Rogue Steelhead Counts

[Terry Thomas]

Early steelhead count on the Rogue. Down from the previous six years. The first column represents the counts for August 1-15. The second column represents the total count for the year to date.

2008 Gold Ray Dam Counting Station - Rogue River

View Daily Fish Counts for Gold Ray Dam (pdf)

Fish Counts August 1-15, 2008


Period of Total Through % of Run by
YEAR August 1-15 August 15 Total Count August 15
SUMMER STEELHEAD (run extends from 5/16 - 12/31)
1998 494 2,299 6,056 37.96%
1999 803 1,949 4,785 40.73%
2000 291 2,478 6,734 36.80%
2001 683 1,162 16,114 7.21%
2002 1,965 7,255 29,296 24.76%
2003 1,276 7,729 20,297 38.08%
2004 650 5,444 13,658 39.86%
2005 233 4,202 10,414 40.35%
2006 689 5,589 14,579 38.34%
2007 555 3,005 7,568 39.71%
2008 214 2,530

[Terry Thomas]

Interesting! Just received this info. At least the half-pounders are doing well.
t.

August 19, 2008

Near record run on the Rogue River

The lower Rogue River is currently experiencing the largest run of steelhead half-pounders since 2000. As of Aug. 15, 179,364 fish have entered the river. Half-pounders are young steelhead returning to the river in the late summer of their first year in the ocean. So-named because of their size, they stay in the Rogue through the winter, providing a popular fishery before returning to the ocean in spring. The run is especially popular with fly anglers, though spinners and worms will produce as well.

[SFMike]

Hi Terry,
For the half pounder fishing, is that only in the Wild and Scenic section of the river? And can you access that fishing if you don't have a boat? I was planning on heading up to the Upper River in a few weeks, but with the numbers so low, I'm not sure it's worth the drive from SF. However if you could combine it with some half pounder fishing on the lower river, that could make the difference.

Thanks for your thoughts,
mike

[Langenbeck]

Terry; What is the source of the data on the 179,000 half pounders? The only fish counting done on the Rogue is at Gold Ray Dam and at the hatchery below Lost Creek. Is this a biological estimate based on sampling?

[bubzilla]

They have to be estimates from samples, Gordon. I was told once while fishing down on the lower river, by another fly angler who appeared very knowledgeable, that they do some sort of round-up with large nets to get samples. I thought he was referring to adult fish later in the run, but who knows?

As far as the numbers of adults go, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but in the long term scheme of things we're much closer to "normal" than we have been. We had a few years in the beginning of this decade with Disneylandesque returns. They completely skewed a lot of perceptions, and they attracted a lot of newbies to the sport and the area. 20,000 summers over Gold Ray ain't happenin' on a regular basis, and that's just the reality of it.

I know you are really up on the stats, Gordon. What does the historical summer run average look like? And, what does that average look like if you throw out the largest outliers?

[Langenbeck]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/gordonl/27Steelhead1Dec06.jpg
A December 2007 late summer/fall fish

Buzilla,

From 1942-2003 the summer steelhead average was 7,012 fish and the lastest 10 year average from 1994-2003 was 12748. This latest ten year average was skewed by the 29,296 fish in 2002 and 20,297 fish in 2003.

The winter numbers for the same period are 9,772 and the latest 10 year average is 12055 that also was skewed by the 22,287 fish in 2002 and the 24,850 fish in 2003.

The latest count was 7,568 in for the summer run of 2007 and 9,380 for the winter run of 2007-2008. Again these are counts over Gold Ray. Many wild fish spawn below Gold Ray.

[Terry Thomas]

Gordon,
That information was taken directly from the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife released this morning, Friday. I don't know where they got their numbers.
Mike,
Gordon and Jbird would know more about the half-pounder info. To my knowledge, the half-pounder fishing is more of a lower river fishery. Perhaps someone can lend some light on how far up river they get.
Terry

[bubzilla]

The actual half-pounder fishery is in the Lower Rogue. Guys will report caching half-pounders in the upper river, just like they will report catching sea run cutthroat there too, but both are biologically suspect claims. The true half-pounders are just in the lower river to overwinter and then return to the Pacific, so no real need to run all the way upstream to the upper river.

Thanks for the numbers, Gordon. I would have guessed the average absent the outlier years would be below 10,000 fish. It would be nice to have ridiculously big number years again, but it's pretty unlikely I would suspect.

[WinterrunRon]

I can provide a first hand experience for those interested. I was just there. My cousin owns a resort in Agness right on the river and my family visited for a few days. I was told the half-pounders were "in" so we made it part of our camping trip to the coast.

The river was very busy (we were there Sat/Sun/Mon) with many anglers and jet boats. I swung flies with a 5wt two-hander, both wet and skated in early morning/late evening. I didn't catch, nor did I see a single fish caught, during the weekend, even with guys using spinners and bait. One guy mentioned is dad caught a salmon backtrolling a flatfish.

Ignoring the fish count numbers, I believe the fishing was hindered by the conditions. When we arrived, it was the weekend, many boats, the day prior to a full moon, the weather was very hot, winds non-existant, the sky clear day and night.

The day we left, 2 days after the full moon, the weather had cooled by 20 degrees, thunder, lighting, light rain and the sky was overcast with a cool breeze. As we were leaving in the morning, I saw one fish caught from a guide boat drifting bait. A very bright steelhead, maybe 2-3lbs. A beautifully solid fish. My guess it the fishing that day was much better.

My insight... this is the time of year when the tourist season dies down, so the waterway shouldn't be near as busy, especially on the weekend. I think the fish are there, so if it's your thing, it might be worth while.

Nothing was happening on the Klamath Tuesday. Few salmon being netted and I didn't speak with anyone having success with the halfpounders. I didn't have time to fish it.

Hope this helps...

[OceanSunfish]

Great to hear from you 'winterrunron'. I missed your candid descriptions this year of some of the finer 'anglers' from the most recent shad season along the American. :D

Regards.

[WinterrunRon]

Thanks, OS. But belive it or not, I didn't make a single trip down this year so I missed out on all the "sporting" events that likely took place at river's edge. So no reporting from me. :(

I'm certain it was my loss for not having gone, but I need a fairly decent shad return to get me excited, otherwise, I just don't go. And this wasn't one of those years. But of course, there's always next year! :D

Cheers!