General Info:
The Grande Ronde River known locally as "the Ronde", simply put, is an amazing river. We'd argue that an October float trip from Minam to Troy to fish for bows' and Steelhead should be on any serious anglers bucket list. It can offer stellar trout fishing in early summer when the rafts are thick and the water is cool, turns into a good small mouth fishery below Troy later in the hot summer months, and transforms once again into a regional magnet for steelheaders beginning in early October and holding strong through the winter. But for all it's fabled glory and picturesque Wild and Scenic River miles, its remains an adventure to get to. Close to no where, and far from from everywhere else, we are lucky to call the Ronde our local steelhead water.
Some of our favorite Grande Ronde Fly Patterns :
Dries: Kaufman Stimulator sz. 8 -14 , Parachute Adams sz. 10- 16 , Purple Haze sz 10 -16, Foamulator sz. 6-12 , Caddis sz 8-16, Hoppers sz 6 - 12 , Yellow Sallies sz. 12 - 16
Nymphs: Princes sz. 6 - 14, Rubber Leg Squirrel sz. 8 - 14, Copper John sz. 12 - 18 , Lightning Bug sz. 14 - 18, Bead Head Hare's Ear sz 8 - 16, Wooly Bugger sz. 8 - 12, Kaufman Stone Nymph sz. 6 -12
Streamers: BH Rubber Leg Black or Olive Woolly Bugger , Sculpin , Muddler Minnows , Leeches
Steelhead: Black and Purple Hobo Spey , Purple Peril , Summer Run , Green Butt Skunk , Gold BH Black Woolly Bugger , Egg Sucking Crystal Leech , Copper Swan , BH Prince , Jumbo John , Egg Patterns , BH Rubber Leg Red Squirrel , Possie Bugger, Starlight Leech, "Magneto" Stone
Bass: Chubby Chernobyl , BH Green Wooly Bugger , Poppers , Muddler Minnow
Stream flow data:
Current Weather:
Grande Ronde River Reports:
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?_no=13333000
2/21/24. Good to very good steelhead fishing near Troy. See our Wallowa River Report for a new tip.
11/17/23: WOW WOW WOW - HOOKED 19, LANDED 13 STEELHEAD ON FLY IN SIX DAYS THIS PAST WEEK
11/12/23: NEED NEW REPORTS. WAS MUDDY FROM HEAVY RAINS LAST WEEK BUT HAS DROPPED AND CLEARED AND SHOULD BE VERY GOOD
10/17/23: STILL GOOD - BUT CROWDED NEAR TROY. THE BROOD STOCK COLLECTION HAS ENDED, BUT ONE FISHER AT TROY ESTIMATED HE SAW 20 TO 30 FLY FISHERS IN THE OREGON SECTION YESTERDAY (MONDAY!).
10/2/23: GOOD NUMBERS OF STEELHEAD AND LARGE NUMBERS OF STEELHEAD FISHERS. BUT FAIR CATCH RATES.
9/30/23: A FISHER FISHING JUST BELOW PAWATKA TAKE OUT REPORTED 10 OR SO GUIDE BOATS THAT MUST HAVE FLOATED DOWN FROM MINAM. I HAVE NO ACTUAL CATCH RATE REPORTS.
9/29/23: LOOKING GOOD FOR STEELHEAD! APPARENTLY 36,000 STEELHEAD HAVE MOVED ACCROSS LOWER GRANITE DAM (LAST DAM ON THE SNAKE BEFORE THE GRANDE RONDE) COMPARED TO 22,000 LAST YEAR ON THIS DATE.
A FISHER GOT INTO A NUMBER OF STEELHEAD DOWNSTREAM FROM BOGANS (HIGHWAY 3) INCLUDING ONE ON A “WAKING FLY”. RAINS THE LAST FEW DAYS BUMPED THE RIVER 30 CFS, WHICH WILL MOVE THE FISH. LIKE MOST FISHERS, HE FAVORS A FALLING RIVER FOR THE BEST BITE - SO WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH NEW RAINS.
9/22/23: CORRECTION FOR 9/19 REPORT. A TOTAL OF 4 STEELHEAD WERE CAUGHT BY THESE TWO FLY FISHERS - FOLLOWED BU FOUR DAYS WITHOUT TOUCHING A STEELHEAD.
