Rogue River differences?

[Johnny Mac]

I hear that river fishes differently than the NW rivers. Anybody know how so? I mean as far as hardware/bait/technique. If so, I wonder what makes one river different.

[ 05-24-2002, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: Johnny Mac ]

[TheRogue]

Actually, the Rogue fishing very similar to the Umpqua. I think it's because of one main reason....I've been told that from the Umpqua down, the anadromous fish turn and head south and spend their lives. The fish on up the coast all head north into the Northern Pacific and Bering Sea.

Because of this, they end up growing up in very different environments, and eating different things. The Rogue and Umpqua are primarily anchovy fisheries, while up here it's herring. Spinner sizes are much smaller down south...you never see one of the giant T-bay rainbow spinners down there. I bet it's directly related to eating lots of smaller anchovies and sardines down south, vs chasing much larger herring and squid up north.

That's my uneducated guess!!!

kyle

[Filet-O-Fish]

Jonny Mac,
I believe most of the bank guys use small corkies down there. I was down in medford last weekend and fished for about 8 hours on Saturaday and saw 15-20 fish caught in the morning all from the bank and they where all using small corkies with about 5 feet of leader and about 1 to 2 oz of lead. If you have any more questions let me know I lived there for 20 years.

John

[Fishing freak]

J-Mac,

I was born and raised on the Rogue. If you are fishing from shore, your best bet would be corkies/corkies and yarn/spin-n-glo's. This is what 99% of the bankies use. The water in the upper river is pretty much a drift technique only show. The boater's pretty much bounce eggs and use kwick-fish. If you don't mind the crowds, the hole right below wholly water spill way
is producing ( called hatchery hole). I will be drifting from the wholly water spill way to Shady Cove on Monday. If you are in the area look for a red and tan drift boat. Here is the fishing report for the Rogue from yesterday's Medford paper. Good luck!

ROGUE — Spring chinook salmon fishing has continued to be good in the upper Rogue but just fair in the middle Rogue as anglers
riverwide fight clear water and a slow bite despite strong numbers of fish.

The lower Rogue has slowed for spring chinook because of low and clear water, but there are plenty of fresh fish moving in daily now
and the bite there could get very good again when the water rises and colors.

With springers present throughout the river, the best bet now is to try spring chinook fishing upstream of Rogue Elk County Park, with
the Gold Ray Dam and Savage Rapids Dam area also good bets.

In the upper Rogue, boat anglers are consistently catching fish on roe. Kwikfish colored chartreuse and silver, or the red tiger stripe, in
size No. 15 have been productive as well. Most of the catches have come in the traditional holes, but boat anglers are also finding
success in the migration lanes. That indicates how interested the springers are at staying on the move.

Bank anglers are also doing well at the Slide Hole and the Hatchery Hole. The glow-in-the-dark corkies are best early in the morning
and late in the evening, with combinations of chartreuse and pink beads and yarn also good. Weights of 1-2 ounces are most common.

In the middle Rogue, there are fish all over the place and catches are fair for bank anglers at the two main spots — Rainie Falls and the
flats downstream of Savage Rapids Dam. But the water is low and clear, making the fish less apt to bite than normal.

The Gold Ray Dam area also has been fair for springers, with a few good days intermingled with slow fishing. This is classic early-run
fishing at Gold Ray Dam, where anglers target fish on the move and rarely get to set up on stagnant fish.

Outflows at Lost Creek Lake are good for salmon fishing, with 2,058 cubic feet per second getting released Wednesday from Lost
Creek dam.

Some late-run and spawned-out winter steelhead are still getting caught, but no one is targeting them and most of these fish are dark.

The steelhead count through May 14 is 19,861 fish, which is a new all-time record for the upper Rogue. The spring chinook count is
only 7,401, but that is deceiving because the fish-counting station was inoperable for five days earlier this month when chinook
migration appeared to be very strong.

Anglers can no longer keep any wild steelhead on the Rogue for the remainder of the year. Only fin-clipped hatchery steelhead may be
kept as part of the three-fish daily limit.

The spring chinook limit is two adults per day and five jacks, with no restriction on wild chinook harvest. The vast majority of the catch
is of hatchery origin.

