Bear Campground Road/Agness

Fishing freak · 09-11-2002, 02:22 PM

Any of you southern boy's know if the bear camp road is going to open up before friday the 20th. Hoping to make the drift from Agness to Qousatama ( SP). Any reports on how the 1/2 lber's are biting? Thanks in advance!

wetaline · 09-11-2002, 03:14 PM

Quosatana ......

We were in that stretch this last weekend. Half pounders were pretty scarce (spent one evening flingin flies for them), but our buddy was into them deep a few days earlier. We just hit it between spurts.. we caught a few on eggs while salmon fishing.

dont know about the camp ground

Fishing freak · 09-11-2002, 03:28 PM

Thanks Wetaline,

I was down their last year and ran into you. Did you guy's pick up any salmon last week?
I plan on doing a 1/2 lber/salmon combo trip. Did you try tossing any hardware at the 1/2 lber's

wetaline · 09-11-2002, 04:23 PM

it was very good last weekend..... fish wernt stacked in the pools as much as last year (just timing and water conditions) - more in the fast deep holes - so we bounced eggs a lot more...

total for friday - sunday, 20 adult chinook, 10 jacks, and 3 or 4 half pounders... 3 mud dobber, 12 or so suckers.... 6 or 7 black bear sightings.... and a better understanding as to what animals in a zoo feel like; as the mail boats went by and all the tourist would ewww and awww and take your picture while fight fish or cooking breakfest or brushing your teath or whatever... it was pretty funny actually...

my cousin stayed down w/ some clients on monday and it sounded like that group of fish had pushed out of that stretch - they only got 3 adults.

Straydog · 09-11-2002, 07:33 PM

Bear camp still closed as of today. No word on planned opening yet although a lot of H#ll is being raised to get it opened, maybe by the 20th?

The corp is starting to shut down the river tomorrow dropping it incrementaly. The fish should be holed up well by the 20th.

Lots of hog Salmon in the river and the half pounders should be thick by the 20th... good planning.

TheRogue · 09-12-2002, 05:08 AM

Now that the river is full of fish, let's shut the river flow down, warm the water way up, and kill a whole bunch of 'em with that whatchamacallit parasite.

Every year, they let water out of the BOTTOM (cold) of Lost Creek Reservoir the first half of August, and keep the flows up a little until sometime in September. My fisheries bio buddy down there is disgusted with this thing that goes on every year to "key the spawning of the Spring Chinook". He feels it does more harm than good. I'd have to agree with him.

Hopefully, we won't get anymore weeks of 100+ degrees in the Rogue Valley, and the river won't get too warm. Warm is good for swimmers and rafters, bad for salmonoids.

TR

[ 09-12-2002, 06:11 AM: Message edited by: TheRogue ]

Straydog · 09-12-2002, 05:49 AM

The Rogue,

We do not want to get me started on the fooling with the faucets at Lost Creek Dam......

suffice it to say, I agree with your Bio buddy.

If we could only convince arrogant man that he is not all knowing mother nature, we might have better luck..... what might our chances of that be!? :whazzup:

GutshotApe · 09-12-2002, 07:16 AM

Wetaline - Yes, my sentiments exactly. Not only do the "Jerry's Jet Boats" scare the fish (especially the triple 454"Rogue Queen) when they go by, one really does feel like a zoo exhibit. I usually wave back but after about the 12th boatload it kind of takes away from the wilderness experience.

As for the bears, yes they can be a problem. I usually take a dog along when I go there to keep the bears out of camp at night. There are a lot of bears along the river because years ago the tour boat operators got the commission to close the land within a mile of the river to bear shooting. And, I have it on pretty good authority that the boat operators routinely feed the bears at a couple of points to ensure the tourists have a wilderness experience. Cabin owners & fishermen don't really like all the bears, but, hey, whose river is it anyway? :grin:

Fishing freak · 09-12-2002, 07:17 AM

Wetaline, Sounds like you had a great time! Did you try using any kwikfish, any luck?
I am hoping that there won't be as many tour boats after the labor day weekend. Wasn't
there supposed to be a cut-back on the number of jet-boat rides allowable in this stretch?

Straydog, Thanks for the update. Hopefully the 1/2 lbers. will be there. This is my sons favorite
time of the year. He can't get enough of them!

Straydog · 09-12-2002, 07:39 AM

Gutshot,

I kind of agree with you but have to say that I have had the half pounder bite actually pick up just after the river busses have passed.... :whazzup:

Also, you are right about the bears except don't forget they also hang near the river this time of year because they like to eat Salmon with their fritos and tater chips as well as the fact that it is very, very dry up in those craggy canyons of the lower Rogue right now. :smile:

Straydog · 09-12-2002, 07:41 AM

FF,

Have a great trip...... there is no better way to get a kid hooked on fishing that I can think of!
:grin:

Dog

wetaline · 09-12-2002, 08:26 AM

we ran a kwik fish off one rod a couple of times - usually during the slower periods, just changing things up - so they didn't exactly get a fare shake at it (although we did catch several fish on other rods while the kwiki was out... but nothing on the kwik fish... honestly the egg bite was too good to spend to much time on the kwiki's... I saw a couple guides running kwiki's and a guide friend of ours uses them successfully, but wasn't last weekend when i was down (eggs and another trick which i'm sworn to secrecy)

