Sport anglers will see another full summer ocean fishing season for chinook salmon that is similar to last year’s, opening on Memorial Day weekend and running through Labor Day weekend.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council this week set the sport and commercial salmon seasons off the Oregon, Washington and California coasts.
From Humbug Mountain near Port Orford to the California border, recreational salmon fishing will open May 25 and run through Sept. 2, a 14-week season that’s one day longer than last year.
The two-chinook daily limit is unchanged.
Anglers fishing out of Southern Oregon ports also will take advantage of a solid season on fin-clipped hatchery coho salmon as part of the statewide fishery set to open June 22 and run through Aug. 25, or earlier if the 90,000-coho quota is met.
The Southern Oregon ports of Brookings and Gold Beach are in the Oregon portion of the Klamath Management Zone, which has its seasons set independently by the council.
In some years, anglers fishing out of the Port of Brookings-Harbor land the most chinook of any port.
While Klamath River and Sacramento River chinook are considered overfished, each option floated by the council would meet chinook-spawning goals for those two rivers, according to the council.
Klamath, Sacramento and Rogue River chinook mill about together in the ocean, so seasons are crafted to protect the weakest of the stocks even if others are faring well.
Bear Creek cleanup
Rogue Riverkeeper will ring in Earth Day by running a cleanup project Saturday on Bear Creek near Ashland.
Volunteers will meet at 9 a.m. at the Bear Creek Greenway off Highway 99 north of Valley View Road. They will fan out to collect trash along both sides of the creek for about a mile, says Robyn Janssen, of Rogue Riverkeeper.
Gloves and tools will be provided, and volunteers should wear appropriate shoes and clothes they don’t mind getting dirty.
For more information, call Rogue Riverkeeper at 541-488-9831.
One-day fly-casting class
Expert fly-casting instructor John MacDiarmid will hold a free, one-day class on casting flies aimed at beginners and novices looking to catch steelhead and trout, including fishing during the Rogue River’s spring stonefly hatch in late May and June.
The course will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at the Madrone Hill Mobile Home Park, 8401 Old Stage Road, near Gold Hill. It is limited to 12 students.
The coursework will focus on how to fish stonefly imitations during the stonefly hatch that runs late May and June.
There is an optional $10 fee for a book called “The Curtis Creek Manifesto,” which will be available.
Participants must preregister for the class. To do so, email johnmmacdiarmid@gmail.com.
Note: This article was corrected to clarify that it is a fly-casting class, not a fly-tying class.
Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or mfreeman@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MTwriterFreeman.
