Oregon Fishing Report

Oregon Fishing Report
A bulletin from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife on July 26th announced the ocean salmon season will expand to seven days a week starting Friday, July 29th, from Cape Falcon (near Manzanita) North into Washington State.

And not so good news for Columbia River anglers, the Departments released in-river gillnet season dates for fall fish. They are as follows:

NON-INDIAN COMMERCIAL SALMON FISHERY
DATES:
7 PM Thursday August 4 to 7AM Wednesday August 5 (12 hours)
7 PM Sunday August 7 to 7 AM Monday August 8 (12 hours)
7 PM Tuesday August 9 to 7 AM Wednesday August 10 (12 hours)
7 PM Thursday August 11 to 7 AM Friday August 12 (12 hours)
AREA: Zones 1 –5

SANCTUARIES: Grays River, Elokomin-A, Cowlitz River, Kalama-A, Lewis-A, Washougal and Sandy Rivers.

GEAR: 8" minimum and 9 3/4 maximum mesh size restrictions.

ALLOWABLE SALE: Salmon and sturgeon. A maximum of five white or green sturgeon may be possessed or sold by each participation vessel during each calendar week (Sunday through Saturday), that the fishery is open. The five sturgeon possession and sales limit includes both mainstem and Select Area fisheries. Now do you know why I am not so excited to start my guided fishing trips until the 15th of August?

Since conditions offshore have prevented many anglers from trying, the catches have been light, prompting the all-day, every-day fishery. Two coho or chinook may be retained per angler per day although coho must be of hatchery origin to keep. Chinook must measure 24 inches or better while fin-clipped coho over 16 inches may be kept. Anglers are allowed to retain 2 salmon- either 2 fin-clipped coho or 2 Chinook or 1 of each!The Cape Falcon to Tillamook Head area closes to salmon fishing on August 1st. Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain just north of Gold Beach closes to fin-clipped coho on July 31st. It remains open to Chinook however.Summer chinook are starting to show at Nehalem Bay with a few caught over the last week or so. In a week or two the conga line of trollers will be catching decent numbers of fish.

Sturgeon fishing was good last week at Tillamook Bay with many keepers taken. There's another minus tide series the first week of August which should offer additional opportunities in the early morning hours. Use mud shrimp if available, sand shrimp otherwise. See Marie at Tillamook bait for additional tips on taking these rod-benders.

Anchor fishermen on the Columbia, hopeful for summer chinook, are taking a surprising number of summer steelhead. While the majority of these are wild, there are fair numbers of hatchery fish in the mix. Salmon fishing, however, is slow. Algae continues to foul gear, requiring frequent cleaning.New rules effecting lower Columbia River salmon fishermen start on August 1st, just as the Fall chinook fishery gets underway.

Anglers from Buoy 10 to Tongue Point may keep two fish per day of which one may be a chinook. Wild coho must be released unharmed. Chinook must be at least 24 inches in length to retain, while hatchery coho have to be 16 inches or better to keep.From Tongue Pont to Bonneville, the limit is six jacks over 12 inches and two adults with the same restrictions as above.

Another season which was recently been expanded is that for retaining sturgeon in the Columbia estuary where retention remains open seven days a week through August 15th for gators measuring 45 to 60 inches. While fishing has been spotty and bait-stealers numerous, the rewards of keeper-sized fish has been worth the trip.

The Salmon, Tillamook, Trask, Wilson, Alsea, Yaquina Coos, Coquille, Rogue, and Umpqua Rivers open for fin-clipped coho on August 1st. It is quite early for any numbers of fish here and forecasts aren’t all that encouraging anyway.

Chinook fishing is fair out of Depoe Bay but the coho are not to be found. Bottom fishing remains great. All-depth halibut is open July 28th, 29th and 30th.Steelheading is improving on the Umpqua.

Fall chinook trollers on Rogue Bay saw some improvement this week.The Clackamas and Sandy Rivers are low, warm and very slow.

North Santiam steelheaders are finding great water levels, good numbers of fish but a tough bite in cold water.

Trout have been planted this week in the Willamette Zone at Breitenbush River, Carmen Reservoir, Leaburg Lake, Upper McKenzie River Upper, Quartzville Creek and the North Fork Santiam River. In the Deschutes watershed, Badger Lake, Three Creeks Lake, Fall River, Shevlin Pond and Spring Creek were stocked.