Rogue River spring Chinook.

Water releases into the Rogue River from the William L. Jess Dam fell to 3,081-cubic-feet-per-second as of Thursday, down from 4,190 cfs a week earlier, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The flow in the river remains high.

The river temperature on Thursday below Lost Creek Lake was a numbing 51 degrees, while the lake surface temperature was a cool 65 degrees. The reservoir is 96% full.

Trout season opened Monday on rivers in the region. Only hatchery trout may be harvested. Wild and cutthroat trout must be released.

Free Fishing Weekend is June 3-4 in Oregon, with no license, tag or validation needed to fish, crab or clam anywhere in the state.

Chinook fishing should be good on the Rogue River, according to the May 24 recreation report issued by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The fishing information below is taken primarily from that report, which was posted online on Wednesday.

RIVER OUTLOOK

ROGUE: Above Lost Creek Lake, trout stocking was scheduled to take place this week, May 22-26, and next week, May 29-June 2, with 2,515 legal trout stocked each week. There is still a lot of snow melting, prompting high river flows of around 2,500 cfs above Prospect. This section of river fishes well up to about 1,600 cfs.

Snow on roads below Union Creek have melted and river access is possible again. Roads to some tributaries may still be impassable due to snow, especially upstream of Union Creek.

River flows past Gold Hill were 3,150 cfs on Thursday. At Grants Pass the flow was 3,190 cfs, with turbidity at 4 NTUs and the water temperature at 55.1 degrees. For salmon and steelhead fishing in the Rogue, turbidity levels between 4 and 14 are considered ideal.

Water conditions on the lower Rogue are very good for some late season spring Chinook. This is the time of year to start looking for summer steelhead, while winter steelhead should still be around for a few more weeks.

The “Hatchery Hole” is closed to all fishing until Aug. 1 and closed to Chinook fishing all year. The first salmon flies are starting to hatch. It may be a few weeks yet before water temperatures rise enough to jump-start the big hatch.

The Cole M. Rivers Hatchery fish count as of Thursday was two summer steelhead and 744 spring Chinook, up from 666 spring Chinook the previous week. The winter steelhead count was 1,201, up from 1,177 the previous week.

APPLEGATE: The flow out of the Applegate Dam on Thursday stood at 1,443 cfs, with the average river temperature at 48 degrees, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. The winter steelhead count stood at 436 as of Thursday.

ILLINOIS: Flows are relatively high from snow melt, but clarity is good.

CHETCO: Anglers will have good water conditions for finding cutthroat trout in most of the lower reaches of the river. This time of year, the fish are feeding on juvenile salmon and steelhead as they are migrating through the river. Small spinners and flies tend to work pretty well.

LAKE OUTLOOK

AGATE: The reservoir was 100% full as of Wednesday, with plenty of bank fishing access. The boat ramp is usable for small boats.

Anglers may want to consider fishing for brown bullhead with chicken livers fished off the bottom in the early morning or late evening. Anglers are also encouraged to target and harvest carp.

APPLEGATE: The reservoir was 94% full as of Wednesday, with a water surface temperature of 62 degrees. Lake elevation on Thursday was 1,982.7 feet. All boat ramps should be usable. With cool to moderate temperatures, trout fishing should be decent throughout the reservoir. The lake was due to be stocked with 15,000 legals and 500 trophy trout the week of May 15-19.

DIAMOND: As of Wednesday, there was still ice covering much of the lake. However, the marina side is starting to open quickly. The first fishing after ice-off is usually great. Check ice conditions on the Diamond Lake Resort Facebook page or call 541-793-3333.

The lake has been stocked with tiger and brown trout, which are intended to assist in controlling illegally introduced tui chub and are catch-and-release only.

