The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current, March 20, 2015, Image 7

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The Baker County press., March 20, 2015, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextFRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 Outdoor Recreation Getting ready for fishing get out and just do it, all things con- sidered. The licenses and tags we buy seem like somewhat of a hit to the pocketbook when ﬁ rst purchased, and the costs are expected to increase THE OUTDOOR COLUMN in 2016, but considering By Todd Arriola we only have We all, or at least most to buy hunting of us, have made some and ﬁ shing licenses once kind of New Year’s resolu- per year, it’s not that bad. tions. Mine included the Really. promise to myself that I Granted, the ever- would get in more ﬁ shing, expanding ﬁ shing, hunting and catch more ﬁ sh, which and game bird regulations is a nice plus. handbooks read like mys- With so many places tery crime novels, some- to throw a line and hook times leaving one unclear in around here, one can’t about the details of the really complain about the who, what, when, where, distance to travel in order why and how, even after to spend a day, or part of reading cover to cover, but a day, using a skill that’s deciphering the code is not been programmed into our an impossible task. I still DNA since the beginning think the reﬂ ection of the of, well, us. sun from the surface of Sure, it’s not as “glamor- the water could be more ous” as hunting a buck or damaging to the eyes. a bull, but it really doesn’t Probably. require much investment to Admittedly, the only “sweet spot” so far this year for me has been the Highway 203 Pond, con- veniently located near, of course, Highway 203. With my trusty Ugly Stick—one tough pole— and some worms, I man- aged to catch some decent trout. Not monsters, but decent. One cast involved throwing half of my pole into the water, but all was ﬁ ne, as there was not an- other soul around to make fun of me. When I was younger, some members of my fam- ily and I traveled to Unity, ﬁ shing along the Burnt River on the way there and back. We decided to check the action out on the east side of the highway across from the Unity Reservoir. I didn’t have anything to hold worms in, so my dad made a container by cutting a Pepsi can in half, which I held in my shirt pocket. At one point, I had to jump across a small ditch, and I forgot about the con- tainer of dirt and worms, which ﬂ ew directly into my eyes as I landed on the other side. Again, if I recall correctly, nobody saw that particular incident, which helped avoid creative criti- cism. Fishing has always involved fun times, and funny times, too. Maybe some disappointments, but it’s not only about attempt- ing to limit out. Experi- encing something new is always interesting, as I learned back when I tried ﬂ y ﬁ shing. It’s deﬁ nitely something to get used to, and it takes a skilled hand to do it properly. I had visions of catching trout after trout, while appearing like Brad Pitt in the movie A River Runs Through It, but I probably could have ac- complished more by spear- ing the ﬁ sh with my 8-foot pole instead. Fishing is a great way to bond, too, and pass on a skill to the newer genera- tions. It doesn’t require a charter boat with expen- sive gear in the ocean, it requires spending time teaching, and patience. It can be very relaxing, too. Well, if you don’t throw half the pole into the water during your cast, that is. Good luck with your adventures. THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Free kids’ fishing days The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has an- nounced several free family ﬁ shing days. The events are designed to show families how easy and fun ﬁ shing can be, said Shahab Farzanegan, ODFW angler education co- ordinator. ODFW provides loaner rods and reels, tackle, instruction and freshly stocked ﬁ sh – everything a family needs for a successful ﬁ shing trip. Children under the age of 14 can ﬁ sh for free, kids 14 to 17 and adults will need an Oregon ﬁ shing license in order to ﬁ sh. Local events. April 18, Hermiston, McNary Channel Ponds, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (youth only), family ﬁ shing begins at noon May 16, Hermiston, McNary Channel Ponds, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (youth only), family ﬁ shing begins at noon June 6, Hepner, Cutsforth Pond, 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. (youth only), family ﬁ shing begins at noon June 22, Pilot Rock, 5412 Pond on Umatilla National