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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2015)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015 View from 1B the all-time doubles leader for a right-handed hitter. That stat alone is HOF worthy. 4. Mike Piazza — Let’s go over this again: the greatest offensive catcher in the history of baseball and above-average defensively. Why is this even a debate? 5. John Smoltz — Smoltz will be a borderline inductee, Barbs from 1B requirement on the lower Willamette went into effect in 2013 as part of the Columbia River Fisheries Management Reform package adopted by the Commission in 2012. ODFW staff is now recommending a rule change that would make barbed hooks legal on the lower Willamette River, inside Youngs Bay, and in lower Gnat Creek. This change would not affect the barbless hook requirement in the mainstem Columbia River, or in select areas within the Columbia River Zone (Blind Slough/Knappa Slough) The intent of the barbless hook rule was to reduce mortal- ity among ESA listed salmon and steelhead caught and released by anglers. However, there are high proportions of hatchery fish caught in these areas and ODFW has more flexibility in how it manages ESA limitations in the Willlamette than on the main- Fishing from 1B number steelhead being caught from the lower river up to Moonshine Park by both bank and boat anglers. This time of year is typically slow to fair for winter steelhead. Fall Chinook fishing is slow as most remain- ing fish have moved onto the spawning grounds. SIUSLAW RIVER: Steelhead, Chinook Winter steelhead are starting to show up in small numbers around the mid to lower sec- tions of the Siuslaw and Lake Creek. Fall Chinook fishing is very slow and any remaining fish have moved onto the spawning grounds. WILSON RIVER: Chinook, steelhead Fall Chinook are still avail- able in decent numbers. Fish should be spread out through but he shouldn’t. The years he spent as a closer mixes up all of his stats, making him fall just short of the usual numbers that compilers look for in their inductees. Don’t be fooled. Smoltz was dominant for a decade in every capacity asked to serve, a larger-than-life pres- ence in the clubhouse and a future professional golfer. 6. Tim Raines — Raines gets lost in the discussion because he used drugs; he admitted himself that he carried vials of cocaine in his back pocket dur- ing games, hence the headfirst slides. But hey, it was the ’80s, and everyone was doing it, right? Raines cleaned up his act, and after Rickey Henderson, there was no greater impact player in the ’80s. He could field, steal, hit for average and power, clutch ... truly a great ballplayer. 7. Don Mattingly — Was Don Mattingly the best base- ball player in America for three seasons? Yes. Was he one of the greatest defensive first base- men of all-time (nine gold gloves, ninth-best fielding per- centage ever)? Yes. Does he have better or comparable sta- tistics to other HOFers? Yes. Will he be voted in? No. 8. Alan Trammell — To save time, here’s the deal: offensive numbers comparable to Jeter’s, far better defense. One of the best players of the era. How he keeps getting skipped is beyond me. 9. Curt Schilling — Bloody sock. That is all. 10. Lee Smith — 13 consec- utive seasons with 20-plus saves (1983-95), 10 seasons with 30-plus saves, and three seasons with 40-plus saves. When he retired, he was the all- time leader in saves and games finished. Best of his era? One of them, yes. Hall of Famer. stem Columbia. In addition, the growing number of interactions between anglers and California sea lions in the lower Willamette River during the popular spring Chinook fishery prompted staff to recommend that the Commission reconsider the potential trade-off between the use of barbless hooks and angler satisfaction is these areas with a high proportion of hatchery fish. The Commission also will be asked to set harvest specifica- tions and season structure for recreational groundfish that includes significant changes to the composition of the seven fish daily bag limit for marine fish. In order to maintain recre- ational catches within decreased federally determined harvest guidelines, the pro- posed rules would limit anglers to one blue rockfish as part of the seven-fish limit and the retention of China, copper and quillback rock fish would be prohibited. As a result of improved stock status for canary rockfish, ODFW staff is also recom- mending anglers be allowed to retain one canary rockfish as part of the daily bag limit; retention of this species has been prohibited since 2004, as the stock was rebuilding. The Commission also will consider new management measures for the commercial nearshore fishery, which targets these same species. These pro- posed measures will increase the harvest limits for black rockfish and reduce the harvest limits for blue rockfish and other nearshore rockfish. In other business, the Commission will: • Be asked to set by rule the average market price per pound of each species of fish commer- cially-harvested in Oregon. These values are adopted every January and are used to set damages in criminal cases associated with the unlawful taking of food fish. Also, there will be updates and progress reports on: • Status of implementation of management and reform rules for Columbia River Fisheries. Accomplishments for 2014 include continued enhancement of off-channel select areas with the release of over nine million salmon smolts; evaluation of new off- channel select areas; and implementation of a pilot com- mercial fall season seine fish- ery in the main stem. Staff also will provide an update on stock status of white sturgeon