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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2017)
4 B SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2017 ODF urges public to use safe campfire practices this weekend Sitting around a campfire is one of the special times we all enjoy, but campfires are also a major cause of wildfires. Keep Oregon Green, the Oregon State Fire Marshal, and the Oregon Department of Forestry urge Oregonians to follow some basic outdoor safety tips as temperatures rise and the possibility of wildfires increases. • Know before you go. Call your local forestry or fire dis- trict to learn if there are any current campfire restrictions at your recreation destina- tion. An interactive map of Oregon’s fire restrictions is available at www.oregon.gov/ ODF/Fire/Pages/Restrictions. aspx. Tom Fields, ODF’s fire pre- vention coordinator, says the map continues to improve and is “an excellent tool for folks to use from home or from their mobile device.” • Kick the campfire habit this summer. Portable camp Fishing from 1B SIUSLAW RIVER: Trout Trout season opened May 22, and there should be some nice cutthroat around. Remember the limit on streams and rivers is two per day over 8-inches. WILSON RIVER: Steelhead, Spring Chinook, trout Spring Chinook fishing has been slow on the Wilson, but there should be some fish around and it should improve throughout the month. There should also be some summer steelhead in the system. Trout season opened May 22, and there should be some nice cutthroat around. Remember the limit on streams and rivers is two per day over 8-inches. YAQUINA RIVER: Trout Trout season opened May 22, and there should be some nice cutthroat around. Remember the limit on streams and rivers is two per day over 8-inches. COOS COUNTY LAKES PONDS: Trout, warmwater AND Siuslaw News + www.shoppelocal.biz fish Largemouth bass fishing has been good in many of the area smaller lakes. Bluegills can be found in area lakes right along the weed lines. Trout were stocked in the Millicoma Pond at the Millicoma Interpretive Center and fishing should be excel- lent. Millicoma Pond is intend- ed for children under the age of 12. Please call before traveling to Millicoma Pond to make sure the gates are open. The phone number is 541-267- 2557. Trout have been stocked into Empire Lakes and Tenmile Lakes this week. Trophy trout were only stocked into Upper Empire Lake This was the last trout stocking in the area until October. ODFW is implementing a tag reward trout study on Empire Lakes for 2017 in which anglers will be asked to report tagged trout that are caught. Anglers can report tags on the ODFW website. Some of the tags will be worth a $50 gift card. This study is an effort by ODFW to compare stocking of “larger” trout to last year’s stocking of “legal” size trout. TENMILE BASIN: Trout, bass Streams and rivers are now open to trout fishing until Oct. 31. Fishing is restricted to arti- ficial flies and lures in streams above tidewater. Anglers may harvest 2 trout per day that are a minimum of 8 inches long. Trout fishing in Tenmile Lakes, Eel Lake, Saunders stoves are a safer option to campfires at any time of year. Areas that prohibit camp- fires outside maintained all sides, and circle it with rocks. Store unused firewood a good distance from the fire. Oregonians are urged to follow some basic outdoor safety tips as temperatures rise and the possibility of wildfires increases campgrounds with estab- lished fire pits often allow camp stoves. • Select the right spot. Where campfires are allowed, avoid building the fire near your tent, structures, vehicles, shrubs or trees, and be aware of low-hanging branches overhead. Clear the site down to min- eral soil, at least five feet on • Keep your campfire small. A campfire is less like- ly to escape control if it is kept small. A large fire may cast hot embers long dis- tances. Add firewood in small amounts as existing material is consumed. • Attend your campfire at all times. A campfire left unattended for even a few Lake are open all year. Anglers have been catching trout in Eel and Tenmile lakes trolling wedding ring spinners tipped with a worm. Largemouth bass fishing has been good and will continue to pick up as the water tempera- tures warm up. Anglers are catching bass in shallow water near structure or on the deep end of the weed lines using jigs or rubber worms. 