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Tenmile: Cool Coastal Weekend, Settled High & Dawn Mat Edges
Tenmile Lake & North Tenmile · Fri Oct 2 – Sun Oct 4, 2026 · bank / kayak / boat · times PT
Coastal dunes freshwater keeps early-October cool — pack a shell for the mid-50° dawn, fish the first mat and reed line before the sun climbs over Lakeside, and let yellow perch chatter tip which North Tenmile arms still hold honest Tenmile largemouth.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK
NWS Medford (MFR) middle-band corridor forecast (MFR 77,148), pulled early Friday morning, keeps the Lakeside / Tenmile corridor under a quiet dry pattern with cool nights and mid-60s days. Friday opens partly sunny with a high near 66°F after an overnight low near 54°F, north wind 6–12 mph, and no rain in the forecast; Friday night settles near 53°F. Saturday repeats near 66°F / overnight low near 53°F, partly sunny, north breeze 5–10 mph. Sunday nudges to near 67°F / overnight low near 53°F, partly sunny, north wind 5–9 mph. No active NWS watches or warnings for the corridor at the early-Friday pull. Nearby coast METAR KOTH ~30.04 inHg around 4 AM PT Friday — a settled high over natural dunes lakes.
For largemouth: lean the low-light mat edges, reed pockets, and secondary channels hard while nights stay in the mid-50s, then expect a morning-shallow / midday-slide pattern as highs work the mid-60s under partly sunny skies. Cool air should keep bait and bass honest on the first grass line, North Tenmile cuts, and shaded mats before the sun climbs. North breeze favors a light windward rip along thicker mats after late morning — protect the dawn window, then slide to lee mats and dredge-cut edges. Soft recreational pressure on Tenmile itself — no named Tenmile Lakes trail event Fri–Sun; Sat Oct 3 Tenmile Bass Club runs at nearby Siltcoos, not here. Looking ahead: Umpqua Valley Bassmasters at Tenmile Oct 17.
Friday Oct 2
- Partly sunny
- Sunrise 7:14 AM · Sunset 6:58 PM PT
- Best bite: first light–~9:30 AM PT on Lakeside mats and reed edges; midday thicker mats and dredge cuts
Saturday Oct 3
- Partly sunny
- Sunrise 7:15 AM · Sunset 6:56 PM PT
- Best bite: dawn in North Tenmile arms; midday lee mats once recreational traffic builds on the main bowl
Sunday Oct 4
- Partly sunny
- Sunrise 7:16 AM · Sunset 6:54 PM PT
- Best bite: first light–mid-morning on lee reeds; midday windward rip along thicker mats if the breeze stacks bait
Bite tie-in
Cool nights + dry high = morning largemouth on mat edges, reed pockets, and the first channel cuts where yellow perch and crappie mark, then a midday slide to thicker mats and shaded wood as the sun climbs. Keep a compact swim jig or creature ready when panfish chatter tips active mats — that is still Tenmile’s honest early-October menu.
DAM & CURRENT / GENERATOR SCHEDULE CHEAT SHEET
Tenmile Lake and North Tenmile are natural coastal freshwater dunes lakes — there is no USACE dam face and no hydropower unit board. Treat this cheat sheet as wind, level, and access context, not a generation schedule. Live USGS lake-elevation IV was thin at the early-Friday pull; natural lakes can nudge with wind set-up and recent rain without a dam release story.
| Source | Live pull (Fri Oct 2 early PT) | What it means this weekend |
|---|---|---|
| Lake level context USGS lake elev · natural dunes lakes |
Thin at pull — no fresh instantaneous lake elev IV posted on scraped USGS endpoints | Honest thin board this cycle. Mats and channel edges typically still reach bank and kayak water in early October; confirm Lakeside ramp and dock access if wind has piled water on one shore overnight. |
| Access failover City of Lakeside / Coos County park notices |
Confirm ramps, docks, and reed-edge bank lanes before you trailer | Natural lakes change feel with wind set-up more than dam schedules — walk the dock briefly if whitecaps stacked overnight on the main bowl. |
| Wind / whitecaps NWS MFR Lakeside corridor |
Fri–Sun north 5–12 mph typical under the dry high | Main Tenmile bowl gets nasty fast when whitecaps stack — stay in protected arms, North Tenmile cuts, and lee mats rather than forcing open-water crossings. |
Failover before launch: City of Lakeside / Coos County park notices · local marina boards · NWS MFR Lakeside forecast. Soft level→bite only — early-fall mats still hold fish even without a live elev number.
Lakeside · mats & reeds
Public docks, reed edges, and the first mat line off Lakeside fish a classic early-fall Tenmile pattern: yellow perch and crappie in the mats early, then bass sliding to thicker edges and dredge cuts as the sun climbs.
North Tenmile arms
Secondary channels and North Tenmile cuts favor kayak and small boat when the main bowl kicks up. Calm dawn pockets favor quiet topwater; the north breeze favors a windward rip along thicker mats after mid-morning.
HOW TO FISH IT — BANK / KAYAK / BOAT
Bank
Shared: Cool Friday–Sunday mornings reward a shell and PFDs on any wet dock; respect private docks and stay on public reed edges. Start on Lakeside public docks and reed lines before picnic traffic, then rotate to reachable North Tenmile channel swings where mats still kiss the bank. Dawn walking a shadowed mat edge with a buzzbait or compact frog covers water under the partly sunny high; once the sun climbs Saturday–Sunday, slow down with a green-pumpkin creature or Texas-rig worm along visible mat holes and dock posts near the day-use lanes.
