Rob DeHarpport's outdoor report: Not much new snow on the mountains, but ice fishing is great! • Highway 58 Herald

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Ice fishers camp on a frozen Diamond Lake with Mt. Thielsen in background Rob DeHarpport photo

By ROB DeHARPPORT/For The Herald — As January is soon to be in our rear-view mirror, our winter recreation forecast at the moment has taken a bleak turn.

Recent long-range weather forecasts have been predicting more moisture and snow in the Cascades. Those forecasts have been turned on their head in the last 24 hours. Earlier forecasts had been optimistically predicting another foot of snow in the Cascades. this is needed due to the clear cold weather since our last snowfall. Unfortunately, the most recent forecasts have revised the optimistic forecast to only a couple of inches during the first week of February.

Snow in February?

This is bad news for skiers, snowmobilers, farmers as well our forests. Each day that we proceed into February without additional snowfall does not bode well for our reservoirs and all of the above mentioned.

Thankfully, our snowfall in December was sufficient to keep the snowpack at near normal levels at this point in time.

Ice fishing at Diamond Lake

Here at Crescent Lake, we have seen our official snowpack from an early January amount of 48″ at the Crescent Lake snow gauge drop to a steady 30″ in the last few weeks. The snow that wasn’t reduced by early January rain and sunny days is very firm and solid. Neither are good news for skiers or snowmobilers. Nighttime temperatures that have hovered around 10° have helped maintain what we have.

Kim Kinnan-Laugsand with fish caught at Diamond Lake. Rob DeHarpport photo

Ice fishing has been good at Diamond Lake, Lake of the Woods and a few other high elevation lakes, thanks again to cold nights near the 10° mark. Always be sure of a sufficient ice over all lakes before venturing out on it!

There is a Facebook page, Oregon Ice Fishing, that shares ice fishing tips and ice conditions at several lakes. Recent reports are good for fishing success and ice conditions at Diamond Lake and Lake of the Woods.

Fishing on the Oregon Coast

Elsewhere, on the Coast, those who are able to venture out onto the ocean are reporting excellent lingcod fishing. Steelhead fishing remains dependent on river conditions and the strength of the runs on various rivers. Let’s hope for some more snow and an extended Winter. We need it!

Rob DeHarpport, former mayor of Westfir, moved to the Crescent Lake community in 2015 shortly after retiring from a 31-year career in the trucking industry.

George Custer

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George Custer lives in Oakridge with his wife Sayre. George is a former smokejumper from his hometown of Cave Junction, a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. and ran a construction company in Southern California. George assumed the volunteer duties as the Editor of the Highway 58 Herald in 2022. He loves riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, building all things wood, and playing drums on the weekends in his office.

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