10-02-2004, 02:19 PM
Oregon Fisheries Update
October 1st – October 7th, 2004
Fisheries Update: : Fall Chinook fishing on Tillamook Bay is underway! Don't go without the knowledge you need to pursue Oregon's largest strain of salmon. Get tech report #7 which details the Tillamook Bay fishery or tech report #16 which details how to catch these fish on bobbers from our secured web site. These reports and several more are available at http://www.theguidesforecast.com/techrpt.shtml.
Columbia River fishing is best in the Bonneville area. The coho are mostly wild in the lower river but backtrollers and anchor anglers from Troutdale to Bonneville are still scoring great numbers of Chinook. The season has been EXTENDED to the end of the year! No September 30th closure!
Sturgeon season opens back up to catch and keep this week too! Retention days remain Thursday's through Saturday's starting October 1st and from the incidental catches being tallied in the gorge, there seem to be plenty of sturgeon (both keepers and oversize) available to anglers!
Crabbing on the lower Columbia remains good.
Tillamook Bay saw a nice shot of fresh Chinook responsive to spinners the first half of this week. It was signature spinner fishing with fish present, nice weather with little wind and little sea-weed to contend with. It's all too good to last through the weekend. See the full length version for best bets over the weekend!
Crabbing on Tillamook Bay remains slow yet effort rather high.
Tuna fishing remains good offshore out of central and Southern Oregon ports, but it's a trip of 30 or more miles to find a temperature break. Once found, the albacore are cooperative.
Salmon fishing has been very slow in Yaquina Bay although crabbing is great. Anglers able to venture offshore out of Newport report good results. Chinook angling in the Alsea and Siletz Rivers has slowed.
The wild coho fishery at Siltcoos and Tahkenitch Lakes will open on October 1st, thanks to a strong recovery and a return far in excess of that needed for sustainability.
Winchester Bay fishermen continue to take chinook. Steelheading action has fallen off in the Umpqua although smallmouth bass fishing is holding up. The Coos and Coquille have slowed.
Rogue River bay is getting a fresh flush of coho. Steelheading is good for adults and half pounders I the lower Rogue, summer steelheading has slowed upstream. Chinook fishing is best around Grants Pass.
The Clackamas and North Santiam are slow, Sandy River anglers are doing well for coho.
Trout will be planted in the Willamette Zone this week at Detroit Reservoir, Henry Hagg Lake, West Salish Pond, Foster Reservoir and The South Fork of the Crooked River
Soap Box
Since this is a fishing publication, it's no surprise The Guide's Forecast, LLC is endorsing Measure 34 this election. Measure 34 balances the needs of fish, wildlife and clean water with timber harvest on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests. Since sportanglers on the North Coast have witnessed the closure of 5 of its 6 wild fish fisheries in just the last 13 years, it's clear that we need a change of direction when managing the “hatcheries” (the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests) that these fish need to survive in. But before we get into some critical points of this measure, the campaign needs all the help it can get to get this important message out to the voters. Remember, this measure is the best chance we have to recover these wild fish and the hopes that we may once again have a consumptive fishery for wild coho, steelhead, cutthroat trout, spring Chinook and chum salmon. After all, shouldn't it be an angler's choice as to whether they want to keep a salmon and not environmental factors driving these regulations? A note from campaign staff:
We are in a final push to raise money to purchase media time for the campaign. This is why I am writing to you – to ask you for your help. We can win this measure and protect much of the Tillamook forest for generations to come if we can educate the Oregon voters.
It would mean a great deal to us if you would make a contribution to our campaign. We have 3 weeks to raise an additional $200,000. We can do it. Every contribution at every amount makes a difference. We believe protecting this forest is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The following link will allow you to make a secure online donation to the Yes on 34 Campaign, Oregonians for a Balanced Tillamook.
https://secure.entango.com/donate/0kTt019gogg
Now here are some critical points we all need to look at when deciding which way to vote:
1) 5 of the 6 wild populations of salmonids are so critically low, that sport and commercial targeted fisheries have been closed IN JUST THE LAST 13 YEARS! This has resulted in thousands of job losses in both the sport and commercial fisheries!
2) Despite some of the best ocean conditions we have seen in over 40 years along with some of the most mature habitat we have in the Tillamook State Forest, our watersheds (even in the headwaters that are only influenced by the Tillamook State Forest) DO NOT meet MINIMUM temperature standards for the spawning and rearing of adult and juvenile wild salmon. Simply put, due to excessive water temperatures in the summer months, juvenile fish are constrained to a very small portion of cooler water tributaries while adult wild spring chinook literally boil to death in the mainstems deep pools. The DEQ's web site specifically states death is imminent within a matter of days or weeks when these streams exceed these water temperatures- and they do EVERY YEAR!
3) Now if we can't recover these fish under the best of circumstances, how in the heck are we going to do it when 85% of their habitat is threatened by logging? Especially with the meager 25 foot no touch buffer zones that are being implemented on these forest lands? A properly functioning riparian area requires more than a 25 foot no touch buffer!
4) Measure 34 allows us the best opportunity to recover these fish and diversify our rural economy. These fish bring people and they come to the north coast to spend money! They contribute to our businesses and some even come here to retire contributing to our tax base! Healthy environments mean healthy communities and a sustainable way of life. Wild fish provide a healthy food source for America especially as we learn more about the hazards of farm raised fish!
VOTE YES ON MEASURE #34 ! ! !