9/19l23: Also lots of rainbows, more than normal, and some big ones, being caught by the steelhead fishers near Troy
9/17/23: HEY NOW. GREAT REPORT FROM TROY. TWO FLY FISHERS CAMPING BELOW TROY IN OREGON AVERAGED A STEELHEAD A DAY EACH - OVER A NUMBER OF DAYS. ONE DAY THEY EACH CAUGHT TWO. ANOTHER FLY FISHER WAS ALSO CATCHING STEELHEAD ON THE SURFACE “WAKING” FOAM PATTERNS.
8/27/23: NO WORD YET OF STEELIES BEING CAUGHT IN THE LOWER RIVER (?). BUT, THEY CONTINUE TO MOVE UP THE COLUMBIA AND SNAKE IN DECENT NUMBERS - EVEN OVER LOWER GRANITE DAM. WILL TRY TO PASS ON ODFW REPORTS.
8/7/23: NO REAL REPORTS AT THIS TIME. ALSO I AM HAVING TROUBLE FINDING TIME TO TRACK STEELHEAD NUMBERS OVER THE DAMS. TRY ODFW SITES.
6/30/23: FLOWS PEAKED AND DROPPING (2000 +/-). GREAT LEVEL TO FLOAT AND FISH. NOW WE WILL SEE WHAT KIND OF HATCHES THE HOT WEATHER BRINGS. BUT FOR THE LARGER THAN NORMAL BOWS THE GUIDES ARE REPORTING THIS YEAR, WEIGHTED PATS RUBBER LEGS ARE TOUGH TO BEAT.
6/27/23: 6/27/23: HEAVY RAINS IN THE VALLEY LAST NIGHT AND TODAY WILL NEGATIVELY IMPACT FISHING ON THE WALLOWA, GRAND RONDE, AND THE SOUTH END OF WALLOWA LAKE - FOR AT LEAST A FEW DAYS (HIGH WATER, COLORED WATER, COLD WATER, FEWER HATCHES). FORCAST CALLS FOR SUNNY SKIES AND WARM TEMPERATURES, STARTING THURSDAY, FORE AN EXTENDED PERIOD.
6/22/23: GUIDES FLOATING THE RIVER ON MULTIDAY TRIPS HAVE REPORTED EXCELLENT FISHING FOR LARGER THAN NORMAL TROUT.
6/18/23: ONCE AGAIN - BREAKING NEWS. A NICE YOUNG COUPLE REPORTED THICK CONCENTRATIONS OF ADULT GOLDEN STORES MATING ON THE BANKS OF THE WALLOWA TODAY.
6/17/23: RAN OUT OF TIME TODAY, so will copy and paste a “general” area report: 6/17/23: BREAKING NEWS - fish are on the bite - all over. guides floating downstream from Minam (wallowa and grande ronde rivers) had two good days of dry fly (salmon fly) action (had pictures of some large , beautiful/bright silver trout) caught on big foam chubby chernobles. the flies were not on the bank bushes, but were caught along the bank in “pockets.”
And the “all over” bite includes good evening dry fly action at Kinney Lake, and even trout hitting purple chernobles and some other large large dries at the south end of Wallowa Lake at the river inlet.
Stay tuned for Wallowa River Salmon fly reports - any day
6/16/23: still high, but dropping and clearing. guides starting to work river looking for stone flies. still mostly nymphing, but expect adults soon
11/17/22: SEE 11/16 REPORT BELOW: ADD FOUR MORE, NEW PICTURES - SO 13 LANDED IN FOUR DAYS.
11/16/22: STEELHEAD - NEW GOOD REPORT TROY! TWO ANGLER FRIENDS OF MINE (GUIDES IN ALASKA) SWUNG BY THE SHOP ON THEIR WAY TO TROY. TWO DAYS LATER (ON TUES. 11/15) THEY MESSAGED ME WITH PICTURES: NINE STEELHEAD LANDED ON SPEY RODS/FLIES!!!!! OH BOY, SOME BIG ONES. TWO BAD YOU CAN’T SEE THE PICTURES - THE RUNS WOULD BE EASY TO RECOGNIZE…… HEY HEY.
11/9/22: CAUTION: ODFW CREEL CHECKER AT TROY LAST WEEK (NOV 3-5) CHECKED 29 ANGLERS AND REGISTERED 4 FISH CAUGHT FOR 29.8 HRS/FISH
11/5/22: River colored today at Troy from recent snow melt - unfishable this AM. Will try to report when it clears, but best call Bogans or the restaurant at Troy (check online for numbers)
HOWEVER, YESTERDAY TWO GEAR GUYS WITH BLACK JIGS (WITH GARLIC SCENT) PICKED UP FOUR TWO SALT FISH AT TROY - SO THERE ARE FISH IN THE RIVER!
