John Day bank access?

portlandrain
portlandrain
0
I'll be doing a day trip this coming week and I'll be on foot, fishing from the bank. It doesn't seem ideal from my research online but it's what I've got to work with. Are there any general areas you guys could point me to?

I'm coming all the way from Portland via I84 so I'd prefer to not to go all the way to central OR, but i will if that's where the fish are!!
 
What do you want to catch? You probably don't have to travel to central Oregon.
 
Snopro said:
What do you want to catch? You probably don't have to travel to central Oregon.
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Should have specified... Smallmouth bass.
I just want to try the john day. I know there's the Columbia, willy, umpqua, etc. I'm trying em all. Too much free time!
 
The John Day is an Oregon gem so I understand wanting to try it. Having said that you'll catch tons of smallmouth, but this time of year 99% will be under 12". The Columbia between Cascade Locks and the Dalles will offer fewer but better quality fish. You could easily do both in the same day.

If you ever have the chance to float the JD do it!
 
Snopro said:
The John Day is an Oregon gem so I understand wanting to try it. Having said that you'll catch tons of smallmouth, but this time of year 99% will be under 12". The Columbia between Cascade Locks and the Dalles will offer fewer but better quality fish. You could easily do both in the same day.

If you ever have the chance to float the JD do it!
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Well, i might as well do both! I'm taking my 17 year old brother with me so we're just trying to get into some fish and have a good time. We'll also be doing the umpqua another day this week.
He's really novice and i hear they'll hit basically any soft plastic on the JD, so that's one reason to head there, he should have no issues catching a couple
 
Bank areas are almost everywhere. Just about any spot where you can get to the river will have fish in it. A couple particularly good ones are Service Creek and Cottonwood Canyon. Both facilities are large and one can easily spend an entire day fishing the area.
 
x 2 on Mustardthetrouts post
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IMPO Cottonwood would be my 1st choice of the two mentioned.
 
Chromatose said:
IMPO Cottonwood would be my 1st choice of the two mentioned.
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Yes, Cottonwood is the new state park on the former Murtha Ranch.
A very good starting point.

Bank access is certainly not "almost everywhere" in that canyon.
Roads don't generally follow the river and there is lots of private land.
Access will be at "points".
Get a good map (BLM or Road Atlas) or download and launch Google Earth and "fly" the canyon.
 
Thanks guys! I'll look into the area in more depth from google earth. Cottonwood does seem convenient being a park.
 
You know what, looking at this, there's not a road that really runs along the river in any fashion is there? Would i take highway 206? Can more of the river than just cottonwood be explored from there?
 
mustardthetrout said:
Bank areas are almost everywhere. Just about any spot where you can get to the river will have fish in it. A couple particularly good ones are Service Creek and Cottonwood Canyon. Both facilities are large and one can easily spend an entire day fishing the area.
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Service Creek is NOT a 1 day trip.
 
EOBOY said:
Service Creek is NOT a 1 day trip.
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Yeah, I'm not looking to drive 8 hour round trip... this time anyway.
 
Le Page park is pretty good right now if you take i84 you will see the exit to le page. you can fish from bank or from docks, there's fish everywhere near the dock the fish tend to be smaller but last Saturday I caught a 3 pounder. Right from the dock. Usually I fish the left side under the i84 bridge its rocky and good structure and will catch nice smallies.
 
Carp said:
Le Page park is pretty good right now if you take i84 you will see the exit to le page. you can fish from bank or from docks, there's fish everywhere near the dock the fish tend to be smaller but last Saturday I caught a 3 pounder. Right from the dock. Usually I fish the left side under the i84 bridge its rocky and good structure and will catch nice smallies.
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Good to know! Any other spots along 84 in the Columbia? I went out from Portland to Bonneville 2 weeks ago (on foot) and access was incredibility limited. It was kind of a bummer.
 
portlandrain said:
Good to know! Any other spots along 84 in the Columbia? I went out from Portland to Bonneville 2 weeks ago (on foot) and access was incredibility limited. It was kind of a bummer.
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I don't usually fish the columbia but I fish the bay at rooster rock state park and catch smallies,crappie,carp and once caught a small walleye. fishing from the dock is good. worms work best for everything !
 
The best spots are from McNary Dam upstream. Long drive that!

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