Rogue Holy Water??

[Rosco]

Hi all-

My father and I will be fishing the Rogue Holy Water this saturday and, to be perfectly honest, I have never fished it. Any and all info about this area will be greatly appreciated!! Flies, leaders, techniques..... bring it on :cheers: Thanks to everyone.

Rosco

[newportfisher]

Not sure about the Holy water, but the steelhead and Coho fishing should be pretty good right now on the River itself.

[Mokai]

What is the Holy Water ?? I have never been there before , the Rouge that is...
Sorry not trying to steel the thread..

[Rosco]

Mokai-
The Holy Water is the 3/4 of a mile of the Rogue river below Lost Creek dam.

--Anyone else have some suggestions?? I can definitely use some good info as I have never been there. Thanks again. :cheers:

[3riversBob]

I'm going to be fishing the Holy Water on Friday. Maybe Saturday too if the wife will let me. I fished it last year for a couple hours with marginal luck so I'm sure not an expert. It's a tough piece of water to fish since the trout see artificials all day every day. They are really picky but can be had. I don't remember the little town just before getting there but there is a nice little fly shop there and they are very helpful and can point you in the direction of what flies to use. If I'm there on Saturday look for a blue Ford Escape with an ifish sticker in the back window and say hi.

Mokai, the Holy Water is a short strech of the Upper Rogue below the Lost Creek Lake reservour. It runs between the damn and the Hatchery and is only like a mile long if that. It's prime trout habitat and some monster trout have come out of there. Not really "out of there", since it is fly fishing/catch and release only.

Good luck and give us a report when you get back.

Bob

[garyk]

I'm not sure about right now, but through winter it's usually a midge fishing scene. With a fairly narrow window of opportunity.

Think 'damp' midge flies in the film...not necessarily long leaders but LONG tippets so you get some drag-free drift. The better your slack line casts, the better you''ll do - but that applies to most waters.

[wheredafish]

I've fished it a few times. My recommendations would be to use the smallest nymphs you can find and analids ( small larva patterns) Try a 22 or smaller nymph of flourocarbon leader and an analoid dropper with a strike indicator. Watch for the muddy bottom and lace your boots tight. If the weather is good you might try some 20-22 drys, I have used ones with foam wing post to be easier to see....I'll be on the metolious...goog luck

david

[Rosco]

Thanks a lot guys... I can't wait to get down there!!

[Two Fister]

If the weather is overcast, not too windy, and not too cold, there can be a huge blue winged olive (BWO) hatch that comes off around mid-day. I like to fish an 18-22 BWO dry depending on the hatch. I like to tie up a same sized trailer with a BWO emerger or cripple that hangs in the surface film. Long light leaders/tippets are the key. The fish are very well educated from the catch and release and the water is clear. Sort of the double black diamond of fly fishing in Oregon.

[Grantspastor]

Some good information has been posted..especially that the Trout are pretty well educated. There are fish big enough to break your heart in that water. I like the very small fly suggestions. Sometimes in the Winter in the warmest part of the day, a hatch of size 22-24 Trichorythodes (Sp?)..anyway they have a black body with white wings. My impression is that the water below the tailrace of the Dam holds the biggest fish, but will be hardest to fish with these small flies. There is an unbelieveable hatch of Salmon flies in the early summer. Eveybody knows about it, but some really nice fish (by anyone's definition) are caught. I'm not 100% sure on the history of the holy Water, but I first fished it in the early 1970's when the lower diversion dam was still in constuction. We used to catch some nice Trout there that most likely were just residents of the River. After the Dams were completed a Spring Creek environment was accidentally or artificially created. The fish that were trapped in that section of River grew and reproduced. In addition to the Salmon Flies I have seen profuse caddis fly hatches there. Years ago I heard some slurping sounds coming from streamside brush. I investigated and observed several large (18" to 26") Trout sipping small caddis flies that were crawling on the sticks protruding from the water. They were actually sticking their heads out of the water to get the insects. If I had not seen it I wouldn't have believed it.

[Rosco]

Fished today from about halfway between the two dams down to about 200 yds. above the hatchery. One tug.... other than that I only saw two fish in about 3 hours. Maybe next time....

[3riversBob]

Fished it on Friday for several hours with 4 or 5 takes but no hookups. About noon a BWO hatch came off, I quickly changed flys but didn't get into them. Still had a good time and I'll be back next year.

Bob