01-22-2012, 07:11 PM
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Willamette Valley/Metro- Sturgeon anglers below Bonneville Damare still struggling to find keepers although boaters working the Portland toLongview stretch are getting into some undersize fish. Bonneville Pool anglersposted good catches again this week but success rates should drop astemperatures do. The quota for this reservoir will certainly get eaten up quickhowever.
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Willamette River sturgeon anglers finally got wordabout their 2012 season. Washington and Oregon came up with anagreed allotment guideline between 1,768 and 2,022 fish. This equates to amodeled 4-day fishery which will take place on February 17th &18th as well as February 24th and 25th. Effortwill be high and it’s likely the catch will be too.
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Wintersteelhead passage will be negatively affected by high water this week as willplunkers at Meldrum Bar as their fishing area goes underwater.
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McKenziewater levels are expected to be too high for fishing for a week or so.
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TheSantiams will blow out with the storm this week and will be slow to recover.
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Steelheadinghas been spotty on the Clackamas with the water dropping well below optimum forbest results. Expect the river to be high and muddy by the coming weekend.
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Fishinghas been slow to fair on the Sandyover the past week. Levels are up now but water clarity will be determined asmuch by the freezing level as precipitation.
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Northwest – Driftboaters willstill taking fair to good numbers of fish late last week on the Wilson River.Although the flows were low, stealthy side-drifters and plug pullers eachscored fair results on Friday. Some of the catch was made up of the earlierreturning Alsea stock steelhead, which were less than ideal for table fare.
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The coldsnap dramatically dropped water temperatures, slowing the bite north coastwide. River levels remained fishable until mid-week, when the big storm ispredicted to take rivers to unfishable levels for several days.
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Most earlyseason steelhead opportunities will slow, with only darker and near-spawnsteelhead available. The exception will be the Wilson and Nestucca systemswhich should receive broodstock hatchery fish well into April this year.
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ThreeRivers, the North Fork Nehalem and NecanicumRivers as well as the Highway 30streams near Astoriawill likely produce more spent fish than fresh ones. Wild fish should beavailable to a lesser degree however. Despite good tides, cold, wet weatherkept sturgeon anglers from attempting an outing on Tillamook Bay this week. These fish won’t go anywhere as the food source forthese fish remains good through the winter months.
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Crabbing effort and success were low this week with not much improvement in thenear future.
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Southwest – Ocean bottom fishing hasbeen consistently good for rockfish and good at times for lingcod. Offshorefishing will not be an option this coming weekend with seas predicted to top 15feet.
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Steelheadinghas been good on most rivers despite low, clear water conditions. Storms thisweek will put most rivers out of shape for the coming weekend.
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Winchester Bay has been producing goodcatches of Dungeness but crabbing will suffer from the freshet this week.
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Sturgeonfishing has picked up in the lower Umpquadownstream of the Highway 101 Bridge but it's challenging to find one smallenough to keep as most are oversized fish which must be released. While wintersteelhead were nosing into the mainstem and catches have been fair, once theriver recovers from rainfall this week, it will be good fishing.
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Crabbinghas been excellent in Coos Bay over the past week but fresh water from stormsthis week will chase Dungeness back into the ocean and results will suffer assalinity levels drop.
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Steelheadingon the Coquille was good following the last freshet, then slowed as the riverdropped and cleared. Precipitation this week will bring fresh fish in forsteelheaders to reap as conditions improve in a week or so.
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Skinnywater hasn't deterred steelheaders on the lower Rogue where catches have beenfair gut steady although fish have been running on the small side. The highwater this week will silence low water complaints for a while.
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Ifriver forecasts remain accurate, on Thursday, January 19th, the Chetco Riverwill be approaching an angler-unfriendly 40,000 cfs at Brookings. Thisprediction could be off by a lot but the result will be the same; it's notgoing to fish in the coming weekend.
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Lowand green at this writing on January 17th, the Elk River will blow out mid-weekwith heavy precipitation but, along with the Sixes, will recover rapidly andwill produce winter steelhead.
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SW Washington – Steelheading in the district has slowed with another round of latereturning fish due back in February. The wild component should also make astronger showing next month.
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Kidney, Icehouse, LittleAsh and Tunnel Lakein the Columbia River Gorge all receivedbroodstock trout plants on January 9th. Although fish are likely tobe lethargic in the cold temperatures, some quality fish are likely to fall tobait fishermen.
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Eastern –The east side is not predicted to receive heavy rain but temperatures will becold, sometimes remaining below freezing throughout the day in the week tocome. Prepare accordingly.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
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The Dalles Pool put out some keeper steelhead,especially for boaters over the weekend. Action will likely taper in thisreservoir as well as the John Day Pool as temperatures drop.
