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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 Our View: Better luck next time, but no guarantees ... Guest Opinion: It's the right time for river protection ... Guest Opinion: Oregon’s forests were born to burn ... Our View: Better luck next time, but no guarantees ... Guest Opinion: It's the right time for river protection ... Guest Opinion: Oregon’s forests were born to burn ... Fishing report: November 28, 2014 Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Nov. 28, 2014 at 12:01 AM Posted Nov. 28, 2014 at 12:01 AM » Social News OCEAN OUTLOOK COASTWIDE:  Hazardous seas and bad winds are forecast through tonight and things won't get much better this weekend, with 15-knot winds and 7-foot swells predicted for Saturday. Winds up to 15 knots and 5-foot swells are forecast for Sunday and that could tempt some locals to jig for rockfish in the early morning but not good enough to plan a coast trip from the valley. The ocean crabbing season begins Monday, and Dungeness catches off bay mouths should be very good when weather alllows. The South Coast halibut fishery is closed until spring. Anglers can venture past the 30-fathom line for bottomfishing, but few will bother, as near-shore fishing is good for black rockfish and the occasional lingcod, which have moved farther offshore. The marine aggregate limit in Oregon is seven rockfish a day. Anglers can keep one cabezon as part of that limit. The lingcod limit is two a day with a 22-inch minimum, and that is separate from the marine aggregate. Crabbers have been doing very well for legal-sized males in most Oregon estuaries, with boat crabbers landing limits or close to them in Coos Bay and other spots. The rain will push the Dungeness lower in coastal estuaries briefly. Razor clam digging in Clatsop County is about as good as it gets. A record 16 million clams are estimated for the 18-mile stretch of beach from the Columbia River to Tillamook Head. The previous record estimate was 9 million in 2005. The limit is the first 15 clams dug. Razor clamming is closed from the California border to Heceta Head near Florence because of elevated bacteria levels. Evening minus tides through this weekend should bring out the clammers around Charleston if the winds don't blow them away. Mussels are open along the entire Oregon Coast. Call the state shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474 before harvesting. COOS BAY:  Black rockfish catches are good off the north jetty, and crabbing is very good for boat crabbers and decent for dock crabbers. Look for crabbing to slow through the weekend as high winds and rain hit the coast, then it should pick up again next week. 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 ocean is a bust for the weekend until Sunday at best, but look for the waters to settle down next week. GOLD BEACH:  The Rogue bay has turned off for chinook and coho salmon, except for a handful of chinook milling around the mouth of Indian Creek waiting to run upstream on the next freshet.   LAKE OUTLOOK AGATE:  The lake is up to 7 percent full, but it's still so murky that it's unfishable. APPLEGATE:  The lake is fishing fairly well for holdover rainbow trout 10 to 14 inches long, but there is little effort there. Trollers are finding fish with Wedding Ring lures spiced with worms between 40 and 60 feet deep. Hart-Tish Park and its boat ramp are closed, and the ramp at Copper is no longer usable. That leaves only the French Gulch ramp for launching. Bass fishing is good with crankbaits and grubs. The lake was up a bit this week to 97 feet from full, almost the level of last week. Applegate Lake has a standing advisory against eating too many portions of warmwater fish caught in the lake because of elevated mercury levels found in the bass and crappie. DIAMOND:  Fishing for trout has been decent but not spectacular and the lack of effort reinforces this. Most of the action is still-fishing with PowerBait or with worms under bobbers. Vary your depths. Trolling is slow. The North Ramp near the resort remains open, but the campgrounds are closed. The limit is eight trout longer than 8 inches per day, but only one can be longer than 20 inches. Diamond Lake remains open year-round. EMIGRANT:  The county park boat ramps are unusable. The lake has inched up to 132 percent full. There is some bank fishing where Emigrant Creek hits what's left of the lake and near the rowing boathouse, but not much action is going on. Driving on the lake bed is illegal. FISH:  The lake has inched up to 27 percent full after being below the water-gauge most of last month. No boat ramps are usable, however. A few people fishing on float tubes are faring very well for a mix of trout and chinook salmon. Most of the fishing is with bait near the center of the