Although there was a lack of fish they definitely made up for it in size.  We didn’t land any true monsters, but others around the region sure did. There were plenty of 20+ pound steelhead landed, and you could almost expect to at least hook up with a fish in the mid-teens each time out. This year we also caught most of our fish side drifting, with eggs cured in Pautzke’s orange BorX O Fire the hot bait of the year.

Now here’s a look back on some of the highlights of the year…

Tight Lines….

With that in mind we decided to take a scouting trip for springers. We put in at the hatchery with the plan to fish for steelhead in a few spots, and back bounce for springers in the major holes. Getting weights and the snags dialed in now would save time when the springers started to show up. The expectations for hooking any fish were pretty much non-existant.

The day went pretty much as expected. Winter steelhead fishing was slow, and we pretty much gave up on it after the first couple of holes. There also weren’t any sign of springers, but we were getting everything dialed in and feeling very confident for the year. Then as we were pulling into one of the last holes Jeff called it…”If we’re going to hook a springer today it’s going to be in this hole.”… 3 passes later and a fresh glob of Pautzke’s Fire Cured eggs, and his rod goes solid followed by a couple of head shakes after the hookset.

First flash of chrome to confirm that it was indeed a springer.

Gotta love an April springer on the Upper Rogue!

The extra fin meant it wasn’t coming home for the BBQ

As we got the springer close we saw the extra fin, but it didn’t take any excitement away from the catch. After netting it, we quickly cut the leader (the fish had completely swallowed both hooks), took a couple of quick pictures, released the beautiful specimen, and then relished in the moment.

An April springer definitely wasn’t in the play book for the day.

Tight Lines….

However, fishing has been much slower than expected on the Upper Rogue. During what is normally the prime time, anglers have been scratching out a couple steelhead a day. There’s still fish to be caught, just not in the numbers that are expected for the middle of April.

On Tuesday we floated from the Hatchery to Rogue Elk boat ramp expecting to get into a handful of feisty winter steelhead. Things started out just as expected. One of our rods with a Mag Lip 3.5 plug doubled over within 10 minutes of sitting in the first hole of the day. That was followed up with another fish coming to the boat in the second hole.

John hooked up with his first ever steelhead

The Mag Lip 3.5 is one of our favorite plugs on the Upper Rogue

John with his second steelhead ever

After the great start, things took a turn the opposite way. We fished through a lot of water that would normally always produce at least one steelhead, but didn’t touch a thing. It could have been a change in the weather, or the fish just aren’t there. Over the next week or two we’ll find out if the fish are actually on their way, or this years run is a bust.

Tight Lines…

Between the long drive and floating 19 miles of river, it was an extremely long day. It was made well worth it though, by being able to see some amazing country and finding a few fish a long the way. With such a long float the name of the game was side drifting, and we found that the steelhead were munching eggs cured in Pautzke’s orange BorX O Fire that day.

First cast of the day.

Hooked up with a big hatchery fish.

35 inch hatchery keeper

One of many downers from the day

They loved the orange BorX O Fire eggs

Steve from Pavati Boats showing off another one of our fish.

The only fish of the day that didn’t fall to eggs

Last fish in the last hole of the day

You couldn’t have asked for a better day when learning new water. We found a few nice winter steelhead, and plenty of down river fish to keep the action lively all day. Maybe one day we’ll venture out of our bubble and return.

Tight Lines….

Upper Rogue - To try and aggressively fill Lost Creek Reservior the Army Corps have dropped outflows to just over 800 cfs. That will leave the very upper stretch of the Rogue very low, and won’t help draw any fish up. A few winter steelhead continue to be hooked every day though, and there are reports of a few more springers being hooked on spinners as well. As of March 29th only 670 winter steelhead have entered the hatchery and 0 springers. The best fishing on the Upper Rogue will be below Dodge Bridge where flows spiked at 2500cfs last night. Floating from Dodge Bridge to Tou Velle State Park, or from Tou Velle to Fichers Ferry will both be decent choices for winter steelhead. Anglers also have a slight chance of hooking up with an early springer.

