Fishing the John Day

[DFG]

I'm planning a 3-day float of the John Day from Service Creek to Clareno in mid-May. I'll be going with folks who know the river, but not fly fishing.

Is this section strictly a bass fishery, or should I plan for trout as well? What's the go-to fly setup? Is a 6-wt the right rod?

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[Evan B]

I've never done it, but as far as I know, that's pretty much just a bass game. Trout are a by-catch at best.

 

[DFG]

Both the river and bass fishing on the fly will be new territory for me!

 

[wmelton]

I floated that section two mays ago. Awesome float, a ton of fun. No signs of trout. Carp were porpoising all over. The water was chocolate milk, fishing was tough. Apparently they were catching them on poppers only a week before.

I would bring a floating line setup and a long sink tip. Something like the streamer max long. 6 or 7wt. If your conditions are anything like mine you'll use the sink tip the majority of the time. My favorite pattern was a bassmaster. No need to overthink flies.

 

[mcswny]

Bass only. Think 6 or 7 with a sink tip line.

Mid May really depends on when runoff comes. You could be at 500 CFS or 5,000 CFS.

Buggers, streamers, poppers. They’ll all work.

 

[Sam Roffe]

Sounds like fun. Only fished it in the fall in the Cottonwood Canyon area. Love that area…. Have fun.

 

[Snopro]

Bass and Cats.

 

[Rob Allen]

I'm planning a 3-day float of the John Day from Service Creek to Clareno in mid-May. I'll be going with folks who know the river, but not fly fishing.

Is this section strictly a bass fishery, or should I plan for trout as well? What's the go-to fly setup? Is a 6-wt the right rod?

Any insight would be appreciated!

Bass, 6wt , buggers streamers and poppers.
Pretty easy fishing.

 

[Clean Willy]

Easy fishing, all poppers for me. The geology is awesome. Hope you have less wind than we did a couple of June’s ago, and why is it always upstream? So much rowing.

 

[Yard Sale]

This will sound funny, but bring a few flies on big hooks. If the conditions are somewhat normal you will get tired of 3-6" fish and the big hooked flies will keep fishing until a bigger fish gets interested. I like a rabbit strip streamer with rubber legs, a der hair collar and a conehead on a size 2 or 4 B10 hook. Fish that on a light tip or poly leader, hit the bank and it should follow the river contour down to the bigger fish. That and sudsy back eddys.

 

[mcswny]

This will sound funny, but bring a few flies on big hooks. If the conditions are somewhat normal you will get tired of 3-6" fish and the big hooked flies will keep fishing until a bigger fish gets interested. I like a rabbit strip streamer with rubber legs, a der hair collar and a conehead on a size 2 or 4 B10 hook. Fish that on a light tip or poly leader, hit the bank and it should follow the river contour down to the bigger fish. That and sudsy back eddys.

Unintentionally this is what I’ve always done. I don’t think I’ve fished anything smaller than a 6 and mostly in the 1/0 to 4 range.