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40 °F 5 Day Forecast Tuesday, December 9, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend November 27, 2003 Fishing & Hunting Report River Outlook ROGUE — The upper Rogue remains low and cold, hampering what should be very good late-run summer steelhead fishing. The middle Rogue is still very good for a mix of hatchery and wild fish and the Agness area is hot for a mix of adult summer steelhead and halfpounders. But the best bet for the week is still summer steelhead fishing in the Grants Pass area, where wild summers remain stacked near creek mouths waiting to spawn. The percentage of hatchery fish seems to be about 50-50 now in some areas, but the action can be good for catch-and-release fishing. Use roe or single-egg flies. Some spinners and spoons are also working well for anglers casting in riffles, but the eggs are the top draw now. Coho schools are continuing to show in the Grants Pass area, with anglers having success casting black marabou jigs at Rainie Falls, the glide downstream of Savage Rapids Dam and in some of the deeper canyon holes in the Grave Creek area. In the upper Rogue, the steelhead bite has remained slow, but look for a good boost when the water raises from any new storms. The fish will be on the move, and very susceptible to plugs while they bolt through riffles either en route to the hatchery or to stage off a spawning tributary. Coho salmon are migrating now in the upper Rogue, but they are tough to catch. Upstream of Rogue Elk Park, fishing for steelhead is best with small clusters of roe, while fly-casters using single salmon egg flies and an Ugly Bug dropper are picking up fish in the slower glides. The water from Lost Creek Lake is a chilly 43 degrees and the 900 cubic feet per second out-flow continues to be low. Advertisement Bank fishing is fair at the Hatchery Hole, with bait out-producing flies. However, look for a good mix of summer steelhead and coho this weekend as the coho surge toward the hatchery. If they’re going to bite anywhere consistently in the upper Rogue, it will be the hatchery hole. At Gold Ray Dam, 13,169 summer steelhead have been counted as of Nov. 9, which is the most updated count available. Also, there are 24,601 fall chinook in the upper Rogue as well, but only a handful are still alive after their spawning. Also, 3,725 coho have been counted over the dam as well, and look for those numbers to increase dramatically. For cohos, try red spinners, pink or red flies or roe. Most of the cohos will be caught by anglers targeting summer steelhead. Only fin- clipped steelhead and coho may be kept, and an extra fin-clipped coho is allowed along with your regular daily limit of two salmon and/or steelhead. The Lower Rogue Canyon and Agness areas are fishing very well for summer steelhead and halfpounders, with low-water conditions helping fly-fishermen and bait fisherman locate halfpounders in riffles. Some large adult summer steelhead have been caught the past two weeks in the lower Illinois, where fishing is allowed only with artificial flies and lures. For daily flow reports out of Lost Creek Lake, telephone 1-800-472-2434. APPLEGATE RIVER — The river has dropped to 171 cubic feet per second, which has slowed what little trout fishing is done there. The river is closed to steelhead fishing until Jan. 1. The spawning fall chinook are off-limits to even catch- and-release angling throughout the Applegate. The river is open to angling downstream of the deadline below Applegate Dam. The trout limit is two adipose fin-clipped trout per day with an 8-inch minimum length. UMPQUA — Chinook fishing is poor, and coho fishing is fair in the main-stem of the river, where anglers can keep up to three fin-clipped coho a day. The Scottsburg area has slowed for salmon and steelhead fishing, and cold weather has caused the fly-fishing to drop off for summer steelhead in the Steamboat area. The South Umpqua is open to angling Saturday. ELK/SIXES — Fresh fall chinook salmon are coming into the lower Elk daily, with angling very crowded at the river mouth. At the Elk, fishing is best near the mouth with anchovies, Blue Fox spinners and orange or chartreuse flies all working well. But future rains will definitely get the salmon headed upstream, and drifting the river from the hatchery could be a good option soon. If so, roe and Kwikfish are the top producers. At the estuaries, fishing is best on the top end of the out-going tides. Limits are two chinook a day. The Elk has some wild coho salmon showing up in some catches. These fish must be released unharmed. DESCHUTES — The lower Deschutes was fair for summer steelhead, with angling open through the end of the year. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed. COOS — Fishing for fall chinook and fin-clipped coho is good with anchovies or spinners in the bay and Isthmus Slough. COQUILLE — Fishing for fall chinook salmon was good for those trolling spinners in tidewater. Anglers are reporting schools of striped bass in the Riverton and Johnson Pond areas, with the bass hitting worms or surface lures. Fishing is best at dawn and dusk. CHETCO — Fishing has slowed for fall chinook, which are widely spread in the system but mired in even lower-water conditions than last week. Driftboats could not negotiate the gravel bars, and new rains are needed to get the river floatable again. Fish are getting caught in holes all the way upstream to the forks, but the fish are very skittish. Some winter steelhead continue to move into the Chetco, with catches reported as high as Ice Box by bait anglers targeting salmon. Some anglers, however, have already switched to steelhead. Lake Outlook HOWARD PRAIRIE — The lake is closed to