Middle Rogue - Flows at Grants Pass spiked around 4500cfs last night. That will have the winter steelhead on the move towards the upper river. Plugging the high water travel lanes could be extremely effective as they shoot for the spawning grounds. The Applegate remained quite low, so fishing below the mouth could also be a good bet. Springers are moving through the area, but there haven’t been many reports of them being hooked. Rainie Falls, or Hayes Falls will be the best bets at tying into an early fish.

A couple of recent hatchery winter steelhead from the Middle Rogue by guide Charlie “Steelhead” Brown of Fishing The Rogue Guide Service.

Lower Rogue - Despite warm river temperatures, the low water has kept fishing for springers slow on the Lower Rogue. This rain should definitely jump start the fishery, as flows are will be peaking around 7000cfs later today at Agness with a temperature around 54 degrees. Target springers in 4 to 6ft of water with a Rogue Bait Rig and an anchovy.

South Umpqua - Just like on the Rogue fishing on the South Umpqua has been slow as of late due to low flows. The system that moved through shot the river up just over 2000cfs at Tiller last night. That should make for some excellent late season winter steelhead fishing. The area around Seven Feathers Casino should be the best as that’s where the hatchery fish are acclimated and where they will stop. Side drifting yarn with chunks of roe will be the best choice.

Applegate River - Fishing closed Sunday night.

Chetco River - Fishing closed Sunday night.

Trout:

Diamond Lake - The lake has started to go through it’s spring thaw making the top layer of snow very slushy. The ice is still plenty thick for safe fishing though. Most anglers have been fishing just outside of the resort as it has the easiest access. Anglers have also had decent success on the south end of the lake in 5 ft of water. Using dough baits on the bottom or suspending a night crawler or jig have been the best.

Expo Ponds - The pond right along the access road was stocked earlier this month with 1500 trout and the fish from the Sportsman Show which are up to 12lbs. Fishing has been good with dough baits and night crawlers. Using a spinner until you find the school of trout and then switching over to bait is the easiest way to have a great day of catching.

Lost Creek Lake - Lost Creek Lake was recently stocked with 25,000 trout. Fishing should be great for those both still fishing and trolling.

This morning I received a report that sounds all most too good to be true. We just started April, and already the springer madness has begun on the Upper Rogue with multiple limits being taken.

It’s normally the time of year for winter steelhead fishing to be on fire in the upper stretch, but low conditions have kept them bunched up in the Middle Rogue. Those same conditions have caused the springers to have lock jaw in the lower river and shoot up to the hatchery as fast as they can.

Yesterday Dom Ethans and friends ventured to the Hatchery Hole on the Rogue just hoping to hook into one of the few winter steelhead that have ventured up so far this year. Instead they found a much larger version of the chrome they were after. “They were everywhere in the hole. Everyone always says how the springers don’t bite in the upper river, but they were just hammering any eggs we threw out there” reported Dom. “We lost a lot of fish on the light steelhead gear, but we were able to land enough to take home a limit each.”

March limits of springers are a rarity even in the lower river, so to see them in the upper river already is hopefully a sign of good things to come. If this pace keeps up, we could easily see a record return to the Rogue this year.

With the rain last night, things could switch back to winter steelhead though. The rising river will make the steelhead shoot up river, and the springers hold up more downstream. Springer fishing could be great on the lower Rogue when it starts to drop.

Hopefully the springer madness on the Upper Rogue lasts past April 1st.

Tight Lines….

Jeff and I fished this last Wednesday with guide Rob Yuen of Secrets Guide Service below Grants Pass. A lot of the recent catch has been downriver fish, but luckily we found that a decent pod of hatchery chromers had moved up into the area. The action wasn’t fast and furious, but there was enough willing fish to keep us busy throughout the day. Side drifting eggs were the ticket.

With rain in the forecast the next two days, things could become red hot on the Rogue. There have been great reports coming out of the lower canyon, and if we get enough precipitation to move those fish up, things will really turn on.

Tight Lines….

If You’d like to book your own trip with Rob Yuen, he still has a few open dates this month. You can contact him through his website: Secret’s Guide Service or give him a call at (541) 479-2296

That’s what makes this Spring even more bizarre. Before yesterday there were only a few rumors floating around about a springer or two being caught in the Middle Rogue, and no one had come out openly with a fish. When I received a call yesterday about a possible first springer finally being caught, it didn’t surprise me, but the location sure did. Instead of the usual spot of Rainie Falls producing the first springer, this fish had already completed it’s journey up the Rogue.

