OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: Southern Oregon waters start Wednesday with a hazardous-seas warning but conditions will improve. The forecast is for 25-knot winds to ease off as the day goes on and 7-foot seas will dip a bit as well. Thursday’s forecast calls for 5-knot winds and 4-foot seas, followed Friday by winds kicking back up to 15 knots and seas rising again to 6 feet.

The ocean salmon season is over off the Southern Oregon Coast, but bottomfishing and the occasional tuna trip have done very well when conditions allow.

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 of late.

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 will rebound again when the surf settles down again. When it does, focus on open beaches near rocks around high tide. 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.

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.

The ocean is now open to recreational crabbing, and ocean effort has improved as the crab are starting to harden.

No new minus tides are coming this week. Shellfish regulations have remained stable. Bay clamming remains open. 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. However, some restrictions to razor clamming and mussel harvest could begin later this week based on biotoxin tests. Razor clamming is currently 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. However, carp fishing has been decent of late. Corn works well. The reservoir is getting drawn down for irrigation and is dropping fast and down to 32% 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 40% full and dropping very fast amid low inflows.

DIAMOND: As of Tuesday, the lake and resort remain open despite the nearby Trail Fire. Smoke on the water varies almost daily, with mostly decent as the winds are blowing smoke away from the water. The nearby fire at Crater Lake National Park is also hampering air conditions, and they could change within an hour any day. 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. Winds have been kicking up daily. 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 15% 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. The county ramp remains open but really only useable for small trailered boats. 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 a month ago, and that’s it until next week. Until the new stocking, fish primarily around the submerged springs out from the Forest Service ramp and near the resort. 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 52% 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. Cooler weather has helped the bite recently. 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 42% full, which is slightly down from last week.

HYATT: The lake has started to drop again during late-season irrigation withdrawals and is now listed at 40% full. 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. Plenty of perch can be caught with worms off the resort.

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 holding steady at 1,800 cubic-feet-per-second as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tries to keep decent flows for spawning spring chinook but hold back water for a later push of fall Chinook. In-flows are back below 1,000 cfs. The lake, however, remains a healthy 51% 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 back to the flies-only fishing season through October, while the lower Rogue Bay has slowed for Chinook as cooler river water has been drawing fall Chinook upstream in big schools. The middle Rogue is seeing fall Chinook in the Galice area, and the Agness area has been pretty solid for fall Chinook recently.

That puts the best bet in the Galice area for fall Chinook, or the Agness area, unless hotter inland weather warms the river enough to get fresh fall Chinook to hold in the bay.

Trolling the Lower Rogue Bay for fall Chinook has been pretty hit and miss on a daily basis as fresh fish are coming in with the tide but not all staying. The turns of the tides are best, especially around morning high tides. Lots of fish in the mid-20 pound range this year. Multiple fish on guide boats have been the norm of late, and the bay is starting to shed the crowds after the Labor Day weekend. 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.

The Agness area is fishing well for fall Chinook either back-bouncing or side-drifting with roe and sandshrimp or fishing plugs with tuna-belly wraps.

In the middle Rogue, fall Chinook are moving through the Galice canyon waters, with anglers intercepting them in traditional places like Taylor Creek Canyon largely on plugs.

Intercept these migrating Chinook near the heads of deep pools or in the deeper currents.

Chinook fishing is now allowed only from the Fishers Ferry Ramp downstream to the ocean.

The upper Rogue is a flies-only show, but anglers can either use conventional fly gear or spinning rods and floats as long as no added weights or attachments are added. That includes swivels.

For spinning gear, rig a prince nymph about two feet below of stonefly nymph that legally acts like a weight. Vary the depth of your bobber to keep both flies at or near the bottom at all times.

For conventional fly anglers, swinging articulated leeches or other streamer flies is decent, as is nymphing. However, catches are light because steelhead numbers are light. As of Aug. 28, only 478 summer steelhead have reached Cole Rivers Hatchery, and that’s about one-fourth of last year’s return at the same time.

Flows out of Lost Creek were holding steady at 1,800 cfs Tuesday, with Dodge Bridge flows back down to 1,910 cfs. Ditto for the old Gold Ray Dam site, where the flows were back down just above 2,000 cfs Tuesday. Grants Pass was just above 2,000 cfs as well. Those flows are continued to remain steady deep into next week and provide great conditions for summer steelhead fishing in the evenings.

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 received its last weekly installment of of 2,500 legal-sized rainbows for the season. 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.