all fishing. HYATT — The lake is closed to all fishing. DIAMOND — The lake is closed to all fishing. LOST CREEK — The lake got an infusion of 1,000 trophy rainbow trout Tuesday at the Takelma Boat Ramp, and surprised anglers were doing well with PowerBait, worms and small spinners. The lake is open year-round for trout and bass fishing, with trout anglers out-numbering bass anglers throughout the cold-weather months. Trolling for trout is good near the base of the dam, where the Takelma Ramp is the only useable ramp for this winter. The lake’s surface temperature was a frigid 47 degrees Wednesday, so look for the trout more toward the surface than farther down the water column. APPLEGATE — Few people are fishing for rainbow trout or bass, but good smallmouth fishing can be had on calm days near the dam. Worms, small crankbaits and grubs all work. Trolling for stocked coho is slow. The lake is open year- round. EMIGRANT — Trout fishing in the lower sections of the lake is fair from the bank or wind-drifting worms off the bottom. The lake is open year-round. Ocean Outlook Late-season bottomfishing is allowed only inside the 27-fathom curve, where canary rockfish and lingcod will be off-limits for harvest and these rules remain in effect through December. Black and blue rockfish catches have been good, but effort has been light as inland salmon fishing takes precedence. Rough seas have kept most recreational anglers at bay. Crabbing has been good to very good off public docks at Brookings, Port Orford and Charleston. Ocean beaches and bays north of Tillamook Head are open to razor clamming because recent testing showed domoic acid levels to be in the safe zone. Ocean beaches south of Tillamook Head remain closed to the harvest of clams due to the continuing presence of domoic acid along the central coast and PSP along the south coast. Mussel harvest is allowed from ocean beaches between Tillamook Head and Coos Bay. Clamming for all but razor clams is open from Coos Bay south to the California border. Hunting Outlook ROGUE — Late-season archers should do very well for blacktails that are now on the march in force toward winter range. Decent fall turkey hunting has occurred in the oak savannas ringing the valley, with flocks hovering near orchards as well. Turkey tags are still available at Point of Sale licensing outlets, and the season runs through November. Bears are on the move toward the valley floor, and most late-season bears are taken by deer hunters who carry a bear tag. General-season bear tags can no longer be bought for this year. APPLEGATE — The Coast-Valley elk season for the Applegate Unit is closed. Turkey populations are scattered along the Applegate Valley floor. KLAMATH — Waterfowl hunting success has been scattered throughout the basin, with recent poor weather causing the birds to fly well and leave open water. The Klamath Wildlife Area is open on a permit basis. SUMMER LAKE — Waterfowl hunting success during the past week was fair, primarily due to favorable weather conditions that came to the wildlife area late in the week. Bird numbers were low, but cold temperatures provided for fair to good decoy hunting. Low temperatures in the high teens and low 20s combined with highs in the 30s and 40s resulted in a large portion of the area being frozen over. The weekly bird count conducted Nov. 20 found 6,042 ducks and 2,339 geese present on the area. Habitat conditions remain fairly good, but many of the larger ponds and still-water areas have frozen over. Moving water below head gates, in the canal, and the Ana River remain open. Summer Lake proper continues to increase in size due to increased inflow from Ana River and as marsh units in the wildlife area continue to spill. Prospects for the upcoming week remain fair to good depending on weather conditions. If frozen conditions persist, birds will need to increase their feeding activity. Hunters using decoys and willing to spend considerable time in the marsh should have the best results. Pass shooting from dikes and along refuge boundaries will be very poor due to low bird numbers and the lack of open water along dikes. North-end farmed fields and old homestead sites continue to hold fair numbers of California quail and a few ring-necked pheasants, but hunting pressure has been light. 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 located on Whetstone Pond, just north of the ODFW office. WILLAMETTE — Snowshoe rabbits are found in both the coast range mountains and in the Cascade mountain areas. In the coast range, these rabbits are brownish in color all year. In the Cascade mountains and throughout the rest of their range, these rabbits turn white in the winter. They are very conspicuous during years when winter snows are late in arriving and they have already molted into their white winter coat. These rabbits can be observed by driving slowly on logging roads early in the morning or by following tracks in fresh snow to where they are hiding. NORTHWEST — Brown pelicans are common along the northern Oregon coast in the fall. They can be seen roosting along the south jetty of the Columbia River, and on many offshore rocks along the coast. They are also frequently seen feeding in estuaries. Great egrets are tall, white heron-like birds that can be seen along the northeastern portions of Tillamook Bay, especially Larson’s and Miami coves. They often are seen feeding on the mud flats at low tide, but sometimes roost in trees along the edge of the bay. Peregrine falcons have finished nesting, but still can be seen along the coast feeding on seabirds and waterfowl. They sometimes can be spotted resting on nearshore rocks, such as Three Arch Rocks. 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