Fishing the Wallowa Country with Grant Richie

Barbara - Grant, fishing with Minam Raft Rentals / Fishing Guides

Just received a great fishing report from Grant Richie, fishing and guiding on the Wallowa and Grande Ronde rivers.

#10 Orange Stimulator / October Caddis - Dicosmoecus

 



October Caddis are hatching heavily all the way up the Wallowa on this last trip including the highway section of the Wallowa. 
Before, they were only hatching strong on the Grande Ronde.  

I guided Barbara, for her first time on the Grande Ronde. She picked up on the right kind of water to fish very quickly and Day 1 was a lot of learning how to fish a river and how to respond to the many strikes.  

Day 2 Barbara was keyed in and I had to start calling her “Barbara The Fish Slayer” as she fished well and caught a lot of fish and a lot of big fish including rainbows pushing 20 inches, incidental bull trout over 20 inches, hog whitefish, and the first steelhead of the trip which was pushing 25".  

Unfortunately the steelhead was her first big fish of the day and she was not used to the power and strength a steelhead has.  She tried over powering the steelhead at one point which gave us a great view of the large bright fish, but snapped the tippet in doing so.

We didn't see as much wildlife as some trips, but we did see elk, mountain goats, deer, and otters on this trip as well as the usual bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey, and typical waterfowl.  
 

The fall weather was absolutely perfect and the canyon is beginning to show its fall colors.

Dick and Maria were the other 2 club members who joined us and they were supported guests.  We took care of all the food and camp while they rowed their own boat down the river and fished.  It is my understanding that Maria is just learning to fly fish and this was Dick's first time rowing the Grande Ronde and his first low water trip.  

They both had a learning curve to overcome on this trip, Maria with learning to fly fish and Dick with learning how to read low water channels.  They were both great company at camp.

Two of my fly fishing guides joined us on the trip and worked on their "continuing education" hours as they fished themselves.  We also had one supported guest from Joseph.  As a group we hooked into 3 steelhead on the trip including one hatchery hen 23" long.  That combined with a lot of big rainbows, bull trout, and whitefish made for 4 days of excellent fishing.

Grant - owner/guide