Kayak
Launch Lakeside ramps when you want short paddles into skinny mats and secondary channels without a long open-water crossing. On calmer dawn pockets Friday–Sunday, work the lee side of reed islands and the first mat line with a ⅜-oz swim jig or squarebill, then slide a soft stickbait through yellow perch pockets if fish are sipping. Give bigger boats the main-bowl lanes after late morning, especially once weekend recreational traffic and the light north breeze stack whitecaps on the open flats.
Boat
Lakeside ramps put you closest to classic fall Tenmile transitions: mat fields, dredge cuts, and North Tenmile channel swings where panfish pull largemouth. Idle the first hour on a frog or waking bait along mat edges, then slide to thicker mats and 4–10 ft weed lines with a punch rig or flipping stick as the sun climbs. Confirm ramp and dock feel if trailer depth looked skinny last trip — natural lakes shift with wind set-up week to week. Weekend recreational traffic builds by late morning even without a trail blast-off on Tenmile itself.
LURE BOX
Top
- Compact frog (black / white) over mats
- Buzzbait on shaded reed edges
- Walking bait in slick dawn pockets
Mid
- ⅜ oz swim jig (green pumpkin / perch)
- Squarebill along wood and mat holes
- Spinnerbait (white/chart) if the north breeze stacks a rip
- Soft stickbait for pressured mats
Bottom
- Texas-rig creature in mat holes
- Punch rig / flipping stick in thicker mats
- Ned or light jig on dredge-cut rock
- Wacky stickbait when fish suspend off edges
Stain / clear match: Darker profiles in stained North Tenmile backs after any leftover runoff; translucent perch, green-pumpkin, and black/blue on clearer main-bowl mats. Tie colors to yellow perch / crappie and crawfish first.
BASS LIFE STAGE
Early-fall transition on the Tenmile dunes lakes. Cooler nights in the mid-50s and a dry high should pull largemouth onto mat edges, reed pockets, and the first channel cuts while keeping them honest around wood and dredge cuts. Fish are not locked on a winter deep stack yet — treat this as a morning-shallow, midday-slide pattern as highs sit in the mid-60s. Skip the spawn talk; that chapter is closed.
What’s on the menu: Dated hatch reports for this exact window are thin. Most-likely forage this weekend is yellow perch and crappie in the mats and reed edges, with crawfish on harder dredge-cut bottom once the sun climbs, and leftover juvenile baitfish wherever birds tip a school. Start on perch-profile swim jigs and creatures; keep a craw-colored jig ready for cut transitions midday.
ALSO HOT / ALSO IN SEASON
Yellow perch · crappie
Tenmile’s calling card when the mats still hold schools — keep a small jig or soft plastic ready along Lakeside reed edges and North Tenmile cuts. Soft language only; confirm seasons and creel on the live ODFW page before you keep fish.
Brown bullhead · panfish mix
Bullhead and mixed panfish matter on soft-bottom edges and night bites for mixed bags, especially after dark Friday. Same access rules as bass — legal bank and ramp water only.
Crowd / Heavy Traffic
No named Oregon club / trail event pulled for Fri Oct 2 – Sun Oct 4 on Tenmile Lakes. Nearby Saturday: Tenmile Bass Club at Siltcoos Lake (coast peer, not Tenmile) — expect some trailer traffic on Hwy 101, not a blast-off here. Looking ahead: Umpqua Valley Bassmasters at Tenmile Oct 17. Expect normal weekend recreational traffic at Lakeside — earlier launch still beats the picnic crowd.
Looking ahead
NWS trend stays dry into early next week with highs near the mid-60s — classic early-October Tenmile mornings if nights stay cool and mats keep holding perch. Heavy Traffic this weekend stays on Siltcoos / Lower Columbia / John Day Pool — none named Tenmile at the early-Friday pull. Next Cast: Monday window.
Pure-Gas.org E0 · this water
Ethanol-free stations near the Lakeside / Tenmile corridor (no pump prices).
- Ringo’s Lakeside Marina — 325 S 8th St, Lakeside, OR (~2.1 mi) · ethanol-free UNBRANDED 92 on Pure-Gas.org — verify grade
- Vp Performance Fuel — 72327 U S Hwy 101, Lakeside, OR (~3.4 mi) · ethanol-free SHELL 92 on Pure-Gas.org — verify grade
- Wagon Wheel Groc — 69845 Wildwood Rd, North Bend, OR (~4.6 mi) · ethanol-free UNBRANDED 92 on Pure-Gas.org — verify grade
- Salmon Hbr Marina — 100 Ork Rock Rd, Winchester Bay, OR (~8.7 mi) · ethanol-free UNBRANDED 92 on Pure-Gas.org — verify grade
Stations from Pure-Gas.org OR list (saved for this water). Listings move — verify literal E0 / ethanol-free grade at the pump. No pump prices published in this Cast.
Sources: NWS Medford (MFR) middle-band corridor forecast grid MFR 77,148 · METAR KOTH · natural dunes-lake level context (USGS elev thin at pull) · City of Lakeside / Coos County access · orbass.com Oregon master schedule · Pure-Gas.org ethanol-free station directory · ODFW Northwest Zone recreation report (live regs). Schedules change — confirm ramps, docks, and the forecast before launch.
Freshwater Cast · Friday Cast · Tenmile Lake & North Tenmile · Fri Oct 2 – Sun Oct 4, 2026 · drafted Fri Oct 2, 2026 ~6:45 AM PT