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Willamette Valley/Metro- Sturgeon anglers below Bonneville Damare still struggling to find keepers although boaters working the Portland toLongview stretch are getting into some undersize fish. Bonneville Pool anglersposted good catches again this week but success rates should drop astemperatures do. The quota for this reservoir will certainly get eaten up quickhowever.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Willamette River sturgeon anglers finally got wordabout their 2012 season. Washington and Oregon came up with anagreed allotment guideline between 1,768 and 2,022 fish. This equates to amodeled 4-day fishery which will take place on February 17th &18th as well as February 24th and 25th. Effortwill be high and it’s likely the catch will be too.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Wintersteelhead passage will be negatively affected by high water this week as willplunkers at Meldrum Bar as their fishing area goes underwater.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
McKenziewater levels are expected to be too high for fishing for a week or so.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
TheSantiams will blow out with the storm this week and will be slow to recover.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Steelheadinghas been spotty on the Clackamas with the water dropping well below optimum forbest results. Expect the river to be high and muddy by the coming weekend.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Fishinghas been slow to fair on the Sandyover the past week. Levels are up now but water clarity will be determined asmuch by the freezing level as precipitation.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Northwest – Driftboaters willstill taking fair to good numbers of fish late last week on the Wilson River.Although the flows were low, stealthy side-drifters and plug pullers eachscored fair results on Friday. Some of the catch was made up of the earlierreturning Alsea stock steelhead, which were less than ideal for table fare.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
The coldsnap dramatically dropped water temperatures, slowing the bite north coastwide. River levels remained fishable until mid-week, when the big storm ispredicted to take rivers to unfishable levels for several days.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Most earlyseason steelhead opportunities will slow, with only darker and near-spawnsteelhead available. The exception will be the Wilson and Nestucca systemswhich should receive broodstock hatchery fish well into April this year.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
ThreeRivers, the North Fork Nehalem and NecanicumRivers as well as the Highway 30streams near Astoriawill likely produce more spent fish than fresh ones. Wild fish should beavailable to a lesser degree however. Despite good tides, cold, wet weatherkept sturgeon anglers from attempting an outing on Tillamook Bay this week. These fish won’t go anywhere as the food source forthese fish remains good through the winter months.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Crabbing effort and success were low this week with not much improvement in thenear future.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Southwest – Ocean bottom fishing hasbeen consistently good for rockfish and good at times for lingcod. Offshorefishing will not be an option this coming weekend with seas predicted to top 15feet.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Steelheadinghas been good on most rivers despite low, clear water conditions. Storms thisweek will put most rivers out of shape for the coming weekend.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Winchester Bay has been producing goodcatches of Dungeness but crabbing will suffer from the freshet this week.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Sturgeonfishing has picked up in the lower Umpquadownstream of the Highway 101 Bridge but it's challenging to find one smallenough to keep as most are oversized fish which must be released. While wintersteelhead were nosing into the mainstem and catches have been fair, once theriver recovers from rainfall this week, it will be good fishing.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Crabbinghas been excellent in Coos Bay over the past week but fresh water from stormsthis week will chase Dungeness back into the ocean and results will suffer assalinity levels drop.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Steelheadingon the Coquille was good following the last freshet, then slowed as the riverdropped and cleared. Precipitation this week will bring fresh fish in forsteelheaders to reap as conditions improve in a week or so.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Skinnywater hasn't deterred steelheaders on the lower Rogue where catches have beenfair gut steady although fish have been running on the small side. The highwater this week will silence low water complaints for a while.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Ifriver forecasts remain accurate, on Thursday, January 19th, the Chetco Riverwill be approaching an angler-unfriendly 40,000 cfs at Brookings. Thisprediction could be off by a lot but the result will be the same; it's notgoing to fish in the coming weekend.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Lowand green at this writing on January 17th, the Elk River will blow out mid-weekwith heavy precipitation but, along with the Sixes, will recover rapidly andwill produce winter steelhead.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
SW Washington – Steelheading in the district has slowed with another round of latereturning fish due back in February. The wild component should also make astronger showing next month.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Kidney, Icehouse, LittleAsh and Tunnel Lakein the Columbia River Gorge all receivedbroodstock trout plants on January 9th. Although fish are likely tobe lethargic in the cold temperatures, some quality fish are likely to fall tobait fishermen.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
Eastern –The east side is not predicted to receive heavy rain but temperatures will becold, sometimes remaining below freezing throughout the day in the week tocome. Prepare accordingly.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
The Dalles Pool put out some keeper steelhead,especially for boaters over the weekend. Action will likely taper in thisreservoir as well as the John Day Pool as temperatures drop.
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
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