John Day River report

Ifishing_Viktor · 03-29-2010, 04:34 PM

Thought I'd add to this board since I get a whole lot out of it.

Went catfish fishing friday night through saturday. Was thinking it was a bit early but because of the warmer weather decided to try it out anyway. Went home with enough catfish. There was 5 of us 3 adults and 2 teens, one of us had a couple of 12+ lb catfish, my biggest was around 8lb.

The oddest thing was that Saturday morning there was no sign of a living soul on the river until 1pm, we thought we missed the rapture or something, lol. No sign of bass though, at least not easy enough to catch for me. Caught a pretty good size squaw fish and tried fishing for catfish with it with no success.

That's all.
Viktor.

capt. slo-mo · 03-29-2010, 08:55 PM

What part of the John Day?

FelonFinder · 03-29-2010, 11:01 PM

Got any pix?

Jedcraft · 03-30-2010, 06:06 AM

I tried ********* for sturgeon once and it killed the bite we had going.

Ifishing_Viktor · 03-30-2010, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jedcraft

I tried ********* for sturgeon once and it killed the bite we had going.

Yea, someone told me last time to try squaw fish, i guess i'll know now.

Anyway, no pix, i was so tired from no sleep at night that I just barely had enough energy to fillet the fish and hit the pillow.

We were below the falls, first part of john day above the mouth at columbia.

team anarchy · 03-30-2010, 03:10 PM

Don't give up on ********* (oops, I mean Northern Pike Minnows). They are a great bait on at least the Lower JD. However I mostley use worms or shad because I don't want to take the time to catch the *********.

Ifishing_Viktor · 03-30-2010, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by team anarchy

Don't give up on ********* (oops, I mean Northern Pike Minnows). They are a great bait on at least the Lower JD. However I mostley use worms or shad because I don't want to take the time to catch the *********.

do you use the meat? or the stomach? I tried both with no success, but it was also possible that the bite was coming to a halt either way.

At first I thought that the stomach was not going to last on the hook so i cast it lightly, then after seeing it didn't come off i cast it as hard as i could and still it wouldn't even budge, I may give it another shot later.

Jrr · 03-30-2010, 04:37 PM

I use the guts.......

JAG · 03-30-2010, 08:25 PM

Thanks for the report! I've been wanting to fish the JD for catfish. How far is the boat ride up to the falls and is there any bad spots to be aware of? I have a 16 foot sled.

Does anyone fish between Spray and Service Creek? Looks like plenty of road access.

My boys have been on me to take them catfishing. The Snake is a bit far but the JD looks about 1/2 the distance for me.

team anarchy · 03-31-2010, 07:44 AM

It's a 9 mile ride up to Tumwater Falls. Very deep water the first 3mi to the boating camp ground. After that really not a problem, just read the shore line and stay toward the steeper side. Bottom is all sand/mud until about 1/2mi from the falls where it turns rocky. Should be no problem with a pump, except where you beach your boat can get weedy later in the year. Once I had to come all the way back with the kicker, but caught the heck out of the cats.

tpgresham · 04-01-2010, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAG

Thanks for the report! I've been wanting to fish the JD for catfish. How far is the boat ride up to the falls and is there any bad spots to be aware of? I have a 16 foot sled.

Does anyone fish between Spray and Service Creek? Looks like plenty of road access.

My boys have been on me to take them catfishing. The Snake is a bit far but the JD looks about 1/2 the distance for me.

i fish spray to service creek every year after i fill my deer tag but just for bass never tried for cat fish i dont even know how. bass fishings fun up there.

JAG · 04-01-2010, 07:42 PM

Thanks for the info guys. So there is a campground 3 miles up from the mouth???

team anarchy · 04-02-2010, 05:42 AM

Yes, there is a very nice campground 3mi up river. Lots of green grass, toilets, showers and two sandy coves with docks. There is no camp fee but you have to pay for a launch each day your rig is in the parking lot. Pretty good deal really.

Lou · 04-02-2010, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAG

Thanks for the info guys. So there is a campground 3 miles up from the mouth???

