Heading se this weekend. Could use a report
on the water conditions & any fish stories.
Thanks in advance for any reply.

Ric, does your wife work at Auburn sports. She told me today her husband rick was going to fish the Ronde. ??? Check WSFR

Went to the ronde last week, and did well. Great camping and weather.
The flow was 5000. A little high and colored. The river rose quite a bit on saturday(3-20) and now is running up around 10,000.
Which is high and most likely murky. There are a lot of fish this year and the average weight or from what we caught this year and past years is slightly bigger. I would say 10,000 is too high, but if you beat the eddie holes and low current areas you should catch a few. 2000 is considered ideal. Good luck

just my opinion but i really think targeting summer run steelhead in march is in very poor taste these fish have been on thier spawning run since june or even earlier i think its time to leave them alone. especially when there are so many river full of bright chrome fish in washington state. there is no honor in fishing for kelt steelhead *down streamers* its at least boardering on unethical

These fish are hatchery plants and are returning to the hatchery at cottonwood. the june fish you are referring to run into oregon. These fish are not all downstreamers as you refer, but are dark from the tremendous distance they travel. I don't believe that if these were downstreamers heading back to the ocean, that there would be any survival rate heading back down the ronde,down the snake, and down the columbia and through all the dams. They have a hard enough time making it up. I asked the fish counter if any are natural spawners, he said the river gets so low and warm in the summer, that most reds suffocate or dry out. He said that the run is all hatchery, and that the fish are trapped and milked. The fish are not like the wild granders out on the pennisula. It is just a great camping trip, and good excuse to hang with the guys and have huge fires.
Rob, I thought that you were moving to montana. You had better get used to hatchery runs such as this.



[This message has been edited by KORE (edited 03-25-99).]

GR is mighty high (pushing 13,00cfs-- 3/4 flood stage). Heard things have been slow this week (due to high water). There are wild fish, but most live further up river from the acclimation ponds. I have seen them spawning in mid-May. I wouldn't lose too much sleep about fish trying to make it back down the snake after spawning, most of the fish on the GR die after spawning. Those that do not have little or no chance of ever making it back to the ocean. No too many exhausted steelies will survive long in the miles of pools behind the dams that easily reach 70 degreees in the spring and summer. I believe the get "warm water disease" (a bacterial infection) or are killed by nitrogen poisoning from the dams. It's a great fishery when it's in shape. Not too many people either...for now.

Thanks for coming to my defense guys. What's
up his butt anyway. I'm just looking for a
nice little trip where me, my gal & our 2
labs can dry out. God only knows when we'll
have that kind of weather over here.
oh. And, no I don't work at Auburn sports.
Rob, maybe you should learn more about a
fishery before spouting off "your opinion".

Dino, what's this "Not too many people either...for now." bit. Have you been there recently? It can be kind of a combat zone this time of year.

Fishlips, I mean that the crowds are not as bad as they could be. I have noticed way more people here this year (since march anyway) that in previous years. I do much of my fishing in January and February, crowds are still mostly non-existent then. Especially when it snows hard. I think many heard about last year and thought there would be a repeat...who knows. I grew up fishing the Skykomish and the remember the summer crowds a Reiter, it's still better here than there I also fish a lot during the week, and until recently was fishing more often than not without company. One thing though, there ar a hell of a lot more boats...can't say I like that a whole lot, but what can ya do? FISH ON.

[This message has been edited by Dino (edited 03-28-99).]

Dino, I guess if you're willing to navigate rattlesnake grade in the middle of a snow storm you deserve to have the river to yourself.

Sometimes the risk of being smashed to pieces at the bottom of a 1600' canyon is worth the privacy...most of the time