oct. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE: South Coast ocean anglers will see five-knot winds and seven-foot wind waves today, and then seas will continue to be bumpy with 10-knot winds and 6-foot swells through the weekend. That likely means early-morning trips over the bar and short days for lingcod and rockfish. Near-shore jigging for black rockfish and lingcod remains good when anglers can get out for a mix of rockfish and crabs. Anglers can now venture past the 30-fathom line for bottomfishing. The marine aggregate limit in Oregon is seven rockfish a day, but only three can be blue rockfish, and all china, quillback and copper rockfish must be released. Anglers are allowed to keep one canary rockfish a day under the seven-fish marine aggregate limit, as well as one cabezon. The lingcod limit is two a day with a 22-inch minimum, and that is separate from the marine aggregate. The all-depth halibut season is done for the year north of Humbug Mountain. Tuna anglers likewise are done searching for albacore for the year. Razor clamming is closed statewide, but bay clams and butter clams are available coastwide. State health officials recently added advisories about preparing soft-shelled and gaper clams before eating because of arsenic levels. The seasons, however, remain open. Mussel harvest closed this week along much of the coast, including all of Southern Oregon. Some huge minus evening tides begin Tuesday evening and continue through the week, but it means digging in the dark. Before digging, check the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474 for updates. Dungeness crab catches have been very good in South Coast estuaries and in the ocean, with good sizes and meat fill. The ocean has been more productive than bays, particularly the smaller ones. Deeper ports such as Coos Bay have been best. COOS BAY: Chinook catches have been falling off in the bay, but a few bright fish are in the mix. Fish have moved into Coos River, as well. Black rockfish catches are fair near the south jetty, but fishing is best around the high-slack and low-slack tides. Crabbing is best near the jetties. Many red rock crabs in the Charleston area have been tagged as part of a study. Anyone who catches one is urged to call state fish biologists at 541-888-5515. BROOKINGS: The chinook "bubble" season is over but anglers are continuing to troll the estuary for fall chinook adults and jacks, with anchovies and cut-plug herring both good bets. GOLD BEACH: Trolling for cohos is holding on for a handful of trollers in the bay, but the vast majority are wild fish that must be released unharmed. Troll large anchovies with a Rogue Blade set-up, with gold or gold-chartreuse blades. Surfperch fishing is consistently decent along most open beaches when the wind allows for casting. Try Berkley Gulp sandshrimp or sandworms. Crabbing is excellent near the river along the jetties and in the ocean when weather allows for a safe bar crossing. LAKE OUTLOOK AGATE: The lake has bottomed out at 2 percent full, and fishing pressure has been nonexistent. Slowly fishing purple and other dark, plastic worms should get anglers into bass off the rock dam. The boat ramp is no longer usable. No trout stockings are planned. The lake closes at dusk. APPLEGATE: The lake is fishing best for smallmouth bass off points and rocky outcroppings. Trout fishing has slowed. Troll for trout up to 16 inches with Wedding Ring lures spiced with a piece of worm and small flashers. The surface level is down another three feet to 1,882 feet above sea level. French Gulch is impassable, but the Copper ramp is usable. Applegate Lake has a standing advisory against eating too many portions of warmwater fish because of elevated mercury levels found in the bass and crappie. DIAMOND: Trout fishing has been slow but is best at the lake's south end and near the resort, with PowerBait and pheasant-tail flies working best. Water temperatures have been dropping steadily and that should get the trout more active. Worms five feet under a bobber also are a good choice. Trollers are doing fair with Triple Teasers. Most of the trout are 12 to 17 inches long, with an occasional larger fish. The fingerling stocked in spring are starting to reach legal size, but anglers should release these so they can hit the 14-inch range next spring. EMIGRANT: The lake is still very low and murky, which has pushed most angling effort away. Bass and perch fishing will be best around any submerged vegetation, rock outcroppings or ridges in the lake bottom. The lake appears to have bottomed out at 11 percent full. FISH: The lake is down under the water gauge, and boat launches are a no-go at all the ramps, though kayakers and float-tubers are doing well on the lake. Those getting on the water are doing well with PowerBait despite murky conditions. Focus near the springs, where the water is a fish-friendly 