01-18-2002, 05:10 AM
Oregon Fishing Update<br><br><br>January 18th - January 24th, 2002<br><br>Fisheries update: The era of the "freeloader fisherman" is over after the 23rd of this month! Get your fishing and hunting licenses as soon as you can! And yes, you have to tag fish again! Get out there and support our Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife! Sturgeon seasons are at risk again. The Columbia River sturgeon task force will meet again early next week to decide the fate of the 2002 season. We are looking for ways to continue to cut the harvest levels back- be ready for more restrictions! The Columbia is in no real danger of high harvest levels this week but decent catches continue to come from the gorge and the mouth of the Willamette to Longview stretch. However, great catches are reported from the St. Johns area in the Willamette using shrimp and smelt. Plunkers are still getting steelhead at Meldrum Bar and a springer may pop into the picture in the next couple of weeks with all the pressure being observed. The Clackamas was a big bust last week but water levels are dropping. If we just get a warming trend in the next week, fishing will considerably improve! The Sandy is still a great option but don't expect great results from a boat. Banker anglers mostly in the Marmot area are scoring the best results. The water there is dropping and clearing rather quickly. The Wilson River has had some great days this week with some quality wild fish making a nice showing. Spawned out hatchery fish are certainly in the mix as well. The same is true for the Nestucca but a higher wild to hatchery ratio is evident there. Three Rivers was slow last week. Crabbing should be good when the pressure is light. The ocean has been calm enough to crab outside but harder shelled crabs are easier to come by in the estuaries. The mid coast/south coast rivers are coming into their seasons right now. The Coquille, Umpqua, and Siuslaw should be turning on hard these upcoming weeks. Smelt are finally appearing the Cowlitz River according to late reports. Large trout are available at Crane Prairie and Davis Lakes. Alder, Dune, Cleawox and Munsel Lakes, Olalla, and Big Creek 1 & 2 Reservoirs, Coffenbury Lake, Junction City Pond and Willamina Pond will be planted this week. <br><br>Soapbox update: On the amusing side… Faithful customer Rich Slusher writes about life as a northern Californian. We thought we had it tough! "Speaking of the rain, it's been like Oregon around here lately except there are more Californians to harass. We're way above normal rainfall and our wettest months aren't here yet. The creek next to our place is running high, but safe, and has that lovely shade of urban-brown that we all love. They are thinking of extending the season for the downstream migration of non-native car tires (Goodyear and Firestones are catch and release). We're busy setting our pots for the influx of aluminum beer and soda cans this time of year. Baiting them with nachos and bean dip always attracts a crowd. The coho have returned to our west Marin streams and along with them that most invasive species, coho sapien observus. Current streamside counts show that there are approximately ten of these strange bi-peds for every one coho. Preliminary identification indicates that they must be from the sub-species "Orvis", as evidenced by the numerous tags on their clothing. Most of them could not tell a coho from a sculpin even if they were bitten on the butt. (I can, and I have the scars to prove it). With this many people observing the spawning ritual I think the coho will opt for a Motel 6 on the ocean next year." Can you hardly wait for this guy to come out with his book? Thanks Rich- looking forward to having you up in God's country again soon! <br><br>Paid Subscribers will receive a report this week of over 4,000 words with specific information about where to fish, when to fish and what to use, then accurately predict what the fishing will be like next week and beyond! Don't miss out, we help people catch more fish! <br><br>Subscribe now by clicking over to<br>http//www.theguidesforecast.com/signup.html <br><br><br><br>Get more Oregon fishing information at<br>http://www.theguidesforecast.com