Guided Rogue River King Salmon Fishing Trips

Rogue River King Salmon (Chinook)

Spring Chinook enter the lower Rogue starting in late February and early March. I usually don't start targeting them until April when we get warmer water temperatures and improving river conditions. The peak times for spring Kings is mid May until the end of June. July can also be very good in the upper Rogue, around the town of Shady Cove. Spring Chinook typically average about 18 to 23 pounds, with the occasional 30 plus pounder. They are a very hard fighting fish that will make you work very hard to get every inch of your line back. Spring Chinook on the Rogue River are considered some of the best table fare on the west coast. They are nice and bright, with beautiful red meat. Fall Chinook on the Rogue start entering the river in July. I usually start targeting them in Gold Beach the last week of July. August and September are their peak months, with September being mostly in the towns of Grants Pass and Gold Hill. The fall run is a very large native run of Kings on the Rogue. I do all of the normal tactics for fall salmon including back-bouncing eggs and back-trolling Kwikfish. Also, in the bay in Gold Beach, we troll anchovies. Another option for fall Kings that most people don't do, but is a lot of fun, is side-drifting with heavy steelhead rods (a 9'6" 6-12 lb rated Rogue rod with Shimano Stradic 4000 reels). Side-drifting for King Salmon is a very productive and fun tactic for landing large salmon. Fall salmon on the Rogue River average 20 to 26 pounds, with the not so rare 40 or even 50 plus pound fish!