John Day, Rapid Cat Report - long/pic heavy

[lilnorthfork]

Talk about the ultimate kitchen pass, Mrs.northfork juggled her work schedule to manage the kids for a week so I could float the John Day with some friends. What started out as a group of 14 a year ago dwindled to 5 plus a couple ODFW big-horn sheep counters a few days before the trip. The forecast of heavy rain convinced 2 would-be floaters to stay home :hoboy: and a washed-out access road meant the 3 of us who were left got to be amateur sheep counters for a few days (we saw about 15 big-horns :yay:).
I had originally planned to take my driftboat but figured this trip would be a great chance to put WaterReady's 14' RapidCat to the test... a weeks worth of gear and Clarno rapids. Glad I did! :dance:
We ended up spending four days on the John Day and, not being one to waste a good kitchen pass, shot over to the Deschuttes for an overnight Warm Springs to Trout Creek float.:cool:
Rather than give a day-by-day account of the intermittent sun breaks and thunder showers on the John Day, I thought I would let the graphs tell the story. We put in around noon on Sunday May 15 with the river at about 7,000 cfs.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754feet_graph.gif
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754cfs_graph.gif

Ahhh, the fun of a free-flowing river. 24 hours after a heavy thundershower passed through the canyon, we went to sleep thinking our boats were safely anchored/tied off.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754big_rise_eve.jpg

But woke up thankful we weren't camped closer to the river...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754big_rise_morning.jpg

Clarno rapids wasn't much of a factor as most of the big rocks were under water...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754clarno_rapids1.jpg
But fun nonetheless...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754cat_pic1.jpg
Unfortunately, with the high fast water, even the eddys weren't fishing...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754flyin1.jpg
Fortunately, we did find a little backwater... and a little backwater surprise...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754carp.jpg
Carp on a 5-weight. :dance: This guy took a black wooley bugger.
With different conditions, the fish probably would have been feeding on these...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754dragonfly2.jpg
and these...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754mayfly.jpg

As it was, we had plenty of time for kicking back and looking for bighorns...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754kickin_back.jpg
and enjoying the canyon scenery...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754hootowl_rock2_2_.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754blue_sky.jpg

Definitely what you don't want to see after a big rainfall...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754cows.jpg

On the other hand, it was incredible to see the creek at Pine Hollow running crystal clear...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754pine_hollow_1.jpg

And it was here at Pine Hollow that we found the only good fishing of our four day trip. By good I mean 40-50 fish in about 3 hours. I don't generally count fish but it was fun to count streaks. I landed a smallie on every cast for eleven straight casts, then again for fourteen straight. :yay: Poppers and wooleybuggers were the ticket...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754pine_hollow_bend.jpg
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754smallie.jpg
Though the fast water meant a shorter than planned trip, four days was plenty of time to relax, enjoy the canyons, and even do a little salvage work...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754rays_canoe.jpg
Glad I was on a pontoon and not that canoe. Thanks to Bruce for setting me up with his toon, can't wait to do it again. lnf
p.s. stopped off at the Big D for a couple days on the way home for some of this...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/2754Deschuttes_Salmonfly.jpg
There were plenty of bugs on the bank, in the air and on the water but the redsides didn't seem to be tuned in to them. The first day I managed to break off, unhook or just plain miss about ten fish... the Deschuttes has a way of doing that to me. :hoboy:. The second day I managed four or five fish in a couple hours on golden stones and hares ears. The heavier bug action was closer to Trout Creek though there were plenty of bugs up near Warm Springs.

[nookslayer]

Nice northfork! I will be putting in at Clarno and pulling out at Cottonwood starting Thursday morning. From the water reports it should be great fishing and I am well stocked with poppers and woolies. Wish me luck and I'll posts some pics when I return! We have 8 in our float so it should be fun.

[lilnorthfork]

Wish I could join you nookslayer. From everything I had heard about the John Day it was going to be non-stop smallie action. I should have been disappointed about the fishing but, instead, it goes down as one of the best trips I have ever taken. The canyons are spectacular, Bruce's pontoon was a lot of fun to use, and, in light of the conditions, the three hours of fishing at Pine Hollow was especially sweet. One of my partners on this trip works for the State Watershed Enhancement Program. There has been a lot of work done at Pine Hollow and it shows. The bighorn sightings were fun too. Look for them around the two arches... we saw eight or so there. Have fun... I am envious. lnf

[Gizmo Man]

Thanks for the report and the pics.

Looks like you had fun...

Giz... :smile:

[Old Coot]

Lil North - thanks for letting us go along vicariously. Nice article and better photos. May I ask the make and model of your camera? My Sony took offense at being bounced off the driveway and hasn't worked reliably since.

[lilnorthfork]

Old Coot - That camera 'was' a Nikon Coolpix 3200. 'Was'!... because I took it for a swim in the Deschuttes. Luckily the memory card with all my pictures survived (and me too). I replaced it today with a Coolpix 4600 - $200 at Office Depot (plus you would want to buy a SD card to hold lots of pics. lnf

[redfish89]

That was a great report.... :bowdown: :bowdown:It felt like i was there with you. thanks.

[Ryan Pultz]

Sounds like a great trip. rp

[SilverFly]

Dang Jon, one of these days you should give us an Ifish seminar on "kitchen pass negotiation"!!! :bowdown:

Sounds like a cool trip.

:cheers:

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[Riverkeeper]

Awesome. Call me and lets go fishing this week.

[Mark Vickers]

A fantastic report. So how'd the big cat do? We want a review! Looks unweildy, but that could be just an image thing...

[greenbuttskunk]

SWEEEEET!

[Ras]

Dang Jon, one of these days you should give us an Ifish seminar on "kitchen pass negotiation"!!! :bowdown:

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Sign me up for that one :crazy:

Ras

[Water Ready]

Great pics Jon! Very happy you had a great trip. :smile:
Soon you will have to bring a buddy to the North Santiam for some summer steel action.
Happy Fishn' :cool: ---------------~<{{{><
Bruce

[N.U.Angler]

Nice report, I'm going to be over in that country the week of the 4th of July.

[Navigator]

Excellente'

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[TillamookChinook]

John,

Great Post!!

I had always heard that you needed to float the John Day before about Memorial Day to be assured of having enough water to float your boat. You were before Memorial Day and you had enough water. Proof that old stories are true.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=17464&password=&sort=1&cat=500 &page=1

I like to look for the John Day Big Horns from the road.

And, next time you are thinking about taking your digital camera for a swim, especially in salt water, just ask me and I'll advise against it.

TC

[lilnorthfork]

Great bighorn shot, TC! :applause: One guy was planning to come out from Ohio for the trip... he cancelled a couple months ago because, with the lack of rain this winter, it didn't look like there would be enough water to run it. There is definitely a mystique to the John Day that controlled rivers seem to lack. I am already itchin to get back. lnf
p.s. ruining the camera was a bummer... swimming after, and catching, a runaway boat, in waders (me, not the boat) without drowning makes the camera seem pretty insignificant. :shocked: Besides, the memory card with all my pics survived the swim :smile:.