Eastern Oregon TR
 

Fished with Bob Weinberger on the Owyhee in far eastern Oregon Tuesday.
It was sunny: warm when the wind didn't blow, quite chilly when it did.
Water was low and weed growth was high.

Fish were actively working the surface from the time we arrived (around
10:30?) until 12:30-1:00 or so. Then they turned off and it was deadly
slow until feeding picked up again in the late afternoon.

We caught a fair number of fish. I did better earlier in the day, Bob
came on like gangbusters later in the afternoon. In the mid-day slump,
Bob found the one fish actively feeding, cast to him repeatedly, and
finally took him on a midge emerger--a fine 20" brown that fought hard and
well. All the fish I landed were taken on #20-22 midges fished below a
dry, though I did hook and quickly lose a couple on the dry. Two fish Bob
took in the late afternoon hit a skwala dry. A number of March Browns
came off, but the fish didn't key on them.

It was the first time I'd fished the O and I was surprised by the great
number of people on the river for a Tuesday. A rig or two at almost every
turn-off. Made me wonder if everyone in Idaho was independently
wealthy.... or out of work.

I'd planned to spend the night out there and fish a local reservoir on the
way home the next day, but the sunburn I'd managed to acquire, the small
but frequent annoyance of cleaning weed off my flies, leader and line, and
a certain degree of satiation made my own bed far too alluring..... I
left around 5:30 for the long drive home, while Bob continued fishing.

Good to see you again, Bob. Thanks.

JR

"John Russell" wrote in message
...
Fished with Bob Weinberger on the Owyhee in far eastern Oregon Tuesday. It
was sunny: warm when the wind didn't blow, quite chilly when it did.
Water was low and weed growth was high.


How crowded was it JR?

I've heard good things about the Owyhee, but also heard that the Boise
people are there elbow to elbow, worse than many locations in the West. I
have to take a different route to Yellowstone this year to conduct some
business on the way and witll go by there ( more or less :)

Um, now that I think about it, I'm not sure I want to buy an Oregon license,
I already buy 4 states and Yellowstone Park. When my in-laws were in
Oregon I got one each year as I visited them a couple times a year ( right
on the Rogue ) and ran field trials 4 times a year, twice each in Medford
and K Falls areas, so I got enough use to justify.

Sounds like you had a good trip .... isn't that one hell of a drive, for a
day trip, from Bend? ( Note: I hate driving after years of too damn much
of it, so I insist on a good FDR or I simply don't go, or stay a lot longer
g )

John Russell wrote:

It was the first time I'd fished the O and I was surprised by the great
number of people on the river for a Tuesday. A rig or two at almost
every turn-off. Made me wonder if everyone in Idaho was independently
wealthy.... or out of work.

The problem is that the Owyhee REALLY close to Boise.

I've only fished the Owyhee a couple of times, in November. It wasn't
crowded at all, but I could tell from the turnouts that it must get a
lot of pressure. I think that in November people are more focused on the
pheasant hunting. The dry fly fishing was good both times, with nice
Mahogany Dun hatches.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"Larry L" wrote


How crowded was it JR?



I guess you answered that question, if I read more carefully, especially
since rw adds that there are a lot of turnouts ... each to have a couple
rigs

"Larry L" wrote in message
...

How crowded was it JR?

I've heard good things about the Owyhee, but also heard that the Boise
people are there elbow to elbow, worse than many locations in the West. I
have to take a different route to Yellowstone this year to conduct some
business on the way and witll go by there ( more or less :)


snip

While the Owyhee is certainly not a river a person seeking solitude would
choose, it is rarely elbow to elbow.
During weekdays a you may not always get to fish your favorite runs alone,
but can usually find a decent run to fish by yourself at least 100yds from
another fisherman.. After the irrigation season gets started (about Apr.
15), and the flows are raised from the now 20CFS up to about 200 CFS, both
the fish and the fishermen spread out, and its much less crowded. Also,
soon after that, many of the home waters of the majority of the people who
fish the Owyhee (Idahoans from the Boise area) have opened up, and they stay
near home.

Oregon has 1,3, and 7day non-resident fishing licenses available for not too
many $$$, for those who don't think they would get enough use out of a
season license to justify buying one.

After JR left I caught a several more 17-20" Browns - 3 of them on dries -
2 on a Skwala & 1 on a size 20 Griffith's Gnat.

It is a very interesting and often productive river to fish, but the
aesthetics of the stream itself, especially during low flows leaves much to
be desired. Much of the fishing is in pools with little current, heavy
levels of filamentous algae, water that is perennially off color, and a
bottom that is often quite mucky. However, it is often very challenging ,
often quite technical fishing for large numbers of fish in the 16-22" class
that are occaisionally very cooperative.

It was good to see you again too JR. Glad we could get together.


--
Bob Weinberger
La, Grande, OR

place a dot between bobs and stuff and remove invalid to send email

"Bob Weinberger" wrote

Oregon has 1,3, and 7day non-resident fishing licenses available for not
too
many $$$, for those who don't think they would get enough use out of a
season license to justify buying one.



I forgot about that

Sounds like you had very good fishing, glad to hear it.

Bob Weinberger wrote:

After JR left I caught a several more 17-20" Browns

Bastid. g

Larry L wrote:

.... isn't that one hell of a drive, for a
day trip, from Bend?

Yes. But I didn't think it was a day trip when I left in the morning....
once in Vale/Ontario/Nyssa, though, somehow the thought of my own bed was
suddenly and strongly more attractive than a Thermarest or a motel bed,
even if it meant retracing in the dark the same road I'd beat down in the
morning. Must be an age thing.....