Posted by Webmaster on Sep 24, 2009 in
General 
Emergency closure: At 11:59 p.m. last night the wild coho fishery on the Coos River system was closed. We had a large number of coho caught on the bar and also in the river this past week, and we reached our 1,000 fish quota. The Coquille River has taken approximately 10 percent of the 1,500 fish quota and the coho are just starting to show up in better numbers in this fishery. You may still retain fin-clipped coho in both rivers.
Tags: closed, coho, salmon, season
Posted by Webmaster on Sep 23, 2009 in
In The News 
PORTLAND (AP) – Dozens of large squid are reportedly washing up dead on the central Oregon coast near Heceta Head.
Oregon State Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Havel said his office is hearing reports of dozens of what are probably Humboldt squid. He says they’re typically much more common in warmer waters around Santa Cruz, Calif.
Humboldt squid have also showed up recently in waters off the Washington coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington state and British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. Commercial fishermen in the strait complained the giant squid were grabbing the salmon right off their hooks. The Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife has allowed the fishermen to sell the squid they accidentally catch as they troll for salmon.
NOAA oceanographer Kent Baltz from Santa Cruz said earlier that a “strong hypothesis” for why the squid have moved north is that the ocean water is warmer than usual.
Tags: beaches, humbolt, migrating, Oregon, red devils, squid
Posted by Webmaster on Sep 22, 2009 in
General PORTLAND (AP) — The state Department of Agriculture has closed the entire Oregon coast to recreational mussel and clam harvesting because of the risk of toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning.
Agency spokesman Bruce Pokarney said Monday that most of the north and central coast had already been closed to mussel harvesting and the state has banned razor clam harvesting since midsummer for conservation reasons.
The conservation closure ends Oct. 1, but clamming will remain off-limits until toxin levels subside. The agency will test for toxins weekly, as tides permit.
Pokarney says crab is not affected by the level of toxin and is safe to eat.
Shellfish contaminated with PSP toxins can cause minor to severe illness. Symptoms usually start with the tingling of the mouth and tongue. Severe poisoning can result in dizziness, numbness and paralysis.
Tags: clams, closed, Coast, harvesting, mussels, Oregon, toxins
Posted by Webmaster on Sep 18, 2009 in
Fishing Local lakes: We’ve experienced our regular large fall hatch of flying termites in the past week. Look for rainbow trout and pan fish to be feeding on the surface. Anglers fly fishing in the early evenings have been reporting good action on local lakes and ponds. Matching the recent hatch is a sure way of getting a bite. Anglers trolling the lakes might want to slow-troll a fly behind the wake of their boats.
Local rivers: Fall Chinook fishing on the South Coast is still in full swing. Rough bar conditions over the weekend slowed the bite down a bit, but by early in the week, new schools of fish started to move into the lower Rogue and Coquille rivers.
Local river guide Rick Howard (347-3280) had a great weekend fishing the Coos River near the Marshfield Channel. He and his clients had a 14-fish day trolling on the Coos on Saturday. Anglers are reporting good coho salmon fishing mooching near the Coos Bay bar in Charleston. Anglers mooching the bar at Winchester Bay have been catching coho and some king salmon. The majority of the coho have been natives and have to be released in the Umpqua River system. Jon Vining of Bandon caught a nice 27-pound king salmon on the lower Coquille recently. Early this week, we weighed 36.5- and 48-pound kings that had been caught by trollers on the lower Coquille, as well. My baby brother, Bob Roszkowski, caught three nice jack salmon last week on the Coquille. I guess there’s hope for all of us.
There is still a large number of jack salmon being caught on the Coos and Coquille systems. A few coho are starting to move into the Coquille River. Remember: This fall you can keep one non-fin-clipped coho per day and five per year until the 1,500-fish quota is met. Summer steelhead fishing on the middle Rogue River is starting to pick up. Anglers fishing below Agness are catching plenty of half-pounders, with a few big fish mixed in. One angler reported catching a 6-pound summer steelhead last weekend.
John from Turman Tackle is reporting a good sturgeon bite on the lower Umpqua River near Scottsburg. This can be a great time of year to hook a sturgeon on the South Coast. Anglers fishing for salmon add to the sturgeons’ diet by re-baiting and leaving lots of herring behind.
Pacific Ocean: Rough ocean conditions kept most boats in port over the weekend. By early week, the ocean had calmed down and anglers were concentrating their efforts on rock cod. Sunday, Sept. 13, was the last day anglers could retain cabezon, which will remain closed on the ocean until Jan. 1. Salmon fishing south of Humbug Mountain also closed on Sept. 7. The only reports coming in on the ocean coho season north of Humbug Mountain have been from the Port of Newport, where anglers are still catching a few coho. Good ocean conditions also have anglers going offshore for albacore, which have remained in the range of 30 to 50 miles offshore. Area shellfish: Boaters crabbing in Coos Bay and the bay at Bandon are still bringing in some nice Dungeness crab. Boaters crabbing the ocean are reporting great crabbing and an awesome quality of crab. A series of minus tides this week is good news for bay clammers. With the swell coming down, look for beach clammers to target local razor clams.
