New restrictions in place for bottomfish

John Zinn from Novato, California, was fishing with John Anderson from Memory Makers Rogue River Guide Service on Sunday when he caught this 35-pound fall Chinook on a spinnerbait/anchovy rig trolled in the Rogue Bay. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Starting today, Saturday, July 24, several emergency restrictions that are expected to last through the end of the year have been enacted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. For the most part these restrictions will not prevent Brookings fish warriors from bringing dinner home to their families.

The first restriction was enacted because of a high abundance of yelloweye rockfish being caught as bi-catch with other rockfish and lingcod. Yelloweye rockfish are a protected species, so in order to catch less of them, the first regulation prohibits bottomfishing beyond the 20-fathom line, a depth in which yelloweye tend to congregate.

One fathom equals 6 feet, therefore 20 fathoms equals 120 feet.

The fish you may not retain in depths of 120 feet or deeper include, but are not restricted to, all the varieties of rockfish, lingcod and kelp greenling, also known as sea trout.

In addition to the aforementioned bottom fish, the retention of Pacific sanddabs or any other flounder, including California halibut, shall also not be retained if caught beyond the 20-fathom line. Waypoints for the 20-fathom line (also called the 20-fathom curve) can be found on ODFW’s website at www.dfw.state.or.us.

It is worth repeating that fishing for sanddabs will not be permitted beyond the 20-fathom line, even though this fishery was allowed to continue beyond the 20-fathom line during last year’s similar restriction.

“We have such a tight situation this year with yelloweye that we felt it was more prudent to bring everything inside of 20 fathoms to prevent and reduce interactions with yelloweye rockfish,” says Lynn Mattes, ODFW’s Ocean Sport Groundfish and Halibut project leader.

The exception to this restriction is that Pacific halibut may be caught and retained south of Humbug Mountain. In this case you may fish deeper than 20 fathoms if and only if you are specifically targeting Pacific halibut, and if there are no other groundfish species on board.

Anglers can, however, still catch and keep rockfish, lingcod and kelp greenling if they are caught in water where the bottom is no deeper than 120 feet, as defined by the waypoints of the 20-fathom curve. Since most bottom fish and lingcod have been caught in depths averaging 90 feet or less, anglers should see no decline in their bag limits.

A second restriction that also goes into effect today prohibits the retention of cabezon by boat anglers, because the harvest cap is expected to be reached in several days. That restriction caught me a little off-guard this season because usually the yearly cabezon closure generally occurs sometime between mid-August and mid-September, this restriction occurring a month earlier than usual.

The good news is that shore-based anglers may still catch and retain cabezon. There are a lot of shore-based opportunities on local jetties and tide pools; in fact, I used to clobber the cabbies at low tide fishing uphill from Mill Beach using a 7-inch white twister-type worm rigged Texas-style.

Bottom fishing outside the Port of Brookings Harbor was exceptional when anglers could get out. Several days last week Scott Stewart from Ultimate Catch Charters limited out his passengers on rockfish, with a few dandy lings in the mid- to upper-teens mixed in for good measure.

The fishing may improve with this week’s anticipated calmer seas.

Rogue Fall Chinook 

Fishermen in the Rogue bay battled more than just fall Chinook last week. Fierce winds drove many anglers off the water just when the bite got started. One look at today’s fish photo tells the whole story, with wind chop lighting up the bay in the background. Yet, still there was enough action to keep plenty of rods doubled over.

Most of the action has been occurring at the peak of high tide and for three hours afterward as the tide receded. 

John Anderson from Memory Makers Rogue River Guide Service chalked up another monster ’nook on the tote board when he put his client John Zinn on a 35-pound king on Sunday.

The massive salmon was in good company that day. Between the hours of 7 and 10 a.m. over 44 Chinook were caught, many of them approaching or exceeding the 30-pound mark.

“Monday and Tuesday there were quite a few big fish caught, some up in the low 40s,” says Denny Hughson from Denny Hughson’s Rogue River Guide Service, who had three in the box on both days, four of which were over 30 pounds.

There were also quite a few buttons given out for 30-pound-plus kings at Jot’s Resort in Gold Beach. If you have a fish you suspect is over 30 pounds, pop into Jot’s Resort and have it weighed in. If it tops 30 pounds you get a free pin. Fishermen embrace these pins with reverence.

“We had lots of button fish this week,” says Amy Gaddis from Jot’s. “A 37 1/2 was the largest we weighed in, which was caught on a spinnerbait combo with a double-green T.H.I. blade.”

That blade was hand-painted by Gaddis. If you want one of her custom-painted blades, pop into Jot’s and put in your order.

Most of the Rogue’s fish have been caught on a spinnerbait with either a sardine or a red label herring on the back end.

“The fishing was really good this weekend,” noted Gaddis. “Sam Waller has been averaging at least a fish a day; on Saturday Chris Young had four over 30 pounds and on Sunday Greg Eide limited out.”

Low water temperatures were suspected to have driven a few fish up the Canyon later in the week, so the Middle Rogue should be seeing some action in forthcoming weeks. 

With calmer seas expected this weekend and a possible soft bar to match, there should be more fish entering the Rogue estuary this coming week, so tie up plenty of leaders, get your sinkers in order and prepare to do battle with more upcoming kings.

Also remember to tell your friends that the Sea Lion Patrol needs every dollar they can get to keep our program alive. This program is really effective and it wasn’t long ago when the bull sea lions were taking most of the fisherman’s salmon. So try and convince your friends that a donation is well appreciated.

Tight lines!