rogue river guide

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9 Out Of 10 Rogue River Steelhead Prefer…A Carpetbagger Nymph (instead of turkey) For Thanksgiving

Even with all the fancy fly choices you can fling out there, cold water Rogue River steelhead like Carpetbagger Stonefly Nymphs best. Maybe it is the wiggly legs? Maybe it is the cool New Age Chenille body colors? Maybe it’s the weighted bead head? Maybe all that real matters is that they work best in the waning months of the year! Try the Midnight Fire, Midnight Rainbow or Copper/Gold/Black  chenille body colors. Try the bead head “Magic Flies” this November and December and don’t go home a big gobbler!.

Native Rogue River steelhead released to fight again.

Native Rogue River steelhead released to fight again.

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Flies on the Rogue River – Steelhead Caddis

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Bill McMillan’s Steelhead Caddis is a great fly pattern this time of year on the Rogue River of Oregon

Lower water, warm afternoons…if you want to hook a steelhead near the surface, this is a great fly to go to on the Rogue River this time of year. Tied on a size 6 Partridge Wilson hook.

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Army Corps Dropping Water Releases to the Upper Rogue

Lost Creek water releases to the upper Rogue River have been dropping slowly. I noticed it a couple of days ago. Didn’t make a difference as it was still hard to find a biting steelhead. I did see a large, dark Chinook salmon showing itself in the center of a run. Big Chinookie dominating the run to cause the steelhead to hide even better.

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Today’s flow settles out around 1720 CFS. End of today’s air temperatures will be around 98°F. A little end of summer heat spike that should abate some by Sunday.

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Flow down around Medford and White City sections.

 

Graph showing the release up near the McGregor Park section. By Tuesday that should be down around 1200 CFS.

 

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Tailed! A chrome, bright Rogue River summer steelhead captured with a Bead Head G.R. Hare’s Ear Nymph.

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Good Eats

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Seared Steelhead Fillets from the Rogue River.

September First and the wild harvest of the Fall begins. There are still coin bright July and August summer steelhead languishing in the pools of the upper Rogue River. Right on time the water flow has risen to bring up migrating Fall Chinook salmon and steelhead from the Wild & Scenic canyon of the river. The cooling air of the Rogue Valley reveals that the heat of the summer has left a bountiful array of treats in the garden. Bright red tomatoes are to be  picked as well as potatoes dug. Lettuce and basil is to be plucked from their beds. Together all come together in a culinary feast of the season.

I don’t know if you have discovered Blue Apron or any of the other Dinner-Kit Services that deliver fresh meals and ingredients directly to your door. Complete with chef inspired recipes printed on colorful 8 x 11 cards, you cook and assemble the gormet meals at home yourself. Often I like to substitute fresh steelhead for the sustainable seafood Blue Apron sends.  In the dinner pictured above, Seared Salmon & Sauce Gribiche, I have substituted fresh, Rogue River steelhead for the packaged salmon. (The salmon was squirreled away in the freezer for the future.)  I further enhanced the meal with red potatoes, cherry tomatoes and parsley from our garden. Blue Apron supplied the base of the  ingredients including summer beans, shallots, cornichons and Dijonnaise.  Putting it all together, this came to be one, tasty , end-of-summer meal!

As for the fly responsible for the September steelhead catch? You can give full credit to the Beadhead G.R. Hare’s Ear Nymph.

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G.R. Hare’s Ear Nymph. Always a good choice on the Rogue River of Oregon.

 

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Pick Yer Pocket

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Pick Yer Pocket on a Waddington Shank.

Cool video demo on adding the stinger hook. I like to tie on traditional Waddington shanks, but the Senyo Articulated Shank will do in a pinch. I have not thought of coating fly line backing with super glue. Stiffens the connection, but I wonder does it weaken it at the same time?

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Autumn Bronze

A John Shewey original pattern, the Autumn Bronze is a classic-style steelhead Spey fly.

A John Shewey original pattern, the Autumn Bronze is a classic-style steelhead Spey fly.


Here is a classic style steelhead fly for the Fall. A John Shewey original, the pattern features bronze in more than just the name. A key feature is the bronze mallard wing arching across the top. Laying like the shellback to a shrimp or possibly a crawfish, this “wing” helps direct the long, flowing Spey hackles down and to the rear. With “legs” flowing and pulsing with life, it is no wonder that Spey flies like the Autumn Bronze prove irresistible to steelhead and cutthroat trout.

I like to tie my Spey patterns with bronze mallard flank feathers I have gathered myself. The bronze color of the feathers are conspicuous just behind the joint of the wings. Early in the duck hunting season, the bronze mallard feathers are short and not fully developed. As the season progresses the quality of the feathers improves. By January any mallard drake harvested is going to have perhaps 4-5 good feathers per side. When plucked the feathers from each side are matched. I like to store my matched “pairs” of bronze mallard on photo album pages. The plastic of the page securely holds the matched pairs in place ready for selection when tying a fly. An added bonus of the “photo album page” method of storing is that the feathers are held flat against the paper of the page. Bronze mallard feathers have a natural curve. You will readily know this if you have ever tried to set a pair atop a hook. Stored under compression the feathers loose some of the memory of the natural curve. This will make setting a bronze mallard wing on a classic Spey fly a lot faster and neater.