More on the web site:
http://www.theguidesforecast.com/
October 1st – October 7th, 2004
Fisheries Update: : Fall Chinook fishing on Tillamook Bay is underway! Don't go without the knowledge you need to pursue Oregon's largest strain of salmon. Get tech report #7 which details the Tillamook Bay fishery or tech report #16 which details how to catch these fish on bobbers from our secured web site. These reports and several more are available at http://www.theguidesforecast.com/techrpt.shtml.
Columbia River fishing is best in the Bonneville area. The coho are mostly wild in the lower river but backtrollers and anchor anglers from Troutdale to Bonneville are still scoring great numbers of Chinook. The season has been EXTENDED to the end of the year! No September 30th closure!
Sturgeon season opens back up to catch and keep this week too! Retention days remain Thursday's through Saturday's starting October 1st and from the incidental catches being tallied in the gorge, there seem to be plenty of sturgeon (both keepers and oversize) available to anglers!
Crabbing on the lower Columbia remains good.
Tillamook Bay saw a nice shot of fresh Chinook responsive to spinners the first half of this week. It was signature spinner fishing with fish present, nice weather with little wind and little sea-weed to contend with. It's all too good to last through the weekend. See the full length version for best bets over the weekend!
Crabbing on Tillamook Bay remains slow yet effort rather high.
Tuna fishing remains good offshore out of central and Southern Oregon ports, but it's a trip of 30 or more miles to find a temperature break. Once found, the albacore are cooperative.
Salmon fishing has been very slow in Yaquina Bay although crabbing is great. Anglers able to venture offshore out of Newport report good results. Chinook angling in the Alsea and Siletz Rivers has slowed.
The wild coho fishery at Siltcoos and Tahkenitch Lakes will open on October 1st, thanks to a strong recovery and a return far in excess of that needed for sustainability.
Winchester Bay fishermen continue to take chinook. Steelheading action has fallen off in the Umpqua although smallmouth bass fishing is holding up. The Coos and Coquille have slowed.
Rogue River bay is getting a fresh flush of coho. Steelheading is good for adults and half pounders I the lower Rogue, summer steelheading has slowed upstream. Chinook fishing is best around Grants Pass.
The Clackamas and North Santiam are slow, Sandy River anglers are doing well for coho.
Trout will be planted in the Willamette Zone this week at Detroit Reservoir, Henry Hagg Lake, West Salish Pond, Foster Reservoir and The South Fork of the Crooked River
Soap Box
Since this is a fishing publication, it's no surprise The Guide's Forecast, LLC is endorsing Measure 34 this election. Measure 34 balances the needs of fish, wildlife and clean water with timber harvest on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests. Since sportanglers on the North Coast have witnessed the closure of 5 of its 6 wild fish fisheries in just the last 13 years, it's clear that we need a change of direction when managing the “hatcheries” (the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests) that these fish need to survive in. But before we get into some critical points of this measure, the campaign needs all the help it can get to get this important message out to the voters. Remember, this measure is the best chance we have to recover these wild fish and the hopes that we may once again have a consumptive fishery for wild coho, steelhead, cutthroat trout, spring Chinook and chum salmon. After all, shouldn't it be an angler's choice as to whether they want to keep a salmon and not environmental factors driving these regulations? A note from campaign staff:
We are in a final push to raise money to purchase media time for the campaign. This is why I am writing to you – to ask you for your help. We can win this measure and protect much of the Tillamook forest for generations to come if we can educate the Oregon voters.
It would mean a great deal to us if you would make a contribution to our campaign. We have 3 weeks to raise an additional $200,000. We can do it. Every contribution at every amount makes a difference. We believe protecting this forest is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The following link will allow you to make a secure online donation to the Yes on 34 Campaign, Oregonians for a Balanced Tillamook.
https://secure.entango.com/donate/0kTt019gogg
Now here are some critical points we all need to look at when deciding which way to vote:
1) 5 of the 6 wild populations of salmonids are so critically low, that sport and commercial targeted fisheries have been closed IN JUST THE LAST 13 YEARS! This has resulted in thousands of job losses in both the sport and commercial fisheries!
2) Despite some of the best ocean conditions we have seen in over 40 years along with some of the most mature habitat we have in the Tillamook State Forest, our watersheds (even in the headwaters that are only influenced by the Tillamook State Forest) DO NOT meet MINIMUM temperature standards for the spawning and rearing of adult and juvenile wild salmon. Simply put, due to excessive water temperatures in the summer months, juvenile fish are constrained to a very small portion of cooler water tributaries while adult wild spring chinook literally boil to death in the mainstems deep pools. The DEQ's web site specifically states death is imminent within a matter of days or weeks when these streams exceed these water temperatures- and they do EVERY YEAR!
3) Now if we can't recover these fish under the best of circumstances, how in the heck are we going to do it when 85% of their habitat is threatened by logging? Especially with the meager 25 foot no touch buffer zones that are being implemented on these forest lands? A properly functioning riparian area requires more than a 25 foot no touch buffer!
4) Measure 34 allows us the best opportunity to recover these fish and diversify our rural economy. These fish bring people and they come to the north coast to spend money! They contribute to our businesses and some even come here to retire contributing to our tax base! Healthy environments mean healthy communities and a sustainable way of life. Wild fish provide a healthy food source for America especially as we learn more about the hazards of farm raised fish!
VOTE YES ON MEASURE #34 ! ! !
More on the web site:
http://www.theguidesforecast.com/