March 7th column

[Pete Heley]

There are a lot of fishing opportunities available for March anglers - some of which will cease at the end of the month. The ocean fishery for chinook salmon should be starting on March 15th and the chance for a combination bottomfish/salmon trip in the ocean will be a legal angling strategy until the end of the month when all-depth bottomfishing ends on March 31st (midnight). The closure on the retention of cabezon is slated to end at the end of this month and unless the ban is extended, they should be legal to keep as of April 1st. Eel Creek, which has a fair number of winter steelhead actually spawning in it will also only be legal for steelhead fishing through the end of March (many of the Eel Creek steelhead attempt to spawn in its many culverts - some of which are surprisingly shallow). March is also the most productive month in most years when it comes to catching Columbia River walleyes weighing more than ten pounds.

I got a chance to talk to Darrel Gable last week and he stated that he always had his most consistent success for early striped bass during February, but he also admitted that recent temperatures were much cooler than it was during most of the years that he fished for them - which bodes well for the striper fishing this month. The stripers are seldom as concentrated as they are in the winter and early spring when they are concentrated in the upper few miles of tidewater on the Smith and North Fork Smith rivers and in the Umpqua River between the Scottsburg Bridge and Sawyers Rapids. Darrel and I did agree on how much longer it takes to warm up after a cold-weather fishing trip than it took when we were in our 20’s.

A spring chinook was taken on Feb. 29th by Rick Howard on the Rogue River. Howard’s 25 pound fish is certain to spark a massive increase in fishing pressure for the river’s early spring chinook.. Usually, the Umpqua River produces a spring chinook prior to the first one reported on the Rogue and Howard’s fish is sure to increase fishing pressure ont he Umpqua, as well. The first springer caught from the Umpqua will start a fishing frenzy that turns the Umpqua’s spring chinook fishery into a parking-challenged adventure.

While all the steelhead streams along the Oregon coast still have fishable numbers of winter steelhead in them, it seems that the streams between here and the California border have been producing the best fishing. Possibly the most popular stream for its size is the South Fork Coquille River which is always packed when fishable, but the Coquille’s other forks are relatively underfished.

Although the temperatures remain cooler than usual, the short stints of stable, slightly warmer weather are allowing some bass fishing success. The more shallow lakes tend to react more quickly to warming temperatures and the bass will be more likely to move into shallow water where they will be more active and more accessible to the average angler. In lakes with decent crappie populations, a sensible early season strategy is to fish for bass until three or four in the afternoon and then to target crappies until dark or even later. It seems that crappies, no matter what the water temperature is, tend to become active during low light conditions.

Yellow perch are at their heaviest as they approach their actual spawn which usually takes place during the last week in March through through the first week in April. Oregon’s state record yellow perch of two pounds and two ounces is lighter than neighboring states, but has had some near misses when it comes to heavier fish. Upper Klamath Lake has produced yellow perch to nearly 18-inches, but they were not officially weighed and the average perch size has shown major shrinkage in recent years. The same goes for the Sprague River which produced perch to at least two pounds, but the size of the river’s perch seems to have shrunk in recent years. A 16-inch yellow perch was taken on South Tenmile Lake this winter, but not officially weighed - although in its pre-spawn condition it almost certainly weighed at least two pounds. In recent years, Siltcoos Lake has produced a number of perch weighing between one and a half and two pounds, but these fish were caught in early summer after they had already spawned. For some reason, the perch in Siltcoos are hard to find during the pre-spawn period.

Next week, Empire Lakes will receive another 6,000 rainbows to go with the 6,000 they received last week. Butterfield Lake and Mingus Park Pond will also receive their first trout plants this year (2,000 each). There should also be plenty of rainbows left in Saunders Lake from last week’s plant of 3,000 trout. Loon Lake is scheduled for 2,000 trout this week and will receive 2,000 more in two weeks when Lake Marie will receive its first trout plant this year of 2,000 trout. The Florence-area lakes from Elbow Lake north will receive their next trout plants in two weeks.

A decision by the ODFW to re-establish a spring chinook fishery on the Coast Fork of the Willamette River should be of interest to area anglers since the area is less than 90 minutes from here. However, the biggest impact will be that there will be more spring chinooks ascending the lower reaches of the Willamette once the new springer fishery becomes established.

[Mike Carey]

nice update, thanks Pete. Those strippers sound intriguing. How big do they get? Is it catch and release only or can they be kept? Slot limit?

[Pete Heley]

Mike:
They can be kept. I believe the minimum length limit is 24-inches (used to be 30-inches). They are rather low in numbers, but the last few years has been above average for recent years. I believe that several 50+ pounders were taken last year and the best time to catch them is February through April at the upper end of tidewater on the Smith River. The fishing is much, much better at night and the most overlooked fishing area for winter/early spring stripers is on the Umpqua between the Scottsburg Bridge and Sawyers Rapids (about 11 miles of river). This fishery is very difficult to casually approach.
Sincerely,
Pete Heley