http://www.rogue-steelheaders.org/
MIDDLE ROGUE
STEELHEADERS
2016 OFFICERS
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
December 2016
Presidents Comments:
PRESIDENT
COLE TIDWELL 531-7219
1ST VICE PRESIDENT
STEVE WILEY
2ND VICE PRESIDENT
SECRETARY
VIKKI STRAHAN 295-1860
TREASURER
KATHY WILEY
PAST PRESIDENT
MAYNARD FLOHAUG 324-1441
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dean Chesmore - 2
Shirlee Chesmore - 3
Linda Chilton - 1
Chuck Closterman - 1
Carl Cole– 1
David Gollob-2
Keith Miller -3
Doyle Nelson - 2
Kevin O’Malley - 3
Ron Portinga –3
Valentina Scibilla - 2
Frank Urbancic- 1
WEB MASTERLINDA CHILTON
NEWSLETTER EDITORVIKKI STRAHAN
I’ve been reflecting on what a wonderful club the Steelheader’s are. More
like a family than a club. We have so many talented people giving so
much of their time volunteering for our many projects. My three years as
your president has gone by quickly. I’m proud of our many accomplishments that we have achieved in this time. We have set two new Derby
records for income and a new record for guides and dudes. I have high
hopes that next year will set new records.
Our new life jacket station at Chinook Park was another project we under
took. Gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing you might have saved a
life. Our conservation projects have been exciting and our angler education program is one of the best in the state. We have a new step biologist
from ODFW who has done a wonderful with the club.
Our Christmas awards dinner is coming up on December 12th. Always a
fun evening to recognize our members and share a wonderful dinner.
Don’t forget to bring some canned items for the food bank. We will also
have some nice items to raffle off.
We have three new officers that were elected in our November election.
Steve Wiley as president, Scott Iversen as 1st VP and Harry Gattey as 2nd
Inside this Issue:
Presidents comments
Calendar of events
Tips n’ Tails
River Fishing
C&R
Lakers Fishing Recap
Guides
Sponsor’s
Bragging Rights
Membership application
1
2
2
3
4
5
6 &7
8,9 & 10
9
10
VP. I’d like to welcome Eve Phelan and Dan Egleston to the 2017 Board of
Directors. Steve Wiley will start his presidents’ column in Jan. Please welcome all our new board and the returning ones.
Thank you all for your support
Cole Tidwell
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
December 2016
SPOON FISHING FOR STEELHEAD
Spoon fishing can be one of the most effective ways to catch steelhead. Spoons
are one of the great equalizers for bank fishermen when it comes to catching really big steelhead. You can cover a great deal of water and by working it methodically you can increase your chances of catching fish. But like all steelhead
fishing techniques you have to do it right.
You also need the right equipment. Remember you’ll be fighting a 10 lbs. plus
fish in some strong currents so you need a rod with back bone. Fishing from the
bank is best done with a 9’ 6” medium steelhead casting rod rated to a minimum
of 12 – 15 lbs. You need a rod with a medium backbone and a fast tip. This combination will help you set the hook when you feel a steelie take your spoon and
soft enough to feel the thumping action of your spoon.
My personal choice for a reel is a low profile casting reel with a hi-speed retrieve and 20 pound braid with at least 10 lb. test leader (probably even 12 lb.
test).
The spoons I like best are the BC PenTac spoons in a 2/5 size. They are a little
expensive but the finish is real silver or real gold plate. These spoons reflect the
light at the deepest parts of the river. They come in all silver, all gold, silver and
gold (my favorite), as well as copper and a pure black. These spoons do not
come with hooks so I recommend that you use a single siwash # 1 hook. When
you attach the hook be sure to torque the lower half of the hook (the part with
the point) slightly to the side. This will help set the hook.
To start cast up stream and slightly to the side. The retrieve is the most important
part. You must keep your spoon just off the bottom, maybe 12 – 18 inches. Your
retrieve should be just a little faster than the current. Just fast enough to give the
spoon a nice fluttering action. When done right you can feel the thump through
your rod. If you retrieve too fast your spoon will either be too high in the water
and/or not have a good flutter.
Next cast your spoon upstream and a little further out and retrieve. Keep doing
the same thing and gradually work out further and further until you’ve covered
all the fishy looking water. Keep your spoon down deep and reel slowly but fast
enough to feel the fluttering action of your spoon. Fish by structure and work tail
outs and the heads of pools especially hard,
Spoon fishing is especially effective if you want to catch big aggressive wild
steelhead. Little hatchery fish are not as likely to hit a spoon.
