upper owhyee results

[codeman]

hey everyone. just back from a saturday and half a day sunday fishing the 3 forks area of the owhyee river. I was a little worried about the flow of the river going in to the trip, as it was around twice as high as i normally fish it. I shouldn't have been worried, the fishing was wonderful. we fished the north fork from the confluence to about a half mile above the little bridge, probably a total of about a mile. It took us about 7 hours fishing it slow, plus we were swimmimg up stream in the deep holes, wow that was tireing. anyways, between the two of us we caught 430 small mouth, 22 nice red banded rainbows between 11 and 19 inches, and 2 squaw fish.
The water was a little high, but still pretty warm, felt around 60 degrees. Sunday we got up and walked, yes walked, from our camp on the north fork confluence, to the hot springs. We then fished the main fork back down to our camp. about 1 maybe 1 and half miles of river. the bass fishing is epic there, especially around the hot springs. We stood in one place in front of the hot springs for over an hour, never took one step, and caught a bass ON EVERY CAST! We finally started down stream because we had a lot of ground to cover and we knew it was going to get hot later. we started fishing at 9:30. A few of the holes with the slower moving water had hardly any fish, but every tail out had thousands. We finnally made it down to the north fork confluence at 2:00. The two of us caught 775 smallies and 2 ********* in 4.5 hours! That is no joke, we called out everyfish with its number. I know people talk about the John day or the umpqua, but i believe the owhyee is by far the best bass water in the state, and probably in the whole west. Only about a dozen of the fish were over 3 pounds, but many were 1.5 to 2 pounds and hundreds were litteraly caught 6 inches under the surface and 2 feet behind us as we swam the river. There were dozens of people at the hot springs, we were the only ones i saw fishing the whole weekend. What an absolute paradise. except it got too hot sunday afternoon and we were too soggy to stay in the water anymore, with no shade we had to leave. If you were so inclined, you could fish from about 530 am to about 10:00 pm, with about 2 dollars worth of small curly tails catch over a thousand bass in one day. easy

[raptorschild]

hey everyone. just back from a saturday and half a day sunday fishing the 3 forks area of the owhyee river. I was a little worried about the flow of the river going in to the trip, as it was around twice as high as i normally fish it. I shouldn't have been worried, the fishing was wonderful. we fished the north fork from the confluence to about a half mile above the little bridge, probably a total of about a mile. It took us about 7 hours fishing it slow, plus we were swimmimg up stream in the deep holes, wow that was tireing. anyways, between the two of us we caught 430 small mouth, 22 nice red banded rainbows between 11 and 19 inches, and 2 squaw fish.
The water was a little high, but still pretty warm, felt around 60 degrees. Sunday we got up and walked, yes walked, from our camp on the north fork confluence, to the hot springs. We then fished the main fork back down to our camp. about 1 maybe 1 and half miles of river. the bass fishing is epic there, especially around the hot springs. We stood in one place in front of the hot springs for over an hour, never took one step, and caught a bass ON EVERY CAST! We finally started down stream because we had a lot of ground to cover and we knew it was going to get hot later. we started fishing at 9:30. A few of the holes with the slower moving water had hardly any fish, but every tail out had thousands. We finnally made it down to the north fork confluence at 2:00. The two of us caught 775 smallies and 2 ********* in 4.5 hours! That is no joke, we called out everyfish with its number. I know people talk about the John day or the umpqua, but i believe the owhyee is by far the best bass water in the state, and probably in the whole west. Only about a dozen of the fish were over 3 pounds, but many were 1.5 to 2 pounds and hundreds were litteraly caught 6 inches under the surface and 2 feet behind us as we swam the river. There were dozens of people at the hot springs, we were the only ones i saw fishing the whole weekend. What an absolute paradise. except it got too hot sunday afternoon and we were too soggy to stay in the water anymore, with no shade we had to leave. If you were so inclined, you could fish from about 530 am to about 10:00 pm, with about 2 dollars worth of small curly tails catch over a thousand bass in one day. easy

Wow!....you guys might beat ROger to 800 fish if you go back!!!!! Yowzas!!!


Good work. Sounds like a blast.

[retaliate]

Awesome! :cheers: It's been over 15 years since I last fished that area, similar results than, we had the place all to ourselves, I amagine it's still void of crowds?