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.

The Holy Water impoundment at the base of Lost Creek dam is fair to good for rainbow trout. All trout in the impoundment must be
released unharmed, and the waters are open only to fishing with traditional fly-angling gear.

[Johnny Mac]

I swear. You guys are great. Any questions I have, I'm coming to i-fish first.

Filet-o-fish- What color corkies have been traditionally hot? It said in that fish report pink and chartruse. Also, it said there is no hook size description. What number have you normally gone with?

I grew up down there as well(Jacksonville), but never got in to the fish until I grew up.

[ 05-24-2002, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: Johnny Mac ]

[Fishing freak]

J-Mac,

I usually go with a 2/0 or 3/0. Had my best day's fishing using a chartruese and orange or watermelon color corkie. The smaller the better. The water should be clear. Do you no exactly what stretch or hole you are going to fish?

[Lured In]

I will be heading down today and give it a whirl in the morning at the hatchey hole, chief's hole and probably at the mouth of Trail Creek (Highway hole.) I want to try my new First Cast jigs and see what happens.

Another popular method is running black and green beeds tied on the tag of an egg loop. (the part running down the shank under the wraps.) Leave it longer and tie on 2 or 3 beads followed by a tiny bead. Use a double overhand knot to keep the beads on. I was told this overcomes some of the foul hooking issues by getting the beads even with the hook instead of in front of it. I haven't tried it but others say it works.

[TheRogue]

Oh, and another difference is we natives always spelled it correctly!! :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Johnny Mac]

Touche'. The proper edits have been made. :grin:

fishin freak, not sure what stretch. I'll know more later on tonight. I think they said around talent? :whazzup:

[willierower]

Long leaders? Small corkies? Beads tied in the tag end off the egg loop? Hmmm Sounds like flossing to me :depressed: .

If you want to catch a springer drift fishing.... Use bait, a quarter sized bait of GOOD eggs or a sandshrimp drifted through good holding water should get you into a fish or two. Even try a nightcrawler, Its a bait that most people dont use for springers. Worms work!

[RJ]

willie! shhhhhhh mums the word on the crawlers :grin:

[Johnny Mac]

Thanks man! That makes quite a bit of sense. I'm going to try to fish it from the bank this weekend around Medford somewhere with my cousin. So sardines and anchovies are the flavors eh? What would you suggest as far as hardware down there? [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[willierower]

OOps sorry RJ

When ya wanna do that springer trip out my way? I have most mondays and tuesdays open. Lets do it soon.

[TH]

We have done really well in the Rogue Bay the last four years using blue label cut herring.
Stick with what you know and can fish real well, and most important have confidence in.!

I was on the Rogue yesterday (school field trip) :grin: and saw quite a few springers caught from the Ferry hole up through Kimball creek.
Greg E. had four, Helen had three, Boss had a couple, Ross B. had a pig 30#+ buck, seemed to be a great day with temps pushing 85+ at Cougar lane.
I'll be in my boat Sunday and Monday!

TH

[Johnny Mac]

Thanks Keta, I just got back from there and know exactly where your talking about. In fact, thats exactly where I was planning on going Monday morning early. I've got some chartruse #3 gamakatsu's and some watermelon corkies, a couple k-14's, and some spin n' glows that I'll throw at them and see how I do. I'll let ya know. Thanks again.

willierower,

If by "flosing" you are talking about lining or snagging in the mouth you are right! :depressed:

[Johnny Mac]

Thanks again folks. Looks like Monday morning, early, we will try touvelle park out by white city. Anybody know anything about it?? I'll head out there this afternoon to take a peek and maybe drop a line in just for the heck of it, but won't have much time to fish.

They frown on power boats above Touvelle Park. :depressed: It is not illegal but discouraged by the drift boat fishermen. There is a good hole about 2 miles up from the park. Cement riprap on the upper north side of the hole. Let us know how you do. :smile:

[ 05-25-2002, 12:49 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

[Johnny Mac]

Well, the fishing was excellent but the catching was poor. Good morning out there, saw a couple roll around, but none of them felt like rolling into my gear. I'd like to keep at that spot though.

Thanks for the reply's and tips in this thread yall. :smile: