scenic river canyons

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Good Eats

Capture

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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Good Trout Bite on the Rogue River

 

 

Wildflowers abound along the banks of the Rogue River
Merganzers

Momma merganzer was trying to bring her train of little ducklings up along the shallows near shore.

This Rogue River cutthroat took an adult salmonfly imitation called the Norm Wood Special.

This handful of Rogue River cutthroat greedily attacked a swung wet fly .

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Rogue River Morel Update

Still looking good. Just a couple days ago checked a deep woods pocket and had quite a good foray for the fresh morel mushrooms. The April temperatures have remained perfect for the little fungi. April rains have been light and very welcomed for the ground was getting a little dry. The outlook for the balance of the month looks very favorable.

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Rogue River Flows

Rogue River Flow

How’d the Rogue River flow jump so much over the weekend? I was away from the valley floor and up in the mountains trying to take some possible Christmas Card photos while breaking in a new pair of Rocky Boots. Granted it did sprinkle rain and hail a little at that attitude, but for the most part it was just plain cold with fog. The fog made finding and taking photos difficult, while the new boots proved up to the task of the weather and terrain. What was my surprise Monday when I returned to the river and found the water semi murky and a foot or so higher along the bank. Note to oneself, it is getting to be that time of year when extra attention must be given to the weather in order to monitor good Rogue River fly-fishing condition

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Rainy November Rogue River 11-21-14

A good November day searching for steelhead on the Rogue River, Oregon. I spent a lot of time casting the new natural flies with nary a bite. I even tried some of the gaudier Carpetbagger Nymphs in the cold, green water. Nothing was working until late when I began catching trout with the ‘Hare’s Ear look-a-like. And then, wouldn’t you know it, a pulverizing strike on the swing through a shallow tailout section. Zip, zip, break…the 6 pound test parted. The dilemma; fish the 6 pound tippet in lower, cold water in order to get more strikes, or up the pound test of the tippet to #8 in order to land more steelhead? Good question, any suggestions?
Here is the fly that has captured most of the attention. A small fly with a lot of the elements of a G.R. Hare's Ear Nymph.

Here is the fly that has captured most of the attention. A small fly with a lot of the elements of a G.R. Hare’s Ear Nymph.

July 1st. Get out the Sun Umbrellas on the Rogue River.

With Rogue Valley air temperatures slated to rise to 103°F today, here is a little recap of the weekend float with the Drifter. Recalling the friendly sun and 75°F mid-day temperature, what a refreshing time that was. Expecting to find another early summer steelhead; Carpetbaggers, G.R. Hare’s Ears, and Brown Fork Tail Prince nymphs were the fly choices du jour. We did find cutthroat trout and steelhead smolt. Not a fantastic bite this time of year, but a bite none the less. A probable cause of this would be the high (2200 CFS – 2800 CFS), cold water flow. Most of the resident fish have fed well during the early hatches of spring. Wet wading, I found the 55°F water to feel exhilarating at first touch. Actually you can “warm up” to it, and then the cool feels quite nice. Teri prefers the action from the drift boat via casting and “trolling.” We “trolled up” several nice cutthroat trout ferrying the Drifter and giving the Rogue River twitch to a tandem setup of flies. A big fly (a Carpetbagger) trailing a small fly (Hare’s Ear or Prince size #10) is a hot set up. Not many boats and a lot of wildlife make for a pleasant time along the Rogue River of Oregon.

July birds along the Rogue River.

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Carpetbagger Tearing Them Up On the Umpqua River

Roseburg, Oregon. Guide Mike Springer of Springer’s Guide Service http://www.springersguideservice.com/ and Rogue Wilderness Adventures http://www.wildrogue.com/ reports 100 fish days for smallmouth bass on Oregon’s Umpqua River. Mike says, “The fly bite was awesome!” Mike sent along a couple photos including one of a Midnight Fire Carpetbagger Nymph that had survived “100 straight fish attacks” that very day. Mike also said something about crawdads, but I don’t believe him. Springer’s Guide Service http://www.springersguideservice.com/#top