John day (up higher)

[NWRedside]

I'm going with a few friends to fish smallies up higher on the john day this weekend. We'll probably be around the antelope area. Anyone fished around there recently? Last year we went around the same time of year and did okay, about 20 fish each in about 4 hours. Any info on better areas close by or good techniques would be great. thanks in advance

[Tanner]

Are you gonna be floatin or bankin. I just did a float about a month ago from Service Creek to Twickenham. Fishing is absolutely red hot. right now the best technique is to throw whatever you have in the deeper sections. The water is extremely low so the fish are really concentrated in the deeper holes. That many fish in those holes makes them very agressive because of all of the competition. I was mainly flyfishing small surface poppers and I was catching 75-100 per day. Don't expect many big ones. The small ones get your offering before the big ones have a chance. Good luck and have fun.

By the way, if you are banking it, there is a lot of good bank access between Kimberly and Service Creek. Floating it in intertubes or small inflatables would be the way to go right now.

[ 07-24-2001: Message edited by: Tanner ]

[blackdog]

The section Tanner talked about is definitely better fishing than the water nearer to Antelope. The only real public access near there is below Clarno, and the river braids quite a bit right there and doesn't seem to hold as many smallies as the Service Creek area, either down from there to Twickenham or above, like he said, all the way to Kimberly. Either way, you should have fun. Also, watch out for rattlesnakes in the evening. I had a heck of a time keeping my labs off of one a few weeks ago when walking the banks near dark.

[NWRedside]

sounds good, I think we'll head over there rather than the antelope area. Thanks for the info, I'll let you guys know how it was when we get back..
I've never caught a bass on a fly rod and am interested in fishing poppers for them as you mentioned above. Where can I get these and what do they look like? Also, how do you fish them?

[Tanner]

They are small hard plastic or wood flys that usually have rubber legs. Poppers have a concave face on them and divers have a slanted face on them. With the poppers, you cast them out and let them sit for a few seconds then give them a quick jerk. If you do it right it will make a popping sound from the air that gets trapped by the water in the concave face. The idea is to cast, let sit, pop, let sit, pop, let sit pop and so on. Divers or sliders can be fished the same way or you can just quickly strip them back in. Any fly shop should have them. I like the Flyfisher's Place in Welches. Mark Bachman there can show you what you will need.

Remember when fishing on the surface for bass. Bright colors when it is bright out and dark colors when it is dark out. You can even catch them on poppers after dark just cast along the bank, pop it a couple times and wait until you hear a splash then set the hook.

One other thing to remember is let them take the popper down before you set the hook. It is real easy to prematurely set the hook and miss them.

[NWRedside]

What river mile approximately is service creek at?

[Tanner]

Sorry dude, I loaned my drift guide to someone so I could not tell you. The best way to get there is to go Highway 26 through Prineville. Right before you get into Mitchell you will see a road on the left and a sign that says Service Creek. Turn there and that road will take you right to Service Creek. It takes about an hour and a half to get there from Prineville. So from the Portland area you are looking at about a four hour drive.