Steelhead fishing via Railroad / Wallowa River

[myxxolydyan]

O.K. here are all the details, and I quote...

Minam Motel and Market in conjunction with Wallowa Union Railroad offer the first ever Steelhead-Fishing-By-Rail down the Wallowa Wild and Scenic Waterway. Anglers will have the entire 10-mile stretch of river virtually to themselves and the steelhead (not to mention, wild turkey, deer, elk, mountain lions, and bald eagles). The wild and scenic waterway is unspoiled and dazzling to behold.

The Wallowa River Canyon, located in northeastern Oregon, has been hailed as on of the best steelhead fishing spots in the West, and America. Come to Wallowa River Canyon for unparralleled fishing adventures beginning in Minam.

For ten miles down river from the Minam Motel enjoy the Wild and Scenic Wallowa River. Anglers love this river for both artificial fly and lure, and bait fishing (myxx catches the heck out of them with bobber and jigg, but we won't go there right now ). Enjoy a leisurely early morning ride in a 1950's Pullman rail car complete with comfortable seats and facilities. Depart the car along the entire 10-mile stretch for exclusive fishing in the Wallowa canyon. Wander the canyon fishing new waters with old friends. There are four fishing seasons in the Minam area canyons and several species of fish such as rainbow trout (big ones), native and hatchery raised steelhead (lots of them), and "catch and release ONLY" bull trout (Dolly Varden). At present we are anticipating a large winter Steelhead run which will continue until the end of the season (April 15th).

The Minam Motel and Market literally sits right on the riverbank where the Minam and Wallowa rivers join and is the perfect place to stay for anglers interrested in taking advanage of affordably priced accomodations, while Steelhead fishing. Moreover, you will not believe the spectacular, dazzling, and breathtaking views of this unspoiled wilderness area. For your convenience, the Minam Motel and Market is also a registered licensing agent for the ODFW and can issue you a fishing license or tag on the spot.

Roundtrip rail tickets: $40 per day
Room Reservations: $58 single room/$68 suites (dbl occupancy)
Rail trips are on weekends only beginning January 29th, weather permitting.
Contact the Minam Motel and Market at 1-877-888-8130 or check out www.minammotel.com to reserve your room or suite.
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The above is the actual text from the brochure offered by Mr. Charles Fleser ~ Owner/Manager of the Minam Motel and Market.

I stopped in and talked with Mr. Fleser for about an hour today and can't begin to tell you what a nice guy he is. He has some very big plans for this venture and expects it will be successful. He will eventually be offering a shuttle service for drift boats, rafts, and innertubes for day trips down the Wallowa river from Minam to Rondowa. There will be a small market at the Motel, hopefully offering some of my own personal jigs and various fishing equipment for those who need that Wallowa river steelhead catching secret jig, or whatever. Fresh coffee in the mornings and a heated rail car for the old guys, or kids, to sit in when it gets cold down there on the river.

I have lived in Eastern Oregon for three years now. I've been fishing the Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers throughtout that entire time catching numerous Dolly Varden (bull trout), rainbow trout, salmon, and steelhead. I've been tying my own jigs for these rivers for some time now also. These rivers will produce a lot of fish! I've had ten plus fish days on numerous occasions, and have had days where I just stopped keeping track after 15 or so. I highly recommend this train ride as a great way to get youngters and the old guys (who maybe can't get around so well) into winter steelhead fishing. I've tuned my jigs for these rivers. I've already tried many of the holes you will have the opportunity to fish by going on this trip. I can testify to the fact that this is a ~GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY~!

The average steelhead on the Wallowa is 24 - 30 inches and will weigh anywhere from 4 - 8 pounds. 32 - 36 inch fish weighing 10 plus pounds are not uncommon though. This January, February, and March will provide a huge steelhead run to the stretch of river this train will cover. I've chased these fish since September when they arrived in Troy (36 river miles down from Minam) October and November were my two best fishing months EVER. Now those fish are reaching the Wallowa river near Minam.

I stand to gain absolutely nothing by making this post. I just thought you all might want to hear about an opportunity to go fishing in such a beautiful area, with such amazing accomodations.

