Southwest Oregon Fishing Reports
From ODF&W
Bottomfishing is now open to fish at all depths. Fishing for lingcod and rockfish was very good this past weekend. Many anglers caught big lingcod while fishing out past 40 fathoms. The daily bag limit for marine fish is 5 plus 2 lingcod.
The harvest of cabezon along with copper, quillback, and China rockfish are now all closed to boat anglers. Shore anglers will still be able to harvest these rockfish species (but are encouraged to release them) and 1 cabezon a day.
Anglers may also choose to fish the offshore longleader fishery outside of the 40-fathom regulatory line, which is open year round. The longleader fishery has a daily bag limit of 10 fish made of yellowtail, widow, canary, blue, deacon, redstripe, greenstripe, silvergray, and bocaccio rockfish. No other groundfish are allowed and offshore longleader fishing trips cannot be combined with traditional bottomfish, flatfish or halibut trips. Find information about a longleader setup here.
Ocean salmon fishing is closed.
Halibut fishing is now closed.
Lost Creek Reservoir was stocked last month with legal-size and larger trout and both Tekelma and the Marina boat ramps are accessible. This is probably the best lake for launching larger trailered boats at this time and the trout fishing will continue to be good throughout the fall.
Trout should be biting well with the cool temperatures, and some bass may still be active near the dam or submerged structures. Trolling a wedding ring and worm combination behind an oval egg sinker is always a good bet.
Expo Pond, Reinhardt Park Pond and Fish Lake remain good bets for trout fishing.
Fishing for rockfish inside the Coos River Bay has been good near the submerged rock piles. Fishing is typically best near slack tide. Boat anglers are no longer able to harvest copper, quillback, or China rockfish for the remainder of the year because we reached our catch limit on these species. A jig with a twister tail can be a great bait for catching rockfish.
Diamond Lake has been decent. Recent reports indicate most successful anglers are using flies with a quick retrieve or trolling. Others are having good success with floating bait off the bottom. If one technique isn’t working switch to something else.
Expo Pond, Reinhardt Park Pond and Fish Lake remain good bets for trout fishing.
Several rivers and streams closed to trout fishing after Oct. 31 – be sure to check the regulations before heading out
As we ease into fall/winter weather, the water temperature will continue to drop, which should encourage some fish to move up the Rogue River. Bay fishing has slowed some, but anglers are still fishing and catching chinook and steelhead below the Hwy 101 bridge.
Most boating anglers are trolling some type of in line flasher with an anchovy. Keep an eye on the weather forecast. When expecting rain and rising river levels, some people may want to consider switching tactics to anchoring up and back-bouncing eggs.
Steelhead fishing has slowed some in the lower river. Anglers swinging flies or tossing spinners are having the best luck.
Half-pounder fishing has been good in the Rogue Canyon, especially below Blossom Bar. Keep in mind it is now artificial fly and lures only from Foster Creek to Whisky Creek until Oct. 31.
Adult steelhead fishing continues to be good throughout the river, spinners and flies are bringing in some nice large fish and they will continue to move upstream during rainfall events. Wild steelhead must be released unharmed. The water is low and cold so fish are not moving around until we get a rain.
Some good fall chinook fishing has also been reported lower in the river, but keep in mind Chinook is now closed above Hog Creek to protect spawning fish. Some coho have been reported around Grants Pass but most coho on the Rogue are wild, and only hatchery coho can be retained. Please be mindful to release wild coho back into the river unharmed with minimal handling.
Boaters floating from Hog Creek to Graves Creek should be familiar with the rapids in this section of river, and know their takeouts. Experienced oarsmen/woman are recommended here. There are many BLM public access points to bank fish from Hog Creek to Graves Creek. This is often referred to the “Galice area.”
Above Hog Creek, Chinook fishing is now closed, as well as it being artificial fly only above Fishers Ferry until Oct. 31. Summer steelhead and trout remain open in the upper Rogue, and summer steelhead fly-fishing has been good.
This has been a great run of summer steelhead with not only many fish available, but larger fish as well. With the Chinook fishing now closed in this area, it’s a great time to fly-fish while there is less pressure. Cold, low water has been keeping steelhead from moving around much right now, so if you can figure out where they are holding it can still be good fishing.
No new summer steelhead entered the trap at Cole Rivers last week, for a total of 2,899 steelhead to date. Excess hatchery adult summer steelhead from Cole River Hatchery are being recycled back into the fishery and anglers are reporting success in catching these fish.
Plenty of naturally produced trout are always present in the upper Rogue, however water has cooled significantly and these fish will be very slow to bite.
Anglers can cast flies or smaller lures like a Panther Martin or rooster tail. Often tipping the lure with bait helps to produce. In slower holes, fishing straight bait such as nightcrawler, Pautzke eggs or even PowerBait will produce.
Bass fishing has been good on Tenmile Lakes. Anglers are catching most of the bass along the deeper weedlines and submerged trees.
Yellow perch will start transitioning from the weedlines to the deep water mud flats in the next few weeks. Most of the fish are under 10-inches long but there are a few 12-inch plus fish being caught.
Trout anglers continue to troll for trout. A few trout have been caught on bait by anglers targeting yellow perch.