Pete’s Blog – PeteHeley.Com

Major trout plants are occuring this week in almost all the coastal waters that receive trout plants. In western Douglas and Lane counties, Carter Lake received 750 12-inch rainbow trout; Cleawox Lake received 1,325 12-inch trout and 150 15-inch trout and Woahink Lake received 1,000 12-inch trout.

Coos County waters that received trout plants this week include North and South Tenmile Lakes which received 3,000 legal rainbows each; Saunders Lake and Powers Pond also received 3,000 legal rainbows. Mingus Park Pond received 2,000 legal rainbows while Bradley Lake received 200 15-inch trout. If it is not a misprint, Upper and Lower Empire Lakes each received 250 15-inch trout and 1,000 slightly smaller 14-inchers.

In the Reedsport area, Loon Lake and Lake Marie each received 1,000 legal rainbows.

Some anglers that get their trout stocking information from the ODFW website have wondered about the North Lake and South Lake included in the north coast trout stocking schedule. Not to be confused with North and South Tenmile Lakes in Coos County, these small, heavily planted lakes are in southwest Tillamook County.

North Lake is a half-acre lake located within the Siuslaw National Forest. South Lake is a 5-acre lake also located within the Siuslaw National Forest. This lake is located on the ridgeline above Hebo Lake. Next to the lake is a U.S. Forest Service campground that is open year around. The last several miles of road to the lake are unimproved and rough. Use caution on this road. It is not advisable to take trailers to either lake.

The ODFW enacted two new regulation changes on Wickiup Reservoir that is sure to be upsetting to many of Oregon’s fishing enthusiasts – especially those in central Oregon. The first rule change eliminates the kokanee “bonus bag” that allowed anglers to keep up to 25 kokanee in addition to the regular 5 fish trout limit. Effective opening day, April 22, 2017, anglers must include kokanee within the 5 fish trout limit. The second rule change will close fishing in the Deschutes River arm of the reservoir one month earlier – from Sept. 30 to Aug. 31 and move the boundary from the West South Twin boat ramp to Gull Point. The remainder of the reservoir will continue to be open for fishing until Oct. 31.

According to Brett Hodgson, ODFW fish biologist in Bend, the Deschutes River arm is an important spawning area for kokanee and trout. “We don’t stock Wickiup Reservoir – the entire fishery depends on the natural production of kokanee, brown trout and redband trout,” Hodgson said. “We need to take management action to ensure this natural production sustains a fishery.”

Under a new water management regime, water in the reservoir is drawn down earlier in the summer. This will concentrate fish in a smaller area near the unscreened outlet and make them more vulnerable to both fishing pressure on the spawning grounds and escaping from the reservoir downstream into the Deschutes River. This will limit the annual production of kokanee and trout. Kokanee begin their spawning migration in late August.

“These fish are vulnerable to anglers who target the spawning kokanee and the trout that follow the kokanee upstream to feed on their eggs,” Hodgson states.

The storage and release of water from the Reservoir has been altered to help protect listed spotted frogs downstream, and to improve the ecological function of the Deschutes River, he said.

“It may be a while before we know what impact the change in water management will have on the spotted frog,” Hodgson said. “But in the meantime we need to be proactive in protecting spawning fish to conserve redband trout populations and to maintain the robust and diverse recreational fishery.”

Area beaches are still producing excellent catches of redtail surfperch when they are fishable. Effective baits include sand shrimp, sand worms, or clams among natural baits and Berkley Gulp Sandworms for an artificial bait. Jetty anglers have had to deal with strong winds and heavy waves, but are doing well on striped surfperch when they are able to fish. The road to Horsfall Beach remains blocked by high water from Horsfall Lake.

A few Chinook salmon to 26 pounds were caught last week in the ocean near Bassendorf Beach south of Charlston. An angler casting from the beach for surfperch hooked and landed a striped bass of about five pounds. As the Coquille River drops and clears, an increasing number of striped bass are being caught in the Arago area.

A few more spring Chinook have been landed by anglers casting spinners from the bank at Half Moon Bay at Winchester Bay. Springer fishing has been very good on the Umpqua River above Scottsburg and a few of the salmon anglers have caught smallmouth bass to at least four pounds on their salmon gear.

