» Fishing report

Thursday, November 12, 2009 | No comments posted. Local lakes: Bob Busso of Bandon was nice enough to give us a report on how he and the kids have been doing on Bradley Lake. On a recent trip, they anchored up near the old stump and fished Powerbait off the bottom. Bob told me they caught three limits of nice rainbow trout. Look for good trout fishing in Garrison Lake in Port Orford, which was stocked recently by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife with some supplemental trophy-size trout. Garrison Lake is better fished by boat, but there is good bank access near the 12th Street boat ramp. Garrison also has some sea-run cutthroat trout, which enter the lake each season via a small outlet stream.

Local rivers: Last weekend, ODFW decided to keep the Chetco River closed to salmon fishing above the U.S. Highway 101 bridge. This decision will be re-evaluated this week after recent rains. Fishing for fall Chinook on the lower Rogue River is about done for the year. A few Indian Creek Hatchery fish still are being caught, but most fishermen are starting to gear up for winter steelhead, which usually start coming in around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Recent rains have pushed salmon upriver from the mouth of the Elk and Sixes rivers. Shore-based and driftboat anglers did well fishing the lower portions of these rivers last weekend. With more rain in the forecast, look for salmon fishing to really improve. Anglers fishing New River recently have been catching and releasing plenty of coho salmon. Most anglers have been fishing near the Storm Ranch boat launch. Casting for salmon has been tough because of the large amount of moss in the estuary.

Fishing pressure on the lower Coquille River has slowed down recently. John Lane had a good weekend fishing for kings at the mouth of Bear Creek. A few coho still are being caught in the Rocky Point area. As of last week, 65 percent of the 1,500-fish wild coho quota had been met. Shore-based anglers did well last week fishing in Seven Mile Slough. A few bright Chinook salmon have moved in, but most of the fish are getting dark. There is very little fishing pressure by boat anglers in Coos Bay. Most of the Chinook have moved through the fishery, but there will still be a few new Chinook moving into the bay this month. Bank fishermen are doing fairly well at the mouth of Daniels Creek, in Catching Slough and at the Coos Bay city boardwalk. Many of these fish are dark, but a few brighter Chinook still  are being caught.

Area shellfish: Crabbing on Weber’s Pier in Bandon was great last Friday and Saturday. Quite a few crabbers caught their limits of Dungeness crab. Boaters crabbing in Bandon also caught plenty of nice crab. With more rain in the forecast, look for crabbing to start slowing down in the bay. Boaters crabbing in Coos Bay near Empire and Charleston are reporting excellent catches of Dungeness and red rock crab. A series of minus tides in the late afternoons beginning this Saturday is good news for bay clammers in the Charleston area.

(Tony Roszkowski has owned and operated Port O’ Call — Tony’sCrabShack.com — 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.)