Jess A. Campagna holds a steelhead on the Rogue River.

OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: Thursday’s forecast calls for winds around 25 knots with 9-foot swells. Friday’s forecast is for winds up to 20 knots but swells up to 8 feet by the end of the day. Saturday’s forecast is the worst of the lot, with 15-knot winds but 11-foot swells. Sunday sees the start of a calming period with 10-knot winds and 8-foot swells. Still, that’s all a lot to ask of a stomach to undertake after Thanksgiving.

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. This holiday weekend looks like quite a bust. Still, when conditions have been OK, rockfish catches have been decent but not what they were earlier this year out of Brookings. Lingcod catches also have virtually bottomed out for now, but some charters are getting into them on good days. The current forecasts make most offshore bottomfish efforts likely low to non-existent into early next week.

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 another 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 start Friday, and these are more clammer-friendly. There’s a slight minus tide at 3:30 p.m. Friday and a decent one at 4:40 p.m. Saturday and a good one at about 5 p.m. Sunday. The best of the lot is Sunday’s minus 1.4-foot tide, but it doesn’t bottom out until 5:45 p.m. That’s too dark to be clamming safely. Don’t turn your back on the surf, and watch for sneaker waves on the in-coming tides.

Razor clam digging has been fair now at Myers Beach on the South Coast. Plan on digging the two hours before low tides.

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.

Free Fishing Weekend is Friday and Saturday this week, but not Sunday. The Free Fishing Weekend rules include crabbing and clamming, as long as all other rules and limits are abided.

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 held steady this past week at 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 8% full, with outflows at 150 cubic-feet-per-second and inflows halved in the past week to 88 cfs. 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. Calm mornings have been best, usually until the sun hits the water. The brown trout and tiger trout bite has dropped off as rainbows are now showing up more predominantly in the daily catches. 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 49% full Tuesday, which is far better than past autumns. 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 actually up a hair to 41% full thanks to last week’s rains that are filtering into this high-mountain reservoir. Fishing has been best for rainbow trout in the old creek channel for those trolling small spoons or dark spinners. The best access is near the dam, but be careful about trailered boats. More bank fishing opportunities, and few are taking advantage of them. Lots of bass are getting caught in the shallows on warm, sunny days 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. The trout are now pretty well spread out north of the ramp. PowerBait off the bank there remains good for those staying off the ramp while fishing. Fishing is tapering off Peyton Bridge, thanks largely due to effort. Inflows are down to 963 cfs so there is less turbid water entering the reservoir. Upstream of the bridge is a no-wake zone there. Bass fishing has been tapering down thanks to cooler days. On warm days focus on rocky outcroppings with crankbaits and rubber worms the top offerings. The lake was listed Tuesday at almost 9 feet shy of the normal late-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 35% 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 held on fairly well despite waning interest and low water on the upper Rogue, while summer 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.

But remember, it’s Free Fishing Weekend on Friday and Saturday (not Sunday) for those who wish to turn Black Friday into a steelheading day. It’s cheaper than shopping, since you don’t need licenses or tags to fish in Oregon those two days, but all other regulations and bag limits apply.

The best bet remains the upper Rogue, but 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. Both bait-casters and fly-fishers have reported 50-fish days of late throughout the upper Rogue, but many of the hatchery fish are starting to darken up and aren’t prime to kill for anything but the smoker.

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 but tough for driftboating. Flows were up a bit to 1,267 cfs Tuesday at Dodge Bridge. The forecast is for flows to steadily decline slightly deep into next week as there’s no new rains on the immediate forecast. However, the slight decrease in water temperatures can be a problem. That’s why banker’s hours are best for steelhead at this time of year. Lost Creek Lake outflows are hovering at 1,000 cfs as they normally are for November. Flows were correspondingly up nicely to 1,443 cfs at the old Gold Ray Dam site and an improved 1,376 cfs at Grants Pass.

Fish continue to trickle into Cole Rivers Hatchery. Tuesday’s collection showed 24 new summer steelhead to boost the run-to-date total to 2,441 fish. That’s just off the pace from last year. Data show that about two-thirds of the hatchery run has now reached the facility. Another 244 coho showed up, pushing the count to 735 adults so far this year. That’s got anglers casting spoons in the holes upstream of Casey State Park. Purple or gun-metal blue are good choices.

Also, 13 new fall chinook showed up this week at the hatchery, pushing the total to date at 163. That’s not gang-busters, but it is the best since 2015. Regardless, there is no legal chinook fishing in the middle and upper Rogue now, so this is just eye-candy.

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 2,628 cfs after rising close to 4,000 cfs over the weekend. That’s slowed halfpounder and adult summer steelhead fishing, and moved most fall chinook anglers out of the area for the season.

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.

CHETCO: The river has fished very well for fall chinook over the past week, but flows are dropping and the chinook are hovering in holes. The best action has been with plugs in migration lanes, but catches should improve with the next rains. Flows were listed Tuesday at 1,626 cfs and dropping rather rapidly through most of next week. New rain is needed for one last push on fall chinook before winter steelhead fishing begins.