Welcome To Bandon Visitors Guide 2010

• Fishing a popular pastime

Published: Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 Fishing a popular pastime Try your luck fishing offshore or, if you prefer, onshore at numerous lakes, streams and bays along Oregon's South Coast.

Reel in tasty surf perch or striped bass along Bandon's beaches year-round. For the adventurous who are up for a fight, striped bass fishing along the South Jetty is sure to yield fish stories to thrill the folks back home.

Chartered offshore fishing trips are available locally through Prowler Charters from May through October. The company's office is located on the Port of Bandon's High Dock along First Street Southeast in Old Town. It offers fishing opportunities for ocean halibut, ling cod, snapper, tuna, coho salmon and other species.

No Chinook salmon fishing is allowed off the South Coast in 2008 due to dwindling Sacramento (Calif.) River fall stocks. The offshore coho season is open here from June 22 through Aug. 31 or until a 9,000-fish quota is reached. The bag limit is two fin-clipped coho per day.

Bay crabbing is allowed all year, but females and soft-shelled specimens must immediately be released back into the water. The port's crab dock, located opposite the boardwalk, with access near the launch ramp, is one of the most popular fishing and crabbing docks on the coast. Fishing licenses are required in Oregon for crabbing and clamming.

Licenses are available at local hardware stores and from the Port 'O' Call and Bandon Bait & Tackle on the waterfront. These two businesses also offer crab pots, fishing tackle, bait, boat rentals and other necessities for beginners and experienced anglers and crabbers - in addition to the best advice on which fishery is currently hot in local waters.

Crabbers can visit Tony at the Port 'O' Call to have their catch cooked; he also sells live crab, so the less fortunate don't have to go home empty-handed.

Great stream fishing opportunities are available on the Coquille and Millicoma rivers in Coos County, and on the Sixes, Elk, Rogue, Pistol, Chetco and New rivers in Curry County. Anglers also are invited to try their luck on the Umpqua and Smith rivers in Douglas County.

Steelhead fishing is excellent in Southwestern Oregon, with angling opportunities available on Tenmile and Fourmile creeks in Coos County, and at Floras Creek and Floras Lake in Curry County.

Legal-size rainbow trout are planted periodically in the area's dune lakes by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The lakes are open year-round.

Shad and sturgeon fishing are generally good on the Coquille River in the spring, while steelhead, bass, perch, flounder, smelt, trout, bottom fish, crab and other species await the bait in area lakes, streams and bays, as well as along the surf line and in the ocean's depths.

Anglers should check Oregon regulations and licensing requirements before casting a line. Remember to stay legal, and enjoy some of the best fishing in the Pacific Northwest.



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