The Meandering Angler: Great fishing, catching no so much

Dottie and I drove up I-5 to Ashland, Oregon last weekend and spent two days with our favorite guide, Jim Andras, fishing for trout on the Rogue River, one of the eight rivers established as “Wild and Scenic,” in 1968 by the U.S. Congress. It begins near Crater Lake and flows 215 miles through the mountains and valleys of southwest Oregon and empties into the Pacific Ocean at the town of Gold Beach.

Long before it was so designated, the Rogue caught the attention of movie-makers from Hollywood who used it as a dramatic backdrop for films like “The River Wild” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

Ginger Rogers built a big ranch on its banks, and entertained her friends, including Clark Cable, there on breaks from shooting films.

Famous anglers, including Zane Grey, spent a lot of time fishing the Rogue. Not so famous anglers like me and my friend, Steve Kyle, have spent a lot of time fishing the Rogue also.

Steve and I usually plan at least one and sometimes two trips a year with Jim, who operates his guiding business, Andras Outfitters, out of Talent, Oregon, located a few miles north of Ashland. But we usually go in October or even February, which is the best time of year for steelhead.

Steelhead are rainbow trout that have gone to the ocean, spent a year or two there, and then return to the river to spawn. They’re big and full of fight.

But this time of year, the Rogue offers those of us who like to fish for rainbow trout who are more or less permanent residents of the river, a chance to play with them.

Thats because this is when salmon flies swarm like locusts on every tree and bush branch along the river banks for many miles. They don’t seem to do much but hang around, but when they do try to let go of their perch and fly, they inevitably get close to, or in, the water. Trout have been known to go on crazy feeding frenzies when this happens and anglers who are there at those times, with a fake salmon fly at the end of their lines, can have a blast, catching and releasing big crazy rainbows who don’t bother to distinguish between a real salmon fly and a well-tied imitation.

That’s what I told Dottie to convince her that she should join me on the Rogue this month. But she likes the catching part and lot more than just fishing. She also made it clear that our two-day adventure would be more than just a pleasant float down a pretty river, no matter which movie star once had a villa on its banks.

(Incidentally, actor Jim Belushi has a place that fronts a part of the Rogue that I regularly fish.)

She doesn’t care, as long as she catches fish and that was the challenge as she, Jim and I, entered the Rogue a few miles northeast of the Medford.

I will say that the weather was nearly perfect, the water was clear and the scenery lovely, and I would also like to say that the trout were feeding like hogs and we had a great time catching and releasing dozens.

As always, Jim worked hard to find us some fish. He is the best and hardest working guide I’ve ever fished with. But he’s not a miracle worker.

Unfortunately, while the fishing was excellent, the catching was marginal. We did manage to catch and release a few, but too few.

On the other hand, we had a couple of very nice dinners in Ashland and enjoyed our stay there at the Plaza Inn and Suites.