What an opportunity!

Myxx

[Hawgs n Harleys]

This would be a great affordable trip, a real chance to get away and see some of the awesome sites Eastern Oregon has to offer. -Steve

[Nestookher]

Wow, will be checking out the web sight, thanks for the info. always looking for a new fishing adventure.

[Siwash]

I'm curious how the downriver train access is supposed to work... Can you get dropped off in the morning and then get a second pick-up run in the afternoon, or what? If the train just runs down & back, that's great for sightseeing, but when/where/how are you supposed to get off and fish? Or do they just have a set schedule where it stops for X number of hours at some point(s) for you to fish or whatever before loading back up?

[myxxolydyan]

Siwash,

Can you get dropped off in the morning and then get a second pick-up run in the afternoon, or what?

The train leaves the Minam Motel at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. You can get off at any point. The train drops the last of its passengers and the passenger car on a spit aprox. 2 miles above Rondowa. I believe the ride that far may take up to an hour (maybe less I don't know). The train then continues to Elgin where it does whatever its headed there to do and then returns to pick up the passenger car and any passengers at about 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. My understanding is that if you choose to get off the trtain, or hike anywhere along the river, the train will pick you up wherever you happen to be. It does not go fast at all and should be able to stop within a very short distance for you to get aboard. You'll be back at the motel at about 3:00 p.m.

I should also add that right outside the door of your motel room is a great drift. Also just up river from the motel is some great water. You could also opt to get off the train on the way back to the motel at Minam Park and fish the rest of the way back to the motel. Minam Park to the motel is only about a 1.5 mile hike along train tracks. The powerline hole is one of my favorites. There are several great fishing holes that are very easy to fish from that side of the river right along the tracks!

[Siwash]

Cool, thanks for the info. Just might have to give it a try if I can figure out where to fit a 3-4 day road trip in the schedule. From what i've seen of the lower GR, i'd love to see more up there.

[myxxolydyan]

The upper river between Minam and Rondowa, where the train will go, is absolutely beautiful. I see several different Bald Eagles every time I go in to Minam. I've also seen Golden Eagles in the area.
This year has been extremely good for steelhead in the lower river and guys are still catching fish in Troy. I've only been down river from Minam about 3 miles. Beyond that, I'm pretty sure the river has been accessed only by R.R. employee's, and maybe a couple gung-hoe fishermen. The weather has been very good lately. Fairly warm (40's in La Grande). The river came up last week and surely brought some fish further up river. I've been catching fish at Minam since early December.
Word around here is that fish have been caught further up-river on the Wallowa! The Steelhead are spread out a bit, but a little persistence and you could certainly get into multiple fish days! No promises, but I'm looking forward to my trip on Feb. 12th!

[ssteelheadsteve]

Post deleted by ssteelheadsteve

[freespool]

Steve, I ran that section from Minam to Troy about 14yrs ago. We fanned the water to a froth and came up with one white fish. Has the fishing improved?


salmon hugger

[myxxolydyan]

Steve,

Thanks alot to Oregon Field Guide for irresponsibly promoting the idea that outfitters and the public should kill and eat native Redsides in the Grande Rhonde

I'm not sure if you are talking about the Redband trout that inhabit this river or if you are talking about steelhead. Redband trout are almost never more than 6 to 8" in length. Not sure why anyone would eat one or kill one for that matter. The steelhead run has been exceptional for the past three years! I've had the best three years of steelhead fishing in my entire life. It is still illegal to keep a native steelhead.

I make it my business to clean up after every jughead that goes on that river and leaves their trash behind. I do my best to keep this river as pristine as it has always been. Any river that gets fished will have some A - holes that leave trash and tackle behind. I and my friends that fish the Wallowa river on a weekly basis do our part. You should contact Chuck and see what he has put in place to keep the fishery as pristine as it already is.

This river is certainly better navigated in a rubber raft, but drift boats go down it quite often in the spring when the water is up. I wouldn't go down the river in a drift boat today, but would certainly go down it in a raft. The river is in perfect fishing shape right now. Maybe you should come over and try the train ride out, and then make your statements about how the river will be impacted. Maybe I'm naive, but I think it will fare just fine.

