» Outdoors and More

Peter Heley

Recently, there have been both troubling and encouraging statements regarding the new enforcement area associated with bar closures on the lower Umpqua River.

Statements by the Coast Guard affirming that they are the only enforcement agency with authority regarding the location of boats in the lower river was encouraging. A statement that anybody harassed about the location of their boats while on the lower river should call the Coast Guard (541-271-2138) was most encouraging.

Statements that the Coast Guard was only enforcing a river closure up to navigational aid 6 (the upriver end of the jetty) was even more encouraging. But a statement that there was almost the same number of bar closures as in recent years — and therefore, there was little change in enforcement procedure — was misleading and inaccurate.

When the amount of lower river that is attached to a bar closure is nearly doubled, it is a colossal change. The fact that it is not actively being enforced only works if all future users are aware of the practice. The fact is, a different agency, through aggressive use of authority that they didn’t have, has already done major harm to the future economy of Winchester Bay.

I, for one, actually think that the Coast Guard would like to be a good partner in the well-being of Winchester Bay.  But to fully minimize the damage that is already done, the Coast Guard needs to be able to convey more encouraging information to those would-be users from out of the area when they call to see if they can actually come over and participate in the water-based recreation of their choice. I certainly hope they figure out a way to do that. Ports from Charleston to Newport have recently benefited, at Winchester Bay’s expense.

For those of us who have been here for a number of years, there have been a number of changes that have largely gone under the radar — changes that have reduced Winchester Bay’s recreational opportunities.

It wasn’t very many years ago that the Coast Guard allowed salmon and some bottom fish anglers to fish along the upper end of the South Jetty while they waited for a bar restriction or closure to be lifted. It allowed anglers to quickly react to the opening of the bar instead of having to travel 10 miles from Reedsport to cross it.

Until recently, the number of bar closures to vessels more than 40 feet in length was rare. In the last week, the Umpqua River bar has had closures to vessels less than 60 feet in length and another closure to less than 80 feet in length.

One more thing before moving on to happier subjects. If safety is really an important aspect of these restrictions, anglers intending to fish out of Winchester Bay for halibut and tuna need to get an early start if they are going to return to port under safer conditions. In past years, it seems that these anglers were often allowed to leave Winchester Bay quite early, resulting in more pleasurable and safer trips. Can it be that way again?

Monster steelhead

On Sunday, Kelly Purrington weighed in a male steelhead at the Stockade Market that weighed 20 pounds, eight ounces. The monster steelhead was caught from Tenmile Creek below Spin Reel Park at 10 a.m. and wasn’t weighed in until 3 p.m. It almost certainly weighed at least 22 pounds when first caught. Purrington used unscented yarn with no bait added to catch the fish on very light tackle. The jumbo steelhead was certainly an outsize specimen from Tenmile Creek, a stream not known for producing really big steelhead.

An avid local sports angler/commercial fisherman/minister admitted that while fishing his favorite beach area for surfperch, he caught quite a few perch including six doubles. This particular angler often combines plastics with bait and catches a lot of his fish on the hook with the plastic bait on it. Last Thursday, another angler spent only two hours from when he purchased his bait until he was back at the market from which he bought his bait showing off his limit catch. He was fishing the south jetty and was using pieces of prawns.

In three weeks, the first major bass tournament will be held on Tenmile Lakes and if this tournament is like the last few, people watching the weigh-ins will become convinced that good bass fishing can be had in early-season, cold-water conditions.

Trout anglers, unless they are optimistic (and unrealistic) to the point that they think that the planted trout in the area’s smaller lakes have avoided being caught out, should concentrate on the larger lakes where they have native, sea-run and carryover trout.