Great Coho! Bill Monroe

[Fishplay]

We have an excellent forecast ahead of us for both offshore and metro river Coho fishing.

The following is Bill Monroe's work from Thursday's Oregonian. Good job on the article Bill. Thanks for the good news.

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Offshore salmon anglers are guaranteed good news when the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meets April 11 to decide ocean salmon seasons.

All options under consideration push sport fishing coho quotas along the central Oregon Coast three to four times those of 2002. Seasons are almost certain to be a little longer, too.

Between Cape Falcon, near Manzanita, and Humbug Mountain at Port Orford, quotas of hatchery coho range from 60,000 to 80,000 fin-clipped fish.

Fishing would begin from late June to early July and last at least through July and maybe well into August, said Curt Melcher, salmon harvest manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In 2002, fishing opened in early July, but a quota of 22,500 fish was caught by Aug. 2 and the season closed.

"We have much better numbers of wild coho and good ocean conditions," Melcher said.

Plans for coho fishing off the Columbia River mouth, north of Cape Falcon, also offer higher catches and a longer season, with quotas ranging from 75,000 to 112,000 coho and a late-June or early July season beginner that could last through September.

Melcher said fishing probably will start with the usual Friday-Saturday closure but could be opened to seven days later on, maybe as early as mid-August. Fishing will be allowed all week between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain.

Melcher said low numbers of Snake River and lower Columbia fall chinook probably will dictate a one-chinook daily bag limit north of Cape Falcon as well as in the popular Buoy 10 zone inside the river's mouth, which opens Aug. 1.

He said there are no plans to repeat last year's brief chinook-only offshore season out of Columbia River ports.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide on federal salmon rules April 10 in Vancouver. Buoy 10 bonanza: About 500,000 coho, mostly hatchery fish, are predicted to pass Buoy 10.

The prediction in 2002 was for about 250,000 coho, but the final run was higher than 500,000.

Melcher said Oregon has stopped forecasting specific runs into the Clackamas and Sandy rivers because the predictions are so inaccurate.

However, based on preliminary expectations at state and federal hatcheries on both systems, "there will be a bunch," he said. Leave no angler behind: Oregon seems poised to follow Washington's lead on a long-overlooked party-fishing law.

At its April 11 meeting, the Oregon commission is expected to enact a law to allow all licensed anglers on a boat to leave their rods and bait in the water until everyone aboard has caught a limit.

Called party fishing, the practice is legal in Washington and illegal in Oregon, although common practice in the charter fleet.

The law would apply to all boats, including smaller private craft.

Also under consideration is whether to limit the rule to just salmon fishing or applying it to apply to all saltwater fishing, including for bottomfish.

Still under review are boundaries to restrict the practice to saltwater, for example, west of jetty entrances, and whether to apply to part or all of the Buoy 10 zone in the lower Columbia River. Refuges open: Willamette Valley national wildlife refuges reopen Tuesday to public access from sunrise to sunset.

There are some restrictions, but most refuge lands will be accessible and some wintering Canada geese will still be in the valley, staging for their trips north.

William L. Finley -- 10 miles south of Corvallis off Oregon 99W; offers a drive-through auto tour route, hiking trails, information kiosks and the valley's largest elk herd.

Baskett Slough -- Off Oregon 22, west of 99W. Most of the refuge will be open; hiking trails bring visitors close to habitat for the Fender's blue butterfly, an endangered species.

Ankeny -- 10 miles north of Albany, west of Interstate 5; excellent trails and a boardwalk for those in wheelchairs; songbird habitat extraordinaire.

-- Bill Monroe

[Mr. Fisherman]

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Thank You Bill - Keep them cards and letters coming IN.
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