10/31/22: Steelhead fishing on the Ronde seems to have slowed this past week - perhaps due to the cooler weather. Snow and rain are predicted for the next couple of weeks, so we will see what happens.
Minam to Troy floats have reported fairly slow steelheading, but a few steelhead/trout/bull trout reported by most.
10/27/22: I have been gone the last week, but the ODFW Creel Checker report for the past week showed 13 hrs/steelhead (not bad, although the guides are doing better).
10/21/22: steelhead keep coming into the Troy area. spoke with a gentleman today who caught two steelhead yesterday waking an orange muddler minnow (oct caddis?) in three feet of water a few miles from Troy. He mentioned he had had no success fishing deeper pools, but the steelies just slammed his swinging dry streamer in the surface at the very end of his swing.
He also mentioned the ODFW creel checker reported 15 steelhead caught the day before. But we will have to see if the snow and rain, and colder tempts, this weekend and next week affects the bit. For sure the water will move more fish upstream.
10/11/22: (sorry to be slow to report this) SOME OF THE BEST EARLY STEELHEAD FISHING NEAR TROY IN A NUMBER OF YEARS. THE WATER IS LOW (600 CFS) SO IT IS PERFECT FOR SWINGING FLIES. NOT TOO CROWDED YET (BUT ODFW WILL HAVE AN “EARLY RETURNING” STEELHEAD COLLECTION PROGRAM AND “STEELHEADING 101” CLASS THIS COMING WEEKEND 10/14 SO THERE MAY BE INCREASED PRESSURE). FLOWS TOO LOW FOR PLUG BOATS TO TAKE OVER SOME OF THE BEST RUNS. BONUS - MORE LARGE, TWO SALT FISH, AND FIESTY NATIVE FISH, THIS YEAR.
WE HAVE A NICE SELECTION OF TRADITIONAL LOW WATER FLIES AND SCANDI LINES. REMEMBER, YOU WILL HAVE ALL WINTER TO NYMPH. CONDITIONS ARE PERFECT TO SINGLE-HAND SPEY. CONSIDER CALLING PAUL AT FLY SIDE ANGLING FOR HIS GUIDE TRIP OPENINGS: (541) 398-0180; paul@flysideangling.com; www.flysideangling.com. OR CONTACT THE MINAM STORE FOR GUIDE SERVICES: (541) -437-1111.
9/1/22: Hot and low. Might catch some bass. Check with the Minam Store and shuttle service regarding floating.
BUT, A BIG STEELHEAD RETURN IS HEADING UP THE COLUMBIA (90,000 THIS YEAR VS 30,OOO LAST YEAR). Fair numbers over Lower Granite Dam (last dam on the Snake before our rivers). BUT, REPORTS FROM THE CLEARWATER RIVER REMAINS VERY SLOW THIS WEEK.
7/23/22. still dropping - 1180 cfs. A good level to float and fish.
7/20/22: Also dropping fast - perfect for rafting. Not many fishing reports at this time. Some good trout fishing in the white water near Troy.
7/7/22. Flows down to around 4000 cfs. A good local guide, Cam Scott, working out of the Minam store and shuttle, just finished a multi-day Minam to Troy float. He reported some very good stonefly fishing on the lower portion of that trip. Other reports suggest decent dry fly action around Troy. My son and daughter are floating the river the next three days, so I will post their fly fishing action.
6/22/22: Big, big water this year kids. 8000 cfs, colored, and may rise with this hot weather. Better floating than fishing, but be careful with debris if the water rises.
12/7/21: Latest ODFW Creel Checker report for 11/29 - 12/5: 29 steelhead landed - 5.7 hrs/fish. That is considered pretty good steelhead fishing kids.
12/1/21: Are you kidding me - good steelhead fishing/shirt sleeve weather (this week, not next) AND little pressure. How about a 37” hen landed last week near Troy on the swing, and bright fish moving through.
10/25/21: Although steelhead hrs/fish near Troy slipped to 16.6 hrs/fish, overall fishing wasn’t bad: “Steelhead anglers also caught and released 18 wild rainbow, 5 hatchery rainbow, 14 bull trout (!), 2 fall chinook, 1 coho, and 1 coho jack”
10/14/21; OH BOY. OH BOY. JUST GOT THE NEW ODFW CREEL CHECKER REPORT FOR STEELHEAD ON THE GR IN OREGON (TROY AREA): 19 FISHERS CHECKED, 19 STEELHEAD LANDED - 3.9 HRS/FISH - DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER.
