Fish Report for 4-7-2022

First steelhead ever!!! Upper Rouge River
Photo Credit: Photo by Evan Mckinney

Winter steelhead are being caught in the upper Rogue on a regular basis

4-7-2022
OR Department of Fish & Wildlife Staff

Anglers are reminded that the Hatchery Hole, which encompasses the blocker dam to 1200 feet below, is closed to ALL fishing from April 1 through July 31. It is also closed year-round to Chinook fishing.

Trout fishing is closed from April 1 through May 21. This is to protect out migrating wild steelhead smolts. This closure includes catch and release fishing for trout at this time as well.

Winter steelhead are being caught in the upper Rogue on a regular basis. Due to drought conditions in the larger spawning tributaries, more mainstem spawning of winter fish is  occurring this year, and anglers are asked to be aware of redds in shallow tailouts and along river margins. Avoid walking or dragging vessels on these.

Wild winter steelhead can be retained as long as they are a minimum size of 24 inches through April 30. 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 29, 106 new winter steelhead entered the hatchery with 293 fish for the year to date. Another late trickle of 10 haggard summer steelhead brought this year’s run to 3,416 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. Rogue Elk to Shady Cove is also fishing well.  Trout anglers will want to start checking out the Holy Water, as that is the only trout fishing available in the Rogue until May 22. Anglers are reminded that the Holy Water is fly angling only and catch and release. 

The Dodge Bridge gauge is 1190 and dropping after a peak of 1,570 cfs on April 5. The temperature was a 46 degrees on Wednesday morning, but expected to jump back up to close to 54 over the next 2 days with the warmer weather. Flows out of the dam are 763 cfs and nearly 48 degrees. You can check all the USGS Rogue gauges here.



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More Reports

OR Department of Fish & Wildlife Reports
for Thursday, April 7th, 2022

Umatilla River: Spring Chinook fishing to open on Umatilla River April 16
ODFW Recreation Report
Gerber Reservoir: The reservoir remains at 12 percent full
John C Boyle Reservoir: Fishing is improving for warmwater fish as they move into the shallows
Upper Klamath Lake: ishing is slow but will improve in late April
Klamath River - Upper - OR: Klamath River Fishing Report
Lake Of The Woods: The lake is mostly ice-free but with a very thin layer of ice in some areas
Pilcher Reservoir: The reservoir is now ice-free
North Fork Sprague River: Flows are high at 187 cfs
Wolf Creek Reservoir: The ice is gone from Wolf Creek Reservoir
Wood River: Fishing for brown trout should be good on opening day
Agate Lake: The reservoir has a good concrete boat launch and is 97 percent full
Applegate Reservoir: The lake elevation is now high enough that Copper boat ramp is now usable
Ben Irving Reservoir: Ben Irving was stocked with trout a couple weeks ago
Cooper Creek Reservoir: Cooper was stocked two weeks ago, meaning there should be lots of trout available
Coos River: The winter steelhead fishing season is still officially open
Coquille River: The winter steelhead fishing season is still officially open
Diamond Lake: With a mix bag of weather its hard to say how the fishing will be at Diamond
Emigrant Reservoir: The reservoir is currently at 12 percent
Expo Pond: Expo pond received another 1,500 legal rainbow trout the week of April 4
Fish Lake : The reservoir is slowly filling
Floras Lake: Recently stocked, anglers could potentially pick up some nice-size rainbows or native resident cutthroat trout
Garrison Lake: Just last week, 500 trophy rainbow trout went in
Howard Prairie Reservoir: The lake has no ice, but access is limited
Hyatt Lake: Open water is available but the reservoir still extremely low
Illinois River: The Illinois is closed to trout and steelhead
Lake Selmac: Weed growth is down and all boat ramps are accessible
Lemolo Lake: Lemolo is starting to fill, but the boat ramps are currently closed
Rogue River- Lower: Fishing conditions are low and clear
Rogue River - Middle: Anglers are still catching spawned out “kelt” or down-runners
Tenmile Lakes: The winter steelhead fishing season is still officially open, but most anglers have called it quits for the season
Umpqua River: Anglers seem to be finding a decent number of striped bass in the lower section of the river
North Umpqua River: Anglers are still doing fairly well with winter steelhead
Willow Lake: Willow Lake received another 4,000 legal rainbow trout on April 4
Alsea River: Winter steelhead fishing is winding down on the Alsea
Kilchis River: The Kilchis River is still a little on the low side but has good color
Nehalem River: Mainstem is still a little off color following last weekend’s rain but is on the drop
Nehalem River- North Fork: The North Fork Nehalem blew out on Monday but has already dropped back into shape
Nestucca River: The Nestucca is in prime condition
Salmon River: Winter steelhead fishing closed on the Salmon on March 31
Siletz River: Winter steelhead fishing is starting to slow down for the season on the Siletz
Trask River: The Trask is in prime condition following last weekend’s rain
Wilson River: The Wilson blew out on Monday but dropped quickly and is back in shape
Blue River Reservoir: Will be stocked this week with 1,200 rainbow trout
Clear Lake: Stocking will resume later this spring
Dexter Reservoir: Will be stocked again this week
Foster Reservoir: The water level in the reservoir is currently low in order to provide flood storage
Hills Creek Reservoir: Hills Creek Reservoir will be stocked again this week
Junction City Pond: The pond will be stocked this week
Leaburg Lake: Leaburg Lake is open to fishing all year
Quartzville Creek: Quartzville Creek Fishing Report
Santiam River ( North Fork) : Trout season will start back up again on May 22
Santiam River (South Fork): Fishing with bait is only allowed between April 22 and Oct 31
Timber Linn Lake: It will be stocked this week with about 1,000 hatchery trout
Pine Hollow Reservoir: Pine Hallow Rainbow Trout
Imnaha River: Imnaha River Fishing Report
Willow Creek Reservoir: Willow Creek provides a great early season opportunity for anglers
Brownlee Reservoir: Anglers in the Powder River arm have recently had good catches of bass
Oxbow Reservoir: Anglers have been successful catching bass in Oxbow Reservoir
Hells Canyon Reservoir: Fishing pressure has been light on Hells Canyon Reservoir


4-6-2022
The reservoir is stocked regularly in the spring and summer with tens of thousands of one-pound hatchery trout. Storage season...... Read More