Popular boat ramp re-opens for fall salmon angling, Sept. 3

There is good news for Millicoma River anglers: the popular Rooke-Higgins boat ramp re-opened in time for fall Chinook angling. The boat ramp is on the upper tidewater section of the river about seven miles east of the city of Coos Bay. The ramp closed a few years ago when a lease between the former landowner and Coos County expired. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wild obtained Sport Fish Restoration grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a Boating Facilities grant from the Oregon State Marine Board to purchase the property for public access and boat launching. The Coos County Parks Department made upgrades and repairs, including replacing the bumper rails, clearing accumulated mud from the lower ramp, and installing new signs. The county also will manage the facility and hopes to replace the restrooms and floats in the future. Anglers will have greater access to the fall Chinook salmon in the Coos Basin now that the boat ramp has re-opened. The fall fishery began in mid-August in the lower bay and moves toward upper tidewater with the rains of late September and early October. The fish eventually make their way to freshwater streams to spawn in late fall and winter.