A look back at the week of Dec. 12 to Dec. 18, 2011. A massive steelhead is revived Saturday after it fell for a plug above Dodge Bridge. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch
OCEAN OUTLOOK
COASTWIDE: Friday’s forecast calls for winds up to 10 knots and swells up to 11 feet with a chance of rain, followed Saturday by winds rising to 25 knots and swells up to 13 feet. Sunday’s forecast calls for another rough one, with winds up to 15 knots and swells up to 13 feet. A good weekend to hit the coast to watch the waves, not enter them.
Ocean salmon fishing is closed for all species off Southern Oregon, so salmon anglers have been pushed into bays. Pacific halibut season also is over for the year.
Bottomfishing will be a surprisingly good recently for those on larger boats fishing near shore for lingcod on the rare days when conditions are good. The ling limit is two, and the bottomfish limit is holding at four a day, and that should remain through the remainder of the year. All halibut must be released.
Surfperch fishing is likely to a no-go along the South Coast because of rising winds and gargantuan surf. That will push the perch outside of most casting distances. Shrimp, mussels and Berkley Gulp sandworms or shrimp are the best baits when fishing conditions improve.
Bay clamming should be good, despite a lack of morning minus tides that were very helpful earlier this fall.
Razor clam digging remains closed coastwide, but bay clamming remains open and good in places like lower Coos Bay. However, the digging tides are not that favorable this week. Before digging, call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474.
Recreational crabbing has been good in places like the Coquille Bay in Bandon and lower Coos Bay at Charleston. Many Dungeness are firm and ready to harvest. It’s the third month of those ending in R, and they’re the best for Dungeness. The ocean is closed to crabbing.
Mussel harvest is again open statewide.
LAKE OUTLOOK
AGATE: The lake has not seen a new infusion of trout since June. Bass and perch fishing have been good amid hot weather and warm water. The lake has dropped a hair to 13% full Thursday, with turbid water. Fishing is slow. Electric trolling motors are OK but no gas motors. The park closes at dusk.
APPLEGATE: The Hart Tish Park boat ramp and dock are closed, but Copper and French Gulch are open and usable. It’s just that virtually no one is using them. The lake was last stocked with rainbow trout in June. Fish for rainbows with PowerBait or worms from the bank or slowly troll Tasmanian Devil lures spiced with a piece of worm. Bass fishing has been good with plastic worms and grubs fished slowly off the bottom along rocky points and flats on warm days. The lake is dropping quickly and listed Thursday at 7% full, which puts it at more than 100 feet shy of full pool. Outflows are holding steady at 150 cfs. The lake has a 10 mph speed limit.
DIAMOND: The lake is fishing fairly well again for rainbow trout for those rumbling through the snow to get there. More snow is forecast this weekend, but only light ice is forming and the lake water is around 50 degrees but dropping. That will start to get the trout to chill out more. Catches are best on the south end near the pizza parlor, in the Silent Creek channel or the lake’s far side near the Scout camp. Most of the action is in shallow water in the mornings and evenings. Fish deep with PowerBait during the day. PowerBait and small leech flies fished slowly will work best, with worms under bobbers close to the bottom another fine bet. All tiger trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.
EMIGRANT: The lake is holding steady at 3% full now that irrigation season is over. Angling activity is primarily for smallmouth and largemouth bass off rocky points with crankbaits and rubber worms worked off the bottom. Very little angling activity for trout. Some bank-fishing for catfish with chicken livers has been reported.
EXPO: State wildlife biologists stocked 1,500 legal-sized rainbow trout here more than two months ago, and their numbers are now thin. Catch them with Panther Martin lures, single salmon eggs or worms under bobbers. Parking fees are required.
FISH: Fishing for rainbow trout has been best near the springs. Snow now surrounds the lake, and more is expected through this weekend. The lake actually was up a hair to 32% full Thursday, which makes locating the springs that much more important. Ice is starting to form. PowerBait and worms are working best, plus trolling lures that look like small tui chub. Tiger trout must be released unharmed. Some of the most reachable springs are off the Fish Lake Resort marina.
HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is open to angling, but water levels are very low, and snow encircles the lake. There are some holdover trout getting caught by precious few anglers using PowerBait off the bank near the dam. Not much other action. The lake level stabilized briefly this week at 7% full.