lake or from the bank near the resort. Tiger trout must be released unharmed. Chinook are legally considered trout and can be kept as part of the five-trout daily limit. The chinook are in 12- to 14-inch range. HOWARD PRAIRIE:  The lake is closed to angling until April 25. HYATT:  The lake is closed to angling until April 25. LOST CREEK:  Fishing for trout is best upstream of Peyton Bridge but also good for deep trolling near the dam. Some 12- to 15-inch trout have been taken there recently. Bass fishing is very good with a mix of crankbaits and plastics. At 1,815 feet above sea level, the water level has risen enough that the marina boat ramp works, but expect that to drop when the Corps of Engineers purges water captured from last week's rains. The Taklema ramp will remain usable. LAKE OF THE WOODS:  Trolling with green or black Wedding Rings is working well for rainbow trout, while pink ones are knocking the kokanee well for those bothering to try. Water levels remain very good. Still-fishing with PowerBait from the bank has been good for trout, especially early. LEMOLO : Fishing is good for a mix of  holdover lunker trout from earlier fall stocking. Trolling deep gets a mix of trout and kokanee, while still-fishing near the resort with PowerBait is good. From now through Dec. 31, all brown trout must be released. The reservoir still will be open for fishing, and rainbow trout and kokanee can be harvested for the five-trout limit. WILLOW:  Fishing from the bank with PowerBait or worms has been fair around the resort and directly across from the county boat ramp. Trollers could try Tasmanian Devils or Triple Teasers, or wind-drift worms in the afternoon. Boat traffic and fishing effort remain very light.   RIVER OUTLOOK ROGUE:  The upper Rogue will peak Saturday after the holiday rains and that will get the late-run summer steelhead and coho on the move like they did after last week's rains. The middle Rogue won't start dropping until late Saturday or early Sunday, and that will slow the steelhead fishing there. The lower Rogue will see more winter steelhead moving in with this freshet and plunkers should finally start seeing some action. That makes the best bet the upper Rogue upstream of the Shady Cove boat ramp, because that's where the entire tackle box is available and the amount of leaves in the water will be less when you stay upstream of Shady Cove. Small clusters of roe or egg-soaked egg flies are the ticket for steelhead used to sucking on loose chinook eggs. Pink rubber worms are starting to work well again, too. Side-drifting eggs or yarn flies at tailouts and the heads of pools is best, but stay out of the chinook redds. Flows out of Lost Creek Lake shot up this past week adn was at 2,050 cubic feet per second heading into the holiday rains. Flows Wednesday at Dodge Bridge were 2,256 cfs, but were forecast to peak around 4,400 cfs Saturday before dropping quickly Sunday. That means Sunday could be pretty good for late-ru summer steelhead unless the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turns up the outflow to purge what water it captures from these rains. Downstream of the Shady Cove ramp is open to flies and lures only and no bait. That makes it something of a plugging show with mixed results. Crayfish plugs and black-and-silver WeeWarts are good choices, with K-11 Kwikfish good in deeper, heavier water. Plastic egg flies are also legal for fly-fishers in this stretch, and they are terrific point flies when fished with a heavy dropper fly such as an Ugly Bug. Flows Wednesday were 2,500 cfs at the old Gold Ray site, but forecast to jump to about 5,800 cfs Saturday. Since that will include lots of runoff from Little Butte and Bear creeks, it likely will be too dirty for steelheading until Monday at best. In the middle Rogue, fishing will be decent everywhere from Valley of the Rogue State Park through Ennis Riffle once the flows drop Sunday. A few early winter steelhead could show up around Grave Creek on Sunday or Monday when the water gets fishable there again. Flows at Grants Pass are forecast to be around 6,500 cfs Saturday. Worms with beads or black-and-yellow Panther Martin lures are good offerings as well as larger plugs once the water clarity returns. In the lower Rogue, a few winter steelhead have been caught with plugs from boats around Lobster Creek, but the plunkers should start getting into fish early next week at Dunkelberger Bar and other plunking hot-spots. CHETCO  — The river was at 2,500 cfs Wednesday and forecast to blow out to around 6,500 cfs Saturday before dropping somewhat slowly. Look for a nice mix of fall chinook salmon and early winter steelhead river-wide.   MailTribune.com Writer Posted Nov. 28, 2014 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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