John, those fish in the upper Rogue are not anadromous - instead they utilize the "fluvial" life history meaning they spawn in the small tributaries, rear for a bit before dropping into the main river to mature and forage as adults. We fished the upper Rogue salmon fly hatch last June and primarily landed coastal cutthroat. They are becoming more and more common up that way and can get quite large - yours is a dandy! My understanding is that sea runs on the Rogue make it up about as far as the Applegate.
We have been fishing estuaries for SRC with decent success - primarily in Del Norte County but also Curry County OR. Timing and tides are everything - you can usually find them beginning in mid July through the end of October. Fish around structure and if you find one, there's usually more. Here's a couple from last October.
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