10/6/21: ODFW Creel Checkers” reported 8 steelhead landed OR/WA for an average of 14 hrs/fish
9/30/21: ODFW STEELHEAD UPDATE (for Grande Ronde/Imnaha/Wallowa Rivers).
The above rivers are expected to have a steelhead return equal to about 40% of the 10 year average - not bad considering other NW streams. As such, ODFW expects to keep these streams open to steelhead, with a daily 3 hatchery fish limit (whereas the Clearwater and Snake, and, I believe, the Salmon (?) will have one fish limits). So far 18000 hatchery steelhead, about half the expected return, have crossed Lower Granite Dam.
There will also be a two fish Coho limit on the Grande Ronde (apparently, however, they aren’t too keen on taking flies).
9/24/21: ODFW STEELHEAD REPORT: The following report is very detailed, so you may want to just read the initial summary. The Oregon ODFW Creel Checker for the Grande Ronde reported zero steelhead for the past week. A fisher swinging black muddlers did well for trout.
It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update and I know there’s a lot of questions out there about steelhead salmon and some of our fisheries through the summer. I’m going to address as much as I can here fully admitting I’m a bit late on some of this stuff and it’s probably too much for one email. *Drought* I’d like to circle back on the discussion of the drought and “hoot owl” regulations from July (two updates down). I ended up foregoing the hoot owl regulation on the Wallowa. After monitoring temps and angler effort, it was pretty clear there wasn’t a lot of people fishing in the afternoons when there may have been the potential to have population level problems. There was some effort by local anglers and guides to get the word out about ethics of fishing in hot conditions, which I very much appreciated. I’d much rather see self-regulation of anglers and a culture within the angling community that protects the resource. I’ll be working to put some efforts in place in the future when poor conditions arise to nurture those efforts. I certainly learned a lot this year and will be more prepared for similar conditions in the future. I also appreciate the feedback I heard from you folks out there witnessing the fishery. *Steelhead* This is where most of the questions have been coming from recently and what I’m sure most of you are eager to hear. There is a lot of gloom and doom out there about the steelhead run this year and much of it is warranted. Passage at Bonneville Dam (BON) has been very poor. I’ve been keeping a very close eye on this, developing projections for the Grande Ronde and Imnaha, and developing fisheries recommendations. While this year is certainly a bad year, there is some spots that are not as poor as you may think, though I wouldn’t categorize them as bright spots. We’re pretty lucky in the Snake Basin to have a lot of research and information on steelhead returns which gives us the ability to forecast and get a pretty good idea what we might see. When I’m trying to structure fisheries, I’m looking at both wild and hatchery fish, and each component will have different implications for the fisheries. - I’ve provided a long explanation below, but if you’re not into that kind of thing here’s the short summary: I’m predicting wild steelhead numbers to the Grande Ronde and Imnaha basins will be similar to 17-18, 18-19, and 19-20 run years. This means that wild steelhead will be double the abundance where we’re required by our permit to curtail fisheries (CAT). I’m not currently concerned about fishery impacts on wild fish. Typical impacts in our fisheries are very low and I wouldn’t expect them to fall outside the normal range, nor put the wild population at risk. For hatchery fish, we’re projecting enough fish to make broodstock in both basins, even with normal harvest. Based on current projections, I’m not planning on changing the fisheries from permanent rule in the GR nor IMN. We’ll continue to monitor the return as fish make their way over LGD and make any changes as necessary. To sum it all up, it’s not good, but it’s similar to years we’ve seen recently. The nitty gritty details: - *Grande Ronde* - For wild fish, I’m looking at fish crossing BON and expanding based on previous years to see what we’ll see at Lower Granite Dam (LGD). This involves a variety of metrics that include the worst and best case scenarios. Currently, I’m estimating that somewhere between 1,521 and 3,805 wild fish will cross LGD and be bound for the Grande Ronde with 2,200 fish being the average estimate. Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) has developed their own estimate and expects about 2,600 fish to head for the GR. If you look at Figure 1 below, you’ll see that the range of projections is within the range of recent years. Additionally, with curtailment of fisheries in the mainstem Columbia and Snake and what seems to be a bit of a late run, I’m expecting the run to come in on the higher end of the range. What does this mean for fisheries? Given that we’re within the range of the recent past, and assuming the projections continue to hold, I’m not planning on curtailing the fishery in the GR based on wild fish numbers. Our federal fisheries permits do not require us to curtail fisheries until runs fall below the Critical Abundance Threshold (CAT) which is denoted by the dashed line in Figure 1 (1,200). Typical impacts in our fisheries are very low and I wouldn’t expect them to fall outside the normal range, nor put the wild population at risk. Figure 1. Approx. wild steelhead abundance at LGD for the Grande Ronde River MPG from the 12-13 to 20-21 run years with the projected 21-22 run year Note that error bars represent the range of projections. - For hatchery fish, my primary concern is weather or not we’re going to get enough fish back to the hatcheries to make the next generation of fish. Through similar means as projecting wild fish, I’ve been working to develop projections to inform fisheries structure. Currently I’m projecting between 1,343 and 1,533 hatchery fish to make it to Wallowa Hatchery facilities after hypothetical harvest under normal fishery rules. For Wallowa hatchery programs we need 452 fish to meet broodstock goals. So, based on our estimates we’ll have no problem achieving broodstock goals. Additionally, projections indicate we’ll be within the range or recent years (Figure 2). Similar to the situation with wild fish, I’m not currently planning to curtail fisheries based on hatchery returns. Figure 2. Hatchery steelhead returns at LGD for the Imnaha and Grande Ronde (Oregon only) hatchery programs with projection for the 21-22 run year. - *Imnaha* - For wild fish, I’ve projected runs under the same methods as the GR. I’m currently predicting between 441 and 1,072 wild fish to pass LGD with the average estimate being 697. IDFG has also provided and estimate of 748 fish to the Imnaha. Again, these estimates fall near the range for recent years, and similarly to the GR, I expect the run to be skewed toward the higher end of the expected range as fishery curtailment in the mainstem Columbia and Snake are not considered here. Similarly to the GR, I’m not planning on curtailing the Imnaha fishery based on wild fish numbers. For the Imnaha, our federal fisheries permit doesn’t require us to curtail fisheries until runs fall below CAT which is 300 wild fish. Figure 3. Approx. wild steelhead abundance at LGD for the Imnaha River MPG from the 12-13 to 20-21 run years with the projected 21-22 run year. Note that error bars represent the range of projections. - The story for Imnaha hatchery fish is similar to the GR. Current projections are for 635 to 682 hatchery fish to arrive at the facility on Little Sheep Creek after hypothetical harvest under normal fishery rules. To meet broodstock collection goals, the facility needs 134 leaving about 515 fish as surplus. Again, I don’t believe the hatchery fish return to the Imnaha warrants curtailment of the fishery. - *Hells Canyon* - Current estimates from IDFG for hatchery fish returning to the Hell’s Canyon trap are boarding on the needs for broodstock collection. Therefore we have reduced bag limits to hopefully give us a bit of breathing room in those collections if the run comes in a bit low. Given participation in this fishery is fairly limited for Oregon anglers, most of the savings in harvest are expected to come from Idaho anglers mostly north of the Oregon border. - *Bag Limits* - You’ll remember in recent years we’ve implemented some bag limit restrictions due to poor returns. Through the electronic licensing system (ELS) and anglers tagging their fish electronically, I’ve been able to conduct some preliminary evaluations on the effectiveness of bag limits in the GR and IMN. The short story is that there is no indication that standard bag limits will result in falling short of broodstock collection goals given the predicted run in the GR and IMN. But what about Hells Canyon? Hell’s Canyon predictions are indicating making broodstock collections are a bit tighter. Additionally, much of the harvest of Hells Canyon fish comes in the ID/WA section of the Snake River and the same evaluation of bag limits is unavailable. Myself and Idaho agreed that a bag limit reduction here was appropriate for broodstock collection purposes. - *ELS* - This is where I’ll make my shameless plug for anglers in the area to give electronic licensing a try. While there are some caveats to using the information that streams in, I have been able to get a much better real-time sense of the fisheries over the last year based on harvest submissions. This allows me to make better decisions on fishery structure, provide better updates on how good or bad the fishing is, and to make more informed changes where needed. If you run into me on the river I’d be glad to show you on my phone if you’d like. - *Projections* - Please note that these projections are subject