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Steelhead `retread' boost today By MARK FREEMAN The upper Rogue River's summer steelhead run will feel to anglers like it jumped by a half on Thursday, thanks to a little boost from the people at Cole Rivers Hatchery. Hatchery workers will release the first 1,100 of this year's "retread" recycled summer steelhead from the hatchery. The hatchery fish, which already swam past anglers and entered the hatchery, will be trucked back downstream today for release back into the upper Rogue for anglers to catch. About half the fish will be released at the Denman Wildlife Area's Modoc Unit, and the other half will be released at the TouVelle State Park boat ramp, hatchery manager Bill Otto says. The recycled steelhead range from 2 to 8 pounds or more, and have a circle punched in one of their gill plates. The fish have earned the nickname "retreads," and the program is popular among anglers, in part because it provides more hatchery steelhead to catch and keep. This year's steelhead run through Sept. 15 is just 2,287 fish, so 1,100 more makes it a 50-percent increase. Anglers are encouraged to catch them and keep their legal limits, which are two hatchery steelhead over 16 inches a day. The upper Rogue is open only for fly-fishing through October. Anglers, however, don't have to be fly-fishermen, per se, to fish. Spinning rods, plastic bubble floats and flies can be used to fish legally upstream of Gold Ray Dam now, as long as no added weights are used. Hatchery workers expect to recycle more retread steelhead later in the season. GRANTS PASS -- The Rogue River is 38 fall chinook salmon lighter, but will benefit from $15,000 worth of future improvements, thanks to a sport-fishing group's success in its Sept. 11 salmon derby. The Middle Rogue Steelhead Chapter of Trout Unlimited saw 50 participants catch 38 fall chinook during its annual derby. The derby, along with the subsequent auction and raffle, netted about $15,000 for chapter coffers that fund habitat-improvement projects benefitting fish in the Middle Rogue and its nearby tributaries. The fish were a cumulative 556 pounds. Derby participants fished with licensed guides. Winners were named based on the total weight of adult salmon caught by teams of two anglers, who fished together in a guide's boat. First place went to Charlie Taylor and Andy Martisak of Klamath Falls, who fished in guide Jim Hindman's boat and were sponsored in the derby by Jeld-Wen. The pair caught four salmon that weighed 104 pounds and 7 ounces. Taylor's 33-pound, 3-ounce salmon also was the largest fish caught during the derby. Second place went to Monte Seus and Pat Cavanaugh, who fished with guide Dave Carney and were sponsored in the derby by Drew Boots of Klamath Falls. Seus and Cavanaugh caught four fish totaling 89 pounds. Third place went to Jay Russel and Bill Fagin, who fished with guide Jack Jermain and were sponsored by Secor International of Tualatin. Their fish totaled 47 pounds, 7 ounces. Fourth place went to Ed Sutch and Tom Yates, who fished with guide Ron Dungey and were sponsored by Superior Lumber Co. Their fish totaled 47 pounds, 5 ounces. (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470 or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA