» Fishing report

By Tony Roszkowski
Thursday, February 04, 2010 | No comments posted. Local lakes: A couple of local anglers stopped by to tell us about a fishing trip they recently took to Eel Lake, located just east of U.S. Highway 101 about 10 miles south of Reedsport. They told us they caught a nice stringer of rainbow trout from the fishing dock in Tugman State Park. This state park is the public access point to Eel Lake. It has a camping area, restrooms, boat ramp, launching dock and fishing pier. Eel Lake receives most of its fishing pressure on its rainbow and cutthroat trout populations. However, the lake has an excellent population of largemouth bass, along with fair numbers of black crappies. 

Cathy from Lakeside Marina told me there was plenty of action on the county dock on Tenmile Lakes over the weekend. She said a group of kids were catching some nice yellow perch with a few rainbow trout mixed in. The kids were fishing nightcrawlers off the bottom. She stopped counting at 30 perch. Anglers trolling Tenmile are still picking up some nice rainbow trout with an occasional steelhead. Rainbow trout more than 20 inches long are considered steelhead until April 30 and from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. From May 1 to Oct. 31, rainbows more than 20 inches long are considered trout. Mike Gray from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife offices in Charleston verified that any steelhead taken inside the lake must be tagged as such.

Local rivers: Fishing for winter steelhead on the Chetco River was good toward the end of last week. Over the weekend, the bite was much slower as river conditions dropped and the water cleared. Roland from the Chetco Outdoor Store told us there are lots of fish moving through the system and, hopefully, the bite will get going again with more rain in the forecast this week. Larry from the Rogue Outdoor Store told us steelhead fishing on the lower Rogue River slowed down, as well. He said the river level is good, but the water is crystal-clear and the fish have been off the bite.

The time to be on the South Fork of the Coquille River was the middle of last week. Anglers reported very good steelhead fishing as the South Fork had dropped into perfect shape. One angler said he counted more than 80 driftboats on the river last Wednesday and saw plenty of steelhead taken. The fishing slowed down after all the pressure and dropping river levels. We are still receiving good reports on the Coos River system for winter steelhead. Both the West Fork of the Millicoma River and the South Fork Coos River produced some nice fish over the weekend.

Pacific Ocean and beaches: Anglers fishing Bandon’s South Jetty last weekend reported catching some nice pinkfin surf perch. They were casting sand shrimp on the ocean side of the jetty on an incoming tide. You should always use caution when fishing local beaches and jetties. Winter can be the most dangerous time, with its unpredictable ocean swells.

Area shellfish: A few keeper-size crab came off Weber’s Pier in Bandon over the weekend. Crabbing is still very slow due to the fresh water, which enters the bay after each rain. Sunday’s nice weather brought plenty of boats to Coos Bay, where crabbing has remained good. We had a boat stop by with a nice mix of Dungeness and red rock crab for us to cook. Kids Fish Free update: We would like to thank everyone who stopped by over the weekend with generous donations of rods and reels for the program. We still have free fishing equipment for parents of children under age 14. You can stop by Port O’ Call in Old Town or give us a call at 541-347-2875.

(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.)