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

OCEAN OUTLOOKCOASTWIDE: After Tuesday’s small-craft advisory off the Southern Oregon Coast, the ocean started to lay down for what appears to be a very promising weekend on the water. Thursday’s forecast calls for winds up to 15 knots with wind waves jumping to 4 feet in the afternoon. That’s followed up Friday with 15-knot winds and 3-foot swells. Saturday calms down to 10-knot winds and 2-foot wind waves, with Sunday’s forecast calling for 10-knot winds and 3-foot swells.

All ocean salmon fishing is now closed from Humbug Mountain near Port Orford to the California border. However, waters off Charleston and other ports to the north opened Sept. 1 to the only ocean chinook salmon fishing those ports will see this year. Effort and success have been good. Tuna fishing out of Charleston has been very good, with landings showing it ranks only behind Newport in recent tuna catches.

Bottomfishing has been very good recently for those fishing close to shore. Lots of lingcod in the catch, but black rockfish continue to dominate as usual. Halibut fishing out of Brookings has been good when the weather allows, with some nice days in water 160 feet deep and deeper with large jigs.

Surfperch fishing is very surf-dependent, but expect good catches this weekend just north of the mouth of the Windchuck River, the Rogue River sand spit and various pullouts north of Gold Beach. Shrimp, mussels and Berkley Gulp sandworms or shrimp are the best baits.

Bay clamming should be decent after the latest round of morning minus tides has subsided. The mud flats at Charleston will be the best for butter and gaper clams. Before digging, call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474.

Mussel harvest is closed from Bandon to the California border.

LAKE OUTLOOKAGATE: Bass and perch fishing have been good in the mornings and evenings, but effort has been light. Bank fishers off the dam have done well. Crappie fishing is slow. The lake has dropped steadily this past week to 33% full of largely turbid water. Electric trolling motors are OK but no gas motors. The park closes at dusk.

APPLEGATE: The Copper and French Gulch ramps are open and usable. Effort has been light. The lake was last stocked with rainbow trout in June. Fish for rainbows with PowerBait or worms from the bank or slowly troll Tasmanian Devil lures spiced with a piece of worm. Bass fishing has been solid off rocky points with crankbaits. The lake has been dropping steadily but still remains a hefty 41% full, with outflows at 300 cfs and inflows dropping again despite recent rains. The lake has a 10 mph speed limit.

DIAMOND: The lake has been a bit slow for rainbow trout, brown trout and tiger trout. Cool weather will start to cool the water and jumpstart the fall trout fishery. Most of the current action is in at least 19 feet of water, mostly across the lake from the resort. Lots of pollen in the water that looks like algae, but it’s not. Fish worms under bobbers in the deeper sections of the upper end of the lake. The lower end is fishing OK near Silent Creek and the canal for tigers. All tiger trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake is dropping steadily from irrigation use and was listed Wednesday at 18% full. Look for that to continue until the irrigation season is over. However, that’s still substantially better than last year. Bass fishing has been good with crankbaits and top water baits early in the day off rocky points. Fish for trout with worms near where Emigrant Creek dumps into the reservoir.

EXPO: State wildlife biologists stocked 1,500 legal-sized rainbow trout here more than two 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 was down a hair to 37% full Wednesday, which is far better than this time last year. Catches are a mix of rainbow and tiger trout, mostly around the submerged springs near the resort and the bay near the Forest Service boat ramp. Worms are out-producing PowerBait. Tiger trout must be released unharmed.

HOWARD PRAIRIE: The lake is open to angling, but the new boat ramp and docks at the marina are closed for the season due to low water. No rental boats are available, and the store is open only on weekends now. Fishing for rainbow trout is a bit slow for trollers using Little Cleo, Tasmanian Devils and other lures. Bait fishing in deeper water is OK with PowerBait, mostly chartreuse garlic or rainbow flavors. The lake was listed at 36% full, which is quite stable for this time of year.

HYATT: The lake was down significantly this past week to 36% full as more water is siphoned off to send to Emigrant Lake for late-season irrigation. Fishing has been best for rainbow trout in the old creek channel for those trolling small spoons or dark spinners. Lots of bass are getting caught in the shallows with a variety of baits and lures but they’re small. The limit is five trout a day, with just one over 20 inches.

LAKE OF THE WOODS: The lake was fishing very well for a mix of black crappie and bass from the resort on up. Trout fishing has been somewhat slow but should pick up as the water starts to cool.

LOST CREEK: The lake got its last complement of catchable, legal-sized rainbow trout in late June at the Takelma ramp. Those fish are well dispersed, inflows are dropping as outflows remain steady at 1,800 cfs. Bank-fish with PowerBait near the Takelma ramp or at the Medco access point off Highway 62. Wind-drifting worms above Peyton Bridge has been good. Bass fishing has been good near rocky outcroppings of late, with crankbaits and rubber worms the top offerings. The lake was listed Thursday at 2.5 feet shy of the normal low pool for now with a volume of 41% full. Last week’s rains slowed the drop more than normal, as inflows reached above 1,100 cfs.

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

SELMAC: The lake was stocked with 1,000 legal-sized trout more than a month ago, and that’s it for the season. Fish for them with worms or PowerBait.

RIVER OUTLOOKROGUE: The upper Rogue is in the thralls of the annual flies-only season for summer steelhead, while the Rogue Bay continues to be good, although lately the catches have been starting to fill out more with fin-clipped coho salmon and smaller chinook jacks. The middle Rogue is still slow for summer steelhead but look for catches to pick up near creek mouths by the end of the month.

That makes the best bet the lower Rogue Bay, particularly since Highway 199 is reopened after the fire closures. That cuts the trip to Gold Beach by two hours, so it’s even worth a down-and-back day for some anglers. It’s been one of the better salmon bites in the bay in years, with the full complement of fall chinook and coho now available. A few chinook are also starting to show up at the mouth of Indian Creek. This year’s newest fad is the 360 Flasher. Anchovies remain the bait of choice. Fishing is best the few hours before and after high tide.

In the upper Rogue, now is a great time to mix nymphing and swinging flies for summer steelhead. Streamer flies like articulated leeches are working well, especially those with black and either purple or blue. Traditional swinging riffles are where it’s at. For nymphing, use salmon fly droppers and prince nymph point flies under strike indicators. Egg flies are a good second option but they must be yarn. No molded single eggs are allowed. The flies-only season upstream of the Fishers Ferry boat ramp runs through October.

Water conditions are fairly good for early September, thanks in part to a little tributary inflow from recent rain. Flows were 1,803 cfs at Dodge Bridge, 1,865 at the old Gold Ray Dam site and 1,596 at Grants Pass.

The middle Rogue has been predictably slow for summer steelhead, and that usually turns around in October. Until then, casting black and yellow Panther Martin lures can be good bets at dusk. Focus on the tail ends of rapids where the water has more oxygen.

Rogue, Applegate and other South Coast winter steelhead anglers will need their new regional steelhead validation to fish. All wild steelhead harvest on the Rogue is closed.

APPLEGATE: The river is open to summer trout fishing, but anglers cannot target or keep any steelhead. All wild trout must be released unharmed, and it is not stocked with catchable fin-clipped rainbows. A few nice cutthroat trout have been caught recently near the Highway 199 bridge as well as all the way up toward McKee Bridge.