Imnaha & Wallowa Steelhead

Trip Objective and General Observations: 
The intent of this trip was to increase our learning of the Wallowa river system, both the upper and lower sections and to get an initial exposure to the Imnaha. Both of these streams had  excellent Steelhead runs this past spring, so it seemed like a great time to go. Our plan was to fish the upper Wallow between Rock creek and Minam on Friday…testing some new stone fly patterns that I had developed over the winter; explore the Imnaha on Saturday then  ride the train back to the lower Wallowa (down stream from Minam) on Sunday.  This was my third time on the Wallowa chasing Steelhead and I was beginning to feel more confident in my ability to hook-up with these fish (this can be a dangerous and disappointing feeling).

Hatches & Best Flies  

Wallowa:  The upper river had some midsize stone nymphs in the water…dark in color with a subtle dark/golden color abdomen….pretty subtle gold color…Size 4.  My large, heavy weighted #2 stone pattern picked up the biggest fish of the trip  (dark stone fly, double bead head  with white/black legs) See the picture above. The lower Wallowa was fishing well with a #14 nymph both a prince variety and other nymph ties..there was also a dark dun hatch that came off around 1…that is when the fish really started to get active. 

KB with a very nice Steelie

Imnaha:  We observed a small #10 or #12 stone fly hatch that started in the early afternoon.  We did not try to imitate it but the fishing did seem to pick-up once the stones became activity.  We had our best action on a larger heavier stone, trailing a smaller  #14 nymph.  The Steelies hit both bugs.

Trip Detail:

In general, there were a lot of A run fish in both river systems.  The fishing did seem to pick up with increased insect activity; this was a new Steelhead observations for me.  The real trick is finding good holding water that is shallow enough to be fished effectively with a fly rod.  If you can located this type of water , you have a very good chance at success.  This was proven by our Friday success where we focused on known holding areas..

Day 1 Upper Wallowa:  After driving from Boise and meeting Mitch we were on the river in the early afternoon.  The water was low and busy with someone in everyone of our identified holes.  The good news about this water is people do seem to pick-up and move fairly frequently…we were able to slip into our top two holes and picked up fish in each.  Large weighted dark stone’s trailing a  soft Otter orange  egg (6mm) seemed to be the weapon of choice. 

Mitch feeling proud

Day 2 Imnaha…lower river:  We (Patton truck, Nick Guho truck) got out of Wallowa at 6:30…stopped in Enterprise for breakfast and moved on to the Imnaha.  It is a 60 mile plus drive from Wallowa and I would recommend staying in Joseph as it is substantially closer.  We were on the water late morning and decided to split up as the fishing access points are limited until you get to trail which is 5 miles above the Snake river confluence.  The  fishing spots after  the little town of Imnaha are detailed below…mileage is rough , look for yellow public access signs.

really started to happen until ~ 1:30  which coincided with a  #14 mayfly hatch.  

Mileage downriver from Imnaha (approximate).

   --  2 mi. Catamaran hole…good looking cliff

   --  2.6 mi. open to river and good looking run

   --  4.8 mi. Bridge (Guho stopping spot)  B&B across road

   --  5.5 mi. payment end hill starts and you leave the river

   --  12.2 mi. hill ends back at river

   --  12.6 mi.  Pull-off looks ok

   --  12.9 mi. nice hole

   --  13.6 mi Corner hole

   --  14.1 corner holes

   --  15.3 mi. good access and holes

   --  16.0 nice hole

   --  17.1  nice hole

   --  17.6  nice hole 

   --  18.6 Trail head has bathrooms.

Note: 55 minute walk to Brokerback hole (Mitch’s hole); 20 minutes below power lines. Power lines are half way through the 5 mile trip to the confluence of Snake. 

Day 3:  Train Ride to lower Wallowa:

We picked the train up at the small town of Minam which is about 10 miles from the town of Wallowa.  We got our tickets at 6:30 a.m. , which gave us plenty of time to get a good seat on the train.  We recommend getting there early and taking a seat on the river side either at the front or the back of the train.  This allows you to both communicate your stops and get off easily as exits can happen from either the front or the back.  For a more detailed explanation  of the holes and procedures see last years trip report .

The last hole fished well again this year and we discovered some other excellent holding water just downstream from the Wagon Wheel hole.  This area is called KB’s lost cherry hole for the obvious reason.  There were lots of fish in the water and our party landed 8-10 fish.  Nothing really started to happen until ~1:30 which coincided with a #14 mayfly hatch.