Nice one, but you boat in or walk in.
Good fishing structure.

catfishman89 · 04-02-2010, 02:23 PM

You have to boat in. Its nice but can get windy so secure your tent. Its good in spring for bass with high water but gets weedy in summer and the bass are usually deep.

team anarchy · 04-02-2010, 03:11 PM

Forgot to mention the wind, just took it for granted everybody knew about the possibility of wind anywhere above Bonneville. That's why it's the wind surfing (the scum) capital of the world. One trip there were 3 boats with camp gear for a weekend at Philippi Park. The 2nd night one tent, then the next, then finally the third all broke their supports. We left that afternoon and watched a nice guy in a large glass boat help haul out a couple in a canoe. Doesn't happen all the time, but it can.

Green Eyes · 04-02-2010, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by team anarchy

It's a 9 mile ride up to Tumwater Falls. Very deep water the first 3mi to the boating camp ground. After that really not a problem, just read the shore line and stay toward the steeper side. Bottom is all sand/mud until about 1/2mi from the falls where it turns rocky. Should be no problem with a pump, except where you beach your boat can get weedy later in the year. Once I had to come all the way back with the kicker, but caught the heck out of the cats.

I agree with anarchy except for beaching your boat. OK if small but if the John Day dam lets out a bunch of water you can be left high and dry. We anchor up with bow and stern anchors, then swim ashore. We helped someone dig and pull a 19' sled off the beach a few years ago!

Ifishing_Viktor · 04-02-2010, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green Eyes

I agree with anarchy except for beaching your boat. OK if small but if the John Day dam lets out a bunch of water you can be left high and dry. We anchor up with bow and stern anchors, then swim ashore. We helped someone dig and pull a 19' sled off the beach a few years ago!

We beached our boat, and I was kind of wondering why the water level would go up and down, didn't click that it was the dam down below...

Oh and the wind, yea, wind can be absolutely horrible there sometimes.

codeman · 04-02-2010, 06:16 PM

we used to fish for the oversizers below bonneville back in the day, about 15 years ago. We took some frozen shad up with us one day. Put out the shad for sturgeon, then a spinner to catch fresh shad for more bait (all we had were like two frozen shad from a couple of weeks earlier). We caught no shad that day, only a 13 inch *********. After we caught a couple of nine footers, we were out of bait. so we tied on the whole ********* (which was actually alot smaller than the shad we were using) and cut off the fins to keep it from spinning in the current and cut up the gills to get a blood slick going. about 10 min later it caught us our largest sturgeon we ever got, at 12' 8'' measured boatside. took 3 of us taking turns fighting it, 1 hour 45 min to land. what a beast. not only was it 3 ft longer than the others, but it had to be 4 times as thick. it was a true beast. only time ive ever used ********* for anything.
as for the camping area on the johnday youre talking about, could you get there fairly easily in a kayak? Me and my buddy would like to find a spot like that to yak camp from with some nice catfishing. Is the current too strong to paddle upstream?? sounds like it would be fun. sometimes the snake river is just to far to make on some weekends.

boblag · 04-03-2010, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codeman

... as for the camping area on the johnday youre talking about, could you get there fairly easily in a kayak? Me and my buddy would like to find a spot like that to yak camp from with some nice catfishing. Is the current too strong to paddle upstream?? sounds like it would be fun. sometimes the snake river is just to far to make on some weekends.

It's been more like a lake the times I've been there, so I don't think current is much of a concern.

team anarchy · 04-03-2010, 02:35 PM

Current is never a problem at the boating campground. Bigest problem when the water warms up is skiers and power boaters, but I'm usually out of there by then. I know it's been mentioned in here before, but wind is the biggest problem. I've seen an empty triple trailer on it's side on I-84 bridge at the mouth of the JD from the wind. Small boats, be carefull. As a last thought, don't let this wind talk scare you away, there is great bass & catfish there. Just want you to know what can happen.

Green Eyes · 04-03-2010, 06:14 PM

Had a friend do it in a very small zodiac, current no problem, wind was....he said he hugged the shoreline on the trip back due to wind but did make it. Seems like a yak would work and if it did get to hairy I'm sure there would be a boater ready to help out. Long way to go for fish and worth it if you want cats but would not work so hard for smallies as there is great water for them closer to the mouth.

Snopro · 04-04-2010, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by team anarchy

That's why it's the wind surfing (the scum) capital of the world.

Scum? You must be thinking of the Tea Baggers (Kiters).

Pole boarding is a fun activity when it's too windy to fish the big C.