How to Fish Grande Ronde Bass
The Grande Ronde River starts its journey in the Blue Mountains. It flows down through La Grande, Oregon making its way Northeast into Washington where it meets the Snake River at Rogersburg. This river offers a wide variety of different species to hook on the fly or conventional gear. With it being only an hour away from Lewiston, Idaho to the mouth, it is a great option for a day of bass fishing. You can also float the river from Boggans Oasis to Shumaker Grade -as well as a nice float from Shumaker Grade to the mouth at Rogersburg, Washington. Most of the float between these two sections of the river is fairly mellow, the only major concern is the narrows section that is between Shumaker and the mouth.
Best Fly Patterns for Bass
During the spring one of the best fly patterns to use is… You guessed it, a smolt pattern. Anything that replicates one will get crushed if a bass is residing in the water you’re fishing. This leads to big numbers in a short amount of time. Bass on a fly is such a hoot! They fight with a voracious tendency that makes them one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the fly. The summertime brings great fishing opportunities with multiple ways to target the fish.
A fish eat fish world? Read about predator fly tying here.
The fish of the Grande Ronde are aggressive when it comes to topwater flies. Starting around June is when you will find them actively chasing down top water flies. They like poppers, frog patterns, and mice. Talking to a guide that I know, he informed me that his best days of fishing topwater have been when the sky is overcast. Based off of what I know about the fishes’ eyesight, I would say on those bright days they are not looking up due to the blinding effect of the sun, pretty much common sense. Pavlovich’s midnight express and the Morrish mouse are some great mouse patterns we sell here. We also have a wide variety of poppers that range in multiple sizes and replicate bait fish to frogs.
What are the do's and don'ts of bass fishing with poppers? Learn here.
What Rods are Best for Bass Lewiston?
With most of our bass fishing being in rivers, you can utilize a few different fly rods. I like to use my 7-weight Loop Q single hander. You can cast a full sinking line with a 2/0 game changer fly with ease. Another method is swinging flies for them. Get yourself a trout Spey rod. It can feel just like a steelhead erupting on your fly when a bass eats -making for one hell of a fight. Plus, you get the peace that comes from a swung fly. Fishing a fly like a skittish smolt is effective. It has a smaller profile, making it turn over efficiently. With it being full of flash, it grabs the attention of any critter looking to fill their gullet.
Best Techniques to Fly Fish Bass
Fishing the pattern you use, can vary a couple of different ways. You can strip the fly like it is fleeing the scene of a robbery -getting out of dodge as fast as possible. You can also slow strip with a few jerks like a jig replicating a wounded fish, giving the representation of an acquirable target. Or, you can also drift a smolt under an indicator giving it a dead drifted presentation, also acting like a wounded fish. And, the swing method, casting at a 90 degree, you let the fly swing with tension, maybe giving it a stack mend or upstream mend to get the fly deeper in the column. Finally, pulsing the fly can give it more life making it look like a wounded fish, yet again, being flushed down the system.
In What Type of Water can you Find Bass?
Bass will hold in a wide variety of water types. The areas of the water where I have had a lot of success catching bass is anywhere the river has structure such as; ledges, rocks, and snags. You will have a good chance of moving at least one fish. Luckily, where there is one bass you tend to find a few others. Back eddies are another great part of the river to catch fish in. I fished the Ronde last year in April, and I caught half a dozen fish from one back eddy. The biggest fish was about a pound, not a large one, but it still put up a nice fight. Mellow runs that don’t have that fast of a current are great for swinging and can bring some fish to hand. There are ample amounts of classic runs on the Grande Ronde that provide plenty of swingable water.
Ever want to catch big bass in Mexico? We just went to Lake Picachos.
Floating and Fishing
Floating the river is a great way to cover a lot of water and put your fly over vast amounts of fish. You get to see the river for what it is -seeing all the different structures and lies that the fish will be in. You have the advantage of being above the fish versus being in the water with them. You’ll want to take it slow, making sure you fish every back eddy with multiple casts.
When finding some structure or a back eddy, anchoring off to ensure you can perform those casts is ideal. I would also bring a spin casting rod. You might ask why I would do that, especially since I am writing about fly fishing for them. My reasoning is, for the rower! You don’t want to miss out on the opportunity as a rower to catch fish. When you find your team in the slower sections of the river, casting a spinning rod would be practical for the rower. If the rower hooked a fish, you hand the rod off to another person in the boat and have them reel in the fish. Shuttles can be provided by Boggans Oasis and I believe that the Anatone Café has a shuttle service. (Great food is made here.)
Can you Keep Grande Ronde Bass?
Luckily you can keep bass on the Ronde. The amount is ten fish with no size restriction -giving you plenty of filets to fill your freezer or have a fish taco night. Fried bass is a delicious treat on a warm spring evening. Keeping fish on this river will also help the migrating smolts. Bass can harm the smolts that are being flushed to the ocean. I have been told that bass eat around half a dozen smolts in a day. If you keep your limit, you can save roughly 60 smolts. I believe that is a great conservation method for those anglers who love wild steelhead.
So, I hope that you feel like you have a better understanding of the blue-ribbon bass fishing we have so very close to Lewiston. We have plenty of materials for you to utilize to tie up some bass bugs, as well as a lot of flies and plenty of fly rods. Plus, our conventional section for bass is a large selection.
