» Fishing report

Thursday, July 16, 2009 | No comments posted. Local lakes: Anglers are still reporting very good rainbow trout fishing in Bradley, Floras and Garrison lakes. Last week there were plenty of rainbows being caught right at the boat ramp public access area at Floras Lake. This is a great place to take the kids because there is plenty of access and it’s very safe. Zack Weitman, 7, got a surprise when he cast his spinner too far and landed it in the weeds. As he started to retrieve it, he hooked and landed a six-pound largemouth bass right at the boat ramp at Floras Lake. Zack and his grandmother will be talking about that trip for years to come.

Local rivers: Local fishing guide Bob Cobb (541) 271-3850, had a great day fishing for sturgeon on the Lower Umpqua River recently. He helped his clients land four sturgeon; three were oversized and one was a keeper. It’s great to hear about the increase in sturgeon being landed on the Umpqua, which, in my opinion, is the best sturgeon fishing on the South Coast. Bob’s wife, Peggy, just came out with a new book, “Cooking Sturgeon.” There are 50 recipes for preparing your keeper. The book has great illustrations and these recipes can be used for any fish. We are currently carrying her book. The cost is $14.95 and it’s a “must read.”

Anglers fishing the Lower Rogue  have been catching several fall Chinook salmon a day. The bite has been better in the early mornings and evenings. Most of the fish have been caught on straight bait (anchovies) and a few have been caught with a green Big Al’s fish flash.

Pacific Ocean: Coho salmon fishing on the South Coast has remained very good. Anglers from Brookings to Newport are reporting good action, with the hot spot being just outside of Charleston. One out of about eight Coho are fin-clipped keepers with some boats reporting catches of 20 to 30 fish per day.

The big news has been the great albacore fishing off the South Coast Anglers fishing out of the ports of Bandon and Coos Bay found plenty of tuna 30 to 45 miles out. The majority of the fish have been big, and we weighed in two albacore that tip the scale at 40 pounds. Mike Sterling of Bandon caught a blue fin tuna that weighed 18 pounds. Blue fin tuna can be identified by their short pectoral fin and a white striped belly.

Area shellfish: Dungeness crabbing in Bandon is getting better every day. Boats crabbing the lower bay have been catching their limits and pier crabbers are seeing an increase in numbers as well. Out of the 40 tagged crab released so far for the 2009 Crab Derby, nine tagged crab were brought in as of Tuesday morning. A $100 cash prize was awarded Sunday afternoon with several others prizes as well. The next drawing will be Sunday, July 26, at Tony’s Crab Shack at 4 p.m. For more information, you can call the Crab Shack at 347-2875.  (Tony Roszkowski has owned and operated Port O’ Call on the Bandon waterfront since 1989. Many South Coast anglers rely on his reports. Hear more from Tony on ‘Oregon Outdoors’ Thursdays on KWRO 630 AM.)