OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: After a brief respite that created some great bottomfish catches, the ocean has turned temperamental once again. After a gale warning ended Wednesday, Thursday’s forecast calls for 25-knot winds and 15-foot swells with chances of thunderstorms. Friday shows some improvement as winds drop to 15 knots; the swells, however, inch up to 16 feet. Saturday’s forecast shows improvement that could be good enough for some near-shore rockfish outings, with winds forecast for 10 knots and swells at 7 feet. That’s doable for most saltheads to endure.

Jigging for rockfish and lingcod is best with lead-headed jigs with a multitude of skirt colors, with white 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.

A new set of afternoon minus tides begins Wednesday shortly after 2 p.m.

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.

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 slightly ahead of schedule. The lake’s elevation Tuesday was at 1,959.5 feet above sea level, which lists it at 66% full and up yet another 10 feet from last week. Flows in were down a hair to 850 cubic-feet-per-second, while out-flows were holding steady at 450 cfs as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inches closer to a full spring reservoir. 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. More snow is forecast for Thursday. All tiger trout and brown trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake has jumped quickly to 53% full, and look for more inflows as more rain soaks the valley this week before a warm spell hits. Trout fishing is available but slow, and bass fishing is improving as more warm and sunny days approach.

EXPO: State wildlife biologists stocked 1,500 legal-sized rainbow trout here last fall, 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 water, 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 59% 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 44% full, which is a hair above last week.

HYATT: The lake was up slightly to 53% 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 likely to creep back into the 50s this weekend. 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 there. Flows out of the reservoir were holding steady at 1,800 cfs, up one-third from last week. The lake was listed at 85% full and just 1 foot below the regular filling schedule now. 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 fishers will see a nice streak of good water for fishing the upper and middle Rogue this weekend, when their best eggs will be cured and not just dyed for Easter. The lower Rogue has been surprisingly good for early spring chinook, but the past few days have been slow. All are looking for the next freshet to shake things up fishing-wise throughout the river.

And, no, there has not yet been a spring chinook to reach Cole Rivers Hatchery. But look for that to change in the coming days.

That keeps the middle Rogue the best bet, but the window doesn’t really open until Friday, and then conditions should be very good for bait and plug fishing downstream of Grants Pass for the foreseeable future.

Flows at Grants Pass are forecast to rise all day Thursday and peak Friday at around 6,600 cfs before dropping consistently deep into next week. That bodes very well for boat and bank anglers who have been waiting for a good winter steelhead bite all season.

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, early winter steelhead numbers are slow, but look for them to pick up this weekend as this latest freshet should draw them upriver. 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 set to rise through Thursday and peak early Friday at about 5,300 cfs. That’s a bit high, but it will push steelhead closer to the banks until the water starts to drop faster by Saturday. Then get in those migration lanes and the inside turns on gravel bars. They’ll be moving through, so it’s not a bad idea to set up and wait for the steelhead to come to you.

The lower Rogue had seen a great week of spring chinook fishing last week, with plenty of 30-plus pound hatchery and wild chinook. Only hatchery chinook can be kept now by anglers river-side.

Boaters and bankies have done well in the off-colored water, and those conditions will likely return beginning this weekend and into next week. Flows at Agness are forecast to peak late Friday at about 17,200 cfs and drop significantly for a few days before leveling off well into next week. That’s great conditions for boat and bank fishing.

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, but a few fresh springers have been caught this past week in the Agness area.

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 through Sunday. Fishing so far has been slow as most of the steelhead have yet to enter the river from the Rogue. Late-season fishing is best in riffles downstream of spawning flats in the Applegate and Provolt areas, as well as the canyon waters close to the dam. Roe, watermelon corkies with worms and spoons are best. Fly-fishers can do well with weighted egg clusters.

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 Chetco closes to all steelhead angling Sunday evening. Late-season catches have been slow amid high water and a dearth of fresh steelhead. 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.