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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
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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.
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