I went Fishing

For his 30th birthday, I gave my son a new fly rod and reel and “an all expense paid, guided trip on the Owyhee River in Oregon”. The only problem, I am the ‘guide”. I started my research on a river that I’ve wanted to fish for a few years. The World Wide Web allowed me to come up with flies and methods to develop during the off season and asked Ben to pick the date. We settled on 18-20 Jun’22.

I learned the Owyhee Lake State Park was located upstream of the dam and had a couple of campgrounds, here is the link to the website: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=10

I made reservations and contacted a local fly shop in Eagle, ID. I played email tag with the Manager of Three Rivers Resort (TRR) Fly Shop to gain more knowledge of our upcoming trip. Please see the link to their shop website: https://trroutfitters.com/eagle-boise-fly-shop/ All along I planned to bring my driftboat to access the tailwater section of the Owyhee, but he quickly corrected me – this is a walk and wade section of the river. Upon our visit to their fly shop, the young lads helped us with flies, tippet, leaders and indicators for the river and suggested methods to access the infamous brown trout in the area. Think small! The hot fly, as recommended by the lads, was a black or red Zebra Midge in size 20-22. They suggested a double nymph rig under a small Air Lock indicator with a size 16 Lightning Bug with the Zebra Midge off the hook bend, 4x or 5x tippet and leaders along the way. Later in the day, a dry/dropper rig may consist of a size 16 PMD, BWO or BWO cripple. We caught several fish to 14” on the first couple of days and a local chap clued us in on the big fish locations, flies and methods a mere hours before we had to leave for home. We saw him catch several fish to 23”! I have to go back, now….

Here's what I learned:

· The tailwater section of the river is about 1-1/2hrs from Boise, ID. There are several ways to get there, but Parma, ID is the last fuel/grocery stop before the river. Adrian, ID is the last chance at “civilization”. I say that because, we had dinner at The Mirage Café and Lounge in Adrian on Saturday night and had one of the best prime rib dinners I’ve ever had (we were there to watch the Stanley Cup hockey game – Go Avs Go!)

· To fish the tailwater section of the river, I will boondock in my truck camper on my next trip. The State Park campgrounds offer power/water/flush toilets and a dump station, but the campground is not handy. I saw large RVs along the river, so I think we all could find some space.

· This is a walk and wade river.

· This is an early morning fishery. It’s not about the fish biting at o’dark thirty, it’s about getting a spot to fish. This is a busy river and “hole hopping” is more difficult than the St. Joe River.

· Think small flies and split shot – you gotta get down!

· It’s a very dry part of eastern Oregon, so you must hydrate.

· You cross back and forth from Idaho to Oregon and from Mountain Time Zone to Pacific Time Zone, so I never knew what time it was.

· Here is the link to the Oregon State Fish and Wildlife site for your fishing license – no need to buy a boating permit like I did. https://odfw.huntfishoregon.com/login

· I need to teach the boys how to pose with a fish!