Rogue River

The upper Rogue River in Jackson County is one of Oregon’s superb fishing
streams. Salmon and steelhead runs go upriver as far as Lost Creek Dam, home of Cole Rivers Hatchery upstream from Shady Cove. Chinook salmon catches can be very good in the upper river, with springers arriving by May and continuing to provide action well into summer. Fall chinook catches often peak late August through September. The first summer steelhead arrive with the spring chinook, and combined with the winter run there will be steelies available in good numbers through late winter. Trout fishing is fair to good in this section but largely catch and release unless a fin-clipped fish is found in this unstocked area. But if you want lots of keeper trout, you need only to fish the river above Lost Creek Lake, where the stream is heavily stocked from late May to early September. This is one of the best fishing rivers in southwestern Oregon.

Klamath River

Klamath County is one of Oregon’s largest, and it also has some of the state’s best fishing, thanks to the fact that it’s home to the upper basins of two rich river systems, the Deschutes and Klamath. The county is especially noteworthy to anglers for its ability to produce trout of several species in trophy-worthy sizes, making some of its lakes and streams rank right up there among Oregon’s best.