MEDFORD, Ore. — Southern Oregon visitors looking to wiggle some fishing between wine tasting and Oregon Shakespeare Festival shows are in luck. Jackson County sports a plethora of angling opportunities that allow visitors to test-drive some of the Northwest’s best fishing with plenty of time left to get cleaned up for the next pre-play dinner.
For each month from May through September, we have a suggestion for a unique fishing day-trip that’s easy to plan and execute.
MAY
Trout-fishing in the High Cascades begins to heat up as the cold mountain waters of Howard Prairie Lake ease enough to get the rainbow trout more active.
Fishing off the bank near the Howard Prairie Resort with worms or chartreuse PowerBait is a nice way to enjoy the Cascades and catch a few trout either for release or to take home and eat.
To get there, take Highway 66 out of Ashland and turn left (east) on Dead Indian Memorial Road. Follow the twisting road as it climbs to 5,000 feet, and about the time you see Mount McLoughlin sparkling in the mountain air, look for your right turn on Hyatt-Prairie Road. Follow the signs to the resort, which will be on your left.
JUNE
June is the prime month to stalk the upper Rogue’s most popular and tasty denizen — the spring chinook salmon.
The upper Rogue is lined with popular bank-fishing spots off Highway 62 north of Shady Cove, including Casey State Park and the so-called “Hatchery Hole” along the Cole Rivers Hatchery dike. These options require your own gear and knowledge of the area and river.
To circumvent that, visitors often hire local fishing guides who bring along their boats, gear and expertise to get visitors into the salmon. Guides run anywhere from $250 to $300 a day per person. For a list of guides and contacts, see the Rogue River Guides Association’s website at www.rogueriverguides.com.
JULY
July can bring some of the hottest weather to the Rogue Valley, and resident anglers often beat the heat by playing with rainbow trout in northern Jackson County’s Union Creek area.
This little hamlet along Highway 62 about 50 miles north of Medford features two popular trout fisheries — the Rogue River and its tributary of Union Creek, which are stocked weekly with fresh rainbow trout.
Use anything from small spinning rods with worms or tiny lures to streamer or dry flies. Parking is available adjacent to Union Creek Campground for those not staying overnight.
AUGUST
August and September offer two decidedly different angling experiences for fly fishers who travel with a pack rod or two.
One option is the “Holy Water,” an impounded stretch of the Rogue River between Lost Creek Dam and the Cole Rivers Hatchery water-intake tower. It’s the best fly-fishing spot for trout along the Rogue.
Match dry-fly hatches, fish tiny midges under the film or strip leeches or other small nymphs with sinking lines anywhere along this nearly 1-mile stretch of the stream. Most of the trout are 8 to 14 inches long, so anything from 3- to 6-weight rods work nicely here. It’s Oregon’s only year-round water designated solely for catch-and-release fly-fishing for stocked trout with barbless hooks.
To get there, take Highway 62 north past Trail to Casey State Park, then turn left and follow the signs to the hatchery. After crossing the bridge, look upstream to find the Holy Water.
SEPTEMBER
Fly-fishers who like a taste of Zane Grey with their Shakespeare can look in September to the Rogue’s famed summer steelhead favored by the fishing Western author from nearly a century ago.
The upper Rogue’s popular flies-only season for steelhead runs Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, just as water conditions pull into excellent fly-fishing shape. Traditional fly-fishers can swing streamers through steelhead riffles or use floating lines and egg flies or stonefly nymphs or both.
Unlike the Holy Water, you don’t need a traditional fly rod to take part. Anglers using spinning rods with floats can take part and do very well. But remember, no added weights or attachments, such as split-shot or even swivels, are allowed.
The waters upstream and downstream of TouVelle State Park off Table Rock Road are popular fly-fishing spots, as are the riffles off Highway 62 between Casey State Park and the Hatchery Hole. To get there, take Highway 62 east, and about three miles past Costco turn left onto Agate Road, then turn left onto Antelope Road and then right onto Table Rock Road. TouVelle will be on your right.
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