OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: The ocean that was so surly earlier in the year is again providing some good conditions for rockfish and lingcod for those fishing close to shore.

Thursday’s forecast calls for winds up to 15 knots and swells up to 4 feet. That’s very acceptable for this time of year and plenty good for those who have even just decent sea legs. Friday’s forecast shows a bit of deterioration, with winds up to 20 knots but swells holding at 4 feet and a good chance of rain. Saturday looks quite similar, with 20-knot winds and 5-foot swells.

Jigging for rockfish and lingcod is best with lead-headed jigs with a multitude of skirt colors, with while and chartreuse great first and second options.

All ocean salmon fishing and halibut fishing is closed along the Oregon Coast. Halibut season opens in May, and early indications are that the South Coast will have an ocean chinook salmon season with a two-fish daily limit. Dates will be set next month.

For bottomfishers when you can get out, remember that cabezon are off limits until July 1. Quillback and yelloweye rockfish are also on the catch-and-release ledger for all of 2024.

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. Beaches north of Gold Beach can also yield great surfperch catches. There are a dozen varieties of surfperch along the Oregon Coast, and most are quite tasty.

The ocean is now open to recreational crabbing, but conditions have kept crabbers in bays like Charleston and Coos Bay near Charleston. Lots of crab now sport soft shells, and they should be released because their meat content is poor while they are molting. There are no minus tides this week.

Razor clamming remains closed along the South Coast from Cape Blanco to the California border, but bays are open for butter and gaper clams. Also, razor clamming has reopened between Cascade Head near Lincoln City to Seal Rock near Waldport because of reduced levels of domoic acid from last in clams collected in last week’s surveys.

Bay clamming and mussel harvests are open statewide. Before digging, call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474.

LAKE OUTLOOK

AGATE: The lake has been off most anglers’ charts thanks to low and muddy water conditions. The lake has risen quickly this month, but it’s now listed as full. Electric trolling motors are OK but no gas motors. The park closes at dusk.

APPLEGATE: The French Gulch and Copper ramps are open and useable for trailered boats as the lake continues to fill right on schedule. The lake’s elevation Tuesday was at 1,950.3 feet above sea level, which lists it at 56% full and up 10 feet from last week. Flows in were up to 901 cubic-feet-per-second, while out-flows were up dramatically to 450 cfs as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeks to trim reservoir levels between freshets for flood control. Look for the reservoir to fill this spring. The lake has a 10 mph speed limit. Fishing pressure is very limited now.

DIAMOND: The lake is covered with ice, slush and deep snow that has largely kept ice fishers off the lake. Also, heavy snows have made access difficult. All tiger trout and brown trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake has held steady this past week at 43% full and likely will start creeping up with this week’s freshets. Trout fishing is available but slow, and bass fishing remains slow and will until we get a series of warmer, sunnier days.

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 has plenty of open, but access to the water is hampered by snow and near-shore ice. That has fishing interest still very light. Catches would be best with worms or PowerBait near submerged springs near the Forest Service ramp and out past the marina. The lake was stable this past week to 58% full Tuesday. That’s basically inflows from underground springs and very little runoff as snow levels have been sparse.

HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is open to angling, but the marina is closed. Some ice is around the lake, but it’s thin. The lake was listed Tuesday at 40% full, which is identical to last week.

HYATT: The lake was up slightly to 50% full this past week as some runoff is finding its way into the reservoir. Ice is starting to form, but it remains too thin for fishing. Warm temperatures are on the immediate horizon as well, so the window for ice fishing here seems to be over.

LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake remains ice-free, and access at the resort has improved with melting snow and temperatures in the high 50s this past week. Fishing has been decent for perch and some rainbows in shallow water just off the marina, but plan on morning trips as afternoon winds have been common.

LOST CREEK: The lake’s winter trout fishing has remained fair to decent near the dam and off Takelma Boat Ramp. Both ramps at Takelma and Stewart State Park are usable. Effort has been very light. Good catches come when trolling worms behind flashers during calm days. Upstream of the bridge is a no-wake zone. Flows out of the reservoir were holding steady at 1,200 cfs. The lake was listed at 80% full and just 5 feet below the regular filling schedule. That won’t be a problem because there is enough runoff in the forecast to fill the reservoir this spring.

