Valley of the Rogue State Park... more Steelie Fishing

I was pretty sure last night before I turned in that I was going to wake up and try my hand at some fishing today... supposedly the steelhead fishing on the Rogue is still pretty good, though my last trip out yielded no fish. I hadn't really decided where to go but I had a dream last night...no joke. In that dream I was landing fish after fish at Valley of the Rogue State Park, just north of Gold Hill, so I awoke with the urge to get there as soon as I could this morning.

From Ashland it's about a 25 minute drive and right off I-5. There's a really nice rest area as well as an RV park, yurts you can rent, boat ramp, and camping. I spent a fair amount of time there this fall while doing the Salmon Watch Program and had scouted out (and have since fished) a few nice riffles there at the park. One is behind the restrooms and the other is downstream from there a few hundred yards. There's not a lot of great water back there to hold fish but I figured in what little there is, I could bring my dream to fruition and be landing fish all morning... unfortunately, that wasn't the case. However, it was a beautifully eerie morning with the heavy fog and very relaxing. After 3 hours without a bite, I decided I'd call it a morning and find some coffee somewhere... wading the Rogue this time of year is a pretty chilly endeavor!

It's getting to be that time of year where I think more and more about switching gears and going to play in the snow... one nice thing about living here is that you never really have to decide between one or the other... with winter steelhead continuing to run and rumors of Mt. Ashland opening soon (snow permitting...we only need another foot or so) it's all a matter of what you want to do.

Until the next adventure...

Steelhead fishing the Rogue

With temperatures on friday in the 30's and occational rain, sleet, and snow showers, some might argue the merits of spending a day floating the Rogue River in search of steelhead right now. The fish numbers haven't been that remarkable this year (5417 fish as of 10/31) and local fishing reports are not overly enthusiastic either. Still, my good friend Neil Selbicky and I thought it the opportune time to get on the river.

We put on a few miles upstream from TouVelle State Park and fished that section pretty extensively, both from the boat and wading at times. We tried some plugs, but mainly drifted flies. Things were pretty slow until later in the afternoon when I changed my fly over to a large black Muddy Buddy... honestly I thought it was going to be a bit over the top. With water temperatures already a few degrees below 50, as a general rule, single egg patters and more traditional flies (golden stones, hares ears, copper johns, etc) are a better bet than a giant leech pattern. However, over the next hour I hooked three fish, one of which we managed to land... a nice hatchery male measuring about 22''. I guess it goes to show it never hurts to tie on something different once in a while.

If you're interested in getting out on the Rogue to chase some steelhead and need a capable and friendly guide Neil Selbicky's services are for hire and I'd highly recommend him. He's a hell of a fisherman and can usually provide a picture for every fish story he tells. We're planning another trip for this week, and I'm greatly looking forward to it.

Until the next adventure...