SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2017
3 B
Camping in RVs during winter calls for special preparations
From wilderness backpack-
ers in pop-up tents to campers
who find cooking and sleeping
in an RV more civilized, winter
camping is gaining momentum.
There is nothing quite like
having almost an entire camp-
ground to yourself to hike,
cross-country ski, view nature
and enjoy the serenity of the
location.
Winter camping takes more
prep work than warm weather
outings, but outdoor enthusi-
asts say it’s worth it. Just
remember: before heading to
your favorite campground,
check ahead.
Campgrounds in higher ele-
vations often close as early as
mid-September until spring-
time.
Here are some tips to consid-
er before heading to the great
— but cold — outdoors.
Before beginning your trip,
check with your RV dealer or
the many various RV associa-
tions for insulating hoses and
water sources to properly oper-
Fishing
from 1B
Casting spinners, drifting
bait or using a bobber and jig
can be effective.
MID COAST LAKES:
The trout stocking schedule
for 2017 is available online
and trout have been stocked in
some lakes. Fishing for the
various warm water fish
species will slow as water tem-
peratures cool. There are
numerous lakes in the Florence
area that can provide good
opportunity.
ALSEA RIVER AND BAY:
Steelhead
Steelhead fishing is open on
the Alsea River and listed trib-
utaries. The river is shaping up
after last week’s rain. Fishing
is slow. Alsea Hatchery is hav-
ate in freezing temps.
Your RV may be well-
equipped but in the winter, pre-
pare for a scenario where you
could be stranded due to winter
storms. In that case, a portable
generator is indispensible.
“A generator can keep the
RV batteries topped off and
allow you to use the RV fur-
nace and keep your cellphone
and laptops charged, something
you will appreciate in an emer-
gency,” said Dorrance Noonan
of A-iPower, a manufacturer of
portable power equipment.
Safety First:
• When in a cold or freezing
environment, it’s natural to
want to seal your space tightly
to keep out drafts. But, portable
generators exhaust carbon
monoxide (CO), a tasteless,
odorless, and deadly gas. That
makes it extremely important
to keep your generator running
away from your RV with the
exhaust pointed in the opposite
direction.
• Never run your generator
when you or someone else is
sleeping.
• Always have a working
carbon monoxide (CO) detec-
tor in your RV. This is impor-
tant not only when using the
generator, but in other
instances when the lethal gas is
present. Because CO is odor-
less, colorless, and otherwise
undetectable to the human
senses, people may not know
that they are being exposed.
To that end, never use a gen-
erator, grill, camp stove or
charcoal burning device inside
or in any partially enclosed
area; keep these devices at least
20 feet from doors, windows,
and vents.
• At high levels, carbon
monoxide can cause death
within minutes. Symptoms of
overexposure
to
carbon
monoxide include headaches,
fatigue, dizziness, shortness of
breath, nausea and confusion.
If you suspect you may be
experiencing carbon monoxide
poisoning or your detector
sounds an alarm, head outside
immediately for fresh air and
call 911.
• Never transport your gen-
erator in the back of your RV or
your SUV if you are towing a
camper. The best way to trans-
port your generator is to have a
platform built on the back of
your RV.
OSHA recommends that
gasoline and other generator
fuels should be stored and
transported in approved con-
tainers that are properly
designed and marked for their
contents, and vented.
• Before running your gener-
ator, always read the owner’s
manual for proper operation
and safety tips.
Choosing a portable genera-
tor for your RV:
• The more watts your gener-
ator has, the more items you
can power at the same time. To
know how much you will need,
calculate all the wattage
requirements of all the acces-
sories you plan to operate on
generator power.
Typically, wattage is listed
on the device, on the back or on
the bottom. If not, a simple for-
mula for determining watts is
multiplying volts x amps. The
total will tell you the model of
generator you need.
• Another important factor to
consider is how long you will
be running your generator. The
generator run time is found on
the generator spec sheet and
owner’s manual.
Run time is determined at 50
percent load levels and the
power used directly impacts the
run time. The more power used,
the shorter the run time and the
sooner you will have to refuel.
“During cold weather camp-
ing, you won’t need to power
your air-conditioner, so a gen-
erator with about 2,000 starting
watts should suffice,” Noonan
said. “Typically this is found in
inverter generators, which are
lighter, easier to transport, and
run quieter than the larger
portable generators.”
ing a below average return to
the hatchery.
Casting spinners, drifting
bait or using a bobber and jig
can be effective.
SALMON RIVER: Steelhead
The Salmon River is open
for wild and hatchery steel-
head. Fishing is slow.
Wild winter steelhead can
be retained on the Salmon
River. Daily and annual bag
limit on wild winter steelhead
are 1/day and 3/year.
Casting spinners, drifting
bait or using a bobber and jig
can be effective.
SILETZ RIVER: Steelhead
The river is shaping up after
last week’s rain. Steelhead
fishing is fair. Drift boaters are
having fair success from
Moonshine Park to Siletz and
bank anglers are catching
hatchery fish in the Siletz
gorge.