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

RIVER OUTLOOK

ROGUE: Winter steelhead fishing has been decent but not great in the middle and upper Rogue, while early spring chinook fishing has been good and very promising for a decent up-river year with a high percentage of hatchery fish in the mix.

That keeps the middle Rogue the best bet, but the window will be short and sweet. Catches of mostly wild winter steelhead were quite good between freshets last week, and look for more of the same. Flows at Grants Pass are forecast to peak late Thursday at about 4,300 cfs before dropping consistently until another bump in flows is forecast to start Tuesday. That makes Friday through Monday likely pretty hot days for winter steelhead now that the steelhead are starting to show themselves. The run has been late this year river-wide. Steelhead bite best on the drop of water levels, so any combination of plug fishing as well as bait and fake gobs of eggs will work well in migration lanes and near the tops of deeper glides.

Bank anglers will be fishing Spin-Glo’s or plugs off side-planers at places like Chair and Rainbow riffles.

In the upper Rogue, the first decent wave of winter steelhead are starting to show up, but the run here so far remains underwhelming. Fish MagLip 3.0 lures through deeper, slower steelhead runs and drag bait or fake egg clusters through places like Frenchmen’s. Fish a larger, deeper-diving plug and you might run into the upper Rogue’s first spring chinook salmon of the season. Side-drifting fake and real egg clusters is also a good bet as water levels drop and clear.

Flows at Dodge Bridge were up this week and forecast to hit about 2,750 cfs Thursday before dropping Friday and then rising deep into next week. That makes Thursday and Friday peak trip dates.

The lower Rogue has seen a nice flurry of early spring chinook salmon catches by boaters and bankies alike, with an astonishing 80% of this past week’s reported catches being hatchery fish that anglers can keep. Some guide boats have caught as many as six fish a day, largely on anchovies or the occasional Brad’s Cut Plug. Plunkers also have done well. All the action is in the lower 14 river miles. 

Only hatchery chinook can be kept.

Flows in the Agness area were at 11,453 cfs Tuesday and set to drop to 9,000 cfs Sunday before rising again. That makes for a nice weekend of fishing. Intercept these migrating spring chinook along the inside corners of gravel bars and other clear migration lanes. These fish are on the move and not sticking around to avoid fishing eddies and slack water.

Also, late winter steelhead are still in the mix, with more plunkers catching steelhead than chinook.

Plunkers should do OK at places like the old Champion mill site and Dunkelberger Bar as well as the Quosatana and Lobster Creek bars. But the winter steelhead season is definitely petering out there, with early spring chinook on the immediate horizon.

Rogue, Applegate and other South Coast winter steelhead anglers will need their new regional steelhead validation to fish. New $2 validations are needed each Dec. 1, even for those catch-and-release fishing. Those are valid for the next 12 months.

Anglers may keep one wild winter steelhead over 24 inches a day if they have a special Rogue-South Coast wild steelhead harvest card.

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 mainstem Rogue near River Bridge. Worms, single salmon eggs and small pieces of worms are the traditional favorites.

APPLEGATE: The river is open to angling for steelhead, and some anglers are starting to catch fresh fish on roe and spoons. The first steelhead have finally made it to the trap at the base of Applegate Dam, so consider the run now to be river-wide, but no winter steelhead have been reported. Flows at the town of Applegate were at 648 cfs and 1,270 cfs at Wilderville. That means fishing conditions are better in the top half of the river verses the bottom half.

Fish these winter steelhead with spoons, small egg clusters or egg flies. There is no fishing from a floating device, and all wild steelhead must be released unharmed. A $2 South Coast steelhead validation is needed to fish this river. It remains open through March. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed in the Applegate.

CHETCO: The river was at 3,323 cfs Tuesday and forecast to drop to about 2,400 cfs before rising again most of next week. This may be the swan song for the river’s winter steelhead season as most of the fish will either be dark or spawned-out kelts that should be released unharmed. A $2 South Coast Steelhead validation along with a fishing license is needed to fish here, even if it’s all catch and release. Anglers can keep one adult wild winter steelhead a day as part of the Rogue-South Coast rules, but you must have a South Coast wild steelhead harvest tag.