Jess A. Campagna holds a steelhead on the Rogue River.

OCEAN OUTLOOK

SOUTH COAST: This is another weekend for watching the surf and not challenging it. Thursday’s forecast calls for winds around 25 knots with 12-foot swells. Friday’s forecast is for winds down to 10 knots but swells up to 10 feet by the end of the day. Saturday’s forecast ups the ante to 25-knot winds and 10-foot swells, followed Sunday by 10-knot winds and another round of 10-foot swells.

Bottomfishing has been occasionally very good for locals on the occasional calm days. Most of the activity is close to shore and alee from winds. Rockfish catches have been good, and there’s been an uptick on lingcod catches, as well. However, pressure remains quite light.

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 another 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.

The ocean is open to crabbing, but the weather is too poor for heading over the bar to set pots. Bay crabbing should be very good with some nice afternoon minus tides set to hit the South Coast beginning Sunday at 4:10 p.m. That should make for some nice late-afternoon clamming in places like lower Coos Bay near Charleston for the next few days.

Razor clam digging has been fair now at Myers Beach on the South Coast. Before digging, call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474.

LAKE OUTLOOK

AGATE: The lake has not seen a new infusion of trout since June. Bass and perch fishing have been decent in the mornings and evenings. The lake has increased a hair this past week to 14% full, with turbid water. Fishing is slow. Electric trolling motors are OK but no gas motors. The park closes at dusk.

APPLEGATE: The French Gulch ramps now is the only one usable for trailered boats as the lake’s fall season has crept in. The lake’s surface temperature has dipped below 55 degrees now, and that’s slowing the bass bite. A dearth of fresh rainbow trout means that trout trolling has not garnered much interest, but bank fishing near the dam and along the lake’s east side can be good with worms and PowerBait. The lake is down to 5% full, with outflows at 150 cubic-feet-per-second, and inflows have shot up to 351 cfs Tuesday thanks to the last weekend’s rains. The lake has a 10 mph speed limit.

DIAMOND: Trout fishing has tapered off a bit, but it remains good in the south end on calm days. Calm mornings have been best, usually until the sun hits the water. There is still no ice on the water, but effort has definitely fallen off. The brown trout and tiger trout bite has dropped off as rainbows are now showing up more predominantly in the daily catches. Spin-casters are doing well with small Rapala lures that look like small rainbows, but switch out the hooks to singles because the double trebles often leave the tiger trout too damaged to survive. For fly-fishers, black leeches or muddler minnow patterns are the best now as the bug hatches have waned amid colder temperatures. Worms deep under bobbers or PowerBait floated 5 feet or so off the bottom are the best bets. All tiger trout and brown trout must be released unharmed. Some are eclipsing 8 pounds.

EMIGRANT: The lake has actually dropped a hair to 12% full this week despite the fact that the irrigation season is over. Bass fishing has been good with crankbaits and top water baits early in the day off rocky points. The lake is too low for launching trailered boats at the county ramp.

EXPO: State wildlife biologists stocked 1,500 legal-sized rainbow trout here more than three 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 remains ice-free, but not much fishing action has occurred since the interest in October’s stocking of 1-pound trout has waned. Those big trout that are left continue to show interest in worms under bobbers, small lures and PowerBait and they are already starting to fan out into the lake. The lake has stabilized this past week to 50% full Tuesday, which is far better than past autumns. Catches have included 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 marina is closed. Boat access is best at the dam. Fishing for rainbow trout is a bit slow for trollers using Little Cleo and other lures. Bait fishing in deeper water is OK with PowerBait, mostly chartreuse garlic or rainbow flavors. The lake was listed Tuesday at 34% full, which is holding steady thanks to the end of the irrigation season.

HYATT: The lake was actually down a hair to 40% full, but look for that to increase with a series of rain and snow events forecast for the weekend. Fishing has been best for rainbow trout in the old creek channel for those trolling small spoons or dark spinners. The best access is near the dam, but be careful about trailered boats. There are more bank fishing opportunities, but few are taking advantage of them. Lots of bass are getting caught in the shallows on warm, sunny days 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 still fishing well for a mix of black crappie and bass from the resort on up, but the bass bite will start to drop off significantly as the water cools rather rapidly. Trout fishing has been somewhat slow.

