For years, the upper section of Oregon's Rogue River was the Northwest's signature spring chinook fishery. It was here, near the small town of Shady Cove, where the popular spring and summer season spawned not only some of the best small-stream salmon fishing anywhere, but is also where the aluminum drift boat and the ever-effective back-bouncing technique originated.

Nancy Peck leans in to fight hard against an Upper Rogue springer. Photo by Andy Martin.

Feisty king salmon, fat as footballs, stack up in the scenic section of river below Lost Creek Lake in the late spring and summer. From the bank or in drift boats, anglers catch the hard-fighting, great-eating salmon from the cool, clear waters of the Rogue.

This year, after a string of less-than-fabulous springer seasons on the Rogue, the stage is set for a comeback for this unique, fabled fishery. In the Upper Rogue, where the river winds through forested hills with classic salmon water of pools behind big boulders with lots of riffles and small rock gardens, anglers fish for holding salmon, which arrive April through July and then wait until early fall to spawn. Anglers often enjoy a good bite each day as hatchery fish stack up below the fish ladder, and when fish counts are high, drift-boaters are treated to small-stream salmon fishing at its best.

On the mend
In recent years, the Rogue's spring chinook season has fallen upon hard times. But coming off some of the lowest fish runs on record, spring salmon anglers have good reason to be optimistic this year. Ocean conditions have improved, pressure from commercial fishing has eased, a major dam has been removed from the Rogue, and the number of fish returning to the upper river appears to be on an upswing.

"The last several years we've had some pretty low returns due to poor ocean conditions. Last year was slightly improved and this year should be a little better," says David Haight, a biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in Medford.

Longtime Rogue guides and anglers point to several factors in predicting a solid turnaround for the famed up-river fishery. For the past two years, commercial salmon fishing has been shut down off the Northern California coast. Rogue spring salmon are south-migrating fish, meaning the troll fleet that in years past has caught half a million salmon each summer has been tied to the docks since 2007. The result has been a record return to Northern California's Smith River, solid returns to the Chetco and Klamath rivers, and a good fall salmon return to the Rogue last year. Anglers are hopeful the trend continues with a steady increase in Rogue spring salmon numbers this year and in the near future.

During the middle part of the last decade, ocean conditions were poor. Baby salmon entered saltwater with little to no food. The result was poor salmon runs coastwide. Now, with ocean conditions on the mend, biologists have already seen a rebound in southern Oregon salmon runs.

The upper section of the Rogue, between Lost Creek and Gold Ray dams, is poised for a rebound.

During its peak in the early 1990s, as many as 80,000 fish a year returned over Gold Ray Dam. The 10-year average for the Upper Rogue springer run is 26,000 fish.

The run hit it's low point in 2007, with only 11,171 springers counted at Gold Ray Dam. In 2008, nearly 13,000 springers were counted. Last year, upwards of 14,000 came back. The upward trend is expected to continue this year, and the future looks bright.

Aside from better conditions in the ocean, leading to higher survival, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has completed a new management plan for Rogue River spring salmon. More hatchery fish may be released. New goals have been set for habitat improvement. And what has been called the biggest fish killer on the Rogue, Savage Rapids Dam, was removed in late 2009. ODFW estimates the dam killed 10 to 20 percent of the out-migrating salmon run each year, and also made it difficult for returning adult salmon.