OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: Ocean conditions are starting off quite windy and wavy, but getting a bit better as the week unfolds. Wednesday’s forecast starts with a hazardous seas warning through Wednesday afternoon, with 30-knot winds and 9-foot seas. Thursday shows some improvement with the winds down to 25 knots and the seas down to 7 feet. Friday and Saturday are mirror images of each other, with 20-knot winds but seas down to 5 feet.

The ocean chinook salmon season is improving off Brookings, but the lion’s share of the catch continues to be fin-clipped coho. Most of the coho have been somewhat small this season, however, but bigger fish are starting to show up in the catch. Anchovies are best. Remember, hooks must be barbless, and only two hooks are allowed when salmon fishing. The limit is two salmon per 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 while 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.

No new minus tides are in the foreseeable future for clammers.

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. The rest is closed. Razor clamming is open coastwide, except for Clatsop County beaches that are under 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 dropping fast and down to 52% 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 that’s it for the year. The Seattle Bar area is high and dry. 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 60% full. Outflows are seven times higher than inflows, so look for the reservoir to drop quickly this month.

DIAMOND: The lake and resort remain open despite the nearby Trail Fire. Smoke on the water varies almost daily, with some nice days when the winds are preferable. Fishing is still good 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 will get nothing new this year. 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 31% 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 two weeks ago, and that’s it until mid-September. 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 this week to 63% 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 47% full, which is down just a hair from last week.

HYATT: The lake has steadied this past week and was listed at 48% full Tuesday. It did receive another 7,450 legal-sized trout a month ago. That will be it for the season. 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 a month 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 be 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 at 1,739 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 1,053 cfs. The lake, however, remains a healthy 64% full, despite dropping 5% 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 slightly improved summer steelhead catches while the spring chinook fishing is still holding on within open waters downstream of Dodge Bridge. The Middle Rogue remains slow for steelhead. The Lower Rogue Bay has seen a nice improvement in fall chinook salmon catches, with hot river water keeping them from moving out of the bay.

That switches the best bet to the Lower Rogue Bay, just because catches are good and the fish are fantastic.

Trolling the Lower Rogue Bay for fall chinook has gotten better and, therefore, more crowded. The turns of the tides are best, especially around morning high tides. Lots of fish in the mid-20 pound range this year. Anchovies with blades are best, as are Brad’s Cut Plug baits. Warm river water means there are very few, if any, fall chinook moving out of tidewater.

In the Upper Rogue, another 160 chinook were collected July 31 (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 9,393 chinook, which is now lagging slightly below last year’s count.

Chinook fishing is now relegated only to waters downstream of Dodge Bridge, but angler can keep wild or hatchery chinook. 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. The mouth of Bear Creek has been a hot spot.

The Upper Rogue flows have increased this past week, thanks to more water from Lost Creek Lake amid another round of brutally hot weather. Flows out of Lost Creek were up to 1,739 cfs Tuesday, with Dodge Bridge flows back up to 1,969 cfs. Ditto for the old Gold Ray Dam site, where the flows were back up more than 100 cfs to 1,810 cfs Tuesday. Grants Pass was just above 1,800 cfs. Those flows are continued 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 55 steelhead reaching Cole Rivers Hatchery this past week. That’s another poor showing, but every small wave of steelhead helps. That bumps the total count to 359 adults at the hatchery, which remains extremely low for this time of year. There’s plenty of time to go.

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.