SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2017
Tags
from 1B
elk tags and 51 percent of deer
tags had been reported for
hunts with a Jan. 31 reporting
deadline. ODFW will be send-
ing reminder postcards to
hunters who haven’t reported
yet later this month.
“The information hunters
provide is needed to evaluate
hunting seasons and tag num-
bers,” said ODFW Game
Program
Manager
Tom
Thornton. “We really appreci-
Fishing
from 1B
available and opportunities
should improve on through
January as conditions improve.
All the usual techniques
such as side drifting, float fish-
ing, and pulling plugs or
divers and bait, should be
effective.
Anglers are reminded that
fall Chinook season is closed.
YAQUINA RIVER:
Steelhead
The Yaquina River is open
for hatchery winter steelhead.
Casting spinners, drifting bait
or using a bobber and jig can
be effective.
COOS COUNTY
LAKES/PONDS: Trout
Rainbow trout were stocked
in Upper Empire, Bradley,
Saunders, Powers and
Butterfield lakes in October.
Fishing for these stocked fish
has slowed down. Coos
County lakes and ponds will
not be stocked again until the
spring.
COOS RIVER BASIN:
Dungeness crab, bay clams,
rockfish, steelhead
Trout fishing in streams is
closed until May 22.
A few steelhead have been
caught the past few weeks in
the West Fork Millicoma,
East Fork Millicoma, and
South Fork Coos rivers.
The West Fork Millicoma
was the only river in the basin
that was fishable over the past
weekend.
Anglers are drifting eggs or
corkies along the stream bot-
tom or using a jig suspended
ate hunters taking a few min-
utes of their time to complete
the report.”
ODFW used to get this data
through phone surveys but
these became more difficult
and expensive as hunters
moved or screened their calls.
The mandatory reporting
program was put in place in
2007 so these calls could be
phased out.
A penalty of $25 was added
four years ago because even
after several years promoting
the program and providing
incentives to report, only about
40 percent of tags were being
reported on time.
This rate was too low to for
ODFW to even use the data.
After the penalty was imple-
mented for 2012 tags, rates
jumped to 80 percent or more.
This has allowed ODFW to
phase out its big game survey
phone calls.
The funds generated by
penalty fees are being used to
increase Oregon State Police
patrol and enforcement of win-
ter range closures in Oregon.
These closures help deer, elk
and other wildlife survive the
winter by limiting disturbances
from people.
As an incentive to report on
time, hunters that do are
entered into a drawing to win a
special big game tag.
ODFW selects three names
each year and the winners can
choose a deer, elk or pronghorn
tag.
Hunters who win may hunt
an expanded hunt area and
extended season, similar to
auction and raffle tags that
hunters can pay thousands for.
One of this year’s winners,
Brent Quick of Springfield,
chose an elk tag and took a bull
in Wenaha Unit.
“It was one of my top five
best days, to kill my first elk
with good friends,” he said. “I
now have 330 pounds of elk in
my freezer to feed a family of
five, pretty cool.”
For more information, visit
www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/
hunting/reporting/index.asp.
under a bobber. Anglers fish-
ing the South Fork Coos River
above Dellwood will need a
permit from Weyerhaeuser,
which they can pick up at the
Dellwood office.
In the Coos Basin 1 addi-
tional hatchery steelhead may
be retained per day for a total
aggregate of 3 adult fish har-
vested daily.
Anglers have been catching
a few rockfish and surfperch
along the jetties and sub-
merged rock piles. Fishing for
rockfish in the bay has been
spotty. The marine fish daily
bag limit for bottom fish
(rockfish) is 7 fish and a sepa-
rate daily limit for lingcod (2).
The 7 fish marine bag limit
will remain in place, with
these adjustments for 2017:
Create a sub-bag limit of 6
black rockfish, remove the
sub-bag limit for canary rock-
fish, add China/quillback/cop-
per rockfishes to the sub-bag
limit with blue/Deacon rock-
fish and change the limit from
3 to 4.
Finally remove the 10-inch
minimum size for kelp green-
ling.
Retention of cabezon is not
allowed until July 1.
Recreational crabbing is
now open in all Oregon
waters. Crabbing was decent
over the weekend in Coos Bay.
Crabbing from a boat has
been better than crabbing from
the dock but dock crabbers are
picking up a few legal crabs.
Recreational harvest of bay
clams remains open along the
entire Oregon coast.
Clamming is excellent during
low tides near Charleston, off
Cape Arago Highway, and
Clam Island.
There are also good places
to dig clams even on positive
low tides in Coos Bay.
Recreational harvest of
razor clams and mussels is
closed from the entire Oregon
coast due to elevated levels of
domoic acid.
This includes all beaches
and all bays. Before any shell-
fish harvest trip, make sure to
check the Oregon Department
of Agriculture website for any
updates.
should fish in water depths of
15 feet or deeper to consistent-
ly find the bigger yellow
perch.
part of the 7 fish marine bag
limit (no sub-bag limit).
Black rockfish will have a
sub-bag limit of 6 fish (out of
the 7 fish daily bag, no more
than 6 may be black rockfish).
There is a 4 fish sub-bag
limit for blue/deacon, China,
copper, and quillback rockfish
combined (out of the 7 fish
marine bag, no more than 4
may be these species com-
bined). The daily bag limit for
lingcod remains at 2 fish and
flatfish species, other than
Pacific halibut, remains at 25
fish.