Casting spinners, drifting
bait or using a bobber and jig
can be effective.
WILSON RIVER: Steelhead
Fishing was slow on the
Wilson last weekend due to
high water and marginal con-
ditions. It should be dropping
into prime shape by the end of
the week and through the
weekend. There should be
plenty of broodstock hatchery
and wild steelhead around, and
there have been some big fish
coming off the Wilson this
year.
All the usual techniques
such as side drifting, float fish-
ing, drift fishing, or pulling
plugs or divers and bait should
be effective.
During high water use
brighter colors and larger pre-
sentations.
Anglers fishing 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 additional hatchery
steelhead may be retained per
day for a total aggregate of 3
adult fish harvested daily.
Anglers have been catching
a few rockfish and surfperch
along the jetties and sub-
merged rock piles.
high and unfishable a large
portion of the time this season.
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YAQUINA RIVER:
Steelhead
The Yaquina River and Big
Elk Cr. are open for steelhead.
Fishing is fair. Wild winter
steelhead can be retained on
Big Elk Cr. with a daily and
annual bag limit of 1/day and
3/year.
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
AND
A few hatchery male steel-
head were stocked into Middle
Empire Lake this week to
allow anglers for more oppor-
tunity.
Fishing regulations for these
stocked steelhead in Empire
Lakes are just like the trout
regulations. Anglers can keep
1 fish over 20 inches per day
and only need their fishing
license.
Fishing for trout in other
area lakes has been slow. Trout
stocking in area lakes will start
at the end of February/early
March.
COOS RIVER BASIN:
Dungeness crab, bay clams,
rockfish, steelhead
Trout fishing in streams is
now closed until May 22,
2017.
Currently all steelhead
rivers in the Coos Basin are
high and muddy.
The West Fork Millicoma
River will be the first river to
clear. When water conditions
are good, anglers are still
catching fish throughout the
Coos Basin. Anglers are drift-
ing eggs or corkies along the
stream bottom or using a jig
suspended under a bobber.
Input
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(541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475
from 1B
grant funding to facility own-
ers.
The Oregon Marine Board
invites recreational boaters to
complete an online survey and
COQUILLE RIVER BASIN:
Crab, steelhead, salmon
Trout fishing in streams is
now closed until May 22,
2017.
All of the Coquille Basin
steelhead rivers were high and
muddy this past weekend.
Anglers have been catching
hatchery steelhead at LaVerne
Park on the North Fork
Coquille River and on the
South Fork Coquille River
from Powers downstream to
Broadbent.
Bank anglers have been
plunking with Spin-n-Glos and
bait near the town of Coquille.
Anglers have had success
drifting eggs or corkies. In the
Coquille Basin 1 additional
hatchery steelhead may be
retained per day for a total
aggregate of 3 adult fish har-
vested daily.
Recreational crabbing is
open in the Coquille estuary
but crabbing is very slow due
to the large amounts of fresh-
water coming downstream.
TENMILE BASIN : Trout,
bass, 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.
In the Tenmile Basin 1 addi-
tional hatchery steelhead may
be retained per day for a total
aggregate of 3 adult fish har-
vested daily.
Largemouth bass fishing has
been slow. Anglers are catch-
ing bass near structure or on
the deep end of the weed lines
using jigs or rubber worms.
UMPQUA RIVER, SOUTH:
Steelhead
Good numbers of steelhead
are being caught up to and
above Canyonville and anglers
are hooking into a few hatch-
ery fish.
Pay attention to river gages
for the South as it has been
provide feedback on how to
improve the area where you
boat.
Boaters can access an online
survey at www.boatoregon.
com, or go to the survey direct-
ly at www.surveymonkey.com
/r/GWGC7L6.
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 crab harvesting
is open along the entire coast
from the Columbia River to
the California border.
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 has been
good when ocean swells are
small. Surf perch anglers will
do the best fishing with sand
shrimp or Berkely Gulp sand
worms.
• O CEAN S ALMON
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.
• B OTTOM F ISHING
When the weather allows,
fishing in the winter months
for lingcod and rockfish can be
fun and successful. Some
anglers that were able to fish
last weekend caught limits of
rockfish and some lingcod.
• P ACIFIC H ALIBUT
New for 2017 vessels fish-
ing for or retaining halibut will
be required to have onboard a
functioning rockfish descend-
ing device, and use it to
descend any rockfish released
when fishing outside of the 30
fathom regulatory line.
• S HELLFISH
Call the ODA shellfish safe-
ty hotline at 1-800-448-2474
before harvesting for the most
current information about
shellfish safety closures.
Additional information is
available from ODA’s Food
Safety Program at 503-986-
4720 or the ODA shellfish clo-
sures website.
• C RABBING
Ocean and bay crabbing is
open coastwide. Bay crabbing
has slowed down as it typical-
ly does this time of the year.
Siuslaw
News
+
The survey will be available
online through March 31.
For more information, con-
tact the Marine Board’s
Facility Section at 503-378-
2727.
www.shoppelocal.biz