Good "WADING" flyfishing trout rivers?

[kmartin1st]

Hi all,
I am thinking of retiring to Oregon. I like to wade fish for trout as opposed to dragging around a boat. I know that Northern rivers ( like in Montana ) are usually big and require a boat. My favorite river is the San Juan in NM because most of it is very wadeable. Are there good wadeable rivers with lots of trout in Oregon???
Please help, it is difficult to get this info!
Thanks all

 

[Snopro]

You're in luck. There are many. The Deschutes, Crooked, McKenzie are three popular ones. There is a no fishing from a floating craft regulation on the Deschutes for most people.

 

[kmartin1st]

Hey great, thank you.
Any others?

 

[Snopro]

Hey great, thank you.
Any others?

Not that I'm posting here.

 

[kmartin1st]

Got you, but there are others? About how many?
Thanks so much!

 

[Snopro]

Got you, but there are others? About how many?
Thanks so much!

A bunch. Read the regs, use OnX to avoid tresspassing, then hike little blue lines.

 

[Irishrover]

Scycan, Donner and Blitzen, Grand Ronde, Sprague, and the Chewaucan, to add to the list. Lots of wadable water also there are a lot of float tube lakes for a change of pace.

 

[kmartin1st]

Thanks!
Please keep the rivers and ideas coming.

 

[troutdude]

Welcome to OFF; and soon to Oregon if you so choose.

Would help to know where you'll be living, how far you want to travel, etc.

 

[kmartin1st]

Hi!
I have no problem traveling anywhere in the state.
But Klamath County looks nice.

 

[kmartin1st]

no problem traveling anywhere in the state to fish that is

 

[troutdude]

Good to know. I'll have to defer to others; as I have never fished down that way. However, there are several rivers in that area with big trout.

 

[olshiftybiscuits]

To be perfectly honest, if I were retiring somewhere with the specific intention of trout fishing I wouldn’t give Oregon the time of day. Are there plenty of trout streams here that you can wade? Sure. Are there many that are easy to wade? No sir. This is one of the most brutally difficult and physical places to catch trout in the western states. I think it’s the hardest, bar none. The wading is really tough, back casting room is limited almost everywhere and conflicting currents make it really hard to get a nice, long drift. We don’t have many of those meandering little meadow trout streams that are easy to sidle up to and pull out a few fish in the 16-18 inch range. More likely, it’ll involve battling your way up densely forested, rocky creek beds where a foot long fish is a trophy.

The Lower Deschutes is the best trout river in the state and it’s a huge, dangerous river. You can wade it, but you certainly can’t cross it. The McKenzie barely has any wadeable water. The Klamath area is pretty much a boat only game for trout. The small streams west of the cascades will just beat you up. The Crooked is the river of choice for most retirees, and it’s always busy.

In my opinion, the best and most tranquil trout fishing opportunities west of the Rockies are found in Colorado, Idaho and Utah. If you think Montana and Wyoming are tough places to fish, oh boy - Oregon isn’t the spot.

 

[kmartin1st]

Wow, thanks for info

 

[kmartin1st]

What do you know about Idaho as far as wadeable rivers with lots of trout? The ones I have seen in the southern part of state are just too big.

 

[Irishrover]

If by chance you have no other options and are stuck coming to Oregon you might want to check out the Woods River. It's in Klamath County the area you mentioned you might like to settle in.

https://www.bestfishinginamerica.com/or-wood-river-fishing-oregon.html

Also the Chewaucan is close to Klamath. I mentioned it earlier before you mentioned you liked the Klamath area. Here are some pictures of the river.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?...9F1BF924FECC1D011ABE5FA8E9F0772CFA1CE&first=1

A trip to the far Southeast side of the state would put you into the Owyhee River area. It's a great little river and produces some nice fish. I'm referring to the river below the dam.

Wherever you end up good luck and tight lines.

 

[flylooper]

Oregon's rivers, in my estimation, are generally the least wadable river systems. I fish all over the state and my biggest problem is dealing with rocks the size of bowling balls, which tear my ankles up after a day of fishing, not to mention that the possibilities of getting dunked are high. As a retiree, I won't even get in the water without a wading staff, and once the water, I'm either dealing with the staff while trying to cast a fly, and trying to feel what I'm stepping on in the water. In other words, it isn't easy. The state of Oregon is mostly volcanic, which means all kinds of "treachery" from the river substrate. I've been dunked more times than I like to admit!

Without a boat your possibilities are restricted for sure.

I would much prefer California's Stanislaus or any of the rivers flowing westward out of the Sierras. For me, much more agreeable. I particularly like the upper Stanislaus and Mokelumne rivers. The Merced River both inside and outside Yosemite is fun to fish. I've cauhgt some big trout just outside the park. The Truckee, downstream from Tahoe produces good fish, too, although it's been a long time since I fished it.

Just one guy's opinion!

 

[kmartin1st]

Thanks guys. Please keep info coming, it is invaluable.

 

[Snopro]

For how challenging and dangerous you guys are painting the Deschutes, you'd think it would be less crowded.

 

[flylooper]

For how challenging and dangerous you guys are painting the Deschutes, you'd think it would be less crowded.

Of course, which explains the degree of risk a fisherman is willing to tolerate in order to hook up with trophy trout and steelies. With all my complaining (??) about rocks (above), I fish as much as I can and running over to the Deschutes from time to time is still part of my fishing routine.
Bad ankles on not, there are fish to be caught!