Rainy, windy weather has reduced recent fishing pressure on bass and panfish and also had a negative effect on fishing success.

Pete Heley works weekends at the Stockade Market & Tackle in Winchester Bay where he is more than happy to swap fishing info with anyone.

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Major trout plants are occuring this week in almost all the coastal waters that receive trout plants. In western Douglas and Lane counties, Carter Lake received 750 12-inch rainbow trout; Cleawox Lake received 1,325 12-inch trout and 150 15-inch trout and Woahink Lake received 1,000 12-inch trout.

Coos County waters that received trout plants this week include North and South Tenmile Lakes which received 3,000 legal rainbows each; Saunders Lake and Powers Pond also received 3,000 legal rainbows. Mingus Park Pond received 2,000 legal rainbows while Bradley Lake received 200 15-inch trout. If it is not a misprint, Upper and Lower Empire Lakes each received 250 15-inch trout and 1,000 slightly smaller 14-inchers.

In the Reedsport area, Loon Lake and Lake Marie each received 1,000 legal rainbows.

Some anglers that get their trout stocking information from the ODFW website have wondered about the North Lake and South Lake included in the north coast trout stocking schedule. Not to be confused with North and South Tenmile Lakes in Coos County, these small, heavily planted lakes are in southwest Tillamook County.

North Lake is a half-acre lake located within the Siuslaw National Forest. South Lake is a 5-acre lake also located within the Siuslaw National Forest. This lake is located on the ridgeline above Hebo Lake. Next to the lake is a U.S. Forest Service campground that is open year around. The last several miles of road to the lake are unimproved and rough. Use caution on this road. It is not advisable to take trailers to either lake.

The ODFW enacted two new regulation changes on Wickiup Reservoir that is sure to be upsetting to many of Oregon’s fishing enthusiasts – especially those in central Oregon. The first rule change eliminates the kokanee “bonus bag” that allowed anglers to keep up to 25 kokanee in addition to the regular 5 fish trout limit. Effective opening day, April 22, 2017, anglers must include kokanee within the 5 fish trout limit. The second rule change will close fishing in the Deschutes River arm of the reservoir one month earlier – from Sept. 30 to Aug. 31 and move the boundary from the West South Twin boat ramp to Gull Point. The remainder of the reservoir will continue to be open for fishing until Oct. 31.

According to Brett Hodgson, ODFW fish biologist in Bend, the Deschutes River arm is an important spawning area for kokanee and trout. “We don’t stock Wickiup Reservoir – the entire fishery depends on the natural production of kokanee, brown trout and redband trout,” Hodgson said. “We need to take management action to ensure this natural production sustains a fishery.”

Under a new water management regime, water in the reservoir is drawn down earlier in the summer. This will concentrate fish in a smaller area near the unscreened outlet and make them more vulnerable to both fishing pressure on the spawning grounds and escaping from the reservoir downstream into the Deschutes River. This will limit the annual production of kokanee and trout. Kokanee begin their spawning migration in late August.

“These fish are vulnerable to anglers who target the spawning kokanee and the trout that follow the kokanee upstream to feed on their eggs,” Hodgson states.

The storage and release of water from the Reservoir has been altered to help protect listed spotted frogs downstream, and to improve the ecological function of the Deschutes River, he said.

“It may be a while before we know what impact the change in water management will have on the spotted frog,” Hodgson said. “But in the meantime we need to be proactive in protecting spawning fish to conserve redband trout populations and to maintain the robust and diverse recreational fishery.”

Area beaches are still producing excellent catches of redtail surfperch when they are fishable. Effective baits include sand shrimp, sand worms, or clams among natural baits and Berkley Gulp Sandworms for an artificial bait. Jetty anglers have had to deal with strong winds and heavy waves, but are doing well on striped surfperch when they are able to fish. The road to Horsfall Beach remains blocked by high water from Horsfall Lake.