to change. When I develop these projections there is always an element of uncertainty and I do my best to capture the worst case scenario, assess the likelihood we’ll see that scenario, and manage appropriately. I’ll continue to update these projections as we move through the season and make any adjustments if needed with respect to conservation and hatchery production needs. I’ll also do my best to keep folks updated. *Coho Salmon* A bright spot in the world of anadromous fish this year has been Coho. The ocean and Columbia River fisheries were very good and we expect to see a good return to the Snake River basin. The Lostine fish should make their best showing yet and I’m planning on opening the Grande Ronde for harvest of Coho again this year. Currently we expect somewhere around 4,000 Lostine River Coho to make their way past LGD. Expect the fishery announcement to be forthcoming and I’ll provide some more information here once the run progresses a bit further. *Fall Chinook* Fall Chinook season is open in Hells Canyon and a few fish should be around for harvest at this time. Overall this fishery is pretty underutilized by Oregon anglers so I’d encourage you to get out there and give this one a try. The fishery will be open until the end of October and you can keep up to 3 adult Chinook per day regardless of fin clip status. Remember that barbless hooks are required. This fishery will be enshrined in permanent rule starting next year. I apologize for the massive dump of information here but I know many of you will find it relevant and interesting. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to give me a call at the number below. Feel free to share this email and let me know if you’d like to be removed from the list or if you know someone that would like to be added. Tight lines. Kyle Bratcher District Fish Biologist 7/3/21 : Dropping like a rock. Happy Fourth. The river is currently dropping 100 - 200 cfs per day - will be 1100 cfs tomorrow. This weekend may be one of the last to get your larger gear boat down to Troy. Call the Minam Store (541-437-0180) to ask floating the river at these levels.
6/27/21. Oh my. CFS just dropped to 2000. Probably some of the best floating and trout fishing of the year. High water temps and bass fishing can’t be far behind.
6/9/21: A good level to float - Minam to the Snake. Stone Flies on the lower portion. Good Bass fishing below Troy.
4/15/21: We don’t have recent info. Most steelhead in Oregon should be up in the Wallowa by now. Snowmelt may color the river. Will try to report info as we get it: bass, trout, stoneflies.
3/11/21: STEELHEAD FISHING HAS BEEN PRETTY GOOD LATELY, BUT THE WALLOWA IS STARTING TO COLOR UP BY NOON AND THE WARMER WEATHER MAY COLOR THE RONDE.
3/9/21: Back in shop for awhile so will post what I hear. CROWDED AT TROY, BUT STEELHEAD DEFINATELY BEING CAUGHT. COLD NIGHTS LOOK LIKE THEY WILL HOLD OFF THE BIG MELT FOR AWHILE.
1/2/21: No reports to speak of. one fisher complained about ice in the river. Please call or email reports.
12/28/20: Low/clear. Very few fishers. Creel checker had three wild fish for 16/hr/fish.
12/21/20: Possibly blown-out from recent snowmelt and rain (?). Best call Bogan’s.
12/8/20: Pretty tough kids. Yesterday a fisher brought a picture from Troy of the river iced over, or full of slush ice. The last ODFW Creel Checker Report for 11/30 - 12/6 showed 31 fishers with one steelhead caught.
11/30/20: No ODFW Creel Check last week of November. No other reports.
11/23/20: Good Monday morning, my friends. Some good news. A steelhead fisher from Klamath Falls, who had never fished the Ronde, spent two full days fishing near Troy last week. He hooked five steelhead and landed four (had pictures). Three were in the 28”plus range. Says he will come back next year (of course). Maybe it is time to “isolate” on the Ronde this Thanksgiving.
11/18/20: Sorry, just not getting much information. I did get an ODFW Creel Checker report for 11/16 - 11/17: 12 hrs/fish both OR/WA - not terrible and few fishers. This morning the CFS was 1400, a sharp rise from snow melt over the past few days. Perhaps it will crest in the next few days (?). The weather looks beautiful this weekend, and might be worth heading to the river. I need reports. Thanks.
11/04/20: I am waiting for the next ODFW Creel Checker report - expect it to be better (10 hrs/fish?). Our info seems to confirm fair to good fishing: some one/two, even the occassional three fish days in Oregon.
An example was a nice young, big smiling, long haired, fish fanatic type from Central Oregon who pulled up in his older camper van yesterday. He had never fished the Ronde, but loved the river and managed to catch a steelie near Troy each of the first three days he fished. He came up to the shop to adjust his spey head and mow tips for the smaller river. He also chuckled as he picked out some of our more outlandish streamers - confident the fly wouldn’t make that much difference.
