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Lower Rogue Half Pounders

September 18, 2022 - September 19, 2022

Lower Rogue Half Pounders – Contact Steve Day at (661) 742-5835 or icrsrd303@gmail.com

The Lower Rogue River in the Fall should be on everyone’s list of favorite places. For the fly fisher, this time
of year provides a wonderful fishery with Half Pounder and adult Steelhead, Coho and Fall Chinook all present while coursing upstream to overwinter or spawn. Our focus on this trip will be the immature Steelhead, known as Half Pounders. These ferocious, 12 to16 inch, sea run, Rainbow Trout will readily come to the swung fly or dead drifted nymph and when you find one, there is a good chance you’ll find a bunch.
The official outing will take place on Monday, September 19th but some of the Club Members are going to
travel over on Sunday the 18th and get some early fishing in. On Monday we will meet at the Cougar Lane Resort parking lot in Agness at 8:00 a.m. Agness is approximately 28 miles upriver from Gold Beach. It should be noted that breakfast is not available in Agness at any of the resorts. From there we will disperse along the river to wade fish or drift. There are many access points along the river in the Agness area. A Streamtime Map can be useful to help identify points of access. These maps can be purchased online at www.streamtime.com.

Agness is located about two hours west of Grants Pass by way of Bear Camp Road, or a little over three
hours by way of Redwood Highway west to the coast and north to Gold Beach then upriver to Agness. There
are Forest Service Campgrounds at Foster Bar and Quosatana Creek and the Agness RV Park in Agness, www.
agnessrvpark.com or (541) 247-2813. At the time of this article, all of the available lodging in Agness is booked full. Numerous lodging options are available in Gold Beach.

For the fishing you will want a 5 to 7 weight, single hand rod or a light two hander, all dressed with a floating
line. Half Pounders are famous for aggressively taking the swung fly. Swinging tailouts and riffles, sometimes with a twitch, can be very effective for these mini-Steelhead. The list of traditional and notable swing patterns is extensive but it includes the Silver Hilton, Skunk, Red Ant, Brindle Bug, Coachman, Rogue River Special and many others in sizes 8 and 10. Nymphing can also be very effective in the deeper areas. Popular nymph patterns include Prince Nymphs, Hare’s Ears, Sparkle Nymphs, Copper Johns, Pheasant Tails, Ice Cream Cones, Rock Worms and Bloody Marys, all in sizes 10 to 14.

Terminal tackle for the swing rig should include 2X or heavier for leaders and the nymph rig should possess tippets of 2X to the top fly and 3X to the bottom fly. Half Pounders are not generally leader shy and if by chance a larger adult Steelhead is hooked, you won’t be out gunned. If your mission is to target Salmon, I
would suggest heavier gear but that’s a discussion for a different day. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call or email Steve Day at (661) 742-5835 or icrsrd303@gmail.com.

Details

Start:
September 18, 2022
End:
September 19, 2022