Sports Page Updated: Thursday, May 8, 2008 10:32 AM PDT

Fish Report

Local lakes: On Saturday morning, I witnessed the Van Wormer Free Fishing Derby sponsored by the Langlois Lions Club at Floras Lake. Several groups of adults and children were having a great time catching the recently stocked rainbow trout. It was great because, at any given moment, one of the kids would have a fish on. I didn’t stay to see the prizes awarded because I was there to meet two friends who invited me to troll the lake that morning. Despite the wind, which ended our trip early, we did catch five rainbows from 16-to-20-inches in length. I was impressed with how well these fish fought — and how good they tasted.

Local rivers: Spring Chinook salmon fishing on the lower Rogue River has been sporadic, with some of the most consistent action reported in tide water near Elephant Rock. Local river guide Rick Howard (347-3280) reported catching six springers in six days of fishing. Look for shad to start moving into the Coos River system soon. Traditionally, shad start showing up in the Coos around Mother’s Day and in the Coquille around Father’s Day.

Beaches and Pacific Ocean: On Friday, I joined some friends for a bottom fishing trip out of Bandon. It didn’t take long before we were catching some nice rock cod. My friend, Jason, was fishing a large bait called a Bone Yard and soon had a large fish on. It turned out to be a 5-to-6-pound ling cod with a larger ling cod hitchhiking onto it. The larger ling was gaffed onboard and weighed in at 22 pounds. Soon after, we located some black rock cod feeding on the surface. We broke out the light tackle and had a blast.

Today is the opening day of the spring all-depth sport halibut season. The open dates are May 8-10, 15-17, 22-24, 29-31 and June 26-28. The catch limit is 159,577 pounds.

Last week before the wind picked up, local anglers were catching some nice surf perch. Bud Abbott of Bandon weighed in a perch just shy of 2 pounds to take the current lead in Port O’ Call’s May Surf Perch Fishing Derby.

Area shellfish: A good series of minus tides through Sunday is good news for local clammers. Bay crabbing in Charleston is starting to pick up. Boaters are reporting good catches of Dungeness crab near the north jetty. Dock crabbers on B-dock in Charleston also are reporting improved catches.

(Tony Roszkowski has owned and operated Port O’ Call on the Bandon waterfront since 1989. Many South Coast anglers rely on his fish and shellfish reports.)