ALERT: A GUIDE FISHING BELOW BOGANS PULLED OFF THE RONDE TO FISH THE SNAKE - WHERE HE HAD SOME 5 -10 FISH/BOAT DAYS. HE SAID THE RONDE WAS SO CROUDED BELOW BOGANS THAT IT WAS HARD TO FIND A RUN, AND THAT THE FISH WERE SIMPLY SEEING TOO MANY LURES AND FLIES. MAYBE (?). …… ALSO LOTS OF BOATS PUTTING IN AT MINAM, BUT ONE CLIENT SAID MINAM SHUTTLE WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO A COVID QUARANTINE (I HAVE NOT CONFIRMED THIS)! AIRPORT RENTAL CARS LEWISTON, LA GRAND, PENDLETON?
10/28/20. I’m getting conflicting reports!!!! The creel checker report from three days ago was still pretty bad - 25hrs/fish in OR and Wa. However, a number of guides are reporting good steelhead fishing - 2-5 steelhead per boat per day. Maybe the creel checker cannot check the boats? I would welcome more reports to: flyshop@eoni.com. Also, sounds like quite a few boats are floating Minam to Wildcat. I assume it is similar from Boggans to Shomacher in WA.
10/21/20: Not Good. ODFW Creel Checker report for 10/18 - 10/19: 75 hrs per steelhead in Oregon and Washington. However, I did speak with a fisher who recently landed 3 steelhead upstream from Troy.
10/19/20: A few more reports of steelhead near Troy, so hopefully the recent rains are moving a few fish upstream. Some fishers in the lower Imnaha (and Snake) reported some decent steelhead fishing- see last Imnaha report. Perhaps these same rains moved a few fish up the Ronde.
10/14/20: Sorry to be slow to update this report, but steelheading has been VERY SLOW between Minam and Troy, and near Troy and downstream the past 10 days. Last Creel Check in Oregon was 17 hrs/fish and Washington 73 hrs/fish.
Apparently the Grand Ronde/Wallowa steelhead have been slow to move past the Bonneville pool - with only 55% passing McNary Dam. Hard to explain since Imnaha steelhead continue to move upstream and cross Lower Granite Dam in normal fashion.
Even ODFW is recommending fishers consider the Wallowa River, where you have a shot at big bows and some early steelhead. Wallowa cfs did bump from 270 CFS to 330 CFS this past week, so this may move more fish upstream.
10/6/20: Steelhead action continues to pick up. One guide reported two three fish days near Troy. Another fisher and his wife both picked up fish including a nice 9 lb female. Eighty percent are expected to be two salt fish, so expect more big fish. Apparently less fishers than reported earlier.
10/1/20: COHO SALMON SEASON ON THE GRANDE RONDE THIS YEAR! PER ODFW NEWS LETTER: Coho: I also have some good (and very exciting!) news on the Coho front. Currently I’m estimating that we’ll have as many as 3,000 Coho pass LGD. This is enough fish to offer some harvest in the Grande Ronde as fish move through the lower Grande Ronde. Announced today and starting Oct. 1, and closing Nov. 30, harvest of Coho will be open below the Grande Ronde River Rd. Bridge (approx. 7 miles above Troy, AKA the Wildcat Bridge) down to the boarder with Washington. The bag limit will be 2 adult Coho (>20 inches) and 5 jack Coho (≤ 20 inches) with two jack limits in possession. This is pretty exciting news! This is the first time harvest of Coho will be allowed on the Grande Ronde Since the 70s. Again, we’ll be interested in hearing any reports. Expect these fish to begin showing up in the catch in the next week or two.
10/1/20: More fishers than steelhead, but fishing for nice size trout remains good.
BUT GOOD NEWS: 1) Wallow and Imnaha steelhead appear to be averaging a 20% to 80%, 1-salt to 2-salt ratio (oh boy!!!); and the wild and hatchery steelhead return on the Grande Ronde will be up about 40% from last year. Having already passed Bonneville Dam, they have been a bit slow to cross Lower Granite dam.
9/28/20: Fish pouring over Lower Granite. But more early flyfishers at Troy than normal. One bonus - trout fishing has been good if you want to fish the white water and riffles while swinging a muddler, etc
9/20/20: HOT OFF THE PRESS - STEELHEAD!!!!!!