[Leatherneck]

Thanks for the great info on the fishing in your part of town. I hardly doubt that your "venture" will destroy this fishery. For those willing to make the long drive to the Wallowa River it's pretty safe to assume that these type of fisherman are very responsable and care about the river and the fish that inhabit it. Ssteelhead take a deep breath and relax. A few more people fishing this river won't hurt your buisness or your solitude.

[ssteelheadsteve]

Post deleted by ssteelheadsteve

[reelbigfish72]

steve,
I think you may make a decent point, but what does a foreign car (or wine) have to do w/ anything? (BTW your "American" car was probably built in Mexico). If you go a little lighter on the insults and inflamatory statements: "fools", etc., people might see your point more clearly.
But hey, rock on man, at least you're passionate about your views.

[myxxolydyan]

SSsteve,

Not sure how much driving you've done along the Wallowa between Minam and Enterprize, but there's a highway that follows that river for nearly 40 plus miles. There is also aprox. 30 plus miles of river between where the train will stop and Wildcat bridge that is accessible only by raft or drift boat. The train will only be used on weekends. I hardly think that getting sport fishermen into this area more easily will have any impact on the fish runs other than more steelhead will be caught by sport fishermen and will not return the the hatchery to be thrown away by the hatchery personel.

If we all do our part to keep every river in good shape and free from trash and other polutents, there wouldn't be this problem. Have you looked into the Willamette river lately?

[AnglersRental]

SSteve, did you know Jerry Todd - Deschutes (and other places east) guide for 30+ years that retired about 10 years ago? He ran a custom built 23' alumaweld flat bottom with twin 115 pumps called the Ding-Dong.

Brad

[freespool]

Steve, your probably right, I didn't know what I was doing. Plus it was a 105* every day we were on the river. Keep up your passion for saving special places. You show a unique perspective about issues that I feel is good. I don't always agree with you, but I do respect your point of view.


salmon hugger

[snowball]

ssteve
you read like a class A jerk-- I can appreciate your enthusiasms for keeping areas clean, clear and unpopulated, however your approach to the issue is naive and ill spirited. As luck would have it, I just read about this place in the Fishing In Oregon Book. I suppose all copies of this book should be burned because it discusses places to fish--
As a side note, I do appreciate the info posted here- I read about the trip and the originator of this thread answered some questions I had regarding the trip. I'm doubtful that many will venture on this trip, however if and when you do, appreciate what you see and work to keep it that way--

[Rimshot]

ssteve,
You know what the funny part is? You just tipped off the entire Ifish community that in addition to great steelheading this is Oregons "secret blue ribbon trout fishery." I didn't know anything about that until you spelled it out for us. Matter of fact I bet you just had more of an impact than the Oregon Field Guide did. You just spoke to 15,000+ die-hard fisherman. Do you think that many watched that one episode you speak of. I didn't, and I don't know of anyone who did. What's worse is that episode came and went, everything here is archived. Now whenever anyone uses search and types "Wallowa trout" BINGO! they see you telling the world it's a secret "blue ribbon" fishery. Think anyone might find that alluring? Boy, now that I know I can combo on steelhead and some great redside fishing on a "secrect blue ribbon stream" that trip is sounding more worth it. I bet it is for about 1000 other people now too. Get my drift? For trying to protect a fishery you sure do a good job of leading people right to it. This thread was hardly touched until you started jumping in. Here is some advice for you - Check your attitude and anger at the door and think about what you are writing before you write it. Not only will people be more apt to listen to you, but you have less of a chance of shooting yourself in the foot. Unless you somehow thought telling everyone about the "secret blue ribbon trout fishery" was going to keep them away....Nice work

[WheresMyBobber]

Sent you a PM instead.

[GoneFission]

Looks like great fun; maybe even a chance to get the family involved. Thanks for the info.

GoneFission

[myxxolydyan]

This is long, but worth it!