Forest, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. July 11, Tollgate, Jubilee Lake on Umatilla National Forest, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Positions open The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is seek- ing qualiﬁ ed applicants to ﬁ ll three positions on the Fish Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) Program Board. Interested individuals must apply by March 27, 2015. The positions will represent sport ﬁ shing interests, troll ﬁ shing interests, and seafood processing interests on the R&E Board. For more information and to obtain an application, go to the R&E Program website at or contact Kevin Herkamp at (503) 947-6232 or Kevin.Herkamp@state. or.us —ODFW Recreation Report— Baker County Hunting The warm and dry winter has left much more county snow free that usual. Green up has also begun to appear in the lower el- evations. The mild weather may also have BEARS out and more active in the early part of the season. Cougars can be found throughout Baker County but hunters should target areas with high concen- trations of deer and elk. Setting up on a fresh kill or using distress calls can all be productive techniques. Hunters are required to check in the hide of any cougar taken, with skull and proof of sex attached. Remember to pick up a 2015 tag. Coyote numbers are good throughout the district. Try calling in early morning and late afternoon. Remember to ask for per- mission before hunting on private properties. Baker County Viewing Bighorn sheep can be seen in the Burnt River Canyon west of Durkee or along the Snake River Road south of Richland. The best viewing is in the early morning and late in the evening. Bald and golden eagles can be seen along the Snake River. Take the Snake River Road between Richland and Huntington. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon are good times to view wildlife. Driving through the foothills of the Baker valley and through the Keating valley can turn up good numbers of deer. Elkhorn Wildlife Area is known for the Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer herds that frequent the area during the winter. When snow covers the ground, ODFW staff feed elk and deer to encourage them to stay in the higher elevations and out of agri- cultural ﬁ elds. There are two good viewing sites. The Anthony Creek site is located about eight miles west of I-84 on North Powder River Lane. From I-84 take the North Powder Exit (Exit 285). Elk use at the feed site has been sporadic with the warm weather. From the overlook on Auburn Road, a few elk may be seen; again, the warm weather conditions have made elk viewing less dependable. It is on the south side of Old Auburn Road, which branches off Highway 7 about six miles south of Baker City. NE Oregon Fishing BULL PRAIRIE RESER- VOIR: rainbow and brook trout. Remains open to ﬁ shing all year. The reser- voir is frozen but proceed with caution as the ice may be too thin to support anglers. Approximately 200 trophy rainbow trout were stocked last fall and should provide ﬁ shing all winter. Brook trout are also avail- able. GRANDE RONDE RIVER: steelhead. Steelhead anglers on the Grande Ronde continue to be successful with a variety of gear types. A healthy proportion of two salt ﬁ sh has resulted in a large average size this year. So, expect a few larger ﬁ sh and some screaming drags! Remember, only adipose- ﬁ n clipped rainbow trout may be retained and all bull trout must be released unharmed. HOLLIDAY PARK POND: rainbow trout. Remains open all year. The pond is now free of ice. Carryover trout are being caught and should provide fair angling until stocking occurs in April. IMNAHA RIVER: steel- head. The Imnaha is in great shape to catch ﬁ sh. With the current weather it’s a great time to catch a steelhead while getting sunburned. Fishing will continue to produce into the season ender on April 15. Don’t forget to try Big Sheep Creek too while ﬁ sh move toward the hatchery facility. Flow data for the Imnaha can be found on the Idaho Power website. River ﬂ ow levels are just right and steelhead are biting on jigs, ﬂ ies and bait. Most of the steelhead Why advertise with us? • Low rates per column inch & promotional deals • Free color ads as space permits • Friendly, professional sales staff Wendee Morrissey wendee@thebakercountypress. com or call 541.805.1688. David Conn david@thebakercountypress.com or call 541.523.5524 Family owned and operated. Packed with local news! • All display ads are also posted to our Facebook page, which means thou- sands of individuals see your ad from that source alone. We’re the only paper in town that offers this