The Upper Rogue’s Holy Water Rebounding?
By Tom Chandler on Jul 5, 2007 in News
The Holy Water stretch of the Upper Rogue used to be one of my favorite stretches of water. A short, 0.8 mile stretch below Lost Creek dam, I fished it often in the late 90s and early 2000s, hitting some amazing hatches.
Famous for its stonefly hatch, I also remember fishing my way through some exceptional BWO hatches, and the midge fishing was as challenging as it gets (long leaders and pinpoint casting were required). The Holy Water’s “fly fishing only” designation is unique in that it even forbids split shot (flies could be weighted).
Sadly, in recent years the Holy Water has suffered, and even Dave Roberts — who practically lived on the water — has largely abandoned it for the better fishing on the river. The Holy Water is the victim of lot of factors, the biggest of which was its inability to sustain a population of fish in the absence of stocking.
From the Oregon Mail-Tribune:
A two-year lapse in trout stocking and unholy high winter water releases from Lost Creek Lake have taken the trout out of the Holy Water, leaving it just a bend in the river reserved for fly-fishers.
But it’s on the cusp of a resurgence.
New life has been pumped into the Holy Water by a stocking truck that added 2,000 fingerling rainbow this spring, an addition that should jump-start fly-fishing again by the end of the year — if the fish stay put.
With more fingerling releases planned annually, fly-casters have faith that the Holy Water can begin to live up to its reputation once again.
It’s a wholly artificial fishery and lacks some of the charm of more natural settings, but I’d love to fish it again in its prime.
Technorati Tags: fly fishing, fishing, holy water, rogue river, upper rogue
Dan Hayes | Jul 5, 2007 | Reply
I too have enjoyed some fine fishing at the Holy Water since our arrival in 2001. First met Mr Roberts there in 1999 on a visit to the area and he left a lasting impression (will leave that to your imagination - mostly good tho…). Your point about it being an “artificial” fishery is spot on but I believe it is going to take more than a bucket or two of fingerlings to bring it back given mergansers, osprey et al. Pennsylvania seems to work with a number of different models for managing its fisheries - some good and some not so. Certain streams are managed as high quality (Heritage) wild trout fisheries. Other rivers are managed in a joint partnership between the agency (similar to ODFW) and the TU chapters. Each organization stocks fish and TU helps to monitor the stream, do improvements, etc. I have been told that Rogue Flyfishers may be undertaking a similar approach with the Holy water and I applaud their efforts. We flyfishers are living in a world where the government agencies simply cannot keep up with the demand of our ever growing numbers and the success of a (once) quality fishery may not survive without equal stake/share from ODFW and all of us. Thanks for listening.
Dan