Saturday, Januray 29th was the first time that a train from Wallowa to Elgin allowed passengers to travel along for the ride in a long time. Passengers were carried down Minam Canyon in a 1957 model coach type rail car. The ride starting at 6:10 a.m. was fairly uneventful but full of expectations. The passengers consisted of three men that were planning to fish for steelhead, one photographer from Enterprise, two railroad workers, and the host, owner and proprietor of The Minam Motel.

The ride down the canyon lasted about 40 minutes. We arrived at Kimmel at about 6:50. Us fishermen began putting our waders on as soon as we knew we were close to our destination. The photographer had his stuff together and the train was finally stopped. My buddy and I got off and looked over the river where we were. The other guy that intended to fish set up shop to tie up his new bobber and jig rig. He said he had never fished a bobber for steelhead and was "trying to change tactics". While he was tying his rigging, my friend and I waded just ankle deep into the river and casted in unison to get that perfect drift so as to not tangle each other up. On my second casyt up into a small riffle a Dolly hit my jig and blooop, fish on. It was about 15" and was released immediatly. My buddy hooked another Dolly shortly there after and then we moved on.

We headed down stream and fished several slots with no luck. We found ourselves asking each other the obvious questions. "Is it the wrong color, wrong time of day? Are there any fish in this hole, are they even taking anything? Is my jig the right depth, the right size? Am I not holding my tongue right?" We headed back to the train at about 10:00 and got some coffee and had a little talk with our host and the photographer, and decided to head up river as far as we could until the train showed up to pick us up. So we went up river to a slot that looked just o.k. and fished for several minutes maybe a half hour. Nothing. We continued back up to the tracks and headed up stream until I decided, "I'm gonna go to the water and fish up river until the train finds me". We saw our other fishing friend about 11:00 and he had caught and released a 25" or 26" native steelhead earlier at about 8:00. He said he had hooked the fish just below where we were fishing. So we instinctively headed up river. We found a spot that didn't look like "Oh my God if there's a fish in this river he's here", but it was a long stretch of good water to get a bobber down in. We couldn't really "read" the water here, but it looked good.

After snagging up and loosing my first "Go To" jig, I decided to try a 1/8 oz chartreuse and pink jig. It was about 12:00. I hooked a fish and played it but lost it near the bank. It felt fairly small and may have even been a Dolly, but I didn't get a good enough look. It was a confidence building hook-up. Just a few casts later on the opposite side, WHAMMM, bobber down and a couple jumps, and a little struggle, a native was released without having a finger layed on her. A couple casts later about 10' above where the native was hooked, WHAMMM, bobber down. A good couple short runs against my 10lb test holding, Mitchell 300X, on a 7'6" Lamiglas spinning rod, 8lb leader, a surprisingly bright hatchery buck was lay'd upon by wood. Aproximately two or three casts later, about 80 yards downstream, WHAMMM, FISH ON!!!!!!!!! I had longlined my rod to see if anyone was back where I started this little walk up river, and sure enough. I knew it was a fish as soon as the bobber went down. The bobber just had that preminition look. I began to reel down on her and realized I wasn't reeling line in, she was taking it. She came out of the water once and my line, all 80 yards of it came up with her. I could see all of it up out of the water. Now keep in mind, I'm fishing only 15' below my buddy, that hasn't touched a steelhead all day. I knew she was a big steelhead, and felt even bigger with my light tackle. I looked at my friend and asked him if he wanted to take my rod. He said NO! But after a few seconds of thought, he decided to take my rod. She was still maybe 60 or 70 yards down but he fought her while I was digging for his camera. I got a couple good shots of him playing her, and the fish in the water. By now, knowing she was a hatchery fish, he finally tired her out, , and we coaxed her up on the shore and proceeded to lay wood to her, thanking her.

She measured out at 32 inches and weighed 10 lbs (conservatively/no scale). I thought she was exremely bright for fish in this river. They all have some red stripe and cheeks showing. The train was on it's way, so we wrapped it up for the ride back at about 12:20 when the train pulled up and picked us up.

We took a couple pictures next to the train. The guy taking photographs commented to me, "Those are both pretty big fish?". I guess he had likely not seen a steelhead before. Maybe a trout at the grocery store, or from a lake, or maybe had never seen a fresh fish before in his life. He took a couple shots and we headed back toward Minam. We stopped about 12:30 to fish one last spot and nobody landed any fish, but I hooked a rainbow trout that came off after only a few seconds. We returned to the motel and we all headed for home.

