November 14 Column

[Pete Heley]

Crabbing at Winchester Bay remains good. It seems that female and undersized crabs are becoming an ever-bigger nuisance, but crabbers willing to put in their time are getting limits of legal crabs. Of course, boat crabbers have it easier than the dockbound crabbers and last week, it seems that the crabs even moved upriver somewhat, as some good catches were made more than a half-mile upriver from the entrance to Winchester Bay’s East Boat Basin. It seems that the very best dock crabbing is occuring before daybreak and after dark, but those willing to put in their time are catching some crabs all day long - but those catching limits are definitely earning them.

Salmon fishing pressure on the lower Umpqua River has almost stopped. However, the very few anglers still trying for salmon are catching some. Local angler, Tom Crittenton, weighed in a nearly 16 pound chinook taken on a spinner near the mouth of Winchester Creek last Saturday and a few salmon are still being hooked at Half Moon Bay and Osprey Point when anglers are fishing it. The salmon fishing pressure is so low, that one is forced to wonder if the catch per angler has dropped all that much.

On the ODFW website, the publishing of the catch rate of wild coho on Oregon coastal rivers was delayed, but statistics for most of the wild coho rivers for the week ending November 4th are now on the site - and the catch (not the catch rates) statistics are rather humble. The statistics for the Coos and Coquille rivers are still pending and the Alsea River is closed to the taking of wild cohos, but there were ZERO wild coho retained on the Nehalem River and Tillamook Bay, one retained coho reported on the Nestucca and Siletz rivers. The Yaquina had six wild coho reported taken, the Umpqua has 16 and the Siuslaw, which amazingly is still open for wild cohos, had 31 retained wild coho.

Last week, coho salmon were reported caught from all three lakes that allow coho salmon fishing. The hottest bite was on Tahkenitch Lake where it was easy to find the coho at the upper ends of Five Mile and Mallard arms. Siltcoos Lake and the upper portion of the outlet that is open to fishing for coho is still producing salmon, but the biggest surprise has been Tenmile Lakes which surprisingly has some bright coho in it. As usual, most of the coho are being caught by bass anglers fishing spinnerbaits and crankbaits and although this happens every season, the salmon are too dark to keep when they finally get into the lake. Bank anglers on Tenmile can fish that tiny stretch of Tenmile Creek above the Hilltop Drive Bridge in Lakeside and have a chance to hook a salmon.

Fishing pressure on the South Jetty and Triangle areas at Winchester Bay is increasing and bottomfish angling has been good.

Almost all the warmwater fishing pressure in our area has been directed towards yellow perch.

Trout anglers should consider stillfishing with bait as the water cools down and the trout become less active. The best fishing is in the area’s larger lakes that hold native, searun and carryover trout.

I hear a lot of griping about the ODFW and while I seldom directly contradict the whiners, I often wonder how much griping they would do if they lived in California. In the last few years, for what appears to be a very small financial donation to the California Department of Fish and Game, the United States Humane Society has managed to have a lot to say about hunting and fishing in California. Additionally, SB1221, recently signed into law in California makes it illegal to use dogs to hunt or even chase bear or bobcats. The bill also gives the California Department of Fish and Game broad powers when it comes to establishing hound hunting requiements that could ultimately make it necessary for onerous documentation for hounds to the point where a microchip may be required. This is not to say that these things will come to pass, just that they are possible under the new bill.