A few Chinook salmon to 26 pounds were caught last week in the ocean near Bassendorf Beach south of Charlston. An angler casting from the beach for surfperch hooked and landed a striped bass of about five pounds. As the Coquille River drops and clears, an increasing number of striped bass are being caught in the Arago area.

A few more spring Chinook have been landed by anglers casting spinners from the bank at Half Moon Bay at Winchester Bay. Springer fishing has been very good on the Umpqua River above Scottsburg and a few of the salmon anglers have caught smallmouth bass to at least four pounds on their salmon gear.

Rainy, windy weather has reduced recent fishing pressure on bass and panfish and also had a negative effect on fishing success.

Pete Heley works weekends at the Stockade Market & Tackle in Winchester Bay where he is more than happy to swap fishing info with anyone.

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Few local lakes are scheduled to be planted this week, but many of those lakes were planted last week and are offering fair to good trout fishing. One lake that is slated to receive a trout plant this week is Loon Lake, which is scheduled to receive 1,000 legal rainbows.

Stocking of the Florence-area lakes will resume the second week of April – as will many of the Coos County lakes. Mingus Park Pond will receive its first trout plant of 2,000 legal rainbows during the second week of April. Bluebill Lake won’t receive its first trout plant this year until the first week of May. It might have proved interesting if Bluebill Lake were planted earlier as it is now connected to Horsfall Lake and Horsfall Lake could have easily had its first rainbow trout ever.

Although the area’s best crabbing is at Charlston, ocean crabbing along the entire Oregon coast remains fair to good for the few people actually trying it. Crabbers using very small boats to crab the “Triangle’ area at Winchester Bay are also having fair success. However, those written warnings of last year for not having a Douglas County Parking Pass while crabbing from the Coast Guard Pier are now actual tickets this year.

Although Douglas County most certainly could have done a better job of introducing the pass, it seems to be the trend that every Oregon County is going to have its own required parking pass – and none of them are going to have reciprocal agreements with other Oregon counties. The one recreation pass that everyone age 62 or older should have is the Senior Pass which costs $10.00 and is valid at 100’s of day use areas in the western United States. Area residents can purchase these passes at the Dunes NRA office in Reedsport.

Area options for striped bass anglers would be the mainstem Smith River above where the North Fork enters, the North Fork Smith River from three to five miles above where it enters the Smith. There is a small population of stripers in the Umpqua that hang out in the spring between Bunch Bar and the Scottsburg Bridge. There are a few stripers that unsuccessfully try to spawn just east of the Elk Viewing Area along Highway 38 near the mouth of Deans Creek. Each summer, some adult stripers enter Scholfield Slough after attempting to spawn in the Umpqua.

Oregon’s best striper fishery for the last few years has been the Coquille River. The stretch running from three miles above to three miles below the Arago boat ramp usually has fair numbers in the spring. Many of the stripers will be sublegal fish of less than 24-inches in length but those young stripers ensure that the Coquille River will remain a striper fishery for the next decade. A key factor in this spring fishery is water clarity as the Coquille muddies up quite easily.
The scarcity of 60 degree days has kept the shallows and shoreline water in our local freshwater lakes cool enough to limit their appeal to pre-spawn warmwater fish. Anglers fishing water ten to 15 feet deep are making decent catches of bass, but most anglers do best when a substantial portion of a lake’s fish population is in the easily fished shallows. Even a couple of consecutive 65 degree days could provide a sufficient temperature differential to greatly improve fishing success. One thing I have noticed about the largemouth bass spawn is that the later they move into the shallows, the quicker they finish spawning and scatter.

The same may be true for crappies. In each of the last three years, the crappie spawning period at the Fish Haven dock at the upper end of Loon Lake has been increasingly short.

Winter steelhead angling is definitely winding down. While there are still decent numbers of fish in some of the smaller streams, many of them have already spawned and are in very poor shape. Anglers that have been lucky enough to catch one of the steelhead dumped into Saunders Lake by the STEP chapter operating the Eel Creek fish trap are dismayed by their poor condition.

Most of the yellow perch in our local lakes have finished spawning, but have definitelt not yet put on their post-spawn feedbags.