The rivers over here are in really good shape. The stretch of river I fished is cleaner from human polution than before I got there. All fish hooked by myself were hooked using barbless size 2 Eagle Claw hooks,1/8 oz. jig, round head. Most of the trash picked up by myself and my friend consisted of bait containers, bobbers, and a rag most likely used to clean ones bootie somewhere up river. My guess is that the bait container was left there, and the bobbers likely came down from upstream where they were broken off. Two weighted styrofoam bobbers and a brand new Thill that came floating by. I'll keep the Thill until I see my new friend there again so I can return it to him. It was brand new and it all timed out right for when he lost a bobber and when I found it floating downstream. I'll see him again.

There were fishermen spread throughtout the canyon from about a mile above where the train dropped us off, to as far as 1/2 mile below.We ended up with about 2 miles of untouched river between three guys fishing.

So the grand total is, 3 Dolly Varden, 1 rainbow trout, 4 suckers, 2 native steelhead, 2 hatchery steelhead, and ZERO REDBAND TROUT (for those worried about 6"-8" Redbands being wiped out / SSsteelheadsteve). Everyone with a rod in their hand caught a fish. Our host did a little fishing and caught a few fish. My friend hooked only one fish in 5 1/2 hours. He also broke his rod on his way up a hill. He did however, get to play one heckuva nice steelhead, and a nice Dolly.

The last thing our host told us when we got off the train is, "If you find any trash, please bring it back to the train if possible, and bring everything you take with you back". Everyone di their part. The river was beautiful, we saw a Bald Eagle, and we caught fish. We saw a lot of other cool stuff. What a great day!



Chuck is a wonderful guy with a dream about getting that train going for people to see and experience a truly beautiful place. If you have a four wheeler, you don't need the train. Plenty of those around over here.

So the maiden voyage was successful to all aboard. I can’t wait to go again, and will in the near future.

Thanks to Chuck, and our train operators for getting us there. I was honored to be your guest. This was truly an experience I will never forget.

http://www.minammotel.com

myxx

[baitslinger]

Thanks for the update, that sounds like an interesting adventure even if the fishing was off.

EVERYONE Please do not pay any attention to SSteve.. comments. I know everyone is entitled to his or her point of view, but this is one of the most negative people i have ever met, and that was some 20 years ago at a sportsmans show! He is a guide and almost every post I have seen him make has been slanted in some way because it might affect his ability to charge some fool that has equal access to these resources like everyone else in our state. If you can go there for $40 dollars I can bet you will have a much better time than with most guides anyway!

[myxxolydyan]

I'd be happy to join almost anyone on this train ride (need a guide?). The water was just perfect. I wouldn't say the fishing was off. I had three on the bank and lost one. One guy fishing was new to bobber and jig and probably not getting his presentation down into the fish. Although he did get one native. The first fish I hooked was caught on my cast immediately after making a depth adjustment to my bobber and jig rig. I adjust to the depth of every hole, and then adjust further to get it right on the bottom. I hit the bottom with my first adjustment, reeled up and adjusted 6" up from the bottom and WHAAAM!

Another buddy of mine went over yesterday and limited by 12:30 after starting at 10:00 a.m. 2 fish at 26" and one at 29 1/2". He was using the same size and color jig I was on the day prior.

[Lawdog]

Thanks for the great report myxx. I can't wait to give it a ride! Congrats on the fish! Lawdog

[snowball]

this is by far one of the better posts I've read out here in a very long time. Ifish needs to have more of these where-how- and what to use posts. I've been coming to this sight as a lurker for couple of years and also as a member. You post is appreicated and should set an example to the others.

I may be coming your way. Aways eager to meet new people and this trip sounds like just the thing I've been looking for.

[myxxolydyan]

The weather is great in E.O. The mountaineers are winning!
Gotta run, my bobber's down!

[ssteelheadsteve]

Well it did for a while . Now I am " told " that Native Redsides only grow to 8 inches. Who you going to believe ?