• Reminder: the Cabezon
season is closed; it will reopen
July 1.
541-999-5083
COQUILLE RIVER BASIN:
Crab, steelhead, salmon
Trout fishing in streams is
closed until May 22.
Steelhead anglers have
reported catching a few steel-
head in the North Fork
Coquille at LaVerne Park and
the South Fork Coquille rivers.
Anglers have had success
drifting eggs or corkies.
Recreational crabbing is
now open in all Oregon
waters.
Crabbing is very slow in the
lower Coquille River due to
the large amounts of freshwa-
ter coming downstream.
TENMILE BASIN: Trout,
bass, yellow perch, steelhead
Trout fishing in the streams
of the Tenmile Basin are now
closed until May 22. Trout
fishing in Tenmile Lakes is
open all year.
A few steelhead have been
reported in Tenmile Creek.
Anglers will have success
plunking near the acclimation
sites or fishing a jig under a
bobber. Eel Creek is now open
to steelhead fishing.
Largemouth bass fishing has
slowed down over the past few
weeks. Anglers are catching
bass near structure or on the
deep end of the weed lines
using jigs or rubber worms.
Fishing for yellow perch has
picked up in Tenmile Lakes.
Anglers have been catching a
few yellow perch measuring
14 to 15-inches long.
Worms fished near the lake
bottom work very well for
catching yellow perch. Anglers
UMPQUA RIVER, SOUTH:
Steelhead
The South Umpqua is open
to winter steelhead fishing,
upstream to Jackson Creek.
Only adipose fin-clipped
steelhead may be retained.
Steelhead are being caught
up to Canyonville and anglers
are hooking into a few. Fishing
may slow with cooler tempera-
tures.
WINCHESTER BAY:
Bottomfish, perch
Fishing for bottom fish in
the Triangle and South jetty
has been successful.
PACIFIC OCEAN AND
BEACHES: Bottomfish, surf
perch, crab
Recreational crabbing is
now open in all Oregon
waters.
Bottom fishing has been
good when the ocean condi-
tions allow.
Recreational harvest of
razor clams is closed on the
entire Oregon coast due to ele-
vated levels of domoic acid.
Harvest of mussels is open on
the entire Oregon Coast.
Before any shellfish harvest
trip, make sure to check the
Oregon Department of
Agriculture website for any
updates.
Surf perch fishing was
decent this past weekend. Surf
perch anglers will do the best
fishing with sand shrimp when
ocean swells are small.
• Ocean salmon
The ocean recreational
salmon fishery off Oregon is
currently closed. Please stay
tuned for updates on the 2017
seasons. Details, including reg-
ulations, and more information
on ocean salmon seasons.
• Bottom Fishing
New bag and sub-bag limits
for 2017: To stay within
Federal allocations, and try to
provide for year-round fishing
opportunities, there are some
changes to daily bag limits.
Canary rockfish has been
declared rebuilt and is now
3 B
• Pacific halibut
The 2017 quota for Pacific
halibut will be determined in
early this month. ODFW staff-
recommended season dates
will be available in mid-
February.
• SHELLFISH
Call the ODA shellfish safe-
ty hotline at 1-800-448-2474
for the most current informa-
tion about shellfish safety clo-
sures before harvesting.
Additional information is
available from ODA’s Food
Safety Program at 503-986-
4720 or the ODA shellfish clo-
sures website.
• Mussels
The recreational harvest of
mussels is open coastwide.
• Razor clams
NOTICE: Razor clams are
closed along the entire Oregon
coast due to elevated levels of
domoic acid. This includes all
beaches and bays.
• Bay clams
Bay clamming is open along
the entire Oregon Coast from
the Columbia River to the
California border.
Check the ODFW Shellfish
website for where and when to
harvest your favorite bivalves.
Updated maps on where to
clam.
• Crab
Crabbing is open in the
ocean and all bays. Crabbing
in Coos Bay has been good.
Siuslaw News
...need a friend?
Meet Eva
Eva is a fun-loving girl
that can’t get enough
play time. A free spirit
with high energy that
loves food. If she hears
you shake a bag of food or
crack open a can, she will
come running! Loves long
conversations about how
she doesn’t get enough attention. Needs to be an only
child as she can get a little jealous.
Photo Gallery
NOW SHOWING THESE GALLERIES AND MORE
SOS March Against Domestic Violence
Florence Festival of Books • Oktoberfest • Rods ‘N’ Rhodies
Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops • Relay for Life
If you would like to meet Pretty Eva or any of her
friends, please visit us at:
Siuslaw
News
+
OREGON COAST HUMANE SOCIETY
2840 Rhododendron Drive • Florence • 541-997-4277
www.oregoncoasthumane.org
This message brought to you by:
FLORENCE
PHARMACY
2935 Hwy. 101, Florence
541-902-9966
View at
www.thesiuslawnews.com
Photos available for purchase*
5x7 – $5 00 • 8x11 – $7 00
Purchase at 148 Maple St. 541-997-3441
*Photos online are reduced quality –
Actual photos purchased are
high resolution, high quality.
D EADLINE FOR P RESS R ELEASES I S E VERY M ONDAY AND T HURSDAY
BY N OON . E MAIL P RESS R ELEASES @T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM .
www.shoppelocal.biz