Liam Lusch and Hudson Hull holds a stringer of trout from Union Creek. 

OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: Ocean conditions are starting off quite windy and wavy but getting a bit better as the weekend unfolds. Wednesday’s forecast starts with a small-craft advisory that’s in effect through Thursday evening. Wednesday’s forecast calls for 30-knot winds and 10-foot seas, with Friday’s forecast calling for winds dying down to 25 knots but the 10-foot seas stay. Saturday is much of the same as Friday, but added wind waves both days could make for ocean conditions that can separate a man from his breakfast early and often.

The ocean chinook salmon season is still fairly hit and miss off the South Coast, and catches of fin-clipped coho salmon have consistently been good out of Brookings. Most of the coho have been somewhat small this season, however. Anchovies are best. Remember, hooks must be barbless, and only two hooks are allowed when salmon fishing. The limit is two salmon a day through Aug. 31, when the chinook season closes. All wild coho must be released unharmed.

Halibut fishing is open, and look for some decent catches in 180-200 feet of water on sandy bottoms near rock formations when the weather better cooperates. Jigs and large herring drifted off the bottom will be best.

Central Oregon Coast halibut fishing has been slow, largely because of weather. That means there is plenty of the spring all-depth quota left for what could be a pretty wide-open fishery through the next two weeks.

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. Fishing has been very good for larger black rockfish, while lingcod fishing has been a little hit and miss.

The St. George Lighthouse reef in Northern California is open, and fishing there has been excellent when weather conditions allow for the travel from Brookings. Lingcod catches have been excellent, as are black rockfish, when boats can make the run from Brookings. Remember that California fishing license since it’s in California waters.

For bottomfishers, cabezon can now be kept through the remainder of the calendar year. All quillback rockfish must be released unharmed.

Surfperch fishing has slowed down again because of rough surf. Focus off river mouths during the perch spawn, which is now waning. Fishing is best at the turns of tides, primarily around high tide. Shrimp, mussels and Berkley Gulp sandworms or shrimp are the best baits when the weather cooperates. There are a dozen varieties of surfperch along the Oregon Coast, and most are quite tasty.

The ocean is now open to recreational crabbing, and ocean effort has improved as salmon anglers are dropping off pots to soak while they troll for salmon.

Another set of good low tides starts for clammers for the next two days. Wednesday’s 9 a.m. low tide is at -1.6, followed by -1.0 tides at 9:45 Thursday morning and 10:30 a.m. Friday morning.

Shellfish regulations have finally stabilized. Bay clamming is open statewide after two consecutive tests for biotoxins showed safe levels. Also, mussel harvest is now open from Coos Bay south to the California border as well as from the Yachats River north to the Washington border, but it remains closed for the rest of the state. Razor clamming is now open coastwide. However, the coveted Clatsop Beach clam beaches are now closed for the annual conservation closure. Before any digging, call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474 for the latest restrictions.

Scallops are available coast-wide, but they are not tested for domoic acid at this time. It’s safest to eat the adductor muscles of scallops. If you don’t know what the adductor is, you better pass on wild scallops.

LAKE OUTLOOK

AGATE: Fishing effort has tapered off with the high air temperatures that are also shooting water temperatures higher. Perch are dominating the catch. The reservoir is getting drawn down for irrigation and is 62% full. That constant drop leaves a ring of mud around some of the more popular bank-fishing areas near the boat ramp. The ramp is open. Boat anglers are doing best by wind-drifting worms or casting toward submerged willows and trees from the bank. Evenings are best. Electric trolling motors are OK but not gas motors. The park closes at dusk.

APPLEGATE: The lake received another 15,000 legal-sized trout a month ago, and they continue to fan out more throughout the lake. The Seattle Bar area is losing its angling interest as water levels have sunk past the bar’s usefulness. Look for more trout fishing by trolling Wedding Rings or small lures from boats or still-fishing with worms or PowerBait along the lake’s far side past Seattle Bar. Bass fishing has been very good with crankbaits and rubber baits during the warm mornings. The lake is down to 68% full, with the elevation now down to 25 feet from full. Outflows are almost five times the inflows, so look for the reservoir to drop quickly this month.

DIAMOND: The lake is fishing very well for a mix of rainbow trout, tiger trout and brown trout, particularly at the lake’s southern end and around the shrimp beds straight across from the resort. The bite is best early in the morning and then at dusk. Tiger trout are preying on stocked trout fingerling. Look for some nice brown trout and tiger trout in the mix while fishing Rapala lures, Flatfish lures, worms under bobbers and some large streamer flies. Lots of brown trout over 20 inches are getting caught daily in the south end. All tiger trout and brown trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake hasn’t had any fresh trout releases in a month, and that has slowed trout fishing as well as effort. Fish off the bank near the county boat ramp and where Emigrant Creek pours into the reservoir with chartreuse or rainbow PowerBait or troll small lures. The lake has actually dropped somewhat significantly this past week to 39% full, and look for it to continue to drop as the irrigation season is in full swing. However, that’s still much higher than in recent years. Bass fishing is improving as more warm and sunny days hit the area. Afternoons have been windy.

EXPO: Another 1,000 legal-sized rainbow trout were stocked a month ago, and they are still drawing good interest from valley anglers without too many close fishing options. Catch them on PowerBait, worms under bobbers or small spinners. Parking fees are required.

