Rainbow trout are grilled at Union Creek. 

OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: Thursday’s forecast calls for winds around 10 knots with 6-foot swells and clouds. Friday’s forecast is for winds up to 5 knots but swells up to 5 feet by the end of the day. Saturday’s forecast is a bit more subdued, with 10-knot winds and 4-foot swells.

All ocean salmon fishing is closed from Humbug Mountain near Port Orford to the California border. There is no so-called “Bubble” fishery off the mouth of the Chetco River for chinook this year. The halibut season off Southern Oregon also is now closed.

Bottomfishing continues to be on the wane on the South Coast, and that’s from a combination of light effort and pretty sketchy weather conditions. Rockfish catches were down again to fewer than two fish per angler last week out of Brookings. Lingcod catches also have virtually bottomed out for now. The current forecasts make most offshore bottomfish efforts likely low to non-existent.

Surfperch fishing is very surf-dependent but has been decent at times when the surf calms down. But this weekend’s winds and high surf make this a non-starter now. Shrimp, mussels and Berkley Gulp sandworms or shrimp are the best baits when the weather cooperates. The surf perch have moved off the Rogue River sand spit, but there’s good action around the rocks north of the Winchuck River mouth when weather allows.

The ocean is closed to recreational crabbing until Dec. 1. However, mussel harvest is open statewide, and clamming is good to very good at Clatsop County beaches as well as major bays like Coos Bay near Charleston. Another set of minus tides ends Sunday, but they are late at night and not helpful to clammers. Razor clam digging has been fair now at Myers Beach on the South Coast. Plan on digging the two hours before low tides, which are in the evenings.

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.

LAKE OUTLOOK

AGATE: The lake has not seen a new infusion of trout since June. Bass and perch fishing have been decent in the mornings and evenings. The lake has increased a tad to 13% full, with turbid water. Fishing is slow. Electric trolling motors are OK but no gas motors. The park closes at dusk.

APPLEGATE: The French Gulch ramps now is the only one usable for trailered boats as the lake’s fall season has crept in. The lake’s surface temperature has dipped below 60 degrees now, and that’s slowing the bass bite. A dearth of fresh rainbow trout means that trout trolling has not garnered much interest, but bank fishing near the dam and along the lake’s east side can be good with worms and PowerBait. The lake is down to 9% full, with outflows at 150 cubic-feet-per-second and inflows up a bit to 168 cfs from recent rains. The lake has a 10 mph speed limit.

DIAMOND: Trout fishing has tapered off a bit, but it remains good in the south end on calm days. The brown trout and tiger trout bite has dropped off as rainbows are now showing up more predominantly in the daily catches. Overcast days are best, especially when the wind settles down in the morning. Spin-casters are doing well with small Rapala lures that look like small rainbows, but switch out the hooks to singles because the double trebles often leave the tiger trout too damaged to survive. For fly-fishers, black leeches or muddler minnow patterns are the best now as the bug hatches have waned amid colder temperatures. Worms deep under bobbers or PowerBait floated 5 feet or so off the bottom are the best bets. All tiger trout and brown trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake has settled at 13% full now that the irrigation season is over. Bass fishing has been good with crankbaits and top water baits early in the day off rocky points. The lake is too low for launching trailered boats at the county ramp.

EXPO: State wildlife biologists stocked 1,500 legal-sized rainbow trout here more than three 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: The lake became the top new interest of the region a month ago with the stocking of 800 1-pound trout at the Forest Service ramp near the resort. These fish are biting worms under bobbers, small lures and PowerBait and they are already starting to fan out into the lake. The lake was actually up a hair this past week to 48% full Tuesday, which is far better than past autums. Catches have included 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.

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 34% full, which is holding steady thanks to the end of the irrigation season.

HYATT: The lake was unchanged from last week 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 still fishing well for a mix of black crappie and bass from the resort on up, but the bass bite will start to drop off significantly as the water cools rather rapidly. Trout fishing has been somewhat slow.

LOST CREEK: The lake last month received a nice complement of legal-sized and larger rainbow trout stocked primarily at the Takelma Ramp, where fishing has been most concentrated. PowerBait off the bank there remains good for those staying off the ramp while fishing. The stocked trout are starting to move around more, and they most often hug the southwest shoreline for a few weeks before feathering out into the lake. Fishing is tapering off Peyton Bridge, thanks largely to turbid water from the 5,700 cfs inflow to the reservoir. Upstream of the bridge is a no-wake zone there. Bass fishing has been tapering down thanks to cooler, rainy days. On warm days, focus on rocky outcroppings with crankbaits and rubber worms the top offerings. The lake was listed Tuesday at 8 feet shy of the normal November levels, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in recent years has not worried too much about dropping below the so-called minimum pool in fall. The volume was listed Tuesday at 36% full. That’s not bad compared to 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.

SELMAC: The lake was stocked with 1,000 legal-sized trout last spring and is set to get more fresh fish later this year. For the current holdover trout, fish for them with worms or PowerBait.

RIVER OUTLOOK

ROGUE: Late summer steelhead fishing has tapered off in the upper Rogue while steelhead catches have improved in the middle Rogue as wild fish start to stack up near spawning tributaries. The lower Rogue is seeing its first winter steelhead of the season, but it’s not enough to warrant the gas to get there from the Rogue Valley.

That keeps the best bet the upper Rogue, but it’s a bit it remains a last-man-standing choice right now. Most of the action is upstream of the Shady Cove boat ramp, where fishing is allowed with bait for steelhead. It’s the first eggs steelhead have seen with hooks in them since August, and the catches are typically quite high for the first week of November before cold water and effort ebbs. That window has come and gone, and so is the majority of the interest there. Still, it’s worth an afternoon float and fish.

Water below the Shady Cove ramp is open to lures and other artificials but not bait. That means lots of plug fishing with MagLip 3.0s in various colors like chartreuses and pinks. WeeWarts like the black-and-silver ones are also good bets. Fly-fishers can then start using single artificial salmon eggs, and that’s a fine choice when nymphing downstream of salmon redds.

Conditions are very good for steelhead fishing riverwide, with flows actually down a bit to 1,224 cfs Tuesday at Dodge Bridge. That’s a typical drop after a series if rains. However, the slight increase in water temperature has helped somewhat stagnant summer steelhead start moving again. Lost Creek Lake outflows are hovering at 1,000 cfs as they normally are for November. Flows were correspondingly up nicely to 1,37 cfs at the old Gold Ray Dam site and a lackluster 1,288 cfs at Grants Pass.

The middle Rogue has been improving for summer steelhead on a mix of flies and plugs fished from driftboats. However, most of the catches will be wild fish that must be released unharmed. Casting black and yellow Panther Martin lures can be good bets at dusk, as well for bank anglers. Streamer flies are best for fly-fishers as the water temperatures are ideal for swinging flies. Focus on the tail-ends of rapids where the water has more oxygen.

Flows at Agness were down Tuesday to 2,198 cfs, and that isn’t helping halfpounder or early winter steelhead movement this week.

Rogue, Applegate and other South Coast winter steelhead anglers will need their new regional steelhead validation to fish. New validations are needed beginning Dec. 1. Those are valid for the next 12 months. All wild steelhead harvest on the Rogue is now closed.

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

APPLEGATE: The river is closed to all angling until Jan. 1. up toward McKee Bridge.

CHETCO: Chinook fishing has been good riverwide now that recent rains have helped move fish throughout the system. Plugs fished from driftboats in migration lanes or roe clusters under bobbers in deeper holes have been the best producers.