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Langenbeck
03-15-2005, 07:49 PM
No updates on count over Gold Ray Dam since 5 March. Still in a severe drought with less than an inch of rain during the last 7 weeks. Things are so bad go behind the house about every third or fourth day. Tonight caught and released this very healthy 27" wild fish on my bead head nymph. First adult fish in a long spell.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/gordonl/27Steelhead15Mar05.jpg

Hairstacker
03-15-2005, 08:05 PM
Very nice, Gordon!! You should probably qualify your "long spell" comment -- for you it's probably a week, for the rest of us it's counted in months or years. . . . :lol: This must be about your 600th 24"+ steelhead for the season? As they say, no one said life had to be fair. :cry: :lol:

Langenbeck
03-15-2005, 08:14 PM
Hairstacker: To be exact my last adult fish was 3 March. Fishing is GOOD on the Rogue. As a guy who keeps accurate records during the last 3+ seasons I have caught & released 186 steelhead. The average summer fish is 24.8" long and the average winter fish is 25.9" long. The adult range in size is 17-36" :lol:

Hairstacker
03-15-2005, 08:25 PM
Ok, so it's been ALMOST TWO weeks. :shock: I really feel your pain. . . NOT! :lol: :lol: :lol: The Rogue is obviously GREAT, but I have no doubt you have it wired. One of these days, maybe you can write a short article post on just how you do it -- you know, what you look for, how you're rigged, how you fish your rig, etc. I know I'll be glued to the screen. . . . I need all the help I can get, as I am, sadly, not a steelhead flyfisherman. Ok, there, I said it. :lol:

Langenbeck
03-16-2005, 10:31 AM
Hairstacker: Here is the narrative on the Rogue:
STEELHEAD OF THE ROGUE RIVER



Summer Run: There are fishable numbers of steelhead in the Grants Pass area from late August until about the first week of December. The summer run of fish over Gold Ray Dam is typically about 8,000 fish of which 50-75% are of hatchery origin. The 2002 summer run was 20,383 fish and the 2003 summer run was 20,262 fish. Because of the high water temperatures in the Grants Pass area until about the first week of October, fishing before that date is limited to early morning and late evening.

Winter Run: There are fishable numbers of steelhead in the Grants Pass area from about the last week of January until about the middle of April. The winter run of fish over Gold Ray Dam is typically about 8,000 fish of which 15-20% are of hatchery origin. The 2002 winter run was 21,941 fish, the 2003 winter run was 24,710 fish and the 2004 winter run was 21,782 fish. High water during this period does limit the amount of productive time to fish during the winter run.

Size of fish: The range in size runs from 17” to 36”. Of the first 100 fish I have landed the average length was 24.8” with the most common sized fish being about 22”. I have not landed enough winter fish to draw any conclusions on the average size of winter fish vs. the average size of summer fish. The five largest fish I have landed have been 34”, 35”, 36”, 36” and 36”. Would estimate the largest fish at about 16 pounds. I would estimate about 80% of the fish I have landed have been native fish despite the statistics of the fish that cross Gold Ray Dam. Since Grants Pass is 101 miles from mouth of the Rogue there are very few half-pounders caught in this area. The bulk of the half-pounders are taken from Galice, about 30 river miles below Grants Pass, to the mouth of the Rogue at Gold Beach.

Angling Method: All of these comments apply to both winter and summer steelhead. I use an 8 weight, 9-foot rod with a weight forward floating line. Use a corkie for an indicator. Use about 7-8 feet of leader to the first fly. The first fly is heavily weighted in a Size 8. Tie anything that looks buggy. The second fly is on about 18 inches of 8-pound test tippet tied into the bend of the hook on the first fly. The second fly is a Size 8 . It has black goose biot tais, a 5/32 gold bead head, peacock Ice Dub body with copper ribbing. This is all dead drift fish with lots of mending of line to keep the drift as natural as possible. Even when the Chinook salmon are spawning in this area from early October until about mid-November I do not switch to using a glo-bug.

Comments: Whenever possible I try to fish in low light condition-overcast days or early morning or late evening when the sun is off the water. Have found that winter fish are more difficult to catch. My guess is because the typical winter water temperature is 42-45 degrees where the typical summer water temperature is 48-66 degrees. Remember all of these remarks pertain to the Grants Pass section of the Rogue because the closer you get to Lost Creek Dam you find much cooler water temperatures during the summer run so you can experience good fishing all day in August in that section of the Rogue where it would be a waste of time to fish in the Grants Pass area.

Bryan
03-16-2005, 02:27 PM
Nice Fish Gordon :!:

LostInTheFog
03-16-2005, 04:42 PM
Nice fish, Gordon.

What do you think they're going to do with the water up on the Rogue? We have a trip planned for next week, but had heard a rumor that the flows might be cut to 400cfs. We are preparing a plan B, but would prefer the Rogue.

Langenbeck
03-16-2005, 05:23 PM
Current outflows are 810 cfs from Lost Creek Reservoir and I have seen nothing that they will change. Flows in the Grants Pass area are about 1,320 cfs.

Hairstacker
03-17-2005, 12:18 AM
Gordon, WOW, thanks!!! VERY nice explanation, I really appreciate it! I have the utmost respect for your steelheading abilities and am all ears (remember the old E.F. Hutton commercials, ha?) when you have something, anything, to say about what works. Thanks again!!! :D