Steelheading on the Wallowa River in Oregon

 

Date:  3-14 & 15  2009 Location:  Wallowa Oregon Fishing for Steelhead

Weather and Flow   Overcast days with rain.  Flows on the Wallowa stayed clear but the Ronde Blew out.  Something to remember.  Temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s.  Snow on the ground.

Objective and General Observations:     Kurt Barats,  myself and some of Kurt’s work colleges  took a long weekend and headed West to fish the Wallowa River in Oregon. I was very keen on getting my first  Ronde/Wallowa Steelhead.  I have been on two other trips to this area with neither producing a Steelhead. We stayed at the Mingo hotel in Wallowa.  Nice clean little motel with a young energetic owner.  There are several places in town to eat.  One café opened at 6:30 for breakfast and was good.  A good way to check Wallowa timing is to find out if fish have begun to return to the Wallowa hatchery…once that is in full swing the fish are  in the river and it is time to go.   The train trip from Minam is very well worth it….~ 15 miles from Wallowa and $60 bucks.  Nice holes up high and at the very end toward the Grand Ronde confluence.

Trip Detail:    Day 1:  We spent a great day fishing the upper portion of the Wallowa River. It is a very nice section for fly fishers,  has easy access and water  that is small enough to cover well with a normal rod.  Day 1 was rainy but the water stayed clear….much clearer than the Ronde which we were to see the following day.  Day 1 produced a nice Steelhead (Marks first Wallowa Steelie) and a massive hit that straightened my #2 TMC hook.  In the end all I had was a bent hook and a big fish scale on the point end...plus a good memory of a savage strike.  More to come about this pattern in later blogs needless to say the Wallowa Steelhead that attacked it was large. We fished natural patterns using a large double bead stone as the lead fly and dropping a bead head nymph behind (fairly large on #12 or so).  I believe egg patterns behind will also produce. The fish seemed to be located right where the faster water turns slack and is deep. Key Learning's: