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First springer hits upper Rogue By MARK FREEMAN The race to catch the upper Rogue River's first spring chinook salmon of 2000 is on. The inaugural springer of this year's run swam past the fish-counting station at Gold Ray Dam and into the upper Rogue at precisely 8:39.48 Monday evening. As the fish swam past the state's video camera inside the fish ladder, it marked the starting gun for the upper Rogue's springer season. "It was 28 inches long, and about 10 or 12 pounds, maybe more," says Mike Evenson, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologist who viewed the fish on videotape Monday. "The springers are pretty plump at that length." Sport-fishermen earnestly follow the migration of the first spring chinook of the year from the river mouth at Gold Beach up through Agness, Rainie Falls near Grave Creek, and Pierce Park near Grants Pass. All those locations are springer fishing "hot spots" prior to the upper Rogue. But the upper Rogue from Gold Ray Dam to the deadline below Cole Rivers Hatchery contains the most heavily fished waters for these spring chinook. While the first springer is now over Gold Ray Dam, most sport-anglers continue to focus on fishing holes from Grants Pass on downstream through April until at least a few thousand springers are passed Gold Ray Dam. This year's run will be dominated by fish born and released from Cole Rivers Hatchery, which raises and releases 1.62 million spring chinook into the Rogue annually. The run of wild chinook will be low this year, Evenson says, because of lingering effects of the New Year's Day flood of 1997. High waters during the flood likely washed away most or all of the wild spring chinook eggs laid in the gravel the previous fall, Evenson says. The fish born that spring were to make up the bulk of the wild chinook run into the upper Rogue this spring and summer, Evenson says. But the Rogue will not be devoid of wild chinook. Wild chinook, like their hatchery cousins, can mature and return to the Rogue from the ocean at different ages and different sizes. Fish born from eggs laid in the Rogue in 1995, '97 and '98 will also be returning to the upper Rogue and will help offset the losses from the New Year's flood, Evenson says. Since Gold Ray Dam counts were first kept in 1942, fish counts over the dam have varied dramatically, yet have averaged about 35,000 fish, according to ODFW statistics. Evenson is predicting a run of about 12,000-20,000 spring chinook over Gold Ray Dam. 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 Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Mail Tribune � 2000 -- Medford, Oregon USA