Rogue River Fly Fishing Report

Brandon Worthington reports on 5.3.18

Rogue River

The Rogue River features a phenomenal Golden Stone and Salmonfly hatch which sees little attention but only because it’s simply overshadowed by the arrival of Spring Chinook. We relish this inattention because it affords fly fishermen in the know non-stop dry fly fishing to eager trout on a beautiful river in early summer. What could be better?

Fish on the Rogue are generally a mix of steelhead smolt, wild rainbows, and large coastal cutthroat trout. The fishing is perfect for a 4 weight, however, 5 weight rods are often appreciated when casting large, bushy dry flies and when we tie into one of the river’s trophy Cutthroat. These remarkable leopards spotted predators are staging a real comeback after a strict catch and release regulations were implemented by ODFW. We see more and more of these fish in our catch each season, and many grow to impressive proportions.

The hatch on the Rogue offers only a short window of opportunity with the best fishing occurring between the last week of May and first three weeks of June. Just 40 minutes out of Ashland, please drop us a line if you are interested in this fun and light-hearted fishing trip.