Experiencing Southern Oregon

The Grants Pass Growers & Crafters Market is a Great event. Sometimes called; Farmers Market and Saturday Market, it is a great way to start the weekend.

Every Saturday Beginning in mid March, and running till Thanks Giving the Growers Market is a must do for the residents and visitors to the Grants Pass area. Every week it Showcases the finest fresh fruits and vegetables growing in the Southern Oregon region, as well as secondary wood products, gourmet specialty foods, artists and crafters. Members attend from Medford, Butte Falls, Winston, Canyonville, Gold Hill, Roseburg and the Illinois Valley.

You really should check it out. When you do you’ll find what a great event it is and well worth returning time and time again. Located at F & 4th street, the hours are 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
For Information about Grants Pass Growers Market Call 476-5375
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Way to go Southern Oregon Skiers and Snowboarders. According to Kim (Mt. Ashland GM), more than 1900 skiers and snowboarders made their way to the mountain over the weekend. The mountain will be open next weekend for another chance to enjoy the great spring skiing avail this year at Mt. Ashland.

This is a picture of Mt. McLoughlin taken from the top of Mt Ashland. On a bluebird day the view doesn’t get much better than this! (more…)

The annual Brookings-Harbor High Booster Club auction, dinner and dance took place Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008, at the Brookings Elks Lodge. The theme for the evening was “yippy for hippies”. From the pictures….. I would say everyone had a great time showing their support. We sure did, and we are looking forward to next year. ENJOY!
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While prowling around to find an interesting topic to carry on about I ran into an interesting web page that may interest any who pass this way. The Trout Underground. There is some great information. Every now and then I see they mention our own Rogue River here in Southern Oregon. Have a good one and enjoy.

Another thing ……………
If you haven’t noticed I would just like to mention the fact that it is still light a 5:00 PM and won’t be long until it is light at 7:00AM. There’s hope!

Living on the Rogue River affords some advantages that many people never get to experience.

Morning fishing: November 6, 2007, It’s another foggy morning In Grants Pass, Oregon. After a cup of coffee with the wife I head out across the back lawn to the staircase that leads to the edge of the Rogue River just below the clam beds riffle. As I approach the edge of the river I see a fish turn and take it as a good sign. A quick look at my watch tells me I have about 30 minutes to fish this morning before I need to head to the office.

I bait up (like to use night crawlers when fishing from the bank), and after about 3 or 4 casts I feel a strike. A quick jerk of the pole and …. Nothing….. Missed it: But I know it was a fish. The bait is half gone. Another cast to the same spot and a couple of seconds later another strike, and this time when I jerk the fish breaks water and the fight is on. The fish makes a couple of runs and jumps several times before I get it close to shore. I grab the net and try to net it but I am unsuccessful and he runs again. The next time I drag it almost out of the water and slide the net up behind it and I have it. A 26” Native female bright as can be. I remove the hook and slip her back in the water to find her way up the river to do what she is there to do. It is time to get to the office and start my day. No fish for dinner tonight but what a way to start the day.

There is going to be a haunted house in Grants Pass this Halloween. It will be staged by One Eleven Evelyn. If you are into ghoulish, creepy crawly and spooky scary surprises this may be for you. There is information on their website or you can call 541-787-2019 for more information.
http://www.oneelevenevelyn.org/
Have a fun save Halloween!

We arrived down town about 7:30 PM, and the town was alive with people. All ages were enjoying the good weather and festivities. The Easter Bunny (He looks much different than I remember) was even seen strolling around town.
Several performers were serenading everyone as they talked with friends and viewed the art that was on display in the galleries and shops around town. Many of the shops and restaurants were packed with patrons and lookielooers. It is a great function to start out the month with. As the weather gets warmer the crowds increase which brings out more entertainers and things to see. I highly recommend Grants Pass first Friday as a place to be. (more…)

We had a little time to kill Sunday afternoon so we took our bike up to the bridge at the town of Rogue River. There is a great place to park down by the boat ramp on the south side of the River. The actual trail starts on the North side of the river, and runs along the river for about 3 miles ending at Valley of the Rogue State Park. It was an enjoyable ride; we poked along looking at the river and talking, stopping occasionally to check out the wildlife along the way.

We do need to warn people if they ride this trail… there are quite a few Goathead Stickers in that area. We found out the hard way. Just as we arrive at the Campgrounds near the end of the trail Shirley had a flat. I looked my tires over and discovered there were a couple of the stickers in my front tire also. Rather than mess with them I lined out for the truck at the other end of the trail as hard as I could go. Almost made it all the way back. I’d say I got to within 1/4 mile of the bridge when my rear tire went flat. By the time I got to the truck my front tire was also flat. We weren’t the only ones on the trail to experience this Sunday. There was another couple working on their tires there at the campground where we turned around. So Beware the Goatheads but enjoy. Tomorrow we are in search of Slime or tougher tires to handle this sort of thing. We are learning.

Here is the word on the street about the fishing on the Rogue River in southern Oregon.
At present I have been busy and haven’t been out there. I will see what I can do about it this weekend. I will give you an update on how things go if I make it out.

They say Steelhead fishing is good from Agness all the way into the upper Rogue. For those of you who don’t know Agness in located about 30 miles up river from Gold Beach on the Oregon Coast. This means there are basically fish in the entire system.

They are actually starting to pick up some Spring Chinook down around tidewater. Seems like it’s a bit early, but hey it’s hard to remember from year to year.

The best idea for success is in the Grants Pass area for the Winter Steelhead. There is a lot of fresh fish in that part of the river and the conditions are looking very good. I would say we’re talking down river from Grants Pass. Reports are coming in about good catches in the Merlin area using eggs, corkies and yarn eggs. Fish are also being caught on worms, but sounds like most of the action is happening with the eggs or simulated eggs. If you do use worms it is suggested you use a greenish colored corkie with it.

Good luck, See you on the River.