(Tony Roszkowski has owned and operated Port O’ Call — TonysCrabShack.com — on the Bandon waterfront since 1989. Many South Coast anglers rely on his fish and shellfish reports. Hear more from Tony on ‘Oregon Outdoors’ Thursdays on KWRO 630 AM.)
Tags: Bandon, Crabbing in Oregon, fishing report, ocean, shellfish
Posted by Ocean Harvester on Sep 11, 2009 in
Fishing,
General,
Ocean Harvest,
Recipes 
Diablo Roja up close thanks National Geographic
What horrors from below haunt the dreams of Captain Nemo? Diablo Rojo – the Red Devil – stalking fish, man and beast alike in and among our Oregon Coastal Waters, voracious and aggressive sometimes topping 100 lbs and 7 feet long the Humboldt Squid (Dosidicus gigas) is on summer holiday looking for a snack. They can swim up to 20 mph and use their tooth lined tentacles to grab their prey (including divers!) and gnosh on them with an impressive beak. They are called red devil because they flash red and white when attacking or getting hauled up on the boat.
Squid Washing up on Victoria Island
Once confined (more or less) to southern waters near Mexico and the Sea of Cortez these monsters have been moving north over the years following the warm waters associated with El Neno first showing up in Northern California and now more and more in Oregon and Washington waters. On the Harvester we hooked a Humboldt in 2001-2002 albacore season and brought it in to show off and nobody had ever seen one before. What was once rare is now common for us up north. Here they are washed up on the shore up in Victoria British Columbia, which even a few years ago would never have happened.
Video: Night Jigging for Humboldt Squid on The Harvester
A lot of tuna boats and sports boats jig for squid at night, but you can catch them in the day too if they are around. Most people cut them up for bait (which they do make great bait) but they’re pretty tasty too if you prepair them right.
The key to eating a Humboldt is to make sure to skin them really good — that outer membrane is really tough then cut them into strips across the grain (like you would a flank steak). Then I usually put them on skewers and marinate in sweet chili sauce (Vietnamese or or similar flavors) and grill fast and hot. Gotta cook it quick or its tough as nails and cutting against the grain helps on that front too. You could also bread with panco or batter and deep fry like Calamari. Just don’t over cook them or you’ll be eating rubber.
Eating the tentacles is hit or miss. We’ve been meaning to smoke a bunch up with teriyaki or soy sauce mix but haven’t had the time to try that out.
So if you are buying fresh tuna off the docks ask around if anyone has a fresh Humboldt and give it a shot, or maybe catch one of your own!
Keep fishing,
The Harvester Crew
Tags: humboldt squid, Tuna Fishing
Posted by Webmaster on Sep 8, 2009 in
Crabbing in Oregon This weekend was a great one for crabbing in Bandon. Due to the weather I wasn’t able to go out on a planned fishing trip so we went crabbing off of the docks in Bandon.
Armed with 5 crab rings and a crab trap we set out for my favorite spot, the middle of the dock. We added turkey to all of our rings and traps and a squirt of Gulp Alive Spray (Herring Flavor) and threw them in.
I can’t tell you 100% that the Gulp spray made all the difference but I do know no one on the docks was doing very good on Friday night and Sunday night but we managed to pull in 36 keepers in about 8 hours of crabbing.
Read more…
Tags: bait, Bandon, Crabbing in Oregon, Gulp, turkey
Posted by Webmaster on Sep 2, 2009 in
Fishing,
General 
As the water termperatures continue to cool down, the fall Chinook salmon will continue to work their way into the Rogue River.
Michael Becker, of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in Gold Beach, said the waters are about 67 degrees currently, and more Chinook will move upriver as the temperature decreases.
About 35 to 50 catches of fall Chinook per day are being reported, Becker said, and numbers look normal for this time of year. The two-year-old jacks are also starting to appear.
Becker said that the bay still is best for fishing, but steelhead fishing is beginning to slow down, although you can still catch some adult summer steelhead. Becker said it’s important to make sure that the steelhead are fin-clipped.
Many 16 to 20 pound fish are available in the area, as well as three-year-old fish, Becker said. One person reported catching a 481?2 pound fish.
The ocean should be good for fishing next weekend, Becker said, when the waters are calm. Fish for bottom fish, especially lingcod.
Tags: Chinook, fishing, Rogue River
