Straydog,

I don't fish the mainstem Rogue below Gold Ray all that much, so I can't speak with that much authority. I do know, however, that if you've caught smolt that were 8"-16" you should altert the media and Guiness. 6" is a large smolt on the Rogue; 8" would be a trophy!

What the Middle Rogue does have in the 8" to 16" class is a very healthy native/resident trout population and a sizable half-pounder run. Trout are available throughout the Middle Rogue. Although, as you state, there aren't any stocked fish, there is nonetheless a great fishery there.

Half-pounders are sexually immature steelhead that enter the river after one year in the salt for a short period of time--only to head back to the Pacific before returning as adults to spawn (as I'm sure you know). Lots of morons who don't realize or care that they are screwing themselves and others out of a future steelhead run kill these fish with reckless abandon. They are, however, the only clipped fish in the Middle Rogue that are between 8" and 16" that I'm aware of.

As for the Upper River, there are healthy populations of both Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout. Some pretty large fish too. In fact, not that many people are aware of it, but the state record Rainbow came out of the Upper Rogue--from the "Pump Hole" below Casey State Park to be exact.

I guess I don't get your "legal 'trout'" comment. Just because there's no consumptive fishery for trout on the Middle Rogue, as a practical matter, doesn't mean there isn't a fishery. A 15" trout on the Middle Rogue is still a trout--it's just one that a foresighted regulation makes everyone put back where it belongs.

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Bubzilla ]