[codeman]

we've been fishin it for about 15 years as well. It used to be a ghost town, I mean we'd go out there on memorial day weekend and MAYBE see one other group. Sorry, not anymore. maybe mid week there would only be a group or two, but most weekends now there are several groups. weather and water level change how many people from year to year. However, most people seem to be camping, floating or just enjoying the hot springs. usually have most of the fishing to ourselves, especially if you want to hike/wade/swim up or down canyon. We stopped camping right at the hot springs because of the number of people who will crowd right in next to you, the amount of bugs because the area is swampy, and there are some really weird people (spandex thongs, speedos) who show up at the hot springs. so, we usually camp along the north fork now, not as swampy so fewer bugs anyways. its been like 8 years since we bothered trying to use the hot springs, because of the number of people. We have found that the trout fishing seems to be much better than it used to be. We used to catch a few large trout each trip. Last few years we catch alot of large trout, but also alot of smaller trout too, which means good things for the future. Not sure if the last couple of years of higher water is responsible (thats my guess). Anyways, if you can make a trip out there, I sure would. Definately more fish in the main fork, especially by the hot springs, but the north fork was probably funner because the bass seem to be larger and those 20 inch trout are a kick on ultra lights! The water had dropped alot since we checked before we left. I thought it was around 700. I checked yesterday and it was actually around 450cfs (as measured at rome) while we were out there. I would say that is about perfect. a few years ago when the drought was on, the flows after memorial day were already around 200 or lower, and the river would be really mossy and hard to fish, with very few tail outs. this year there was very little moss and lots of current, which is where all the bass and trout were. So, check with bureau of reclamation on water flows before you go out. We went out to birch creek a couple of weeks ago when the flow was at 1000, and still caught hundreds of bass and catfish. I would say anywhere between 300 and 1200 is still fishable, but my opinion is that 400 to 600 is probably the best. My buddy went to birch creek in early may when the flow was at 2600 and still managed to catch 10 cats between 4 and 6 pounds, at night when it was in the 20's. The owhyee river is awesome

[WoodyinMosier]

Sound like a great place, Fished at Lake Owhee, still not very crowned.

[retaliate]

we've been fishin it for about 15 years as well. It used to be a ghost town, I mean we'd go out there on memorial day weekend and MAYBE see one other group. Sorry, not anymore. maybe mid week there would only be a group or two, but most weekends now there are several groups. weather and water level change how many people from year to year. However, most people seem to be camping, floating or just enjoying the hot springs. usually have most of the fishing to ourselves, especially if you want to hike/wade/swim up or down canyon. We stopped camping right at the hot springs because of the number of people who will crowd right in next to you, the amount of bugs because the area is swampy, and there are some really weird people (spandex thongs, speedos) who show up at the hot springs. so, we usually camp along the north fork now, not as swampy so fewer bugs anyways. its been like 8 years since we bothered trying to use the hot springs, because of the number of people. We have found that the trout fishing seems to be much better than it used to be. We used to catch a few large trout each trip. Last few years we catch alot of large trout, but also alot of smaller trout too, which means good things for the future. Not sure if the last couple of years of higher water is responsible (thats my guess). Anyways, if you can make a trip out there, I sure would. Definately more fish in the main fork, especially by the hot springs, but the north fork was probably funner because the bass seem to be larger and those 20 inch trout are a kick on ultra lights! The water had dropped alot since we checked before we left. I thought it was around 700. I checked yesterday and it was actually around 450cfs (as measured at rome) while we were out there. I would say that is about perfect. a few years ago when the drought was on, the flows after memorial day were already around 200 or lower, and the river would be really mossy and hard to fish, with very few tail outs. this year there was very little moss and lots of current, which is where all the bass and trout were. So, check with bureau of reclamation on water flows before you go out. We went out to birch creek a couple of weeks ago when the flow was at 1000, and still caught hundreds of bass and catfish. I would say anywhere between 300 and 1200 is still fishable, but my opinion is that 400 to 600 is probably the best. My buddy went to birch creek in early may when the flow was at 2600 and still managed to catch 10 cats between 4 and 6 pounds, at night when it was in the 20's. The owhyee river is awesome

Well that figures, I guess you can't keep a great place a secret for long these days, still to remote for most tho, for me it's just a late April, or early May vacation anymore, since Ocean fishing takes up all my spare time up til Bow hunting time, Awesome! report brings back good memories. :meme:

[Hunt'nFish]

This thread needs PICS! Sounds like a fabulous place to fish.
Thanks for sharing codeman, but I think we should string you up by your toes for not taking pics.
All this talk of paradise is killing me w/o pics. :wink:
Hunt'nFish

[codeman]

Ya i really need to invest in a waterproof digital camera. We spend most of our time wet, and usually up to our necks, so, carrying a normal camera is out of the question. and besides, if i stop to take pics, thats fewer fish i can catch!!!

[baltz526]

last time i was at the hotspring i drove my f250 west out of the canyon from the hot spring. not recomended