[Seawolf]

Hi,

Heading to Eastern Oregon for a family vacation in a couple of weeks and am looking for some suggestions on places to fish. The trip is quite open ended at this point so my rout will be strongly influenced by the best fishing opportunities (but don't tell my wife). The rough plan is to leave Seattle and head east over the pass and drive south to Bend Oregon and then on to the Owyhee River. We are camping and will bring river and sea kayaks so lakes and rivers are options. My 4 year old son will be in tow so I am a bit limited on how long we can drive each day. Any fishing suggestions along this general rout would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Thomas

 

[TYTLINZ]

there are allot of great fishing opportunities near bend, as for the rest of the trip there unless you are willing to make sore very long detours you arent going to find much other than lakes in the eastern Washington badlands. A little detour for some shad on the Colombia might be a fun stop depending where they are at that point. My best advise is to focus more on eastern Oregon. Maximize the time you have to explore the area. Try to get to the Klamath falls area there are some cool spots to fish in the area.

 

[dryflylarry]

I had a nice trip in SE Oregon a couple of years ago. One memorable place was the upper reaches of the Chewaucan River. Beautiful camping. I didn't catch any monster rainbows but there are probably a few. Kind of "open pine forest" type of area. I loved being there. I went on to the Donner & Blitzen in the Steens Mountains. You can drive to the top of the Steens Mountains with a view from 10,000 feet! Pretty cool. The Donner & Blitzen was a beautiful little river to fish. The trail goes upstream. I hiked and fished all day without seeing a person farther upstream. Very nice campground called Page Springs is the best! Coming from the west and going thru the Antelope Refuge is fairly remote and a dirt road for probably 50 miles before getting to French Glen. If you want a different but nice trip, this is it. Have fun.

 

[chief]

On the trip South you will be near or cross the Deschutes River depending on your route (great fishing, keep a close eye on your 4 year old). From Bend you can access the Crooked, the Metolius, and Fall River, the Century Drive lakes, or East/Paulina in Newberry Crater. Between Bend and Burns you will drive right by Chickahominy Resevoir(might be too warm) and the Malhuer River (irrigation draw down can make it hit or miss). Then you will be closing in on the Owyhee. On the return, if you don't plan to venture further South as mentioned above, I would take I-84 and detour North at La Grande and explore the rivers in that area - Wallowa (easy access), Wehaha(hike-in, snakey), Lostine (good free camping).

 

[topcd098]

Last week I fished Central OR. East Lake was still cold. There were no Calibaetis, but was able to pick some fish up on pheasant tails. Crane was very full, and rumor was it had been fishing well, but was off the day I was there...probably great the day after lol. Lava Lake is fishing well, and was the best "fishing" lake while I was there. It was a chrominid party. Also mosquito...bring some good repellent. Went to Hosmer. No hatches in the evening. There was a cold front moving in that anoon and the bite was off. Weather was an issue last week. Barometer fluctuating quit a bit. Let me know if you have any specific questions. My parents have a house in Sun River so I get over there a few weeks every season.