# rogue



## steelhead05 (Mar 24, 2003)

anyone know how the steelhead fishing on the rogue is by the dam? or near by


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## scoot (Jul 4, 2001)

dont waste your time


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## Flyfisher (Oct 1, 2002)

Have to agree with you on this one, Scoot....fished all morning with a friend and we hooked, and lost, one dark male. Another friend fished this afternoon and didn't hook a thing. Water has come down too much and is really clear...tough conditions and not a lot of fish around.


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## discdrag (Jul 21, 2001)

ditto. didnt see/hook/catch anything, but it was nice to be outside.


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## scoot (Jul 4, 2001)

it would be nice if a limit of steelhead was one or maybe two because the steelies get slayed in the rogue. See a lot of guys hookin em and cookin em which is fine but what are you gonna do with 3 fish? Just my two cents. Yea the rogue is stocked but about 50% of the fish i land there are wild. This could greatly be improved if more people practiced catch and release. Again this might just be my opinion.


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## silversides (Aug 16, 2002)

i too would like to see the limit on steelhead lowered in the rogue. this river probably gets pounded more than any other river in the state, and if the limit were lowered, there would be more fish to go around. alot of times, the guys that limit out already have more fish than they know what to do with, so they just give them away. I guess they feel they are selling themselves short unless they kill their limit everytime out.


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## bigsid (Jan 13, 2003)

I think the new posted areas (although I don't like them) would probably have an effect on the "pounding" of the river. Then again, the dam in Rockford is basically a fish pond so who knows?


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## steelie (Sep 20, 2000)

Good Day,

Certainly it would be nice to see such a limit, however it may be unrealistic at this time as the Rogue is still considered a true put n' take fishery. Keep preaching and the heathens may repent! OK, that is a bit harsh maybe... It really boils down to only keeping what you really need...

My two cents...

Steelie


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## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by steelie _
> *It really boils down to only keeping what you really need...
> *


Very true!!!


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## tommy-n (Jan 9, 2004)

Yeah, we need to save more of them for the greatlakes trollers. they do way more damage than the river fisherman do, now you can run three lines a person on the greatlakes. The rogue is pretty much a put and take fishery any way, not much natural reproduction if any.I personally only keep 2 or 3 a year, but if someone wants to keep there limit, thats there choice.


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## Nighttimer (Jul 24, 2001)

Save more for the trollers? How would that be? A small percentage (around 20% from what I've read) of steelhead actual make it back to the lake to return again. This year is a great example of what a lower creel limit could do for this river. There was a great fall run of fish by the Rogue's standards and they disappeared by mid December. During that time I saw fish after fish going out on stringers. I have no problem with people keeping fish and I keep a few every year, but we could have had a good winter fishery. I would like to see creel limit zero from mid September through April 1st. Not because the Rogue gets any natural reproduction, but to ensure good fishing all winter. I know this will never happen.

Scoot,
How can you tell the fish you are catching are wild? The DNR doesn't clip every fish because that would take too long. Just curious. I would think the Rogue gets very little natural reproduction. With the limited amount of gravel (which gets trampled on to no end) and warm water temps in the summer, the survival rate of smolts seems low.


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## tgafish (Jan 19, 2001)

Good idea Tommy,
Save all those fish for us big lake guys. No shoulder to shoulder, no bitching, no fighting, no fighting over which part of the lake is mine. I don't think Cletus and Clem have a boat. (for all those who don't know it's a referece to thousandcast's book)

OK big lake guys I've made some pretty bold statements. How about we get through a fall without the pierheads debacle posts


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## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

TG,
Whadya mean, no hassles on the big lake? I saw ya cutting Team Danno outta that honey hole 3.5 miles NNW of the Manistee pierheads last Labor Day Weekend. Next time we'll getcha!!!!!..........LOL!!!


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## SteelieknightFSU (Feb 23, 2004)

The DNR does tag most of the fish and when I mean most, I pretty much mean about all. I have heard mixed reports about the Rogue and the reproduction rates, but I have caught fish with unclipped fins and have seen many more caught that had no fin clips. As for fish disapearing during the winter, it is probably so that you would notice a decrease in fish numbers from the people taking fish out of the system, but it is also known that during low conditions or just for reasons unknown that fish will head back to a larger river to seek better refuge. I do agree that the Rogue could have a lower creel limit, but I cant see that happening in the near future. SteelieknightFSU


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

SteelieKnightFSU hit the nail on the head. Lack of fish in the Rogue always seems to be linked back to people keeping them. 

Myself, I think many drop back out when the water get's low.


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## scoot (Jul 4, 2001)

nighttimer, Didnt know about the dnr not doing fin clippings. But my fish from last fall, winter, and this spring have been about 50/50 fish with fin clipings. I just figured fish with all their fins are wild, perhaps from other streams, my friends uncle has landed fish from the rogue that were from St. Joe and the manistee. On an interesting note I landed a 15-inch resident rainbow on the rogue the other day, not a skipper. This is proof to me that they can get to a stage where they grow and live long enough to smolt. Yes many die off in the summer but many live too because I catch many pre migrants year-round meaning the tiny planters lived through the tough conditions of summer maybe even a few summers as in the case of the big one I got the other day. I have to disagree about not much natural reproduction too. Night time sees many fish on gravel because of the lack of fishing pressure and the comfort of the fish. People see empty redds and assume fish were ripped off and are gone. Sometimes but usually the fish have just honed into the wood for the day and are waiting to go back to work when the sun goes down. Another thing is high, muddy water. Fish are usually unmolested in high water conditions because of the lack of visibility. Bottom line is if more people practiced catch and release more people would catch fish. I know some boats in the great lakes are even starting to do it. Again this is just my opinion and I know some people agree with it.


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## quillbackCARPSUCKER (Jan 7, 2003)

I also wouldn't mind seeing a lowered creel limit on the Rogue, though I doubt it would ever happen. I can attest to the fact that many fall/winter fish were taken out this year on stringers and it did seem like the nice fall run we had kinda disappeared making for a slow winter. It would be nice if more people would only keep what they need and release some fish. I'm not sure how many fish the DNR doesn't clip, but I also catch a good number of unclipped fish from the Rogue each year, so I always assumed that there might be a small amount of natural reproduction.


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## GVSUKUSH (Mar 9, 2004)

Fished all day Saturday, didin't bump a thing, 3 guys, productive run, nothing. Scoot, I think I saw ya out there above Rouge River Road, did you happen to see the guys fishing a bed, take both fish off, rope em, and walk out before 9am?


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## GVSUKUSH (Mar 9, 2004)

Quillback, I'd love to see a 1 fish limit on the Rogue. I wonder if we could get enough anglers together to push for this?????


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## tgafish (Jan 19, 2001)

Mr. WHitmore,
If you have a problem with me fishing Mr. Danno's section of Lake michigan then I suggest that you guys run a little less than 3 miles of core cause I was 6.6 miles NNW of the pierheads my good man!! Nice try on putting blame on you guys losing all those fish though. 

Maybe this year your captains math skills will be better honed to figure out that 25lb king and 20lb dipsey LEADER line means SNAP! RABBLE RABBLE


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