» Fishing Report

by Tony Roszkowski
Thursday, July 29, 2010 | No comments posted. Local lakes: Another weekend of strong northwest winds kept anglers off most coastal lakes. Winds are forecasted to calm down this week, which is good news for all anglers. Look for trout to start moving into deeper water as surface water temperatures increase. Early mornings and evenings are always good times to fish for trout, especially in the summer months. Anglers fishing for largemouth bass at Tenmile Lakes are still reporting slower-than-normal fishing. Bass anglers interested in entering the Tenmile Open, scheduled for Aug. 7 and 8, can do so by picking up an entry form at Lakeside Marina. We understand there are 20 openings left for this year’s event.

South Coast rivers: Fishing for fall Chinook on the lower Rogue River slowed down last weekend. Anglers have been hampered by the wind and by large schools of baitfish in the bay that the Chinook are feeding on. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ran a net in the bay and determined that most of the baitfish are sardines. A few more salmon were reported taken on the lower Coquille River last week. Look for the effort and numbers of fish caught to increase as we roll into August. Anglers fishing the lower Umpqua River for fall Chinook last weekend reported slow fishing. A decent bite was reported on Monday morning below the U.S. Highway 101 bridge. Local guide Rick Howard — (541) 347-3280 — caught one 28-pound king along with three small Chinook. He was trolling a cut-plug sardine.

Local bays and Pacific Ocean: Anglers are still catching some nice pinkfin surf perch near buoy 12 on the lower Umpqua River. Fishing for rockfish and greenling inside Coos Bay and around the jetties has been productive. A jig with a plastic twister tail is a good method to use for rockfish, while a sand shrimp on or near the bottom works great for greenling. Anglers are reporting picking up a few California halibut inside the bay while fishing for greenling and perch. One angler reported catching his limit of rockfish near the turn buoy in the lower bay near Charleston.

The ODFW announced two changes to the ocean sport groundfish fishery that took effect on Friday, July 23. The fishery beyond the 20-fathom line is closed in order to minimize catch-and-release mortality of yelloweye rockfish. Also, sport anglers may no longer retain cabezon when fishing out of a boat on the ocean, because the harvest cap for this year is close to being met.

Area shellfish: Local crabber Mad Max caught nine Dungeness crab last Monday, and 13 with friends last Wednesday, out in the bay in Bandon. Most crabbers haven’t done that well because crabbing in Bandon has not kicked into gear yet this summer. Crabbing in Coos Bay and Winchester Bay continues to be pretty decent.

(Tony Roszkowski has owned and operated Port O’ Call — TonysCrab-Shack.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’ on KWRO 630 AM.)