additional service! being caught are wild and have been holding be- tween Service Creek and the town of John Day and in the North Fork up to Monument. Water tempera- tures are cold so steelhead are holding in slack water along the current edge. A few bass have been caught below Kimberly during the warmest days. ODFW encourages all anglers to keep any ad-clipped steelhead taken in this ﬁ shery. All wild (adipose intact) steelhead must be released unharmed. LONG CREEK POND, CAVENDER POND: trout. Remains open all year. Both ponds are now free of ice. Several trout stocked last year survived the win- ter and will provide good ﬁ shing until both ponds are re-stocked again in April. MAGONE LAKE: rainbow and brook trout. Remains open all year. Portions of the upper lake are ice free so proceed with caution if attempting to ice ﬁ sh. The ice may be too thin to sup- port anglers. MARR POND: surplus steelhead. Marr pond has been stocked with 100 surplus steelhead that returned to Wallowa Hatch- ery. Once these ﬁ sh are placed in still water ﬁ sher- ies they are considered “trout” and do not need to be recorded on a har- vest card. This is a great opportunity to get young anglers into some big ﬁ sh. Try catching these ﬁ sh by ﬂ oating bait under a bobber mid water column. Brightly colored lures and spinners may also be productive. PEACH POND (Ladd Marsh): rainbow trout. The pond was stocked with trophy-sized rainbow trout in late September. The pond has no ice cover. ROULET POND: rainbow trout. The pond was stocked with trophy-sized rainbow trout in late Sep- tember. The pond has no ice cover. ROWE CREEK RES- ERVOIR: rainbow trout. Remains open all year. The pond is now free of ice. Fishing is fair for carryover trout but the water level is very low. UMATILLA FOREST PONDS: trout. The forest ponds remain open to angling year Photo courtesy of ODFW. NE Oregon Steelhead. around and can provide a good opportunity for ice ﬁ shing during the winter months. UMATILLA RIVER: steel- head. Steelhead continue to enter the system in record numbers, anglers should be able to ﬁ nd ﬁ sh scat- tered throughout the river. Steelhead ﬁ shing was good last weekend with upper river anglers averaging 3.6 hours per steelhead caught. During the three days creeled last week, 78 anglers caught 43 native and 2 hatchery steelhead. Water conditions in the Pendleton area dropping quickly back into shape, ﬂ ows are about 500cfs and water temperatures are in the low 40s. Steelhead are distributed though out the system. Anglers are ﬁ nd best success using bob- bers and jigs and drift ﬁ sh- ing for steelhead. Anglers should consult the synopsis for detailed regulations. WALLOWA LAKE: rain- bow trout, kokanee, lake trout As spring approaches an- glers will start to ﬁ nd some stocked trout that held over from last season’s stock- ing. These ﬁ sh often range 15 to 20 inches and can be caught in multiples. These ﬁ sh are normally more common later in the spring; however with the warm weather and early spring anglers should start seeing these ﬁ sh soon. Some experienced ﬁ sher- men are picking up large lake trout trolling at depth with downriggers. While lake trout aren’t abundant in Wallowa Lake it’s not uncommon to ﬁ nd ﬁ sh over 25 pounds. In 2014 the lake was stocked with tagged rain- bow trout in an effort by ODFW to better under- stand the utilization of this ﬁ shery. Tagged ﬁ sh have been caught at very high rates and over $2,700 in rewards have been paid. Some of these ﬁ sh have likely held over from last year and are available to anglers. If you catch one of these tagged ﬁ sh, please report the number, location, date, where in the lake the ﬁ sh was caught and the size to the ODFW ofﬁ ce in Enterprise or online. WALLOWA RIVER: steel- head, mountain whiteﬁ sh The steelhead season is in full swing on the Wal- lowa River. Fishing is good and there really is no good excuse to not be out there. Anglers are ﬁ nding ﬁ sh in good numbers and the ratio of two-salt ﬁ sh to one-salt ﬁ sh is high. This means there are a lot of larger ﬁ sh available so, oil your reels and make sure that drag is working well. Remember the Wallowa River is a whiteﬁ sh factory. Whiteﬁ sh can be a great way to keep kids interested while steelhead ﬁ shing and can be great table fair. Simply tie in a small bead- head nymph dropper while ﬁ shing under a bobber rig and let the fun begin. Also, steelhead will often take a bead head nymph hanging under a jig. WILLOW CREEK RES- ERVOIR: trout. Anglers are reporting good catches of rainbow trout from 12 to 20-inches. Best catches are falling for PowerBait and night crawlers ﬁ shed on the bottom.