LOST CREEK: The lake last month received a nice complement of legal-sized and larger rainbow trout stocked primarily at the Takelma Ramp, where fishing has been most concentrated. The trout are now pretty well spread out north of the ramp. PowerBait off the bank there remains good for those staying off the ramp while fishing. Fishing is tapering off Peyton Bridge, thanks largely due to effort. Inflows were up to 2,800 cfs Tuesday, and most of the inflow is rather turbid. That should reduce trout fishing upstream of Peyton Bridge. Upstream of the bridge is a no-wake zone there. Bass fishing has been tapering down thanks to cooler days. On warm days, focus on rocky outcroppings with crankbaits and rubber worms the top offerings. The lake was listed Tuesday at almost 10 feet shy of the normal late-November levels, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in recent years has not worried too much about dropping below the so-called minimum pool in fall. The volume was listed Tuesday at 35% full. That’s not bad compared to previous years.

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 last spring and is set to get more fresh fish later this year. For the current holdover trout, fish for them with worms or PowerBait.

RIVER OUTLOOK

ROGUE: Those chasing late-run summer steelhead in the middle and upper Rogue have been stymied by turbid waters this week, while anglers looking to jump at early winter steelhead in the lower Rogue are battling high water flows. But a bit of respite between the storms means the middle and upper Rogue can find themselves in good shape for late-run summer steelhead fishing Thursday, Saturday and Sunday … if weather forecasts hold true.

The best bet remains the upper Rogue, but that’s just because the middle Rogue might get iffy thanks to turbidity, and the lower Rogue needs to settle down before the winter steelhead bite gets good.

Also, don’t forget to buy your $2 steelhead fishing validation that is required since Friday.

Most of the action is upstream of the Shady Cove boat ramp, where fishing is allowed with bait for steelhead. The waters downstream of Elk Creek were basically unfishable this past weekend, but look for decent steelhead catches (albeit of late and inedible fish) in between storms this week. Flows at Dodge Bridge were at 1,680 cfs Tuesday but forecast to hit 2,300 cfs Thursday before dropping Friday. Another storm has flows back up again Sunday after dropping Saturday. A good rule of thumb is to fish the river as water levels drop instead of when they are on the rise.

Both bait-casters and fly-fishers have reported occasional 5-fish days of late throughout the upper Rogue, but many of the hatchery fish are starting to darken up and aren’t prime to kill for anything but the smoker. All wild steelhead must be released unharmed.

Water below the Shady Cove ramp is open to lures and other artificials but not bait. That means lots of plug fishing with MagLip 3.0s in various colors like chartreuses and pinks. WeeWarts like the black-and-silver ones are also good bets. Fly-fishers can use single artificial salmon eggs, and that’s a fine choice when nymphing downstream of salmon redds.

Also, anglers casting Little Cleo lures in far upper Rogue holes are catching coho salmon, but all wild fish must be released unharmed. Most of the catches have been downstream of Big Butte Creek, where many of the upper Rogue’s wild coho are bound now. Downstream of the mouth of Elk Creek also has been good.

Flows at the former Gold Ray Dam site were at 2,043 cfs Tuesday and forecast to hit 3,600 cfs Thursday. Since flows out of Lost Creek Lake are at 1,000 cfs, most of the water will be tributary flow and that could dirty the river. Lots of leaves and sticks and other landowner detritus will also be in the water, and that can get maddening at times.

The middle Rogue has been improving for summer steelhead on a mix of flies and plugs fished from driftboats. However, most of the catches will be wild fish that must be released unharmed. Casting black and yellow Panther Martin lures can be good bets at dusk, as well for bank anglers. Streamer flies are best for fly-fishers as the water temperatures are ideal for swinging flies. Focus on the tail-ends of rapids where the water has more oxygen.

Flows at Agness were at 5,900 cfs Tuesday but will hit 12,000 cfs Thursday before dropping back down to 8,000 cfs Saturday. Mid-week next week should be very good for winter steelhead fishing as fresh chromers will be moving through.

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 main-stem Rogue near River Bridge. Worms, single salmon eggs and small pieces of worms are the traditional favorites.

APPLEGATE: The river is closed to all angling until Jan. 1.

CHETCO: The river was at 11,000 cfs Tuesday and will bounce around various levels into early next week. That’s when winter steelhead fishing should be very good riverwide for bank and boat anglers. A new $2 steelhead validation is required since Dec. 1 to fish for steelhead on the South Coast and the validations lasts through November 2024.