Re: where to put in on the umpqua near seven feathers
Toblerone,
Not very familiar with the Umpqua in that stretch. But the Rogue seems like a good bet! Good luck.
River Outlook
ROGUE — Winter steelhead fishing remains very good in the Grants Pass area, where a fresh load of
steelhead and good water conditions make this weekend one of the best expected for the season.
The Agness area also is good for winter steelhead now that the river has cleared and stabilized some, and
bank anglers continue plunking with Spin-Glo’s hoping to catch the first spring chinook of the year. And the
upper Rogue is starting to get enough fish that prospecting for early winter steelhead there could start
becoming a worthwhile endeavor.
But all eyes and rods are still pointing to the middle Rogue, which holds onto its status as the best local
steelhead area so far this winter.
Schools are spread out from the city limits all the way downstream to Rainie Falls, but the best action
remains the 6 miles or so downstream of the mouth of the Applegate River. Fishing in this stretch allows you
to target winter steelhead bound for the Applegate as well as all the upstream tributaries and Cole Rivers
Hatchery.
The water has risen in the past two days, but it has kept good color. The rise gets steelhead moving, and
the good color provides a solid environment for the fish to see your offerings. The 47-degree temperature in
Grants Pass also is perfect.
Bait-fishing is the best bet, but plug fishing is also good and effective. For those fishing with plugs, crayfish
plugs or black-and-silver Wiggle Warts are solid bets.
But most anglers will be casting roe and red or orange puff balls, but worms and watermelon corkies,
sandshrimp or straight roe are good choices as well.
Anglers can now keep one wild winter steelhead 24 inches or longer a day throughout the Rogue. Couple
that with the extra hatchery-fish rule that went into effect earlier this month and anglers can now keep up to
three steelhead a day in the Rogue — provided no more than one is a wild fish.
But be frugal with your wild fish harvest, because anglers are allowed only five now through April 30, and the
winter steelhead run is still in the first third of the good fishing period.
In the upper Rogue, there are 585 winter steelhead counted over Gold Ray Dam through Feb. 12. That’s a
pretty good early showing and enough to get die-hard upper Rogue anglers interested, but still likely not
enough fish to draw Medford anglers off the middle Rogue. Water conditions are good, but Elk Creek, Trail
Creek and Bear Creek are adding quite a bit of turbid water to the mix.
The lower Rogue was fishing just fair for winter steelhead off the bank in areas like Huntley Bar, Lobster
Creek and Dunkelberger Bar.
A few anglers are starting to look for early spring chinook salmon in the lower Rogue, but there are no
confirmed reports yet of the first springer of the season.
Remember, there is no longer a hook-size rule in effect for the Rogue or other streams while steelhead or
salmon fishing. You can now use any size hook, barbed or barbless, with bait.
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