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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2020)
Cottage Grove Sentinel Sports & Recreation SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION • • THURSDAY | MARCH 19, 2020 www.dfw.state.or.us/RR ATTENTION: All hunter education classes, field days, clinics, outdoor skills workshops, angler education trainings, Family Fishing events and other volunteer-led activ- ities have been canceled until at least April 13 in accordance with COVID-19 guidance from the State of Oregon and the Governor’s office. Refunds to participants will be processed automatically for any paid classes or workshops. MID COAST LAKES Stocking of the mid-coast lakes has begun for the 2020 season. The first two weeks of February several of the mid-coast lakes were stocked, more stocking are scheduled for the beginning of March. Check the stocking schedule online for dates and locations of lakes that have been stocked and will be stocked in the future. Lakes that are scheduled to be stocked in February include: Alder, Dune, Carter, Lost, Elbow, Cleawox, Munsel, Siltcoos, This- sel Pond, Big Creek Reservoirs, Olalla Reservoir and Devils Lake. Warmwater fisheries will start up again when we get some See ODFW 3B CONTACT SPORTS REPORTER NICK SNYDER AT 942-3325 OR NSNYDER@CGSENTINEL.COM COVID concerns put athletics on hold ODFW R EGIONAL F ISHING R EPORT BEST BETS FOR WEEKEND FISHING There’s a cold front in the forecast, but hardy anglers will still find plenty of opportunity this weekend. Here are just a few options, check the zone reports for more. • Bottomfish fishing along the coast has been great – the ocean has been calm (even kayakers have gotten out), there’s plenty of baitfish in the water, and near limits of rockfish and lingcod have been reported. • This is a good time of year to target kokanee on Wallowa Lake. • Steelhead fishing has been good in the Wallowa River. Flows should remain fishing-friendly over the next week or so. • Fishing in lakes, reservoirs and ponds can be fabulous im- mediately after ice-off. Holdover trout are hungry and willing to bite. With the onset of warm- er spring temperatures, many waterbodies already are ice-free – see Warm Springs, Pole Creek, Krumbo, Holbrook, Priday, Spaulding and Big Rock reser- voirs and Mud Lake -- and fishing should be good. • The lower reaches of the Chewaucan upstream of Paisley are now reachable and fish have been rising in the evenings. • On the Crooked River, fishing for trout and whitefish has been excellent lately. • On Lake Billy Chinook, fish- ing for bull trout and kokanee has been good to great in the Metoli- us and Crooked River arms. • Anglers have been catching some nice trout in Ochoco and Prineville reservoirs. • There are winter steelhead distributed throughout the Coos, Coquille, Rogue and Umpqua systems. Low water levels make fishing challenging – look for fish congregating in deeper pools, and switch to lighter lines and tackle. • Garrison Lake and Empire Lakes are scheduled to be stocked with trophy trout the week of March 9. • The first spring Chinook of the season have been caught in the lower Willamette. • Several waterbodies in the Willamette Valley are scheduled to be stocked this week: Cottage Grove Pond, Blue River Reser- voir, Dexter Reservoir, Junction City Pond, Alton Baker Canoe Canal, Cottage Grove Reservoir, Hills Creek Reservoir, and East Freeway Lake. B1 Spring sports to get underway Mar. 31 at the earliest after postpone- ments By Nick Snyder nsnyder@cgsentinel.com With the rising specter of COVID-19 threatening the health and safety of people attending large gatherings, nearly every sport and sport- ing event in the United States has been put on hold. As of last Friday, local spring sports have been added to the list. Following the lead of the COURTESY PHOTO Nicki Derrick and the North Douglas softball team, last year’s 1A champs, will have to wait to defend their title as spring sports around the state have been postponed. National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Basket- ball Association, Major League Baseball and myriad others, South Lane School District (SLSD) and the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) made the decision late last week to indefinitely suspend any ongoing sports activities as well as the beginning of the baseball, softball, golf and track and field seasons. “All athletics are currently suspended,” stated a Mar. 13 press release from SLSD. “At See SPRING 2B Lions’ dreams dashed at state COURTESY PHOTO A worker at the Chiles Center in Portland, would-be hosts of the OSAA 6A State Championship tournament, takes down the championship banner after the OSAA decided on the morning of Thurs., Mar. 12 to cancel all remaining games. Cottage Grove girls didn’t get a chance to play a game before tournament’s cancellation By Nick Snyder nsnyder@cgsentinel.com The scene surrounding the Lions girls’ basketball team last Wednesday afternoon was a far cry from where they stood just 24 hours later. With a police escort and community members, family and friends lining Main Street in downtown Cottage Grove, the team made their way north to Forest Grove on Wed., Mar. 11 for their first trip to the OSAA 4A State Championships since the 2010 season. The Lions were slated to play #1-ranked Philomath the following day at 1:30 p.m. for a chance to go to the state semifinals. “It was really upbeat because we had such a great send-off,” said head coach Steve Eastburn. “Boy, the parents had all gotten together the night before and put together this great send-off for the girls.” The team bus made its way through town as the hopes and hard work of the commu- nity and players alike were seemingly com- ing to fruition. “We stopped on Main Street and the girls were just so excited,” Eastburn said. “They were just in a great mood. The excitement for the state tournament was really high at that point.” Less than 24 hours later, all those hopes were dashed. The team arrived at their hotel around 9 p.m. and shortly thereafter received the See LIONS 4B OCA offering Conservation Scholarships The Oregon Coast An- glers (OCA) has announcd its 2020 Conservation Scholar- ships program. Three, $1,000 scholarships will be offered to students graduating from lo- cal high schools in 2020. The single requirement is that the student awarded the scholar- ship plans to pursue higher education in majors that relate to the conservation of Earth’s resources. “Conservation of our natu- ral resources is becoming more and more important for our generation and will be for gen- erations to come,” said Steve Godin, Oregon Coast Anglers President. “We hope these scholarships will encourage to- day’s graduates to pursue a ca- reer in conservation.” The Oregon Coast Anglers have set aside $3,000 to fund the Conservation Scholar- Athlete of the Week ships Program. The coastal schools that are included in the scholarship program include; Elkton High School, Siuslaw High School, Mapleton High School, Reedsport Commu- nity Charter School, North Bend High School, Marshfield High School, Bandon High School, Port Orford Pacific High School, Gold Beach High School and Brookings Harbor High School. Th is week’s athletes of the week are CGHS seniors Ema Gardner and Megan Schatz as well as all the other area seniors who had their fi nal seasons cut short. The administrators of these schools will distribute the scholarship applications to the students they feel meet the con- servation studies requirement and submit the names with the completed application to OCA. The administrators will also es- tablish a date and location for the check to be presented to the qualified student. For more information, con- tact Godin at 541-255-3383. Gardner (left) and Schatz were integral to the Lions return to the state cham- pionship tournament for the fi rst time since the 2010 season. SNYDER/CG SENTINEL
