Swinging For Cutthroats On The Rogue River

Best Rogue River cutthroat of the day. Caught with a…?

The Silver Hilton fly, wet and chewed, fresh from the Rogue River.

Trout and Morels

The Adams dry fly. A good pattern to have for the early hatches on the Rogue River

Winter steelhead season ended so quickly, it was as if it didn’t happen. There are many ways to celebrate Spring, and two that are very fun are bug hatches and wild mushrooms. You might think it might be hard to combine the two, but between the river and the high mountains there are many opportunities.

The morel hatch on the valley floor had to come to an end eventually. Prospecting for fishing location never does. I came across these past-prime valley floor morels while bushwhacking a new stretch of river. Mental note to return earlier next year for a chance at them while they are still fresh.

While out fishing the Rogue River I found these old morels. A new spot. I’ll have to check back earlier next year.

Since then the fishing and morel hunting has moved up into the higher elevations. With the opening of the general trout season many small waters are open to fishing. When they just happen to border with a morel area, so much the better.

Though these are low-key fishing adventures, they are memorable for the mountain solitude and scenery. If you, like me, savor the wild, there’s nothing like mountain redband trout and black morels in the Spring.

Nice and fresh. The first of the Morchella snyderi (Black Morels of the High Mountains)

This small Oregon redband trout shows distinct par marks.