Recreation Report

Best bets for holiday fishing

• Coast cutthroat trout can be found in almost all rivers and streams along the coast. The Trask River historically has had the best numbers of fish. The Kilchis has the best bank access.
• Summer steelhead are available in the Nestucca and Wilson rivers.
• Bass fishing has been good just about anywhere in the Umpqua Basin recently. Anglers should consider places like Ford’s Pond and Cooper Creek Reservoir.
• Bass fishing at Lost Creek Lake also can be very good this time of year.
• Places like Henry Hagg Lake, Detroit Reservoir and Foster Lake continue to boast good trout fishing because they have deeper, cooler waters for trout to retreat to during the warmer parts of the day.
• This is a great time of year to fish the high elevation, hike-in lakes. The fishing stays good throughout the summer. Learn more about this fishery.
• Anglers have been enjoying some very good trout fishing on several eastside lakes and reservoirs, including Yellowjacket, Delintment, Malheur, Anthony, Balm Creek and Fourmile.
• If ocean conditions permit, the ocean salmon season is open along much of the coast.

You’ll find more of the best fishing opportunities listed at the top of each zone in the Recreation Report.

Weekend watching opportunities

• Burrowing owls near Agate Lake in Jackson County.
• Sandhill cranes and their colts at the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area.
• Mountain goats in the Strawberry Mountains, just above Little Strawberry Lake.
• Short-eared owls near Ladd Marsh.
• Mourning doves throughout the Rogue Valley.

Our Wildlife Viewing map lists hundreds of places to see wildlife in their native habitat.

How to hunt this fall if you didn’t draw a tag

For those that didn’t draw a big game tag, here are 7 tips for having a full hunting season this fall.

Take a hunter education class

Upcoming hunter education field days and traditional classes have resumed and are now being posted. Check out the list of upcoming classes.