Jane Anderson from Fallon, Nev., caught this chrome-bright king out of the Port of Brookings Harbor last week while fishing with Richard Heap of Brookings. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Fishing report for 

July 20-26

There is a lot of bait inside the port of Brookings Harbor. It’s been here for at least a month. Most of the bait is small anchovies. You can tell where the bait schools are by looking for the pelicans and seagulls.

Almost every night about an hour before sunset, flocks of seagulls and pelicans can be seen dive bombing for baitfish. It’s an incredible spectacle; something that many people would gladly pay admission to see. So if you have nothing better to do, and want to soak in the laid-back ambiance of friendly folk swapping far-fetched fabricated fables, take a drive to the crab dock on the south jetty.

Joy evident by the smiles on their faces, a group of pleasure seekers handle white water on the Rogue River with relative ease. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

What is the number-one rule when rafting a white water river?

Don’t fall out.

Granted, the Rogue River – at least the part my family and I rafted last Thursday – has only one Class-3 rapid on it, but it is still important to stay in the boat unless you intend to swim.

Breaking the law in search of excitement is never an excuse, but when one gets to the end of a mountain-bike trail before seeing any “trail closed” signage, breaking the law is inevitable.

The Chimney Camp Trail near Ludlum House on the Winchuck River is currently closed by order of the U.S. Forest Service to help stem the spread of Sudden Oak Death and to avoid interaction between humans and the herbicide that has been sprayed in parts of the area. 

The problem with the closure is that the “trail closed” signs aren’t posted in a conspicuous area, especially if mountain bikers start their trek in the wrong area and join the trail after the trailhead entrance – the entire area isn’t closed, just the trail.

Rory Lewis from Rodeo, California was fishing with Wayne Van Waveren of Brookings when he caught this 31-pound Chinook on Tuesday. The two fishermen limited out on Chinook and got some rockfish and lingcod to boot. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Fishing report for 

July 13-19

It was wet, it was raining, and it was last Tuesday, the best day of ocean salmon fishing the Port of Brookings Harbor has experienced all season.

Port Sampler Jennifer Deves was flying solo that day. But ODFW Port Samplers are not ubiquitous – like fog, or McDonalds, or in Tuesday’s case, like the throngs of McKings that were predicted to be swimming in the ocean. 

Jake Christensen makes a save as he plays goalie during a pre-lunch scrimmage. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

More than 25 Brookings area youth are benefitting from 2012 Brookings-Harbor High School graduate Thomas Spratt’s Northwest Soccer Camp attendance at a camp of their own, held on the BHHS campus.

Zoe (center) and Kathryn Bernhardt (right). The Pilot/Jef Hatch

Families that learn to fight together, stay together. At least until they both have their black belts anyway.

Kathryn Bernhardt – a 62-year-old cancer survivor and grandmother – and her 11-year-old granddaughter Zoe have been studying tae kwon do for the past six years and have earned one of the crowning achievements in the sport – the black belt.

For Zoe receiving her junior black belt – she’ll be eligible to test for her standard black belt when she turns 16 – is a major accomplishment.

Eric Cullen of Eagle Point holds up a 7-pound, 12-ounce hatchery coho caught last week in the ocean out of the Port of Brookings Harbor while fishing with Jim Bithell of Charthouse Sportfishing. The Pilot/Larry Ellis

Fishing report for 

July 6-12

It is looking like the good old days of salmon fishing are happening right now, and they’re happening right here at the Port of Brookings Harbor! According to current ocean salmon updates, the southernmost Oregon port was leading all other Oregon ports from Cape Falcon to the Oregon/California border in recreational catches of Chinook by an overwhelming margin. 

One of a number of waterfalls found along the Redwood Nature Trail in the Siskiyou National Forest. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

The group was joined by family members from Brookings and was greeted by sunshine and moderate temperatures as they disembarked from their vehicle.