Part of our series on fishing locally in the Hood River/Columbia Gorge area.
Species: Smallmouth Bass, Summer Steelhead
Seasons:
Bass - June-September.
Steelhead - October-December
Links: Cottonwood Canyon State Park
The John Day River is one of the longest undammed rivers in the US. It flows out of the Strawberry Mountains in Southeast Oregon to meet the Columbia River about 30 miles east of where the Deschutes meets the Columbia. It is more than an hour and a half drive from Hood River, but the popularity and unique fishery of the river leads us to include this as a local favorite.
There are three fisheries in the John Day that are of interest to the locals here.
Smallmouth bass fishing is ridiculously good during the summer. This is the place to take someone that is learning to fish. Excellent feedback when fish eat half of your casts. It is the go-to place to take a child with their first fly rod. You will most likely never catch a bass of any real size there. What they lack in size, they make up for in numbers and aggressiveness.
Summer steelhead is the other major fishery of interest in the John Day River. This river hosts the largest run of all-wild summer steelhead in the US. There is not a hatchery program on the John Day. Summer steelhead will start to enter the river in the fall when the water comes up.
There is a bump in river levels in early October when the farmer's irrigation supply is cut off. Another bump brings in more fish when we get our first major rains after that. November is usually the best month for steelhead fishing in the John Day, but fishing can be good through January. Ice and snow is usually the factor that causes folks to stop going around Thanksgiving. The roads can become impassable. It is very remote, and there is no guarantee that you will be able to make it there and back if snow comes in.
Please check the regulations on steelhead fishing. Closures are a regular occurrence when runs are below average.
Third is a trout fishery on the John Day. There are a couple of forks of the river once you travel upstream past the town of Kimberly. There are trout in a couple of the forks as well as some tributaries. This is the stronghold for the native Westslope Cutthroat trout, which resembles the rocky mountain type of cutthroat more than the coastal cutties that inhabit much of the western part of the state.
Cottonwood Canyon State Park is where most anglers access both bass and steelhead fishing. There are a couple of other access points, but Cottonwood has by far, the most access. There are several easy floats to do on the river if multi-day rafting is your game. It is very popular for that. The desert scenery can't be beat. It can get very windy...
There is very little access beyond Cottonwood and two other small spots (Starvation Lane and Rock Creek). Lots and lots of private land with some very gun-happy land owners that will quickly let you know that you cannot fish there. Luckily, Cottonwood has enough access for everyone that visits the park.
