Idaho Fish Report

Streams and rivers are open to trout fishing until Oct. 31. Anglers are allowed to use bait in streams above tidewater starting Sept. 1. Anglers may harvest two trout per day that are a minimum of 8 inches long.

Anglers were catching Chinook salmon from the BLM boat ramp in the lower estuary up through the Coos River and South Fork Coos River. The bite was best a couple hours before the slack tides. A few wild coho have been caught lately. There is not a wild coho season inside Coos Bay this year so all wild coho must be released but anglers may keep an adipose fin-clipped hatchery coho. Salmon anglers are having the best luck trolling cut plug herring behind a flasher.

As of Monday, Sept. 18, fishing for lingcod, rockfish, cabezon, greenling or other bottomfish are closed because the quotas for several species have been reached. This includes the ocean along with bays and estuaries.

Crabbing continues to be good for those crabbing from a boat and from the docks in Charleston. Crabbing has been best near Charleston but legal crab can be caught all the way up the bay to the BLM boat ramp off of the North Spit. There was a mixture of hard and soft shelled legal Dungeness crab.

Recreational harvest of bay clams remains open along the entire Oregon coast. Clamming is excellent during low tides near Charleston, off Cape Arago Highway, and Clam Island. There are also good places to dig clams even on positive low tides in Coos Bay.

The recreational harvest of razor clams is CLOSED from Cascade Head to the California Border for elevated levels of domoic acid. This includes all beaches and all bays. Recreational harvesting of mussels is open along the entire Oregon coast. Before any shellfish harvest trip, make sure to check the Oregon Department of Agriculture website for any updates.