» Fishing Report

By Tony Roszkowski
Thursday, July 02, 2009 | 1 comment(s) Local lakes: Despite the windy conditions, anglers are still reporting great rainbow trout fishing in local lakes. Anglers fishing Bradley, Floras and Garrison lakes had to get an early start last week to beat the wind. One angler reported catching his limit at Bradley Lake in Bandon slow-trolling a pistol pete, which is a fly with a tiny propellor in front. The winds are forecasted to diminish this weekend, so look for trout fishing to remain excellent. Harry Bingham, the vice president of the Tenmile Bass Club, is reporting very good largemouth bass fishing at Tenmile Lakes in Lakeside. Harry said anglers are starting to pick up some larger fish as the bass are coming off their spawning beds.

Local rivers: Reports from the Big K Ranch on the upper Umpqua River are great for smallmouth bass anglers. The smallies are hitting top-water baits in the morning, and jigs and small crank baits during the day. If you want to take a great drift trip for smallmouth bass, you can call the lodge at 541-584-2295 and ask for Scott Wolfe. July and August are prime time for smallmouth bass on the Umpqua River. We are starting to get some good reports on sturgeon fishing on the lower Umpqua. Anglers are reporting good action in the Big Bend area. There also are reports of great pinkfin perch fishing in the lower bay. John from Turman Tackle in Reedsport told me some of the perch are monsters, and said anglers fishing around structures are doing best. Anglers anchoring on the lower Rogue River are still picking up some nice spring salmon. There have only been a few boats trolling in the bay. Most anglers are waiting for July 11, when they can take a wild fish.

Pacific Ocean: Another round of the spring all-depth halibut fishing starts today and runs through July 4. As the winds and swell subside, look for anglers to get back to catching some coho salmon. Last Wednesday, Rick Howard and Dino Kummelehne of Bandon caught 30 coho out of Charleston. They told me the fish were averaging eight to nine pounds and were caught on a hoochie spinner. They kept six finclipped coho out of the 30 fish caught. We saw a few smelt caught off of Weber’s Pier in Bandon over the weekend. Look for smelt fishing to pick up over the next couple of weeks.

Area shellfish: The 2009 Bandon Crab Derby kicked off yesterday. So far, a total of 18 tagged Dungeness crab have been released into the bay at Bandon. More than a hundred Dungeness crab will be tagged and released throughout July and August. Crabbers who catch tagged crab must take them with the tag attached to Tony’s Crab Shack for verification and to be recorded. We will have drawings worth $100 on July 12 and 20, and Aug. 9 and 23. The big drawings will be held Sunday, Sept. 6, at 4 p.m. at Tony’s Crab Shack. The first drawing on Sept. 6 is for $1,000, and the second for $300. For more info, call Tony’s at 541-347-2875.

(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. Hear more from Tony on ‘Oregon Outdoors’ Thursdays on KWRO 630 AM.)