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Your search returned 5 items. Now showing items: 1 - 5.
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Wallowa River - June 24th, 2008 |
RECORDED: 
65 °
FISHING: Poor
6/24 -- The good news is that we are going to have plenty of water all summer and fall. The bad news, of course, is that the big snow pack is still melting and most area streams are "blown-out." Current forcasts for hot weather will probably continue this trend for the next week or two -- or longer. We actually started to catch a few fish on the Wallowa the last few weeks, in the slicks near the bank, but rising water has made this more difficult. The stone flies are hatching. We will try to continue to get reports, but at this time the river has very few fishers.
10/24 – Trout on the Wallowa. By the time you read this it may be too late – but the very warm weather the past three days have October Caddis hatching all over the Wallowa. Forget about nymphs, the trout aren’t interested. Use a salmon fly pattern like a large (sz 8 or 6), stimulator or sofa pillow or Kaufman foamulator and fish the seams/boulders/banks from mid afternoon until dark. The native trout are big and aggressive. Cooler weather later this week may put down the hatch. Remember trout season closes 10/31 so after that date you must fish for white fish or carry a steelhead card.
Trout fishing on the Wallowa River remains fair, but erratic, as weather seems to change daily. Sporadic October Caddis hatches appear mid day. Copper Johns continue to produce trout and whitefish in the boulder fields near the banks.
Best access to the Wallowa River is along the 8 miles of road that parallel the river upstream from Minam, or along the railroad tracks on the east bank of the river below Minam.
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current conditions
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Grande Ronde River - November 29th, 2007 |
RECORDED: 
40 °
FISHING: Good
11/29/07 – Steelhead on the Grande Ronde. When there is no “slush ice” in the water fishing has been very good. The ODFW creel checker counts for 11/25-11/27 were around 5 to 6 hrs per fish in Oregon and Wash. (Troy/ Bogans area). Steelheading doesn’t get much better than that kids. That means some of the better fishers can’t keep fish off their hooks. At 850 cfs water levels are ideal. Snow and snow/rain is forcast for the next ten days, so keep an eye on water levels and nighttime temperatures. See the report for 11/21, below, for additional info.
11/21/07 – Grande Ronde Steelhead. This time of year the trick is picking the right day for good water conditions. For example, the river levels shot up this past week (generally a good thing to bring more fish out of the Snake – but the best fishing is often during stabilized or dropping flows) and it was 5 degrees Fahrenheit in Joseph last night so slush ice in the river could be a problem if it remains cold. For this reason many of the fly fishing guide services, like ours, in the Troy area and in the lower river in Washington, call it quits for the year (some don’t). It is too difficult to predict fishing conditions for clients coming in from Boise, Seattle, et cetera. Having said that, I have caught hundreds of steelhead flyfishing the Grande Ronde and Imnaha in November and December – when conditions were right. Our problem is getting good reports on river/fishing conditions this time of year. Check our home page for links to the water flow web site.
At current water levels (1,160 cfs and dropping on 11/21) fishing on the Grande Ronde should be good. More fish than normal came over the Snake dams this year. With cold water conditions try to get your fly down to the bottom – whether swinging or nymphing. If swinging flies we like 10 or 12 foot class 6 or 8 sink tip lines combined with a weighted fly like a black or purple egg sucking “starlight” bunny fur leech. Cast quartering downstream, then immediately mend hard as necessary for depth and water speed to get to the bottom. Perhaps even more effective is nymphing. You will probably want to use a large strike indicator, but some “soft” runs don’t require one. Nymph like you would for trout, remembering to limit your casting distance for good line control and hook-set. Our favorite fly is a size 6 gold bead prince nymph, but we also like some close imitations including the same fly with a bright orange beadhead or the “tungsten BH Princess” – a flashback prince nymph with red wings and tail. Feel free to use a second nymph such as a black stonefly pattern, but expect most hits on the prince nymph or its variations. Typically the top fly is three to five feet below the strick indicator. Contact the Joseph Fly Shoppe if you need to order lines, flies, et cetera. Good luck and good fishing. We close our shop from January 1 to May 15.
11/7 -Grande Ronde Steelhead- Quick update (see 11/3 report) - fishing near Troy has been fair to good with the last ODFW report showing 6.8 hrs/fish in Oregon, 16.3 hrs/fish in Wash. Our guide trips continue to find fish each outing. Unlike our last report, however, the river has not been too crowded this past week.
11/3 – Grande Ronde Steelhead: Water levels continue to drop – with no rain forcast in the near future. Current levels are 634 cfs (vs normal flow of 885) – which makes the Minam to Troy float pretty skinny. Fishing near Troy has been fair to good this past week. The last ODFW creel cheek for Oct. 25/26 was 8.7 hrs/fish in Oregon and 17 hrs/fish in Washington. Recent guide trips near Troy have produced some nice fish for our clients. Best catch rates came from nymphing, although swinging flies remains the most popular approach. The river has been fairly crowded so avoid weekends or bring your own rock.
10/24 – Steelhead on the Ronde: The recent spike in water levels did move fish upstream. Current water levels and conditions are near perfect (as is the nice shirt sleeve weather). Expect both more fish and fishers. The warm weather the past few days has brought on a nice hatch of October Caddis. One fisher reported steelhead rolling and playing on the surface, so think about waking/skating. Weather is expected to cool, but fishing should stay good.
10/20 - Wow! River flows have doubled in the past few days to over 1000 cfs. Just what the DR. ordered. Watch for flows to drop and stabilize (check our river flow link on our home page) -- perhaps give the fish a few days to move upstream -- then drop everything you are doing and call us for a guided trip -- or just head to Troy. Over 135,000 steelhead have crossed Lower Granite Dam this season!
10/10 – Steelhead!! A few are being caught on Grande Ronde, but the river remains fairly low – it’s still a bit early. We could use some rain or snow to move more fish upstream. Counts over Lower Granite Dam exceed 135,000, so the fish are in the Snake somewhere. Of course a few special flyfishers are picking up multiple steelhead daily, although the ODFW average was 27 hours per fish on the Ronde last week. On our last guided trip a few days ago, a client landed his first two steelhead on a fly using a nymph – at three in the afternoon, near Troy. We expect fishing on the Ronde to continue to improve as the month progresses. The fish are in the Snake so it is only a matter of time and/or water levels. The Ronde is currently running 600 cfs – 77% of normal for this date.
10/4 – Steelhead fishing on the Grande Ronde has picked-up this week. Water levels have increased from their lows of 450 cfs to over 600 cfs – approximately 80% of normal flow for this time of year. In the past few days we have received numerous reports of multiple steelhead taken on flies in both Washington, and in Oregon near Troy. Over 90,000 steelhead have passed Lower Granite Dam -- exceeding the 10 yr average for this date. We will be guiding steelhead fishers in the Troy area most of this week and will report activity.
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current conditions
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Imnaha River - November 21st, 2007 |
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Good
11/21/07 – Imnaha Steelhead. Please refer to our Grande Ronde River report for a general discussion of steelhead flyfishing in this area -- this time of year. Like the Ronde the Imnaha can be a great winter steelhead fishery -- if conditions are right. For the most part access to the river is good below Horse Creek on the bottom twelve miles of river -- above the confluence with the Snake River (although portions of this section are private). The road leading to this section is poor so a good four wheel drive is best. We like water levels between 200 – 600 cfs for lots of good “holding water.” However, the river can be fished at higher and lower levels. For flies and fishing techniques please refer to our Grande Ronde River report.
11/2 – Imnaha Steelhead: Nothing new. The water flows have dropped to 118 cfs - not much holding water. Still, there are fish from town to the mouth, and some locals are having fair to good success.
10/24 – Steelhead on the Imnaha: Fish are now scattered throughout the lower river with reports of several fish being caught near the town of Imnaha. At these water levels, holding water is still somewhat limited. Expect fishing to continue to improve as time passes. Fishing below Cow Creek has been fair to good, but expect to find jet boats stacked in the Snake near the Imnaha mouth.
10/20 River flows have doubled the last few days to 237 cfs - just what we needed. Once the river stabilizes and clears -- which doesn't take long on the Imnaha -- look for new fish in the lower river. The Imnaha fishes well for steelheat up to 300 cfs - or even 500 cfs or more - if it is clear. Higher water levels mean a lot more "holding water" and allows fishers to spread out on this small river.
10/10 Reports are comming in of steelhead being caught above and below Cow Creek. However, at 108 cfs the flow is 74% of normal and holding water is limited. It is still a bit early and some additional water will be needed for numbers to improve.
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Wallowa Lake - September 24th, 2007 |
RECORDED: 
75 °
FISHING: Fair
Wallowa Lake has been fishing fair for stocked trout this fall. Try fishing in the lake near the river mouth -- wade out to where the lake bottom slopes down quickly and fish over the edge with bead-head flies (BUT REMEMBER- the river running into the lake is closed to fishing to protect the spawning kokonee).
current conditions
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Lostine River - September 9th, 2007 |
RECORDED:
50 °
FISHING: Fair
Click here for current streamflow at Lostine
8/10/07 - Public access to the Lostine starts at the Forest Service boundary south of the town of Lostine. The best fishing is found in the canyons and remote sections of river away from the campgrounds – where small, colorful native rainbows can be found. Salmon can be found spawning along much of the river.
current conditions
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