Winter fish are being caught on a more regular basis in the upper Rogue.

Wild winter steelhead can now be retained as long as they are a minimum size of 24 inches. Only 1 wild fish can be harvested 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 March 16, 42 new winter steelhead entered the hatchery with 80 fish for the year to date. Another late trickle of 23 new summer steelhead brought this year’s run to 3389 fish.  Updated counts were not yet available at the writing of this report.

Best bets for the upper river would be concentrating on the area between Shady Cove and Touvelle as there is more color to the water. If fly-anglers are so inclined, the Holy water should start improving with the cloudy and slightly warmer days. 

The Dodge Bridge is hovering at 1030 cfs and 49 degrees F. Flows out of the dam are 762 cfs and 45 degrees. You can check all the USGS Rogue gauges here.