EMIGRANT: The reservoir was 74% full as of Tuesday, up 1% from last week. All boat ramps are usable. Legal trout were stocked several times over the last two months. Cool water should have trout and bass distributed throughout the reservoir, so fishing should be productive. There is a longstanding health advisory for consumption of resident warm water species in the lake for high levels of mercury. Consult the sportfishing regulations or the Oregon Health Authority for more information on consumption guidelines.

EXPO: The pond is due to receive 1,000 legal trout this week, May 22-26. Fresh trout should be readily available after being stocked several times over the last few months. Several reports of good-size largemouth bass have come in as the water has warmed up in the last week.

There are invasive Chinese mystery snails in the most northern pond. Do not move them. Drain and dry any personal watercraft after use.

FISH: The lake was stocked the week of May 8 and is due to receive 3,500 legal trout this week, May 22-26. The reservoir was 58% full as of Wednesday. Anglers are catching a lot of trout from the banks using small spinners. Catch rates have been very high. Aquatic vegetation may make trolling difficult. Both ramps are open. Any tiger trout caught should be immediately released unharmed.

HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is scheduled to be stocked with 7,450 legals this week. It was 51% full as of Wednesday, up from 48% full the previous week. The average size of fish checked since ice-off has been 17 inches with some as large as 20 inches. Spring fishing has been productive by the dam with PowerBait fished a foot or two off the bottom. The gravel ramp by the dam is open for launching small boats.

HYATT: The lake is due to get 7,450 legals delivered this week, May 22-26. It was 58% full as of Wednesday, up from 54% the previous week. Boat ramps may not be available quite yet, but small watercraft may be able to be carried to the water near the dam.

LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake was due to be stocked last week, May 15-19, with 667 legal trout.

LEMOLO: The lake was due to be stocked with 5,000 legal trout last week, May 15-19. The main road is open.

LOST CREEK LAKE: Trout should be readily available. Bank anglers have had good access on either side of the dam recently with PowerBait and spinners. For warm-water anglers, ODFW continues work to restore the largemouth bass fishery. The Takelma boat ramp is open, but the courtesy dock there is out of service indefinitely. Courtesy docks are available at the Stewart Park boat ramp. The reservoir elevation was 1868.26 feet on Wednesday.

MEDCO: The pond is due to be stocked with 2,000 legals this week, May 22-26. Bluegill and other warm-water fishing from shore should be excellent and can be very fun with the young anglers. PowerBait or worms are the ticket here for trout. A small chironomid fly fished under a very small bobber can be very good for the bluegill.

SELMAC: The lake is to be stocked with 1,000 legals this week, on top of other stockings over the last six weeks. Warm-water fish should start getting more active with longer and warmer days. Boat anglers are asked to remove as much vegetation as possible before leaving the ramp, as well as drain and dry their vessel, in order to control invasive species.

WILLOW: The lake was due to be stocked with 4,000 legals and 1,500 trophy trout last week, May 15-19.

OREGON COAST

SALMON: Ocean Chinook salmon fishing from Cape Falcon to the Oregon-California border is closed due to severely low forecasts for Chinook salmon in the Sacramento and Klamath rivers.

SURFPERCH: Surfperch fishing should continue to be good at ocean beaches like Horsfall Beach near North Bend, Bullards Beach near Bandon and Cape Blanco near Port Orford.

ROCKFISH AND LINCOD: Anglers are reporting good catches of rockfish and lingcod near Charleston and Bandon when the ocean swells are small.

RAZOR CLAMS: The recreational harvest of razor clams is closed from near Seaside to the California border for elevated levels of the marine biotoxin domoic acid.

MUSSELS: The recreational harvest of mussels is open.

BAY CLAMS: The recreational harvest of bay clams is open.

CRAB: Recreational crab harvesting is open. A good tool to try is a “castable” folding crab trap. Usually attached to a fishing pole, these traps are great for kids because they are lightweight and can catch crab within minutes.

It recommended to gut crabs and discard the viscera prior to cooking. Check the ODFW website for season dates, rules and licensing requirements or call 541-867-4741.