I fished the Ronde a bit over the last decade. We dont usually fish it until late december or early january. We fished with the zoo out of the la grande area. Im not sure if you could find better results lower in the system earlier, but I would try closer to the mouth.
Also, when I say zoo, I mean litterally the most crowded small river fishing i have ever seen in person. Think Lorens drift meets sellwood springers meets bowling alley all in one. Luckily i was fishing on private property so we drove right passed the crowds but I was amazed. Hopefully you can avoid it by fishing early?
Hopefully theres a big B-run fish who raced up early to give you and your pops a hard time. Those fish are something special...
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