Mark Randolf holds the first Rogue River springer of 2013 caught at the Hatchery Hole.

One lucky angler fishing for winter steelhead at the hatchery hole on March 7th got what was probably the surprise of his life. The fish at the other end of his line ended up not being an early Upper Rogue winter steelhead, but instead one of the earliest springers ever to reach it’s end destination. The Fishin Hole Fly Shop in Shady Cove confirmed the catch today and is displaying the picture of the 14lb springer in their shop.

The early Upper Rogue springer was likely due to a few key factors. First, February saw cold temperatures in the lower river which would have turned off the bite for any springers moving through. Then with Savage Rapids and Gold Ray dams being removed there were no obstacles to delay it’s migration upstream, expediting it’s return to Cole Rivers Hatchery.

It’s hard to tell whether the early Upper Rogue springer is a sign of a good run or not. With abnormal river conditions for this time of year, it’s still a waiting game for the majority of the run to show up. One thing is for certain though… If the rest of this Spring lacks precipitation and stays warm, the springers will shoot up river. A low and warm Rogue speeds up the migration and the majority of the run will be in the upper river before June.

Anglers should expect the springer fishing to start taking off any day now in the Lower Rogue. The river temperature went over 50 degrees at Agness for the first time this year. As the temperature continues to increase, the salmon moving through should start to bite. 52 degrees is often considered the magical number to spur migration and turn on the bite.

Tight Lines….

While it’s not the only high mountain lake open year round for Southern Oregon anglers, it’s the only one with a reputation for huge numbers and huge fish. Fish Lake and Lake of the Woods both have offered ice fishing opportunities, but anglers have never shown much interest in them. When Diamond Lake opened on January 1st, ice fishing suddenly became the thing to go try out.

Craig Myers caught this 24 inch rainbow on the South end of Diamond Lake in 5 feet of water. He was using a pink & white jig. (Photo by: Diamond Lake Resort)

The fishing hasn’t been anything stellar since Diamond Lake first opened for ice fishing, but there’s enough fish to make it worth the drive and experience. The resort has been reporting about 1 fish every 2 hours per rod. With a group of friends and a two-rod endorsement, you could easily leave with a full stringer of fat trout.

The majority of anglers have been fishing right out front of the resort in water about 20 feet deep. However, those fishing the shallow water on the south end of the lake are also finding fish.

The go-to baits have been everything from dough baits such as Pautzke FireBait, to night crawlers, to straight jigs. If using jigs, white has always been one of the top colors at Diamond Lake through the ice.

If you’re wanting to try out the new ice fishing at Diamond Lake be sure to give the resort a call (541-793-3333) ahead of time for the latest ice conditions. You can also keep up on the latest conditions through their Facebook Page: Diamond Lake Resort. They also rent ice augers if you’ll need a way to cut through the ice.

Tight Lines….

Early last week I had the opportunity to fish the South Umpqua with guide Brady Rogers. The river had really started to drop and clear by then, and fishing was a little slow. We still managed to find three fish that day, including my personal best steelhead.

The last hole of the day produced my biggest steelhead to date thanks to guide Brady Rogers.

This week, the spring weather has disappeared, but we still haven’t had any precipitation. The river levels have stayed constant, but are still on the low side. Both the Middle Rogue and South Umpqua are still managing to kick out winter steelhead though.

Guide Charlie “Steelhead” Brown has been catching winter steelhead on the South Umpqua this week.

When he’s not building rods, Josh Terry of Chrome Seeker Custom Rods also knows how to put the hurt on some Southern Oregon steelhead.

There is some good news on the horizon. Rain is forecast for this weekend, and all the rivers are expected to take a nice jump up. This will give Southern Oregon anglers a much needed shot of fresh fish. I would expect the fishing to be excellent next week as the rivers drop, and we start to get into March. It should also jump start the Upper Rogue and Applegate fisheries as well.

Tight Lines….