This short article barely touches the surface of spoon fishing techniques; however our club library does have a couple of very good books on spoon fishing for
steelhead.
Chuck Closterman
Page 2
All Club general meetings will be
held at:
Bear Hotel 2101 Spalding,
Grants Pass
6:30PM Start
Calendar of Events
For December &
January
Dec 7th
Dec 12th
BOD meeting at
Elmer's; 6:30PM
Annual Christmas
Banquet/Awards
Party; 5:00PM
Grants Pass Golf
Club
NO GENERAL
MEETING IN
DECEMBER
Jan 4th
Jan 18th
Jan 26th
BOD meeting at
Elmer's; 6:30PM
General Meeting
Bear Hotel 6:30
Winter Steelhead
fishing; Herb’s
restaurant 7:00am
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
PAGE 4
Club Steelhead Fishing Update
The fall salmon and steelhead trips generate some nice salmon and steelhead for various club members. In addition
to fish we awarded Gold Hooks to Ron Lefler, Elizabeth Higgs and Mike Simmons.
The club river fishing trips for 2017 will begin in January. Here’s the schedule for the five river trips.
Thursday January 26, 2017
Tuesday February 7, 2017
Wednesday February 22, 2017
Tuesday March 7, 2017
Thursday March 23, 2017
Since there is no December General Meeting we will take online sign ups. J ust send me an email at
[email protected] with the dates you are available to fish. Signing up for more than one date is actually helpful
as it gives me some flexibility to get people out on fishing trips. However, PLEASE check your calendar to make
sure you will actually be able to fish on the dates you pick!
Everyone fishing on river trips should read and be familiar with the “Guidelines for Passengers”. This document is
available on our website.
Chuck Closterman
New Information added to Club website!
The Board of Directors has approved adding additional information to the club website. The following Middle
Rogue Steelheaders information will now be posted on the web site: the Bylaws, Standing Rules, Financial Controls, Robert's Rules of Order and (in January or February) Standing Committees with chair person contact information.
To view this information go to the MRS website at http://www.rogue-steelheaders.org/ and then click on the
“Member Info” drop down tab and select “Newsletter, BOD Minutes, Member Documents”.
Then you will see a new page with three folders. Click on the third folder “Governing Documents”. The new drop
down menu lists the items currently available; Bylaws, Standing Rules, Financial Controls and Robert's Rules of
Order.
During 2016 the Officers and Board of Directors spent a lot of time updating, clarifying and correcting the Standing Rules and Financial Controls. The final step is to make this information easily available to club members.
M.R.S. Archives
Newsletters · Board Meeting Minutes · Member Documents
Click on folder to navigation to the file you wish to view.
 NEWSLETTERS
 BOARD MEETING MINUTES
 GOVERNING DOCUMENTS
 MRS BYLAWS (599.2 KIB)
 MRS STANDING RULES NOV 2016 (330.4 KIB)
 MRS FINANCE PROPERTY CONTROLS JULY 2016-1 (54.2 KIB)
 RULES OF ORDER (748.9 KIB)
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
PAGE 5
PLACING SALMON CARCASSES IN THE UPPER ROGUE
A group of Steelheaders recently participated in a different approach to “tossing” salmon carcasses into a section
of the Rogue between Cole Rivers Hatchery and Shady Cove. Large numbers of salmon and steelhead that provide
fertilized eggs for the hatchery can also serve as an important source of micronutrients for fry growing up in the
river and its tributaries. ODFW biologists supervise placement of carcasses in various tributaries but getting carcasses into the river itself has been done for a number of years by retired fisheries biologist John Thiebes. John
organizes people with drift boats and other volunteers on shore to string fish carcasses that are then attached to
the boat gunwales and released as the boats drift downriver. Steelheaders have assisted in a number of “salmon
tosses” in Rogue tributaries over the past years but to my knowledge we haven’t been involved in putting carcasses directly into the river.
One of our members, Joe Strahl, had volunteered to use his drift boat for the upper river carcass project on Saturday, Nov. 12 but called on Thursday, Nov. 10, to see if the club could come up with four or five members to help
out. I had doubts that we could find enough people on such short notice but by Thursday evening four additional
members had volunteered; Hollis Oberg, Pat Charleboix, Rick Peterson and Richard Swanson. On Saturday we met
at 7:45 AM at the Hatchery boat launch. Enough fish were already on stringers to attach to the gunwales of the six
drift boats, so those of us who were working on shore moved down river to Casey Park and started stringing carcasses. John Thiebes had prepared by hand roughly one hundred rope stringers that had a metal point on one end
which fit tightly into a wooden handle so that after six to eight fish had been strung onto the rope, the stringer
could be easily attached to a gunwale. Three stringers were attached on each side toward the bow of the boat and
carcasses were released one at a time in eddys or quiet water as the boat moved down the river. A few of the
smaller carcasses were flung into the river from shore. Boats were met and fish loaded at five sites along the river.
