Bait can again be used in the entire Rogue from the mouth upstream to Fishers Ferry.  Wild steelhead cannot be retained above Hog Creek until Feb. 1. Wild steelhead must be 24 inches in length to harvest, with a limit of 1 per day/3 per year zone wide in aggregate with other SW rivers where wild steelhead are allowed to be harvested (consult regulations). 

Anglers may still find a few summer steelhead in the middle Rogue area and will likely start to encounter down-running spawned out fish (also known as kelts). Handle these fish with care if you encounter them.

Winter fish are being caught in the Galice and Robertson Bridge areas. Some fish have been caught as high as Grants Pass and Rogue River areas. Anglers are picking up fish with jigs, roe, yarnies. Fishing under an indicator can be productive, and plugs are still a great choice when fished from a drift boat. The bulk of the winter steelhead in the middle Rogue don’t typically show until February and peak in March into April. However, the high water so far is a welcome change from the past few years. 

Local tackle and fly shops in the Grants Pass area have all the gear you may need, and very fresh bait. Check them out and offer them your support.

Expect the river to continue dropping for the foreseeable future – there’s not much precipitation in the 10-day forecast. As of Wednesday morning the flow in Grants Pass was 1,810 cfs/1.75 ft and dropping slowly. and should remain above 2,000 cfs at least through the weekend. The water clarity was 3 NTU and approximately 40 degrees. Current flow, temp and turbidity conditions for the Rogue can be found at the USGS stream gauges here, or checking the City of Grants Pass water page’s river data here.