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Outing – Coastal Steelhead
January 29, 2022 - January 30, 2022
The winter months can be a slow time for many fly fishers in Southwest Oregon. Many of our favorite lakes are frozen over. The trout in the lakes and streams that are open are less active and less likely to take our flies. Here in the middle and upper Rogue River, the summer steelhead fishing is past its prime, and the winter steelhead have yet to arrive. One location that does offer good opportunities for fly fishers this time of year are the coastal streams, where fishing for winter steelhead is in full swing. A number of streams along the Southern Oregon coast are open to winter steelhead fishing, and they offer fly fishers a variety of options, from drifting flies through pockets in small creeks to swinging flies through broad runs on large rivers.
On January 29 and 30, the Southern Oregon Fly Fishers and Rogue Flyfishers are planning a joint outing to the coast to fish for winter steelhead. We will base the outing out of Brookings, which has a good variety of motels, RV parks, and restaurants. Participants should bring equipment for both swinging and dead-drifting flies. For swinging flies, a seven or eight-weight Spey rod with a Skagit head and a variety of sink tips would work well. A single-handed eight-weight rod would be ideal for fishing the smaller streams. Bring a variety of intruder-style flies—from bright to somber—for swinging, and egg pattern, large nymphs, and egg-sucking leeches for dead-drifting. Be sure to bring waders and rain gear. For the outing, we will focus on areas that offer good opportunities for fishing from the bank; however, the lower Rogue and Chetco Rivers do offer good opportunities for those with driftboats or rafts that want to make a drift.
As we get close to the date of the outing, we will decide which streams we will target based on weather, flows, and fishing conditions. People interested in attending the outing should email me (David Haight) at tmdrhaight@infostructure.net by January 24 to get on the list. I will make a decision about what streams to target and when and where to meet, and I will send out that information to the people that have signed up.
David Haight, Outings Chair