Winchester Bay the mouth of
the Umpqua River
Has been providing fair to good
action while an increase in hook ups as anglers target drifts closer to the forks area. It's an 80 / 20 ratio
Wild over Hatchery at this time with this percentage increasing weekly.
Present conditions on the Umpqua continue to drop out and clear up river but at the opposite end a few unconfirmed
accounts of more than eight spring kings had been taken over the past 9 days, WONS Dave Pitts headed North and
fished the lower Umpqua confirming two springers had been hooked and released.
Anglers fishing the North Umpqua WARNING, if you have not fished this area before you could end up adding to the
lost boat tally. This part of the Umpqua is more times than not dangerous and you could and will find yourself
in trouble as was the case at the Dixon Falls area. Guide Danny Taylor missed a stroke, the current which in this
part of the river is very swift and allows no room for error. A high volume of water drops into a narrow funnel,
if you don't hit this straight pull your oars in you will end up wet or dead. Taylor's boat spun sideways and filled
with water instantly. With the help of several guides including Curtis Palmer of River Secrets Guide Service and
a few hours of exposure to very cold water the boat was set free to cruise along the bottom of the river.
The South Fork of the Umpqua is producing more Wilds than hatchery at this time, Guide Curtis Palmer reports action
can be consistent most days but with dry weather patterns a combination of water flow and color is forcing many
to change up strategies. Palmer said most of the time he is fishing 4 to 8 pound leader for big steelhead anyway,
the only thing he changes is the size of his offerings and leader lengths. Expect the Umpqua to begin its transition
to an increase in downer show to the increase of chrome spring Chinooks as they pass each other in the system.
Rogue River
Three confirmed springers of
the year have been taken, two Wilds ( unclipped fish) and one fin clipped hatchery. The fin clipped king appeared
at the Chetco Outdoor Store in Brookings, WONS Dave Pitts and manager said it was a solid 19.2 pounds, the angler
said it was taken on small herring just straight bait no blade.
They were fishing in the below the Lobster Creek part of the lower River. The king was taken two hours after high
tide. Anglers should understand boat placement is crucial to success. Finding a slot is key, more times than not
inside rods will be in 2 to 3 feet of water with the outside rod between 4 to 7 feet. Other offering include Anchovy,
small sardines and spinners. Rigging methods also include a drill bit spin or an off center semi looping.
Steelhead action on the upper Rogue near Grants Pass continues to produce an on and off bite. Some say the counts
are some of the best they have seen in recent memory but fishing the Grants Pass stretch tells another story, both
anglers and guides say it has been slow at times. Dave McIntyre or Medford fished his daughter Breanne connecting
her into some solid steelhead action. Weather has been summer like over the past week, nothing like spring fever
in a drift boat.
Chetco River
Biologist find themselves agreeing
with anglers, there are fewer steelhead in the Chetco this season than in the past four years. Fish are on redds
at this time of the year, many anglers and guides suggest not targeting these fish, leave them alone. We all need
to do our part or we're going to loose it said Roger Meirs, he continued by saying the Chetco is very slow, a lot
of down running fish, we need to let them return to the ocean or we are going to find ourselves in some serious
trouble in the next few years. I don't understand why we are allowed the retention of "Wild" steelhead
(non- Fin clipped) especially when our neighboring River to the South the Smith has recognized they have a problem
and are trying to fix it.
Wilson River : O'dark thirty launchers are picking up a few, over all this system is slowing dramatically. Just
above the Sollie Smith bridge anglers have been scoring on Chromers, success is coming on small plugs, Hot Shots
in the Cop Car and Copper with painted black backs. Other anglers use float fish the deeper pools to connect.
Anglers are saying it heats up one day only to fizzle the next, the results are just so so. It displayed all the
prospects of going out with a bang only to show signs of flicking a light switch to off. Some anglers reported
with the swing of the tide action improved on bright fish, releasing three wild fish in two days keeping one hatchery
fish. River levels will dictate success stories from here on out.