As far as the tour boats - they were still runnin in full force and full for the most part last weekend... i dont mind them, except they usually stir up the weeds on the bottom of the river.... oh and if your bouncing a swift hole thats pushing towards the rocks, just be ready for the wake so you dont get pushed into an area you dont want to be... and a little trick if your anchored (one make sure you can motor over and out of the way if your on the channel edge, and this will also keep you from breaking lose by taking pressure off your anchor.

good luck fellas, whish i was down there still...

this one had sea lice

and one short of a limit by 11am on the first morning :smile:

Straydog · 09-12-2002, 08:31 AM

You're killing me wetaline.....

In a time less hectic and busy I would spend a week down there this time of year, just below Copper Canyon a ways.

That would be after making anywhere from 6 to 12 3 day floats from Grave Cr. to Foster Bar. through out the summer.....

That is the heart of God's land.

[ 09-12-2002, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Straydog ]

GutshotApe · 09-12-2002, 03:48 PM

I'd be up for a first or 2nd week in october ifish in. :smile: Nail Keg is my favorite campsite but I'm flexible. Last time I was there was 9-11-01 and the halfpounders were scarce; chinook jacks were in the next glide downstream and liked eggs. Best trip I ever had was about October 10-14 a few years back. :grin:
BTW, why did the tourboaters have to line up & pee? :whazzup:

GutshotApe · 09-12-2002, 11:29 PM

Straydog - Yeah, I've caught fish right after one of the big cruisers goes past - and the tourists have a right, I guess, to see the canyon. There's just so many of them and the boats seem to get bigger & louder each year. My pet peeve is that they wash your bow-beached boat up sideways on the shore, completely high & dry

. No problem for a driftboat but my jet weighs considerably more.........

I'm sure the bears eat salmon when available to them but they're there year-round even when no dead salmon can be found. I saw an empty tour boat with just the driver over on the bank a couple miles above Quosatana one day - when I checked after he left there was a big pile of day old maple bars & donuts lying there. That location is one where you can see bears more often than not when going up/down river. A couple of years ago odfw relaxed the 1-mile sanctuary rule and the tour boat operators came unglued, got it changed back.

I've had a lot of fishing & camping trips in Copper Canyon. Those pictures sure make me want to go back again. Maybe in October. I'm amazed that you can still go there & camp without a Deschutes-style regulated, officially-permitted experience.

Straydog · 09-12-2002, 11:41 PM

Oh, yeah I hear ya...... too many, too big and too much attitude at times.
Also, I too have been aware that the tour guys feed the bears for years....

I led the charge in trying to limit their use and size in the Grants Pass operation.... lost that one too.

The BLM claims to have compromised by giving them "only" 19 trips a day on the upper river..... so, if you or I want to spend a nice day on the river we get to encounter those guys "only" 38 times in the course of the day. That is partly why I rarely launch the sled in the summer any more...... :depressed:

We may have to plan a So. Ifish get together in October down there. Bear canyon is my camp of choice. I have some real interesting video from a few years ago. We were enjoyiing the solitude when one of Jerry's boats full of people proceeded to beach across the river from us and host a huge birthday party for someone. We thought surely there must be law against them beaching and partying up like crazy over there until the Sherrif's boat beached and joined them..... you should see the video of them all lining up and taking turns to pee in the bushes. Gotta love it.

[ 09-12-2002, 12:43 PM: Message edited by: Straydog ]

Fishing freak · 09-18-2002, 07:59 AM

The 20th of Sept is approaching, someone tell me that the road is going to be opened on friday
Got to get my Rogue fix and would prefer not having to drive all the way to Gold Beach and back in-land to Agness!( long drive from Portland) Anyone have an update on chinookies/1/2 lbers.

Thanks

Straydog · 09-18-2002, 07:53 PM

FF,

Straydog · 09-18-2002, 07:57 PM

FF,

Good news!!! They opened Bear Camp road this morning at 6 am..... YES!!!

Lots of half pounders up as far as Agnes last I heard and lots of huge Fall chinook being caught according to a guide I spoke with today.

You can get an up to date report in tomorrow's Medford Mail Tribune http://www.mailtribune.com/ in the sports section.

GSA,

They were lining up to pee becuase they were on the beach partying for an extended period of time. (a few hours)
It was not a boat full of tourists, rather a tourist boat full of locals from Gold Beach...

[ 09-18-2002, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: Straydog ]

GutshotApe · 09-18-2002, 08:40 PM

Straydog - OK, I get it, I think.

Been thinking any more about a Rogue River Ifishing trip in october?

Straydog · 09-18-2002, 08:57 PM

Gutshot,

Yes, I have been thinking about Oct. on the lower Rogue... was talking to a couple of buddies just today that guide down there and they mentioned they haven't seen me down there this year.

Nothing solid planned but thinking of it. I am going to do some fishing out of Brookings the first of the month but am thinking mid month is a possiblity.... Dad's weekend at OSU the end of the month.

So much one wants to do, so little time.....