Last week we fished the Elk River here on the Southern Oregon Coast (Port Orford) for Chinook king salmon and landed a mix of kings including the beast pictured above, measuring in at 40 inches.

  

Over the past week we have focused our attention on winter steelhead fishing, bobber dogging, side-drifting and running some smaller kwikfish with success.  There are fresh winter steelhead in both the Elk and Sixes Rivers and we will be fishing for steelhead here on the coast as long as it's fishable (peak of steelhead season being January and February).  With recent storms, the Elk and Sixes are both in decent shape. 

As we fish here on the coast for some of the first winter steelhead to return to Southern Oregon's rivers, Brady has been guiding both fly and gear trips on the Upper Rogue, still finding some nice summer steelhead.  The  Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that there is probably still about 10 to 20% of the summer steelhead run expected yet to return to the hatchery.

As we eagerly await the arrival of the first winter steelhead to return to the Upper Rogue (Medford) and Middle Rogue (Grants Pass), we have been getting reports that some of the first winter steelhead are beginning to show in the South Umpqua River (Canyonville). 

This winter our guides will be fishing the Rogue and its tributaries like the Applegate and Illinois Rivers for winter steelhead, as well as, the South Umpqua River, the Coquille and the rivers of the Southern Oregon Coast.

We are often asked, “What is the difference between a salmon and a steelhead?” The easiest answer is steelhead are sea-run rainbow trout and salmon are salmon.  Both are in the same family of fish called salmonids. Like salmon, steelhead return to their original river hatching ground to spawn. Here is the main difference, steelhead are able to spawn several times and make several spawning trips between fresh and salt water. They also eat during their freshwater journey.  Steelhead are a bit smaller than salmon, but make up for this in their powerful fights and aerial displays, exciting fishing for any angler.