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 Berkley Gulp sand worms. Fishing is typically best on the incoming tide. • O CEAN SALMON : The Cape Falcon to Humbug Mt. Chinook salmon recreational fishing season is scheduled to be open until Oct. 31. This season is open for all salmon except coho salmon, with a bag limit of two salmon per day, and minimum sizes for Chinook at 24 inches or larger, and steelhead at 20 inches or larger. Ocean Chinook fishing effort and catch have been slow so far this season; how- ever, some ocean Chinook were landed in Garibaldi and Winchester Bay last week. Just a reminder: Anglers are restricted to no more than two single point barbless hooks when fishing for salmon, and when fishing for any other species if a salmon is on board the vessel. • P ACIFIC H ALIBUT : Vessels fishing for or retain- ing halibut are required (1) to have onboard a functioning rockfish descending device, and (2) use it to descend any rockfish released when fishing outside of the 30-fathom regu- latory line. The 2017 halibut quota is up 16.7 percent from 2016, which should allow for some addi- tional fishing days, depending on weather and catch rates. Central Oregon Coast Subarea (Cape Falcon to Humbug Mt.): The all-depth halibut fishery will be open June 8-10 and June 15-17. If quota remains after those dates, additional days may be available every other week. The nearshore fishery opened June 1, seven days per UMPQUA RIVER, SOUTH: Trout, bass The South opened on May 22 to trout and warmwater fishing. 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, salmon, halibut Recreational crabbing is open along the entire Oregon coast. Bottom fishing has been good when the ocean condi- tions allow. Fishing for bottom fish is now restricted to inside the 30-fathom curve. A few black rockfish have been seen feeding on/near the surface recently. Recreational Chinook salmon fishing is open from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain. Anglers may have two salmon per day but is closed to retention of coho except during the selective and non-selective coho seasons. The selective coho season opens June 24 and continues through July 31 or until the 18,000 marked coho quota has been met. Recreational harvest of razor clams is closed on the entire Oregon coast due to ele- vated levels of domoic acid. The recreational harvesting of mussels is open along the entire Oregon Coast from the Columbia River to the California border. Before any shellfish harvest minutes can grow into a cost- ly, damaging wildfire. Stay with your campfire from start to finish until it is dead out. That ensures any escaped sparks or embers can be extinguished quickly, and it is required by state law. • Never use gasoline or other accelerants. Don’t use flammable or combustible liquids, such as gasoline, propane or lighter fluid, to start or increase your camp- fire. Once the fire starts, wait until the match is cold and then discard it in the fire. • Have water and fire tools on site. Have a shovel and a bucket of water nearby to extinguish any escaped embers. Before you leave, drown all embers with water, stir the coals, and drown again. Repeat until the fire is dead out. If it is too hot to touch, it is too hot to leave. • Burn only wood. State regulations prohibit the open burning of any material that creates dense, toxic smoke or noxious odors. Burning paper and cardboard can also easily fly up to start new fires. Escaped campfires can be costly. Oregon law requires the proper clearing, building, attending and extinguishing of open fires at any time of year. A first-time citation carries a $110 fine. But by far the biggest potential cost is liabil- ity for firefighting costs if your campfire spreads out of control. These can range from a few hundred to tens of thou- sands of dollars or more. During Wildfire Awareness Month visit the Keep Oregon Green website, www.keepore gongreen.org for other wild- fire prevention tips. Contact Kristin Babbs, president Keep Oregon Green Association, at 503-945-7499 or email Kristin.a.babbs@ oregon.gov for more informa- tion. week, until the quota is caught or Oct. 31. Note that when both the nearshore and all- depth halibut fisheries are open on the same day, e.g., regulations for the all-depth fishery — namely, groundfish retention rules — apply to all halibut anglers, regardless of where fishing occurs. The summer all-depth fish- ery opens Friday, Aug. 4, and every other Friday-Saturday until the quota is caught or Oct. 31. • 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. — Mussels: The recreation- al harvest of mussels is open coastwide. — Razor Clams: Remains closed along the entire Oregon coast due to elevated levels of domoic acid. This includes all beaches and bays. — Bay Clams: 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. — Crabbing: Ocean and bay crabbing is open coastwide. Bay crabbing is still slow. Typically this time of year we start seeing some soft male crabs that have recently molt- ed. Recent reports are that crab- bing has been getting better in the ocean, and the best results are seen in water deeper than 100 feet. 541-999-5083 ...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. If you would like to meet Eva or any of her friends, please visit us at: OREGON COAST HUMANE SOCIETY 2840 Rhododendron Drive • Florence • 541-997-4277 www.oregoncoasthumane.org This message brought to you by: See Jim for your auto sales needs! 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 Siuslaw News + www.shoppelocal.biz
