Upper Rogue River Report

Rogue River- Upper - Medford, OR (Jackson County)


by OR Department of Fish & Wildlife Staff
1-6-2022
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A few coho may still be found, but with the last onslaught of water they are probably few and far between. Summer steelhead fishing can still be found in the upper river, and will continue to trickle into the Cole Rivers Hatchery in February. Anglers will likely be starting to encounter down-runner summer Steelhead (also known as kelts), that have recently spawned. Please handle these fish with care and release them. 

Wild winter Steelhead can be retained after Feb. 1, upstream of Hog Creek. Only 1 fish with a minimum length of 24 inches can be harvest per day as part of the daily limit, and 3 wild fish in aggregate for the year in the Rogue and other waterbodies of the SW zone where wild steelhead may be harvested. Consult the 2022 sportfishing regulations and SW zone for more information. 

As of Dec. 28, 2021, 19 additional coho entered the Cole Rivers Hatchery ladder, bringing the year’s total run to 2494 fish. The run is most likely over and is 200 percent of the 10-year average! An additional 178 summer steelhead entered the ladder bringing the years total to 2,865 fish. Likely this represents about 80-90 percent of the years run. Fish will continue to trickle in through February. The first winter steelhead of the year has not yet shown.

When much of the rest of the Rogue is muddy or blown out, the upper river above Rogue Elk Park is in much better shape, depending on what Big Butte Creek is flowing at. Above Big Butte Creek near Casey and McGregor Park will always be the less turbid water.  Currently the McCloud Guage is reading 1,540 cfs with the hatchery guage reading 943 cfs, so Big Butte Creek is responsible for about 600 cfs input on Wednesday morning.  You can check all the USGS rogue gauges here.





More Reports

OR Department of Fish & Wildlife Reports
for Thursday, January 6th, 2022
Gerber Reservoir: The reservoir is frozen. Ice thickness is unknown
John C Boyle Reservoir: The reservoir might be partially frozen
Upper Klamath Lake: The lake is frozen except near the outlet
Klamath River - Upper - OR: Klamath River Report
Lake Of The Woods: Ice thickness is unknown but currently not safe for ice fishing
Willow Valley Reservoir: The reservoir is low and likely frozen
Applegate Reservoir: The only useable boat ramp at Applegate Reservoir is the French Gulch Boat Ramp
Applegate River: As of Wednesday morning, the Wilderville stream gage was reading 1,280 cfs and dropping
Arizona Pond: This pond received a sizeable batch of fresh rainbow trout over the holidays
Ben Irving Reservoir: Reservoir is likely murky and may inhibit certain methods.
Chetco River: Steelhead fishing has been really good
Coos River: Steelhead anglers have been catching hatchery steelhead
Coquille River: The rivers are currently high and muddy
Diamond Lake: The last report said the ice was not quite thick enough to start fishing on
Elk River: Steelhead fishing should be excellent
Emigrant Reservoir: Emigrant is close to deadpool
Fish Lake : The current lake level is 35 percent full and the lake is filling slowly
Galesville Reservoir: The reservoir has started to fill again but it is still very low
Garrison Lake: Bank anglers can find access at the 12th street or Pinehurst boat ramps and off Paradise Point Road
Howard Prairie Reservoir: Earlier in the week is that there’s about 6 inches of snow over about 4-6 inches of ice covering the lake
Hyatt Lake: Expect winter weather conditions for the weekend and a frozen lake
Illinois River: The Illinois is known for having a run of some earlier running winter steelhead
Pistol River: Steelhead are spread throughout the river
Rogue River- Lower: Steelhead fishing has been really good
Rogue River - Middle: Middle Rogue may start seeing some winter steelhead finally show up


1-4-2022
ROSEBURG, Ore – ODFW asks anglers who harvest a hatchery winter steelhead to put the snout in specially marked collection...... Read More