in the lower Columbia. • Creation of a framework to develop a marine fishery man- agement plan that will apply the principles of the ODFW Native Fish Conservation Plan to marine species and fisheries. • The 10-year revision of the Oregon Conservation Strategy, both of which are broad, over- arching strategies for long-term conservation of Oregon’s native fish and wildlife. Revision of both strategies will have extensive public involve- ment and technical review and be brought to the Commission for approval by September 2015. The documents must be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Oct. 1, 2015. The Commission is the poli- cy-making body for fish and wildlife issues in the state. People wanting to testify about issues not on the formal agenda may do so by making arrange- ments with the ODFW Director’s Office, at least 24 hours in advance of the meet- ing, by calling 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044. Testimony for issues not on the agenda is held Friday morn- ing, immediately following the expenditure report. Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed for individuals requesting assistive hearing devices, sign language interpreters or large-print mate- rials. Individuals needing these types of accommodations may call the ODFW Director’s Office at 800-720-6339 or 503- 947-6044 at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. the river, especially after rains raised the river last week. Release dark fish to spawn. All techniques should produce fish, with bobber and bait, back bouncing, bait-wrapped plugs, and casting spinners among the best. Winter steelhead are avail- able in increasing numbers as well. Millicoma, and South Fork Coos rivers. There is bank access on the West Fork Millicoma at the Millicoma Interpretive Center and on the East Fork Millicoma at Nesika Park. Access to the South Fork Coos River is through Weyerhaeuser property and anglers must have the appropri- ate permit from Weyerhaeuser. In the Coos Basin, one addi- tional fin clipped steelhead may be retained per day for a total aggregate of three adult fish harvested daily. Crabbing in Coos Bay has been decent for boat crabbers. The best crabbing has been near the jetties but crabbers are getting legal-size crab all the way up to the BLM Boat Ramp. Clamming is excellent dur- ing low tides near Charleston, off Cape Arago Highway, and Clam Island. harvest. The hatchery program for winter steelhead is centered in the South Umpqua. Most hatchery fish are caught from Canyonville downstream. All wild fish must be released unharmed. TENMILE BASIN: Yellow perch, coho salmon Yellow perch are biting on night crawlers or jigs tipped with a worm in Tenmile Lakes. Yellow perch will be concen- trated in big schools in deep water. Sometimes anglers need to try several spots before find- ing the bigger fish. There are lots of smaller yellow perch that anglers have to sort through to catch enough keep- ers for a meal. Some of the keeper yellow perch are over 12 inches long. The wild coho season open in Tenmile Lakes is closed. UMPQUA RIVER, SOUTH: Chinook, fin-clipped coho Most salmon have already moved upstream. Fishing for bottomfish in the Triangle and South jetty has been successful. Crabbing has been good recently. Dungeness crab The ocean is open again for harvest of Dungeness crab. Fishing for bottom fish, includ- ing rockfish and lingcod is open to all depths. The marine fish daily bag limit is seven fish and a separate daily limit of two lingcod. Retention of cabezon is allowed but for only one cabezon per day per angler. P ACIFIC H ALIBUT : The 2014 Pacific halibut seasons have all closed for the remainder of the year. The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) will set 2015 quotas for all areas in late January 2015. More informa- tion on the 2015 seasons will be available after that time. B OTTOM F ISHING : The ocean is open to bottom fishing at all depths. This time of year, whenever the weather permits, bottom fishing can be great fun and very productive. Charter fishing trips are an especially good bet for visitors to the coast, making an ocean fishing experience easy and enjoyable with expert crews to help provide and rig gear and find good fishing locations. There are separate daily lim- its of two lingcod and flatfish other than Pacific halibut. Remember: yelloweye rock- fish and canary rockfish may not be retained. C RAB : Ocean-caught crabs are big and full of meat this year, although crabbers might have to pay their dues in patience — many crabbers are reporting slow catch rates, but excellent quality crabs. Bay crabbing can also be very good this time of year. Keep in mind that major rain events can dramatically lower the salinity in some bays and prompt crab to move lower in the bay or out to the ocean. YAQUINA RIVER: Steelhead, Chinook The winter steelhead run is starting to kick in with anglers getting into a few fish along the Big Elk as conditions allow. The fall Chinook fishery is essentially over for the season as most fish have already spawned. COOS RIVER BASIN: Dungeness crab, bay clams, steelhead Steelhead have been caught this past week on the West Fork Millicoma, East Fork Steelhead The South Umpqua is open for steelhead. The peak num- bers of fish normally show up from February to late March. The South Umpqua offers the best chance for catching an adi- pose-fin clipped steelhead for NOW BUYING USED CARS & TRUCKS Under 100,000 miles. 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 WINCHESTER PACIFIC BEACHES: BAY: OCEAN and Bottomfish, 3 B www.shoppelocal.biz Siuslaw News + Get Results...List With Chris. 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