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07/22/2016 - Fishing Report
Local fall chinook run looks to be a couple of weeks away (Fishing report)Fear not, Grants Pass fishing afficionados, the fall chinook are but a week or two away.Fishing guide Troy Whitaker, of U-Save Gas and Tackle, said there haven't yet been sightings of chinook slowing down to make camp in the Grants Pass section of the Rogue River, but they're moving in this direction."Right now, upriver above Dodge Bridge seems to be the best place for salmon action," Whitaker said. "People are having some success with Kwikfish or back-bouncing roe bait."Water levels on the Rogue have dropped over the past week from 1,680 cubic feet per second to 1,570.That may have contributed to the fall chinook's slower migration time frame, he said.Regardless, Whitaker doesn't think the lower water flow has led to enough warming that the fish will be impacted through rot or gill disease."Cooler weather over the next few days could help pick things back up a bit," Whitaker said.Outflows from Lost Creek Dam were dropped temporarily earlier in the week to help the effort to recover a drowning victim below Rainie Falls, but are back to 1,600 from Lost Creek Dam today.While the fall chinook are incoming, the supply of spring chinook, last seen near Gold Hill, seems to have dried up.Whitaker said summer steelhead fishing more than makes up for it, in and around Grants Pass as well as elsewhere.Steelhead fishing is also going strong on the North Umpqua near Rock Creek and Flournoy Creek."If you're in a boat, you can side-drift small pieces of orange roe to catch them," Whitaker said. "Otherwise, puff balls with nightcrawlers and back-trolling, small plugs work well."Lake Selmac is exclusively bass fishing now, and it's been a bit slower of late; rising water temperatures have sent the fish into the depths of the lake.Your best bet for catching the bass is to use a plastic frog or another surface bait that makes a lot of noise.Smallmouth bass have been biting Applegate Lake. The Carberry Creek end has proven particularly fertile, Whitaker said. Anglers are using crankbaits to snare the bass.• APPLEGATE RESERVOIR. Fishing is good for rainbow trout, spring chinook salmon, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. Trout anglers will want to try trolling with a wedding ring and bait combination. Fishing with bait from the shore in the upper reservoir should also produce. The lake is 92 percent full. The Hart-Tish, Copper, and French Gulch boat ramps are available.• ILLINOIS RIVER. The Illinois River is open for trout angling. Since only hatchery trout may be retained, and hatchery trout are not likely to be found in the Illinois River at this time of year, fishing will be primarily catch-and-release for the native trout.• LAKE SELMAC. Fishing for black crappie has been very good at Selmac this year, with some good-sized crappie being caught.Good techniques include crappie jigs, worms and flies retrieved slowly behind a casting bubble.Only one bass may be harvested per day at Lake Selmac.Remember that many warm-water species can be found close to shore, and it is possible to cast out too far to catch fish.
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