Northwest Sportsman – August 2019

100 Northwest Sportsman AUGUST 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

FISHING

RESOURCES

Raft/kayak rentals/shuttles/lodging on the river: Service Creek Resort,

servicecreek.com. These guys will drop off and pick up your boats at launch and take-

out. We have worked with them for many years and they are friendly, knowledgeable

and reliable.

Navigation: John Day River Recreation Guide (covering Kimberly to Tumwater

Falls) and an excellent John Day River map available from the Bureau of Land

Management in Prineville, blm.gov/office/prineville-district-office.

Permit: You’ll need a float permit from the BLM, blm.gov/or/permit/info/overview.

Fishing kayaks: We ran pedal-drive Wilderness System Radar kayaks, which

allowed us to move pretty quickly downstream when need be. For more, see

wildernesssystems.com/us/kayaks/radar-135.

Tackle: A wide variety of baits will work, but we had good success with products

from Zman, zmanfishing.com/cms/elaztech-plastics.

Logistical resources: TravelOregon.com. –RL

Rivers Conservancy bought the

Rattray Ranch that had owned

Thirtymile Creek and is now working

to restore steelhead spawning habitat

in the important coolwater trib. While

an experience here can seem idyllically

remote and untouched, there are

strong players at work behind the

scenes to ensure it remains so.

There are several options for a

float trip on this part of the river,

and you will need a permit from the

Bureau of Land Management. Floats

are from Clarno to Cottonwood at

70-odd miles, Thirtymile Creek to

Cottonwood at 40-something and

Cottonwood to McDonald Ferry at

20. Toward planning your itinerary,
    consider that the river runs roughly
    at 1 mph for every 1,000 cfs. Then if
    you’re rowing or paddling bump it up
    to 2 mph. Doing the math before your
    trip means you won’t have to spend
    all your time humping on the oars and
    can instead spend more time fishing.

Excepting the rapids between

Clarno and Cottonwood, the JD is

rated boater friendly. Once summer

kicks in it is a great kayak fishing

river because it moves slow enough

to keep up the dog and pony show

that is fishing and maneuvering

a kayaking at the same time. By

September the best approach is often

simply to pull the boat up on a gravel

bar and get out to do your business.

Again, the biggest issue of concern is

extreme low water and the hassle of

repeatedly bottoming out in shallow

water and hanging up on rocks. But

if you’re at all like me and my friends,

the experience is worth a lot more

than the trouble it is. NS

Email: [email protected] • Call: 503-635-3626

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