portlandrain
What do you want to catch? You probably don't have to travel to central Oregon.
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!
IMPO Cottonwood would be my 1st choice of the two mentioned.x 2 on Mustardthetrouts post
Yes, Cottonwood is the new state park on the former Murtha Ranch.IMPO Cottonwood would be my 1st choice of the two mentioned.
PortlandRain, here .....................http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17257
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.
Service Creek is NOT a 1 day trip.
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.
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.