Start counting backwards! Anglers only have one more week to wait until they get to fish the final leg of the general ocean salmon season which takes place in the Oregon Klamath Management Zone (KMZ) from September 3 through September 5.

The second part of the salmon season will start exactly one week from today, on Saturday, September 3 and will last throughout the Labor Day weekend and through Labor Day which this year falls on Monday, September 5.

This second leg of the general ocean salmon season also coincides with the Port of Brookings Harbor's 2016 Slam'n Salmon Ocean Derby which will be taking place on September 3 and September 4. Note that this year's derby is a 2-day event and it will not continue through September 5. Also note that you CANNOT fish for salmon this coming Friday on September 2, which is stated clearly on the Slam'n Salmon web page at slamnsalmon.net.

That being said, the big question folks are asking is, will there be salmon available in the ocean during the derby. I only have three phrases in which to answer that question: 'Most definitely', 'you better believe it', and 'you betcha'! Last year's general ocean salmon season was the worst I had ever seen, yet there were still fish caught during last year's Slam'n Salmon Derby. Why should this year be any different?

Although this year was not a spectacular salmon year by any stretch of the imagination, it was still far better than last year's season. At least there were salmon caught this year, and some people even managed to clock a few limits. So yes, there will be salmon available in the ocean this year. You just have to bring your "A" game to the table.

Bottomfishing Rated Fair to Excellent
Anglers fishing for rockfish, cabezon and lingcod out of the Port of Brookings Harbor last week reported a variety of fishing situations. Some anglers limited out on rockfish and struggled for lingcod, while others limited out on lingcod and struggled for rockfish. But the vast majority of anglers came to the fish-cleaning facility in Brookings with near-limits of both rockfish and lings.

Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing has been making the trek up to House Rock with regularity and has brought back limits of both rockfish and lingcod for his passengers. On some occasions as was the case on Thursday, he ran a combo trip, where Martin first laid out crab traps while his clients then fished for the bottom grabbers. On his way back to port, anglers were treated to some very large Dungeness crab.

Rogue Bay Still Kicking Out Kings
Fishermen trolling the Rogue Bay with spinnerbait/anchovy rigs are still occasionally being rewarded with Chinook salmon ranging from 18 to 34 pounds.

"The fishing has been excellent," said Sam Waller, owner of Jot's Resort in Gold Beach on Thursday. "Bruce Craviotto just came in with 5. Most people are going up toward Indian Creek and he went down toward the jetties and banged 3 out of 4 in about an hour-and-a-half. And Greg Eide had 4 nice fish yesterday. He's been tough to keep up with lately; he's been very consistent."

Ernie Weston and Waller have been grinding it out and getting their fair share of Chinook as well, with most of them being typical fat fall Chinook.

"We're not seeing a lot of fish over 40, although we have had some over 40 (pounds). I wouldn't call this a real big-fish year, but there's a lot of high 20's," remarked Waller. "And there's a lot of jacks (jack Chinook), which is going to be good for next year and the year after that. Like the other day we had three adults and 2 jacks for a total of five fish.

"But there's been some nice big fish too. For instance the other day Ernie and I had 3 big fish and they were all in the mid-twenties. Just beautiful fish."

Jot's sells plenty of tackle and fresh bait for your spinnerbait rigs, which Waller also sells in copious quantities.

"The incoming (tide) bite has been the best bite all year here," notes Waller.

As far as the best spinner blades are to put on your rigs, you can't go wrong with green-on-green.

"The double-green blades on the spinnerbaits are what you see on 80-percent of the guides' rods," emphasizes Waller.

Tight lines!

Larry Ellis, author, writer, columnist and photographer has had a 50-year passion for fishing in California and Oregon's saltwater and freshwater venues. He is a well-known writer for Oregon, Washington and California Fishing and Hunting News, Northwest Sportsman, California Sportsman and Pacific Coast Sportfishing. He currently writes monthly for Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine, and is the author of two books, "Plug Fishing for Salmon" and "Buoy 10, the World's Largest Salmon Run."  Both books can be bought from Amato Publications (amatobooks.com), Amazon and eBay. Ellis particularly loves living in his hometown of Brookings, Oregon - The heart of salmon country and gateway to fishing paradise.