Offshore bottomfishing at depths deeper than 180 feet (30 fathoms) will close this Friday (March 31st) at midnight. More shallow marine waters will continue to be open. Anglers fishing the ocean for Chinook salmon are not restricted by water depth.

Despite some contrary reports, Steve, the new owner of the Wells Creek Inn told me last week that were continuing the annual Spring Chinook Derby and already had as many people signed up as signed up lasy year. Additionally, there will be a band playing on Friday , Saturday and Sunday of last weekend and this coming weekend. Last weekend, the merchandise for a “completely silent” auction was placed on display at the restaurant and while the band is playing this coming weekend the merchandise will be awarded to the winning bidder. Prizes include a chain saw and a rod and reel outfit with a retail value of $400.

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On Saturday, Feb. 25th, the 26th annual Flyfishing Expo put on by the Lower Umpqua Flycasters will take place between 9 am and 3 pm at the Reedsport Community Center. Admission is free and 26 fly tiers are expected to reveal their expertise to public scrutiny.
This is one of finest free fishing expos held anywhere.

It seems that the ODFW is well aware that they have a “tiger by the tail” – a situation created by a commission vote to allow continued Columbia River gill netting. In fact, there was a meeting held in Salem on Feb. 14th in which the Columbia River Advisory Committee did not allow public testimony. Even more interesting is that an email announcing the Feb. 14th meeting was not sent out until the morning of Feb. 15th. It’s clear that they wanted limited and muted attendance. It’s always a big deal when two states collect millions of dollars for an express purpose and then one of the states decides not to use the monies it has collected for the intended purpose.

It’s a shame that Oregon’s most popular bass tournament, the Frostbite Open held annually on Tenmile Lakes is being held the same day as the Lower Umpqua’s Flyfishing Expo. But an avid angler should be able to attend the expo and still catch the tournament’s weigh-in which will be held near the boat ramp at Osprey Point RV Resort in Lakeside. In the past, this tournament has been tremendously productive and it will surely to be interesting to see what 75 2-man teams of serious bass anglers can pull out of this productive lake. All bass weighed in are quickly returned to the lake. A bass tournament held on Tenmile Lakes last weekend produced bass to 5.87 pounds with only a few teams getting skunked and should serve to ramp up expectations for next Saturday’s Frostbite Open.

I made my second annual trip to Roseburg to purchase my Douglas County Parking Pass. I knew I could send $30 into their office, but since I am a veteran and am entitled to a three dollar discount and determined to not pay a penny more than neccessary, I made the trip. The person I dealt with was quite friendly and very informative. She informed me that someone on active military duty could send a copy of their military ID card with the required $27. Someone with prior military service could send in a copy of their VA card along with the $27. I was also told that Douglas County was looking into making the passes available for purchase at other locations such as Bi-Mart stores. If that included the Florence Bi-Mart (Lane County) it would be most helpful as the only Bi-Marts in Douglas County are in Sutherlin, Winston and Roseburg – all a lengthy drive from the Oregon Coast.

With all the problems Douglas County had during “year-1” of the pass, it is still a better bargain than the Coos County Parking Pass which costs $30, is much more cheaply made, and will not hang from a rear view mirror. With it no longer being required for Powers Pond or Laverne Park, it is only good for parking in the County Park in Lakeside or at Riley’s Ranch in Hauser. The Coos County Parking Pass is not offered at a discount for veterans, but disabled vets can get some free nights at the Riley’s Ranch RV Park after properly registering their disabled status with Coos County.

The Lane County Parking Pass is the standard bearer regarding nearby County Parking Passes. It can be purchased at the Springfield Cabelas or any Lane County Bi-Mart Store. Although they are usually purchased in the sporting goods department – the pass can also be purchased at the front desk in the Bi-Mart store in Florence. The pass costs $40, but people aged 62 or older that have a Senior Pass only have to pay $20 – plus the pass is adhesive (and easily removed) and takes up a less than a three inch square on the lower left corner of a vehicle’s windshield.

It is kind of ironic how many of Oregon’s outdoor recreationists complain when purchasing their ODFW-issued licenses and tags, yet are relatively silent while often spending even more money for parking passes for multiple counties.

Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game will be increasing license and tag fees for 2018, but is asking the state legislature to enact a proposa that should greatly reduce the anger normally associated with such increases. The proposal, named “pricelock” will be unique among wildlife management agencies and will lock in fees for licenses and tags as long as anglers, hunters and trappers purchase their licenses and tags every year without interruption. If someone misses a year, their “pricelock options” would still be available, but at the current, and almost certainly higher, fee structure.

The agency believes that revenues would actually increase since sixty percent of the states licenses and tags are not renewed each year. If approved, the proposal would initially be for three years and then would be evaluated for possible “tweaking”.

What might keep Oregon from considering such a proposal would be a much higher license and tag renewal rate.

Outrage among anglers fishing the lower Deschutes River regarding increased numbers of smallmouth bass has decreased recently when it was revealed that the photo posted online by the Deschutes River Alliance was not a smallmouth bass, but instead a northern pikeminnow – a fish native to the Deschutes and Columbia rivers. It appears that a slight reduction in water temperatures in the lower Deschutes would go a long way towards slowing down the rate of increase in the river’s smallmouth population.

Trout plants for 2017 will begin next week in Coos and Douglas counties. Loon Lake will receive 2,000 legal rainbows while Bradley Lake, Saunders Lake, Johnson Mill Pond and Powers Pond will receive 3,000 legal rainbows each. Lower and Upper Empire lakes will each receive 2,000 12-inch trout. The approximate surface areas of these waters are: Loon Lake (290 acres); Bradley Lake (30 acres); Saunders Lake (55 acres; Johnson Mill Pond (100 acres) and Powers Pond (30 acres). The Empire Lakes are each just under 30 acres.

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Feb. 24th – FEB. 26
KDRV JACKSON COUNTY SPORTSMEN’S and OUTDOOR RECREATION SHOW at the Jackson county fairgrounds IN MEDFORD.
TIME: FRIDAY – NOON – 9pm; Saturday – 10 am – 8 pm; Sunday – 10 am – 5 pm.
ADMIssion: $7.00 (adults); $1.00 (ages 5-11); FREE (children under 5)

FEB. 25TH
LOWER UMPQUA FLYCASTERS FLYFISHING EXPO AT THE COMMUNITY BUILDING IN REEDSPORT
TIME: 9 am – 3 pm
ADMISSION: FREE TO EVERYONE

MARCH 2ND – 5TH
CENTRAL OREGON SPORTSMEN’S SHOW AT THE DESCHUTES COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS IN REDMOND..
TIME: THURSDAY & FRIDAY: NOON – 8 PM; SATURDAY: 10 am – 8 pm and sunday 10 am – 4 pm
admission: $10.00 (adults – 2-day pass for $15.00); $5.00 (ages 6 – 16) FREE ( children under 5)

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The crabbing closure from Coos Bay’s North Jetty to Heceta Head was lifted Feb. 10th – so, once again the entire Oregon coast is open to recreational and commercial crabbing. For how long, one can only guess.

Also on Feb. 10th, following the recommendation of state health agencies, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that it will extend the open area of the commercial rock crab fishery northward to Bodega Bay in Sonoma County.
The commercial rock crab fishery is now open from 38° 18′ N. Lat. (Bodega Bay, Sonoma County) south to the California/Mexico border. Closure of the commercial rock crab fishery north of Bodega Bay shall remain in effect until the Director of OEHHA, in consultation with the Director of CDPH, determines that domoic acid levels no longer pose a significant risk to public health and recommends the fishery be open. In the meantime, CDFW will continue to coordinate with CDPH and OEHHA to test domoic acid levels in rock crab within the closure area of the coast. CDPH, in conjunction with CDFW, has been actively testing crabs since early September. The most recent test results showed that domoic acid in rock crabs from Bodega Bay and Point Reyes had fallen below the alert level of 30 ppm in their viscera.

