River flows are slowly dropping. The release from Lost Creek is around 1,900 cfs and the flow at Dodge Bridge is around 2,200 cfs, with a river temperature hanging just above freezing. The river is starting to come back into shape but cold temperatures will likely have fish holding near heads and tailouts of pools.

There are currently trout available in this section of the rogue. Please handle any lingering wild coho or summer steelhead with care. This is their spawning time. The return of hatchery coho to Cole Rivers had reached 2,589 fish last week with 0 new arrivals. The return of summer steelhead has reached 1,110 fish, with 11 new arrivals. There may still be a few summer steelhead in the river but a lot of them have likely moved up into tributaries to spawn.

Anglers should soon be running into winter steelhead in this section of river, but the bite could be slow with the cool temperatures. 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.

For up-to-date river levels, check all the USGS Rogue gauges here.