Paul Cataldo, of Ashland, makes a cast while fly-fishing the Holy Water section of the Rogue River. 

OCEAN OUTLOOK

COASTWIDE: A small-craft advisory remains in effect through Thursday evening. Thursday’s forecast calls for 25-knot winds and wind waves up to 8 feet. That’s more than enough to avoid. Friday’s forecast calls for winds to settle down to 15 knots but the wind waves will only drop to 6 feet. Saturday’s forecast calls for winds to rise back to 20 knots but wind waves to settle a bit to 5 feet.

All ocean salmon fishing closes Friday from Humbug Mountain near Port Orford to the California border. However, waters off Charleston and other ports to the north are open for the only ocean chinook salmon fishing those ports will see this year. 

Bottomfishing has been very good recently for those fishing close to shore. Lots of lingcod in the catch, but black rockfish continue to dominate the catch. The best catches this past week have been in depths of at least 100 feet. Halibut fishing out of Brookings has been decent this past week, and effort has increased. Most of the catches are in 180 feet of water or deeper north of Brookings. The daily limit is two halibut, and that’s getting offshore anglers interested.

Surfperch fishing is very surf-dependent but has been good at times when the surf calms down. Shrimp, mussels and Berkley Gulp sandworms or shrimp are the best baits.

Bay clamming should be good amid a light tide sequence, even though there are no minus tides for the next two weeks. The mud flats at Charleston will be the best for butter and gaper clams. Before digging, call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474.

Mussel harvest is closed from Bandon to the California border.

LAKE OUTLOOK

AGATE: The lake has not seen a new infusion of trout since June. Bass and perch fishing have been good in the mornings and evenings. The lake has dropped to 21% full, with turbid water. Fishing is slow. Electric trolling motors are OK but no gas motors. The park closes at dusk.

APPLEGATE: The Copper and French Gulch ramps are usable but there is little effort on the lake this past week. 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 solid off rocky points with crankbaits. The lake has been dropping steadily but still remains a hefty 36% full, with outflows at 300 cfs and inflows dropping to 33 cfs. The lake has a 10 mph speed limit.

DIAMOND: The lake is starting to reawaken for trout fishing now that cooler weather has moved in and knocked some of the mosquitoes out. The lake has a mix of mostly rainbow trout and brown and tiger trout that are stocked to prey on the lake’s small but omnipresent tui chub population. That’s why flyfishing with muddler minnows or other imitations of small chub can be a boon for those on the south end near Silent Creek. Bait fishing is best due west from the resort in 19 to 21 feet of water. Worms deep under bobbers or PowerBait floated 5 feet or so off the bottom are the best bets. All tiger trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake is dropping steadily from irrigation use and was listed Tuesday at 15% full. Bass fishing has been good with crankbaits and top water baits early in the day off rocky points.

EXPO: State wildlife biologists stocked 1,500 legal-sized rainbow trout here more than two months ago, and their numbers are now thin. Try Panther Martin lures, single salmon eggs or worms under bobbers. Parking fees are required.

FISH: The lake was down a hair this week to 34% full Tuesday, which is far better than recent early September levels. Catches are a mix of rainbow and tiger trout, mostly around the submerged springs near the resort and the bay near the Forest Service boat ramp. Worms are out-producing PowerBait. Tiger trout must be released unharmed. The lake is due for a slew of 1-pound rainbow trout set for stocking Sept. 21.

HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is open to angling but the marina is closed. Boat access is best at the dam. Fishing for rainbow trout is a bit slow for trollers using Little Cleo and other lures. Bait fishing in deeper water is OK with PowerBait, mostly chartreuse garlic or rainbow flavors. The lake was listed Tuesday at 35% full, which is the best September level in four years.

HYATT: The lake was listed Thursday at a whopping 40% full, making it the best reservoir water-wise on the Talent Irrigation District system. Fishing has been best for rainbow trout in the old creek channel for those trolling small spoons or dark spinners. Lots of bass are getting caught in the shallows with a variety of baits and lures, but they’re small. The limit is five trout a day, with just one over 20 inches.

LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake was fishing very well for a mix of black crappie and bass from the resort on up. Trout fishing has been somewhat slow but should kick up as the water starts to cool in a few weeks.

LOST CREEK: The lake got its last complement of legal-sized rainbow trout in late June at the Takelma ramp, and those fish are well dispersed. Inflows are dropping as outflows remain steady at 1,800 cfs. 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 7 feet shy of the normal low pool with a volume of 48% full. That’s not bad, based on previous years.

MEDCO: The lake was stocked in June with 2,000 legal-sized trout. Catch what’s left of them on PowerBait or worms. Ice is forming rapidly.

SELMAC: The lake was stocked with 1,000 legal-sized trout more than a month ago, and that’s it for the season. Fish for them with worms or PowerBait.

RIVER OUTLOOK

ROGUE: The flies-only season is in full swing on the upper Rogue, where anglers are enjoying low and still warm water levels that make flyfishing as good as it gets there. The middle Rogue is picking up a bit for summer steelhead adults, while the lower Rogue remains a hot spot for a mix of large fall chinook and fin-clipped coho.

That makes the best bet the lower Rogue Bay, but check on Highway 199’s open status before going. Expect about an hour of extra time to get through the fire zone, but the occasional rock slide means this route can close at any moment. If closed, the next best route is through Highway 42 to Bandon, and that’s a haul. Bear Camp Road is congested and not a good choice for people hauling powerboats to the bay.

The lower Rogue Bay remains hot for fresh fall chinook, and the crowds have arrived en masse for the best bite in several years. Lots of limits of chinook in the 14- to 24-pound range. Troll medium-sized anchovies or cut-plug herring behind flashers. Fish the incoming tides hardest as well as the start of the outgoing tides. That’s when chinook are at their liveliest. The bay limit remains two salmon a day, with wild chinook allowed in the catch. Only fin-clipped coho can be kept as part of the limit.

The middle Rogue has been predictably slow for summer steelhead, and that usually turns around in October. Until then, casting black and yellow Panther Martin lures can be good bets at dusk. Focus on the tail-ends of rapids where the water has more oxygen.

Rogue, Applegate and other South Coast winter steelhead anglers will need their new regional steelhead validation to fish. All wild steelhead harvest on the Rogue is closed.

For upper Rogue fly-fishers, nymph with salmon fly droppers and prince nymph point flies under strike indicators. Egg flies are a good second option but they must be yarn. No molded single eggs. Swinging streamers like articulated leeches will be good for at least a week before water-release temperatures start to drop to slow the incubation rates of chinook salmon eggs in redds. Fishing flies under plastic bobbers is also legal in the upper Rogue, but there can be no other added weights or attachments. That includes swivels.

Conditions are very good for steelhead fishing river-wide, with flows of 1,295 cfs at Dodge Bridge, 1,287 at the old Gold Ray Dam site and 1,033 at Grants Pass.

As of Tuesday, another 77 summer steelhead had made it to Cole Rivers Hatchery, upping this year’s summer steelhead count there to 2,146 fish. Typically, the run to date is just shy of that, so good things are on the horizon.

The far upper Rogue in the Union Creek area was stocked last week for the last time this year. Fish around the Union Creek Campground and the mainstem Rogue near River Bridge. Worms, single salmon eggs and small pieces of worms are the traditional favorites.

APPLEGATE: The river is open to summer trout fishing, but anglers cannot target or keep any steelhead. All wild trout must be released unharmed, and it is not stocked with catchable fin-clipped rainbows. A few nice cutthroat trout have been caught recently near the Highway 199 bridge as well as all the way up toward McKee Bridge.