Approximately 15,000 pounds, roughly 900 carcasses, were dropped into the river and the project was finished by
11 AM. Steelheaders who volunteered on short notice deserve a special, big THANK YOU.
Keith Miller
Rick Peterson moving fish from trailer to be strung
Drift boat with stringers attached to gunwales
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
PAGE 6
Lakers Fishing Recap
It was a great fishing season for our lake trips.
Even though we don’t have any planned club trips until March 2017, there are still plenty of lakes
that are fishable. Applegate and Galesville are great this time of the year.
During October, ODF&W stocked over 900 trophy Trout at Lost Creek Lake.
Congratulations to Judy Lollich for catching the Largest Trout for 2016. She caught the 26 1/2 “
Trout on our trip to Klamath Lake in June. Judy will be given a Middle Rogue Steelheader Jacket,
a beautiful plaque, and a 1/2 price guided fishing trip with Matt Judkins at our awards banquet on
December 12th.
Here is a list of our tentative schedule for 2017:
March 26th
Lost Creek Lake
April 26th
Galesville
May 10th
Applegate
May 24th
Klamath
June 14th
Hyatt
July 12th
July 26th
August 9th
Lost Creek Lake
September 12th Lemolo
September 13th Diamond
October 11th
October 21st
We will have a sign up sheet for our first trip at our general
meeting in February.
Thanks for making the 2016 lake fishing trips so much fun!
Carl Cole
Lake Fishing Chairman
Executive Officers:
President
Steve Wiley
st
1 Vice President Scott Iversen
2nd Vice President Harry Gattey
Treasurer
Kathy Wiley
Secretary
Vikki Strahan
Board of Directors:
Linda Chilton
Frank Urbancic
Dan Egleston
Eve Phelan
Carl Cole
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
PAGE 8
The Middle Rogue Steelheaders wish to thank the
guides and businesses listed in our Newsletter for their
generous donations .
Guides listed on these 2 pages register annually with
the state of Oregon to certify that they carry the minimum liability insurance required by law, they have
current First Aid and CPR training and if required have
a US Coast Guard (USCG) Operator License and/or
Surety Bond.
Our annual Christmas / Awards Banquet will be on Monday December 12th at the Players Pub, Grants Pass Country Club.
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
Page 9
Did you know that the Middle Rogue Steelheaders have a Facebook page?
Check it out!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/476573922501356/
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
PAGE 10
1810 W Main St
Medford Oregon 97501
One Item Only
20% off Regular Price
See list if exceptions posted at the registers
Does not include guns or ammo
One per Customer Expires 12-31-16
Coupon Good Only at
Black Bird
Printing courtesy of:
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
Bragging Rights
PAGE 11
Briggs Guide Service
2938 Foothill Blvd
Grants Pass. Oregon 97526
541-472-0581
Rafting & Fishing Adventures
3 & 4 day Wild & Scenic Trips
Frank Pagni fishing with Jason Cox
Rogue River Boat Shop
1815 S.W. Bridge St
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526
541-479-1504
Bret Clark
Ron fishing with Jason Cox
Doyle Nelson and Maynard Flohaug on the Chetco river with Matt Judkins and Shane Blair, Nov 11 & 12.
VOLUME 27: ISSUE 12
PAGE 12
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MIDDLE ROGUE STEELHEADERS
P.O. BOX 962 GRANTS PASS, OR 97528
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
We invite you to join the Middle Rogue Steelheaders.
_____________________________________________________________________
You will:
Participate in Conservation and Restoration projects!
Learn how to catch more fish!
Learn where and when to fish!
Participate in club-sponsored river and lake fishing trips!
Participate in Angler Education
2016-17 YEAR MEMBERSHIP DUES
Individual Member Rate: $30.00 per year
Family & Business Rate: $48.00 per year.
Corporation Rate: $100.00 per year
Annual Dues are due on September 1st
NEW MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
RENEWAL MEMBERSHIP
Name: _________________________________________________
Spouse: _________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________
Help us conserve resources include your email address.
City: __________________________State: _______Zip: _________
SEND APPLICATION AND PAYMENT TO:
Telephone: _____________________________________________
MIDDLE ROGUE STEELHEADERS
Email: _________________________________________________
PO Box 962, Grants Pass OR 97528