A native steelhead is revived after it fell for a plug above Dodge Bridge Saturday. – Mail Tribune Photo / Jamie Lusch
OCEAN OUTLOOK
COASTWIDE: Friday’s forecast calls for winds up to 15 knots and swells up to 5 feet, followed Saturday by winds backing down to 10 knots and swells dropping to 4 feet. Sunday’s forecast calls for winds rising back up to 15 knots by the afternoon, with swells reaching 5 feet. Overall, that’s a pretty nice forecast for a mid-November weekend and worth considering a bottomfishing trip.
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. The ling limit is two, and the bottomfish limit is down from five to four. All halibut must be released.
Surfperch fishing is likely to be decent along the South Coast because of calming winds and dropping surf. That will push the perch outside of most casting distances. Shrimp, mussels and Berkley Gulp sandworms or shrimp are the best baits.
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.
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 8% full, with outflows 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 next week, and that likely will keep anglers away despite the fact that the lake remains mostly ice-free. 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 was actually up a hair to 31% 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 6% full.
HYATT: The lake was listed Thursday at a whopping 2% full Thursday 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 33% 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 still has a decent late-run summer steelhead bite with some surprisingly bright fish in the mix while the middle Rogue has seen a boost in some late-season wild summer steelhead and some coho salmon. The lower Rogue is slow for summer steelhead and coho while the first winter steelhead of the year could show up in a few weeks.
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 1,167 cfs.
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 river-wide.
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 249 cfs Thursday, and forecasts don’t call for them to increase again until Wednesday. Post-Thanksgiving fishing could be good if the weather patterns hold out as forecast.
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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