HYATT: The lake was listed Thursday at a whopping 2% full and surrounded by snow, so access remains limited at best. A very limited amount of bank-fishing remains near the dam area for trout. The limit is five trout a day, with just one over 20 inches. No fingerling trout were stocked last year, so trout numbers are very low. Some warmwater fish, such as black crappie, are showing up in the catch.
LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake continues to fish well for holdover rainbow trout in shallower water. Lots of perch are getting caught just outside of the resort ramp. Water conditions remain excellent. The area is snowy, and ice is starting to form on the lake.
LOST CREEK: The lake got its last complement of catchable, legal-sized rainbow trout in late June at the Takelma ramp. Those fish are well-dispersed, inflows are dropping and releases are holding steady at 1,050 cfs as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers preps the reservoir for winter flood control. Bank-fish with PowerBait near the Takelma ramp or at the Medco access point off Highway 62. Wind-drifting worms above Peyton Bridge has been good. Bass fishing has been good near rocky outcroppings of late, with crankbaits and rubber worms the top offerings. The lake was listed Thursday at 32% full and more than 20 feet shy of the normal winter flood-control level. This has been the norm for the Corps to drop below normal low pool in the fall.
MEDCO: The lake was stocked in June with 2,000 legal-sized trout. Catch what’s left of them on PowerBait or worms.
SELMAC: The lake was stocked with 1,000 legal-sized trout again more than a month ago, and that’s it for the season. Fish for them with worms or PowerBait.
WILLOW: The lake received another 2,000 legal-sized rainbow trout in late June. Catch them with worms or PowerBait near the county boat ramp, where the fish were released. Snow is in the area, and more is forecast through the weekend.
RIVER OUTLOOK
ROGUE: The upper Rogue’s late-run summer steelhead bite has started to wane as expected, but effort should be high during this weekend’s Free Fishing statewide. No events are planned. The middle Rogue has been slow for summer steelhead and coho, and the lower Rogue continues to need more flows to bring winter steelhead into the system.
That makes the upper Rogue the best bet of the weekend, with water levels staying low and somewhat stable through the weekend despite incoming rain and snow.
Upstream of the Shady Cove boat ramp, steelhead catches are best side-drifting small pieces of roe or roe-soaked egg yarn. Drift slowly because the water is very cold and the steelhead are somewhat lethargic.
Downstream of the Shady Cove boat ramp is open to lures and hard-plastic egg flies but not bait. Plugging with MagLip 3.0s is often very good for the remainder of the month, with hard-plastic salmon eggs with scents on them also excellent choices. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed.
Flows out of Lost Creek Lake were holding steady at 1,050 cfs. That has flows holding steady all week at Dodge Bridge to 1,093 cfs. Those low, cold flows will hold into early next week before a slight blip in flows Thursday with some rain forecast in the mix.
Downstream of Fishers Ferry, steelhead are biting everything from worms and small clusters of salmon eggs to nymph flies and an assortment of smaller plugs. The best include pink, black and/or silver.
The Hatchery Hole is open for steelhead fishing from the bank and wading. There is no fishing from boats there. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed riverwide.
In the middle Rogue, a few summer steelhead and coho are getting caught daily by those swinging streamers (black or dark purple are some local standards), as well as smallish MagLip 3.0 plugs from driftboats. Most of these local fish are wild and must be released unharmed. That includes wild steelhead and coho.
Galice Road remains closed downstream of Galice because of the Rum Creek Fire, but river access is restored at places like Indian Mary and Hog Creek boat ramps. Fishing is slow there, and the effort is light.
CHETCO: Fall chinook fishing was good for those fishing fresh bait under bobbers last week, but low flows have caused a distinct drop in effort this week. Flows were down to 236 cfs Thursday, and forecasts don’t call for them to increase again until Monday, when it will bounce around before dropping next weekend. That could make for good late-run fall chinook fishing and possibly bring in the first winter steelhead of the season. Anglers can use plugs and side-drift or back-bounce bait now, and those will outperform bobber fishing and fly-fishing when flows return. The daily limit is two chinook a day, but only one may be wild.
SIXES: The low-flow closure is lifted, and anglers can now fish for chinook from Crystal Creek down to the Hughes Boat Ramp. Water levels are back to low, but the chinook are well distributed. The limit is one wild chinook a day and up to five per season. Water levels and effort are low.
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