Terry Thomas
10-30-2009, 09:34 AM
Some thoughts from our Morrison's Rogue River Lodge trip. We spent three nights and two guided days at the lodge. I have had the pleasure of fishing in some pretty nice places for steelhead over the years and I would have to say that Morrison's is number one on the list when considering lodging, food, and fishing. The lodge and cabins were built back in the day of Zane Gray (pictures in the lodge) and just has that "history" about it. The cabin that we stayed in was a two bedroom built up high because of flooding in high water years and overlooking the Rogue River. It has a small kitchen area, fireplace (prepared with fire wood each day), cable TV, and an Internet set up.
Food...wow! Chef Bruno from Switzerland prepared meals to match any high end hotel that one one visit in major cities. As an example, all dinners come with two main courses. Our first night included prime rib and baked salmon!
All this is super, however, none of this would really matter if the fishing part was lacking. I am happy to report that their fishing set up is just as thorough. The guides meet you after breakfast and discuss the day's plan and your expectations. Our group decided that we didn't need to fish the same runs so off we went to different sections in the river. We were there for one of their busiest days of the season. Ten drift boats and guides met at the lodge and took their clients out to various drifts. In our day on the river we didn't see another guide boat and only one private boat who briefly rowed up river and then left. The first day we swung flies and did some "indo" fishing. I will report on the new Rio Indicator Line in the new product section. We swung the first run without any grabs and then ran it several times with indicators...two nice fish on the indos. Depending on the runs, we swung flies and drifted flies. Frank, my partner that day, was great to fish with. He landed several half pounders early in the day and swung up a nice adult later in the day. I think we landed three adults that day and a good number of half pounders in the 15-18 inch area. The second day I fished with Dave and we drifted an area further up river. We swung two handed rods all day. I was testing the new Beulah Platinum 7wt. 13' 2" rod. Paired it with a Beulah Tonic Spey line and 15' Rio Versi leaders from floaters to 3.9 sink rates. This rod rocks! We swung up four fish for the day with three to the hand. Our guides, Brice Tedford and Brian Slusser were outstanding. Both guides are into the two hand game, however, they can meet the needs of all types of anglers.
As you can see, I am very impressed with Morrison's Rogue River Lodge. We will be heading back again next October and fish three days and stay four nights.
http://www.morrisonslodge.com/
One of these days I'll figure out how to post some pictures.
Terry
Food...wow! Chef Bruno from Switzerland prepared meals to match any high end hotel that one one visit in major cities. As an example, all dinners come with two main courses. Our first night included prime rib and baked salmon!
All this is super, however, none of this would really matter if the fishing part was lacking. I am happy to report that their fishing set up is just as thorough. The guides meet you after breakfast and discuss the day's plan and your expectations. Our group decided that we didn't need to fish the same runs so off we went to different sections in the river. We were there for one of their busiest days of the season. Ten drift boats and guides met at the lodge and took their clients out to various drifts. In our day on the river we didn't see another guide boat and only one private boat who briefly rowed up river and then left. The first day we swung flies and did some "indo" fishing. I will report on the new Rio Indicator Line in the new product section. We swung the first run without any grabs and then ran it several times with indicators...two nice fish on the indos. Depending on the runs, we swung flies and drifted flies. Frank, my partner that day, was great to fish with. He landed several half pounders early in the day and swung up a nice adult later in the day. I think we landed three adults that day and a good number of half pounders in the 15-18 inch area. The second day I fished with Dave and we drifted an area further up river. We swung two handed rods all day. I was testing the new Beulah Platinum 7wt. 13' 2" rod. Paired it with a Beulah Tonic Spey line and 15' Rio Versi leaders from floaters to 3.9 sink rates. This rod rocks! We swung up four fish for the day with three to the hand. Our guides, Brice Tedford and Brian Slusser were outstanding. Both guides are into the two hand game, however, they can meet the needs of all types of anglers.
As you can see, I am very impressed with Morrison's Rogue River Lodge. We will be heading back again next October and fish three days and stay four nights.
http://www.morrisonslodge.com/
One of these days I'll figure out how to post some pictures.
Terry