Pete Heley: The salmon season begins in the lakes | Sports



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Salmon fishing remains passable on the lower Umpqua River in Winchester Bay. But few Chinooks or spiked cohos are caught. Anglers seem to be doing their best as well as anglers.

The coho salmon seasons on Siltcoos. Tahkenitch and Tenmile lakes opened on October 1, and validation of the second stem is immediately invalidated on these three lakes. No salmon have yet been reported in the three lakes, but a series of high tides could bring them into the Siltcoos River, but there may not be enough water flowing through the lake. 39 fish ladder of the dam so that the salmon can actually use it and move upstream. crossed Highway 101 where it becomes legal to fish. Very rarely, Tahkenitch Lake and Tenmile Lake receive no coho salmon until late October. The shortest time on Lake Tahkenitch is the Highway 101 bridge. The lower deadline for Tenmile Lakes is the bridge on Hilltop Drive at Lakeside.

The coho season will probably not be productive on these lakes, but at least anglers will be able to keep wild or uncut coho salmon. The daily limit is for an adult salmon and a jack salmon a day and the season limit, which includes the three lakes, is five adult salmon. Anglers are expected to stop the salmon fishery after keeping an adult coho salmon.

The Chetco bubble fishery is open for the first of two weekends on October 6 and 7.

Striped bass fishing on the Smith and Coquille rivers is expected to remain mediocre to passable until October while it generally slows at the speed of the ramp.

The smallmouth bass fishery in the afternoon should be fair to good, but the number should be lower than summer, but the chances of bass longer than 15 inches will be improved. On the Coquille River system, the best fishing will be in the lower parts of the south and middle forks of the river.

In the afternoon, bigmouth bass fishing should be productive in most lakes in the region. Last year, the best big game fishing in Tenmile Lakes took place in the first two weeks of December.

The sea crab remains good, but the leisure season will end on October 15th. River crab and laurel crab will remain open year round, subject to emergency closures in case of high concentration of toxins.

Bottom fishing in marine waters from a depth greater than 180 feet, using traditional fishing methods, reopened on 1 October and fishing was very good. Bottom fishing is still legal in waters deeper than 240 feet, but almost all offshore fishermen opt for conventional techniques, which allow them to keep two cod-ingots (minimum 22 inches) and five groundfish. The Cabezons are still illegal to keep.

Lake Creek, a tributary of the Siuslaw River, will be closed to salmon fishing from October 15 to December. 31. No salmon fishing will be permitted from the mouth of Lake Creek to Indian Creek.

The closure is due to low flows this year, which will concentrate chinook salmon in the fall in only a few locations, making it more vulnerable to harvest. The forecast for chinook salmon is poor this year, and chinook salmon in the Siuslaw Basin are not expected to meet the Pacific Salmon Treaty's escapement targets.

"Lake Creek is the largest chinook salmon producer in the fall in the Siuslaw Basin and it is important to conserve these fish during periods of low flow and low yield," said John Spangler, District Fish Biologist. of ODFW.

A new program will provide points of preference for big game instead of a cash reward to people who return poachers.

The program relies on the TIP program (Turn in Poachers), a long collaboration between the Oregon Hunters Association and the Oregon State Police, which, until the end of the year. now only provided cash rewards for information on poaching.

But this year, people who provide information that, according to the Oregon police, lead to an arrest or a quote for illegal possession or possession or waste of big game (deer, elk, elk, mountain goat) , American mouflon, antelope, bear, cougar, or wolf) are eligible for points of preference or cash reward.

For cases involving American sheep, mountain goats, moose and wolves, the person who will make a poacher will get five points of preference. In cases involving moose, deer, pronghorn, cougar and bear, the person will be given four preference points. All points of preference must go to a hunting series (elk, roe deer, antlerless deer, antelope or spring bear).

Hunters can only get one point in each hunt series each year. Some of Oregon's most coveted hunts require more than 15 shooting points, but most hunts require much less. Five points of preference would allow a hunter to attract 76% of deer hunts, 69% of deer hunts, 83% of elk hunts and 24% of lode hunts.

The new program is due to the passing of HB 3158 by the Oregon legislature in 2017, which ordered ODFW to offer preference points for big game instead of a cash reward for people providing information leading to quotes or arresting poachers. The Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted the rules of the program last month at its meeting in Bandon. These rules are retroactive to January 1, 2018.

"Poaching is a serious problem for Oregon's flora and fauna," says Travis Schultz, ODFW's Access and Housing Coordinator. "This can have significant long-term impacts on our wildlife populations."

For example, a six-year study of mullet deer at the radio collar in south-central Oregon found that illegal catches exceeded legal catches. What is even more disturbing is that poachers are often killed instead of males, even though regulations prohibit it from taking deer to protect breeding populations. Most poaching activities took place during legal hunting seasons.

"Poaching is a heinous crime that affects all Oregon residents and lawbreakers must be held accountable," said Lieutenant Craig Heuberger, of the sport fishing and wildlife division of Oregon. the Oregon State Police. "Our fishing and wildlife soldiers are doing a lot of interesting things from people who report something suspicious or wrong."

Pete Heley works part-time at Stockade Market & Tackle, across from A 'Dock dock in Winchester Bay, where he is more than happy to exchange fishing information with anyone.

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