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Grande Ronde
Wallowa River
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Let us introduce you to our home waters. We at the Fly Fishing Place were fortunate to have been born quite by accident in this magnificent part of the country well over a half a century (ouch) ago, and every day we are blessed with the knowledge that this is one of the great places in the world to live, love, work and fly fish. Unlike many other great trout and steelhead meccas, Northeast Oregon is a long way from metropolitan areas and large-jet airports, and only the determined fly fishers can get here. We welcome those with the fortitude, inner strength and patience to make the journey! Drop us a line anytime and stop in for a visit the next time you are in our beautiful corner of the fly fishing world.
The Grande Ronde River is born of mountain snows in the Blue Mountains of Northeast Oregon and embarks on a 200-mile circular journey to join the Snake River in Southeast Washington. This is a serious steelhead river. Except for the stretch where it winds through the agricultural plains of the Grande Ronde Valley, the Grande Ronde runs through magnificent wild mountain canyons, inaccessible for large stretches except by raft, Mckenzie drifters or other river craft.
The majority of the best steelhead fishing occurs from the confluence with the Wallowa River to the mouth in Washington. The river boasts steelhead in the 3 to 10 pound range, with the average about 3-6, and because of the remote and rugged area surrounding the river, it is an ideal steelhead river. The 3-5 day float from Minam on the Wallowa River to the takeout at Wildcat Creek through roadless canyons takes you through some of the most pristine steelhead country anywhere.
The lowest reach of the Grande Ronde River from Troy in Oregon to the Snake River confluence in Washington is accessible by road, and is heavily fished during the late fall run. Steelhead wading and drifting etiquette is a must at all times. The river here is accessible from both Oregon and Washington, so it’s a good idea to carry licenses for both states.
The lower Grande Ronde is known as one of the finest rivers in the country for dry fly steelheading in the fall, and that is saying quite a bit. This lower stretch also has a fine smallmouth bass fishery, while the upper stretches are an excellent rainbow trout fishery with bows up to 16-17”. The aggressive and protected native Bull Trout is also present, and must be returned unharmed.
In late January or February, depending on water temperature and conditions, steelhead are moving far up the Grande Ronde River system into the upper tributaries of the Wenaha River, the Wallowa River, and the Minam river, where they spawn in late March and May. The steelhead fishing season here is September 1 through April 15.
Our standard down-and-across wet fly swing using standard steelhead patterns like the Purple Peril, Macks Canyon, or Green Butt Skunk works well on Grande Ronde steelheads, although some anglers prefer fishing the quartering upstream casting technique with beadhead nymphs or Wooly Buggers and Leech patterns, sometimes with a strike indicator or a dropper fly. As with most steelhead fishing, the ability to read and fish a stretch of water properly is more important than the fly pattern you use, as long as the pattern has all the good steelhead attributes.
HOME WATERS: THE WALLOWA RIVER The beautiful Wallowa River runs about 50 miles from its outlet on the north end of Wallowa Lake at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains – rightly called ‘The Alps of the West’- in Northeast Oregon to its confluence with the Grande Ronde River....Read more about the Wallowa River!
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