40 degrees. Chinook are legally considered trout here and can be kept as part of the five-trout daily limit. Tiger trout must be released unharmed. HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is down to 14 percent full. The gravel boat ramp is no longer usable. The marina remains dry, so no boat rentals are available. But anglers getting to the water are faring well with PowerBait or trolling streamer flies with float tubes. The lake was stocked recently with fingerlings near the dam and they will start contributing to catches next spring. HYATT: Rainbow trout fishing has been good with PowerBait near the dam for those who manage to hike down to the water line. Bass are very plentiful. The lake is down under the measurement gauge. Access is poor. LOST CREEK: Wind-drifting worms and slowly trolling Wedding Ring lures spiked with worms is working well upstream of Peyton Bridge, but remember it's a no-wake zone. The lake was down another foot this week to 1,782.5 feet above sea level and falling much more slowly now that outflows have dropped to under 830 cubic feet per second. The ramp at Stewart State Park is closed to trailered boats, but the Takelma ramp is usable. LAKE OF THE WOODS: A mix of rainbows, kokanee and perch are being caught on PowerBait or small spinners near the resort. The lake recently received a mix of legal-sized and larger rainbow trout, some of which sport a tag on their backs. If you catch a tagged fish, check the kiosk for information about how to call in your results. WILLOW: Trout fishing is very slow with little effort. The boat ramp, however, remains usable. RIVER OUTLOOK ROGUE: In the upper Rogue, the flies-only season is in its last week, and fishing egg flies behind spawning salmon is pretty much the only show in town now that water temperatures are deep into the 40s. In the middle Rogue, anglers are drifting small egg clusters or worms behind spawning salmon with good success. The Agness area is fair to good for fly-fishing for a mix of adult summer steelhead and halfpounders, and the lower Rogue is still holding on for trollers catching mostly wild cohos. That makes the upper Rogue the best bet, but it's still a difficult float thanks to nearly nonexistent tributary flow and just 830 cubic feet per second of water releases from Lost Creek dam. In the upper Rogue, it's flies only through the end of the month, and anglers are starting to switch over to nymphing with heavy ugly bugs and egg flies because weights are banned. Flows are an issue for driftboaters, with the water running 1,066 cfs at the old Gold Ray Dam site. But the culprit also is the cold temperatures, with flows dropping to 49 degrees at the old Gold Ray site. That means swinging big streamers is less of an option now. Those with spinning rods can cast flies and bobbers, but they are allowed no added weights or attachments. Even swivels are banned now. The flies-only season ends Nov. 1. In the middle Rogue, flows at Grants Pass were up a bit but still skinny at 1,055 cfs as outflows from the reservoir remain light and tributary flow isn't keeping up with late-season water withdrawals by private irrigators. Steelhead fishing is picking up as anglers are starting to focus more behind spawning chinook. Single-egg flies and fake eggs are also good now. The Agness area is good for halfpounders thanks to a mix of low water and emerging fish. These fish will eat anything from streamer flies and Panther Martin lures to worms and eggs. Most of the halfpounders are wild and must be released unharmed, but anglers can keep up to five fin-clipped halfpounders a day as part of their trout limit without impacting the steelhead catch. Riffles and the heads of pools are best. Fly-fishing is as good as it gets now in the lower Rogue, thanks to flows up slightly but still very low at 1,160 cfs at Agness. Fly-fishing typically is best when flows creep below 2,000 cfs, so that's a good thing. Fishing is still best around Lobster Creek. In the bay, a mix of adult and jack coho salmon and a rare chinook continue to be available for anglers trolling from the sand spit near the jetties upstream to the power lines. Troll large anchovies with the Rogue blade set-up while varying speeds. APPLEGATE: The river is open for trout fishing but not for adult steelhead, with catch and effort light. There is no angling for fall chinook. CHETCO : The estuary is open for anglers trolling for chinook, and fresh fish appear to be moving in with each tide series. COQUILLE: Trolling cut-plug herring with flashers has worked well for fall chinook in tidewater around the Rocky Point ramp. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » 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. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site 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. 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