FFP Blog

Published: Saturday, May 22, 2010, 10:00 AM     Updated: Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 2:13 PM

Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail ... keeps Oregon campers from setting sail -- parkas, rain gear, sunscreen and sandals in hand.

With the season's first long weekend at hand next weekend, many of us will shed our cabin fever this week and head for the hills, beaches, desert and lakes.

The state's great outdoors, with a few exceptions, are sodden after a cold, wet spring. Along one of the most popular routes, the Century Drive loop southwest of Bend, almost all of the lakes are ice-free and accessible, although higher elevations still have patches of snow. Elk Lake is the exception, with an opening set for Friday.

Century Drive will open Tuesday, probably after noon, according to the Deschutes County Road Department.

Central Oregon's lake country offers exceptional fishing in the early season, before the water warms and fish leave surface layers to find comfort in the deep.

On the east side of U.S. 97, the road to Newberry Crater is open past Paulina Lake to East Lake, where the ice was expected to melt in the next day or two and anglers have caught a few large brown trout. At least one boat ramp is open at East Lake, and Paulina Lake's ramps have been open for a while.

To the south, Diamond Lake is ice-free, the campgrounds are usable, and large fish are showing up daily at the local resort.

Same for Crescent and Odell lakes.

View full sizeSteven Nehl/The Oregonian/fileThe salmonfly hatch is expected to be about a week earlier than usual this year.Note to you dedicated followers of the world-famous salmonfly hatch on the Deschutes River: Step it up a week.

Jeff Perin of The Fly Fisher's Place in Sisters sent a caution about following the traditional early June hatch of yore.

"The Salmonfly hatch time period, starting in 2010, will begin a new-Normal," he said.

The new smolt passage system in place on Round Butte Reservoir and its dam is taking early-spring water from the surface and mixing it to move salmon and steelhead smolts downriver. That mix is bringing the river's temperatures up slightly, enough to also trigger an earlier salmonfly hatch, by one to two weeks.

Instead of early June, target the hatch this week and next, Perin suggested.

"The fisheries biologist ... told me three years ago this would happen, and I can see he was absolutely correct," Perin said. "There will be a lot of surprised people coming to the Deschutes next month only to find out they missed the salmonfly hatch."

Coastal travelers will find all the usual spring awakenings -- last of the good crabbing before the summer soft-shell season; offshore bottom fish and lingcod fishing and the opening of offshore chinook salmon fishing Saturday along the central coast (coho must be released).

Camping on the coast is a little problematic if you depend on Oregon State Parks. Half of the system's excellent campgrounds are reservation-only and typically booked far in advance. The other half are first-come for those who get an early start this week. The listings are on the State Parks website. Few are on the coast, however.

Boaters and anglers on the Willamette and Santiam rivers may want to avoid races scheduled this weekend in the Newberg area (Willamette) and Saturday from Lebanon to near Jefferson on the South Santiam River. 

Speaking of salmon: As if the hunter-orange hot button and big-game tags weren't enough to occupy the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission at its June 4 meeting, sharp restrictions in fall chinook fishing will be considered for the Nestucca and Nehalem river systems.

One option would close the lower bays and bars to all salmon fishing.

Details are online at www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing (look for the heading "2010 Coastal Fall Chinook and Coho Recommendations"). 

– Bill Monroe