It seems that our governor is urging ODFW commission members to rethink their vote to allow gill nets to remain in the Columbia River. Perhaps it was the potential loss of millions of dollars in federal aid that Oregon put at risk when it chose to break with the state of Washington in how to manage the 309 miles of the Columbia River Oregon shares with Washington. If Gov. Brown is unhappy with that vote, perhaps she have put more thought into her recent commissionappointments. The Commission will take up this issue at either their scheduled March 17 meeting or at a special meeting before April 4. The huge Columbia River, always difficult to manage properly, will be even more difficult until Oregon and Washington get on the same page.

On Wednesday, Feb. 15th, the Christmas trees collected by the Oregon Coast Anglers and stored at Les Schwab’s will be hauled to Elkton here 14 students will be picked up to assist in placing the trees in Fitzpatrick and Sawyer creeks for habitat enhancement for salmonid smolts. Some larger trees have already been anchored in these streams to make placement of the Chrismas trees easier and more effective. Two ODFW biologists assisted with the project.

On Saturday, Feb. 25th, the annual Expo put on by the Lower Umpqua Flycasters will take place between 9 am and 3 pm at the Reedsport Community Center. Admission is free and 26 fly tiers are expected to reveal their expertise to public scrutiny.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a land acquisition that will add 95 acres to the Coquille Valley Wildlife Area in Coos County during their meeting in Tigard on Feb. 11th. The wildlife area provides wetland habitat for wildlife and outdoor recreation opportunities.
The Nature Conservancy is providing funds to acquire the property.

Stanley Paalksnis, an Onalaska, Wisconsin resident, is looking at losing his fishing privileges for 12 years and fines of $24,683 along with having his fishing boat seized for illegally poaching more than 2,500 panfish. The sentencing is to occur in the near future.
Mr. Paalksnis, aged 74 had his boat and home recently searched by Wisconsin DNR in November 2015 and the wardens seized over 2,500 panfish. The mixed bag included bluegills, crappies and perch putting the man well over the possession limits for each type. Paalksnis also confessed to the illegal sale of fish in Chicago, where he was selling bags for 5 dollars over a 20 year period.
Paalksnis’s biggest mistake was not practicing his unsportsmanlike fishing in the Pacific Northwest on the Columbia River where Washington and Oregon have recently removed all limits on spiny ray fish species.

Florence-area lakes being planted with trout this week include Alder Lake (850 legals); Cleawox (2,000 legals); Dune Lake (500 legals) and Munsel Lake (500 12-inchers). All these lakes received substantial trout plants last week.

Newport-area fishing spots were also planted this week with Olalla Reservoir getting 4,000 legal and 200 15-inch trout and Big Creek Reservoir #1 getting 2,000 legals and Big Creek Reservoir #2 getting 4,000 legals and 100 15-inchers. The north Oregon coast will not receive anymore trout plants until mid-March, but some Coos County and Douglas County waters will begin receiving trout plants in late February.

Yellow perch are in their immediate pre-spawn stage and water temperatures in most of our local lakes are now in the 45 to 50 degree range that usually signals the start of spawning season.

Bassfishing should become productive with slightly warmer weather. Some serious local anglers wait for water temperatures to reach 51 to 55 degrees and that usually occurs earliest on north or west shorelines. Three good early season bass lakes are Siltcoos, Tahkenitch and Tenmile lakes.

Tenmile will host the annual “Frostbite Open” on Saturday, Feb. 25th. The weigh-in will be held at Osprey Point RV Resort after 3 pm. The tournament should be close to its 75 boat limit and the success of these early-season bass experts makes the weigh-in worth watching.

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Now that Christmas is over, don’t pay a “dump fee” to dispose of your used Christmas tree. Oregon Coast Anglers (OCA)will take your tree and use it to create salmon habitat in local area streams. BARE TREES ONLY. No decorations or spray on fake snow.Trees can be dropped off at the back southwest corner of the Reedsport Les Schwab’s store. Look for the signs and the pile of trees. Trees will be collected until the end of January.

People interested in making a tax deductible donation to help offset the project’s fuel costs can make their checks out Oregon Coast Anglers and mail to: OCA, Box 584, Reedsport, OR 97467 or call Stevr Godin at 541-255-3383 for more information.

It seemed like more crabbers than anglers took advantage of last weekend’s “Free Fishing Weekend”. Crabbing success was poor to fair at Winchester Bay and somewhat better at Charlston where a few crabbers complained that they had to work harder than usual to get their limits.