Just spoke to a fisher that fished Troy to Bogans for trout yesterday (Friday the 19th) - he did well with hoppers. BUT, HE ALSO RAN INTO A FISHER WITH A SPEY ROD SWINGING FOR STEELHEAD. HE HAD LANDED TWO STEELHEAD NEAR TROY THAT DAY.
UP 40% FROM LAST YEAR !!!!!! THE OUTLOOK FOR THIS YEAR’S STEELHEAD RUNS ON THE RHONDE/WALLOWA/INHAHA ARE LOOKING UP - BOTH HATCHERY AND WILD FISH UP 40% FROM LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO ODFW, OUR STEELHEAD ARE 95% OVER BONNIVILLE, BUT ARE JUST STARTING TO CROSS OUR LAST DAM ON THE SNAKE - LOWER GRANITE.
9/1/20: Feeling better about this year’s steelhead run. Hatchery fish headed to the Wallowa and Imnaha rivers should be up 15% from last year. A similar increase is expected for wild fish. I will report new info as I get it.
8/15/20: ODFW says we can expect a slightly larger steelhead run this year - still decent water flows. Will try to report the first confirmed catches on the lower river.
In the mean time fishing for bass and larger bows has been good below Troy to Bogans.
6/29/20: Good for bass and some large trout near Troy. Or walk up the Wanaha for trout - or 6-8 miles for Bull trout (a bit more people than normal).
6/1/20. Raging and colored for now. Will report on any stone fly action when we get reports.
11/11/19: This past weekend a friend fished Troy and there was only one other group of four fishing the river (in his favorite hole - of course). Still he picked up a nice steelhead the minute his line started to swing. Pay your dues ……
10/14/19: Sorry for the late report, I was out of the country. Steelhead are being caught at Troy, but due to the poor run, people are working for them. A guide friend said his clients picked-up 5 over the last three trips. He also said he watched a “center-pin” fisher catch four out of one run. The ODFW creel check for last week showed 13 hrs/steelhead on the GR in Oregon (4hrs/fish is considered very good).
9/14/19: Just got a report that FOUR STEELHEAD were caught at Troy yesterday. No other angers. Evidently, the rain brought them up.
8/29/19: Reports of good small mouth fishing. Small mouth on a 5 or 6 weight fly rod can be fun filled day.
7/29/19: Pretty warm to be a great trout fishery this time of year, but try casting into the white water where trout find more oxygen. Or fish for bass.
10/09/18: Nothing new. The Troy area in Oregon, and above and below Bogan”s in Washington, are seeing fair numbers of fishers. The catch rate remains , but but requires 15 - 20 hrs per fish according to the creel checker. We had steady rain in Joseph last night and snow this morning, so hopefully a bump in water levels will move fish upstream.
10/05/18; I finally got back to the shop. I personally know of a dozen steelhead caught on flies near Troy this past week - but I estimate 15+ hours were put in for each fish. Latest ODFW figures estimate the Wallowa.Grande Ronde/Imnaha return to be only 25% of the ten year average. On the positive side, the run is slightly earlier than last year and the fish are bigger (60% one salt, 40% two salt). You may recall, two years ago the run was 80 - 95% two salt fish (a near collapse of 2014 brood stock run). Last year the run was 90 -95% one salt fish. Soooo …. this year’s return to normal splits suggests, to quote Jeff Yankee the area fish biologist, “that while down, our fish are not out.”
9/5/18: NOTE: IN SEPTEMBER PLEASE CALL THE SHOP FOR REPORTS: 541-432-4343.
9/4/18: Bass have started moving downstream to the Snake. Steelhead run will be small again, but ODFW is expecting a normal split of 50% one and two salt fish.
8/20/18: Bass fishing remains good. The lower Wenaha is also producing nice rainbows near Troy, and large bull trout up high on the river. We will start reporting steelhead info as we get it.
7/12/18: Some great bass fishing around Troy. Use a green bugger or a green bugger.
7/4/18: Sorry, I got behind on my reporting. Last week the river was still high, and full of rafters, but some big fish were caught during the salmon fly hatch (now over). The river has dropped sharply the last few days and should afford more bank fishing. The Ronde gets too warm to be a great trout stream, and some bass have already moved upstream past Troy.
6/6/18: Lots of rafters, but the river is still too high for decent fishing. Salmon flies and Golden stones are moving upstream quickly from Troy to the Wallowa. However, we aren't seeing surface trout feeding. Best luck for this high water is probably a large streamer - bugger or dali llama. Or possibly a caddis or parachute dry in the back eddies along the bank.