The hard part isn't deciding to go. It's knowing who to call.
View Fall Silver Salmon & Trophy Trout, Kenai & Kasilof RiversCoho / Silver Salmon
Football-sized rainbows and the second silver run, with the crowds gone and the hillsides turning
There is a secret kept in the canyons of the Wallowa and Grande Ronde: a blue-ribbon trout fishery few realize is there, and even fewer fly fishing guides know how to work. The Wallowa may be Eastern Oregon's best rainbow trout fishery. It runs blue-ribbon most of the year, draining the pristine mountain streams of the Wallowas, often called the Alps of Oregon, with the Eagle Cap Wilderness protecting much of the watershed. On a day trip you fish one of two stretches: the Highway Section, which starts ten miles upriver from Minam and ends at the store, or the Roadless Section, which starts at the store and runs nine miles down. About a mile into the roadless water you pass the state park, leave the cars behind, and the canyon closes in. The four-day trip carries on into the Grande Ronde and the full forty-mile roadless canyon. The season opens in early May with the Mother's Day caddis hatch on the Wallowa, and good trout fishing holds through spring, summer, and fall as flows cooperate. The canyon is fully green early on, with new wildflowers each week and mock orange filling the banks. The stonefly hatch is the best of the year for big dry flies. Trips and durations - Highway Section, full day: from $700 per person - Roadless Section with railroad shuttle, full day: from $850 per person - Wallowa and Grande Ronde roadless canyon, 4 days: from $2,800 per person The primary season runs from Memorial Day weekend to the first week of November, adjusted for river conditions.