All cabezon are now illegal to keep until July 1st when one cabezon at least 16 inches in length will be legal to keep. However, offshore bottomfishing has been productive when weather and ocean conditions allow it. Bottomfishing in waters deeper than 30 fathoms will remain open through March while bottomfishing in waters less than 30 fathoms is open all year.

Tenmile Creek continues fair for steelhead, but the frosty mornings and limited rainfall during the past week have all the streams in fishable condition. The opening of Eel Creek to steelhead fishing on Jan. 1st should take some of the pressure off Tenmile Creek.

Hunters should be aware that the deadline for reporting hunt results is January 31st. Every hunter who purchased a 2016 deer, elk, cougar, bear, pronghorn or turkey tag needs to report – complete a survey for tag you purchased — even if they didn’t hunt or weren’t successful. Information from hunters who did not hunt or did not harvest an animal is as important as information from those who did take an animal.

A $25 penalty will be assessed for any hunter who fails to report 2016 deer and elk tags by the reporting deadline (Jan. 31, 2017 for most tags). The penalty is paid with the purchase of a 2018 hunting license. It is paid once, regardless of the number of 2016 tags unreported. SportsPac buyers do not need to report on tags that were never issued to them.

There are different ways to report tag results. (1) – Via the Internet by clicking the Report Now button at the top of the appropriate page on the ODFW website. (2) – .Call 1-866-947-ODFW (6339) and speak with a customer service representative who will take your information. (3) – Visit an ODFW office with a computer available for reporting:

Information you need to report includes Hunter/Angler ID number (located on ODFW licenses, tags and applications). If you do not have your tag or license anymore, call 1-866-947-6339 for your Hunter/Angler ID#. This number stays the same year after year so you can also use an old license or tag.

Hunter/Angler ID number (located on ODFW licenses, tags and applications). If you do not have your tag or license anymore, call 1-866-947-6339 for your Hunter/Angler ID#. This number stays the same year after year so you can also use an old license or tag.

The two digit Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) number of the Unit you hunted in most of the time if the hunt area included more than 1 WMU. See map or pages 94-95 of the Oregon Big Game Regulations. The total number of days hunted—including mentoring youth—and the number of days hunted in the WMU hunted most.

A pdf worksheet is available online at the ODFW website for use in report preparation.

Every year state police seem to be especially diligent when it comes to checking licenses and tags – and the reason they do this, is that many outdoor recreationists that intend to purchase said items at the last minute – forget to do so. It’s best to play it safe and purchase fishing and shellfish licenses and combined angling tags early. Doing so may help you avoid getting an expensive reminder.

This tragedy should be of major interest to every would-be ice angler wanting to get an early start to their season. A herd of 41 elk died on the morning of Dec. 27th when they fell through the ice cover while trying to cross Brownlee Reservoir near Richland. According to Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at the ODFW’s office in Baker City, the incident happened around 9 a.m. and was called in by a person who lives near the reservoir.

The elk were trying to cross the reservoir from the north side, about a quarter-mile west of Hewitt Park, when the ice broke in four places, Ratliff said. ODFW officials drove to the area to see if it was possible to save any of the elk or salvage meat, but neither option was possible. The nearest group of elk were 300 yards from shore, and the ice was not stable, Ratliff said.

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Don’t pay a “Dump Fee” to dispose of your used Christmas tree. CCA will take your tree and use it to create salmon habitat in local area streams. BARE TREES ONLY. No decorations or spray on fake snow.

Trees can be dropped off at the back southwest corner of the Reedsport Les Schwab’s store. Look for the signs and pile of trees.

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Don’t pay a “Dump Fee” to dispose of your used Christmas tree. CCA will take your tree and use it to create salmon habitat in local area streams. BARE TREES ONLY. No decorations or spray on fake snow.

Trees can be dropped off at the back southwest corner of the Reedsport Les Schwab’s store. Look for the signs and pile of trees.

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NOTE: This content is automatically by NewsBot1600. If there are any inaccuracies or issues, please let us no through the contact link.