Bank fishing solid for steelhead anglers
With many steelheaders switching from boats to bank fishing, these plunkers are doing very well. The county boat ramp in Coquille had a lot of activity and many nice steelhead were caught. Rising river levels offer a great opportunity to fish from the banks using stealthy methods, as many of these steelhead travel the edges to get into some calmer waters.
The North Fork Coquille River clears fairly fast, and after the recent rains anglers reported catching some nice steelhead early in the week. The South Fork Coquille has been high and muddy and kept most fishermen over on the North Fork. LaVerne Park also reported some good steelhead fishing the past few days.
Some of the best steelheading has taken place on the South Fork Coos River and the West and East forks of the Millicoma River. The fish seem to really turn on as the rivers peak and start to drop down. The West Fork Millicoma is the first river to clear, followed by the East Fork. The South Fork Coos takes a little bit more time to clear.
Bottom bouncing eggs, corkies or sand shrimp have been the most effective methods for steelhead anglers. A technique that has worked in the past is fishing a Marabou jig suspended under a bobber. To increase your opportunity, break off a small piece of sand shrimp and put it on a hook. Fishing with a bobber will take some practice, but when you master this technique, it can be quite effective.
Winter steelhead fishing has been good on Tenmile Creek, and because this creek is controlled by Tenmile Lakes, it seldom gets too high or muddy to fish. There is a boat launch at Spinreel Campground along with good bank access. This is a safe and gentle place to take the kids for their first steelhead experience.
During last weekend’s Eel/Tenmile STEP Steelhead Derby, first place for the most steelhead caught went to Jamie Parker-Fitting. She caught three steelhead, which were the largest by weight. Jamie won a Shimano reel and Lamiglas rod.
Second place went to Doug Jones for the largest fish weighing 8.84 pounds. Doug won an Abu Garcia reel and Lamiglas rod. Doug also won third place for the second highest amount of fish taken by weight and won a Shimano spinning reel and Lamiglas rod. There were 48 contestants, and they caught 23 hatchery steelhead and released six native fish.
River flows on the lower Rogue River were good last week, and plunkers did well catching steelhead from Quosatana Creek Campground to the Old Mill Site. A local guide, while fishing just above tide water on Saturday, reported that they hooked seven steelhead, landed four and kept two. Other fishermen anchored in slots fishing Wiggle Wart plugs and did very well.
Water levels on the Sixes and Elk rivers were high, but they are starting to clear and should be fishable in the next few days.
In last week’s report, I talked about the Free Fishing for Kids Program that has been spearheaded by Earl Rankin of Bandon along with Tony Roszkowski of the Port O’ Call and Tony’s Crab Shack in Bandon. They want to thank the readers for their calls, donations and support for this program. To learn more about this story go to www.oregonoutdoorsradio.com and you will find it under “Breaking News.”
Just a reminder that the Coos County Friends of The NRA will hold their annual dinner and auction fundraiser at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Coquille Community Building. Last year they were sold out and expect the same this year. Therefore, they only will sell 350 tickets and no tickets will be sold at the door. At the time I wrote this article, only a few tickets were left.
For more information about tickets, sponsorships, donations or to assist the committee, please call Brad Haga at (541) 294-3677, Al Lovie at (541) 290-2202 or Don Leatherwood at (541) 347-9719. Remember, this fundraiser will be a major contributor to the new Tioga Sports Park Shooting Range. I hope to see many of you there.
Good luck fishing and hunting.
Fishing sound good. Does anybody know if/how the herbicide runoff affects the fish and those of us who eat them ?
I meant pesticide not herbicide.