Coho salmon are distributed throughout the middle Rogue

Rogue River - Middle - Grants Pass, OR (Josephine County)


by OR Department of Fish & Wildlife Staff
12-11-2024
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Flow in Grants Pass is 1,770 cfs and dropping on Dec. 11, with a water temperature of around 40F. The river is moderate/low, with turbidity levels around 2 NTUs.

Coho salmon are distributed throughout the middle Rogue. Please remember that all unmarked wild coho must be immediately released unharmed, while hatchery fish have an adipose fin clip and may be harvested. Anglers can try casting spoons like Little Cleos or spinners like a Blue Fox. Another common technique is to fish bait or artificials like an egg imitation soft bead below a bobber. For fly-anglers, coho will strike medium to large leech and streamer patterns in pink, orange, purple or black.

Some summer steelhead are being caught. Again, only hatchery summer steelhead may be kept and all wild steelhead must be released unharmed. Focus on deeper runs and pools.

It's still early for winter steelhead in this section of the Rogue. For the 2024/2025 season, there is no wild harvest above the confluence with the Illinois River. The Rogue-South Coast Steelhead Validation is required for all winter steelhead anglers fishing in the Rogue Basin or on the south coast from Dec. 1 to April 30.

Anglers, please use proper catch-and-release techniques, such as keeping fish in the water as much as possible and releasing them quickly. If fish are getting injured with the technique you are using, please change techniques. Remember that smaller rainbow are usually the steelhead that will return in future years.

Current flow, temp and turbidity conditions for the Rogue can be found at the USGS stream gauges here, or checking the City of Grants Pass water page's river data here.