FISH: The lake received another infusion of 2,500 legal-sized trout again last week, and they were stocked at the Forest Service ramp. Fish for them with worms or PowerBait in the cove immediately near the ramp as well as off the resort. Fishing interest will continue to rise, as an escape from heat and good water conditions. The lake was actually down a hair this week to 70% full Tuesday.

HOWARD PRAIRIE: Morning trolling for trout straight off the marina and all the way down the lake has been a hot ticket. There are plenty of holdover trout in the 16- to 18-inch range as well as legal-sized trout stocked last month at the marina. Anchor and fish for them with PowerBait outside the marina or troll near the shore with Tasmanian Devil lures or Wedding Rings spiced with a piece of worm. Also troll in the channel if you can find it with your electronics. The lake was listed Tuesday at 49% full, which is down just a hair from last week.

HYATT: The lake has steadied this past week and was listed at 52% full Tuesday. It did receive another 7,450 legal-sized trout a month ago. Troll worms on Wedding Ring lures through the former creek channel for larger rainbows. Anchor and fish PowerBait off the bottom for the recently planted rainbows. Bass fishing has picked up in the shallows and coves near the Bureau of Land Management ramp. Lots of smallish largemouth, as usual.

LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake received 1,000 legal-sized and 300 trophy-sized rainbow trout three weeks ago, and there are plenty of holdovers around the resort area. Fish with worms, PowerBait or troll Rapala lures for big rainbows and the occasional brown trout.

LOST CREEK: The lake received another 10,000 legal-sized rainbows nearly a month ago, and they were split between the Stewart State Park ramp and the Takelma Ramp. The most recently stocked rainbows are biting worms and PowerBait fished off the bank near the Takelma ramp. Others are fanning out toward the face of the dam and along the lake’s southwest banks. Troll Wedding Ring lures spiced with a small piece of worm or a whole worm behind a flasher.

Flows out of the reservoir were down 1,717 cubic-feet-per-second as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has slowed releases in preparation for the upcoming spike of water for fall chinook salmon migration. In-flows are down to 1,001 cfs. The lake, however, remains a healthy 69% full, despite dropping 3% in the past week.

MEDCO: The pond received another 1,100 legal-sized trout a month ago, and fishing is holding on. They are getting caught with worms or PowerBait off the bank near the ramp.

RIVER OUTLOOK

ROGUE: The upper Rogue is seeing improved summer steelhead catches while spring chinook fishing is still holding on. The middle Rogue remains slow for steelhead. The Lower Rogue Bay has seen a little slowdown in the fall chinook fishery after a good start, but look for fresh fish to move in with ever-rising tides now through September.

That keeps the best bet at the upper Rogue as spring chinook fishing continues to be good, and summer steelhead fishing has improved.

In the upper Rogue, another 399 chinook were collected July 917 (the most recent available counts), which is a drop from recent weeks. Figure that the hot weather has slowed migration. That runs the season-to-date total to 8,991 chinook, which is now sagging slightly below last year’s count.

Bank anglers are finding a few springers with corkies and beads farther up in the system like at Casey State Park and the Slide Hole (The Hatchery Hole remains closed), while drift boaters are doing best back-bouncing roe and sandshrimp or using MagLip 3.5 plugs spiced with anchovy scent or tuna bellies.

Intercept these migrating spring chinook along the inside corners of gravel bars and other clear migration lanes. Start fishing some of the classic holes now as well, since water flows have dropped as more riverside irrigation is occurring.

All wild chinook must be released unharmed upstream of Dodge Bridge, but wild and hatchery chinook can now be kept downstream of Dodge Bridge. This is outside of the main spring chinook spawning grounds.

That’s why most anglers are focusing their springer effort downstream of Dodge Bridge to take advantage of this annual rule change. Early mornings have been best, and water temperatures are rising a bit. The upper Rogue flows have dropped this past week, with 1,600 cfs out of Lost Creek Lake providing the lion’s share of the water. Flows at Dodge Bridge were down to 1,841 cfs, the lowest they’ve been this summer. Ditto for the old Gold Ray Dam site, where the flows were down to 1,695 cfs. Grants Pass was just above 1,615 cfs. Those flows are expected to remain steady deep into next week and provide great conditions for summer steelhead fishing in the evenings with plugs, pink worms, small egg clusters, nymphs and streamer flies.

Summer steelhead fishing is slowly picking up in the upper Rogue, with another 97 steelhead reaching Cole Rivers Hatchery this past week. That bumps the total count to 219 adults at the hatchery, which remains extremely low for this time of year. There’s plenty of time to go.

Trolling the Lower Rogue Bay for fall chinook has stayed somewhat slow after a pretty nice Fourth of July weekend. Anchovies with blades is best, as are Brad’s Cut Plug baits. Warm river water means there are very few, if any, fall chinook moving out of tidewater.

Rogue, Applegate and other South Coast 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 to December.

Those validations are not necessary for chinook fishing.

All wild steelhead must be released unharmed for the remainder of the year river-wide.

The far upper Rogue in the Union Creek area on Thursday will receive its weekly installment of 2,500 legal-sized rainbows. Fishing is always best at the stocking sites along the upper Rogue and Union Creek. Focus 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 open to trout fishing but off-limits to all steelhead. Bait is allowed, but there is no fishing from a floating device. Take care not to trespass.