The upper Rogue is in good shape and expect flows to hold around this level for the foreseeable feature. The higher flows from the last couple weeks have brought more winter steelhead and a few more spring Chinook into the upper Rogue. Spring Chinook were being caught in the upper river last weekend and this is the very beginning of the run. Trout fishing is closed and will reopen May 22. 

There is good public access for bank fishing and boat access at Cole Rivers Hatchery, McGregor Park, Casey Park, Rogue Elk, Shady Cove, Takelma, Dodge Bridge, Modoc, Denman Wildlife Area, Touvelle State Park, Gold Ray and Fishers Ferry. Most floats in the upper Rogue have been from the hatchery or Rogue Elk downstream to Shady Cove. Dodge Bridge to Touvelle is an excellent float but anglers should be aware that they will encounter Rattlesnake Rapids. If you are not ready for Rattlesnake, many floats will start at the ODFW Modoc Access Site and float to Touvelle or Fishers Ferry.

Fly anglers that nymph will want to use prince nymphs or copperswans, steelhead brassies, stone flies, ugly bugs, or will want to fish large dark flies if swinging. Don’t be afraid of color such as black and chartreuse, black and blue, black and purple, black and pink, or black and red. If tying your own flies, don’t be afraid to add a little bit of flash dubbing or tinsel in the body of your fly. Also, covering lots of water when working through a run is a good technique when swinging flies. Trying moving 4-5 feet down every cast or two.

As of April 30, a total of 3,645 summer steelhead had entered Cole Rivers Hatchery and the run is complete. 165 new winter steelhead were collected last week, bringing the total to 1986 fish for the season. As of April 30, 2 spring Chinook have entered the hatchery.

The McLeod guage is currently reading 3,010 cfs. The Dodge Bridge gage is at 3,310 cfs. For the most current releases of water out of Lost Creek Reservoir, call 1-800-472-2434. For real time streamflow from USGS gauges on the Rogue click here.

Rogue River, above Lost Creek Reservoir:

Anglers will need to walk into fishing access sites until the parking areas and campgrounds are opened up. There are trout available for the hardy angler. With cold water, you’ll want to swing your lure right in front of fish, so work through a hole a bit more slowly.
Anglers can cast flies or smaller lures like a Panther Martin or rooster tail. Often tipping the lure with bait helps to produce. In slower holes, fishing straight bait such as night crawler or Pautzke eggs, even PowerBait will produce.

Trout stocking in the Rogue above Lost Creek Reservoir will not begin until Memorial Day.