John Day River

I was hoping to get some new waters under yak before the year ends & i've been hearing a lot about the lower John Day river over the last two years. I may give it a shot after Thanksgiving and I was wondering if anyone had some advice/0.02 cents they could share with me about this fishery. From what I've read the bass season there is over, trout fishing is closed, and we are at the end of summer steelhead fishing. I was thinking of launching at Phillipi Park, then trolling & drifting for the day. I can't wait to float & camp the many miles of this river but this trip could be a nice start. Thanks & I appreciate any help you veterans have to offer!

Hugh

Try Le Page park.  Philippi park is a boat in park.  No public road access.  The ACOE closed it a few seasons ago due to lack of funds.  The JDA is like a lake with a tiny bit of current in this area.  With a cold snap it can freeze over up from Philippi.

You can catch summers this time of year.  It's fairly slow fishing.  I consider two fish a great day.  Most are wild.  Troll warts or bobber shrimp.  Some of them are stray B run fish so be ready!

Floating the new Cottonwood Canyon state park looks interesting to me.  Lots of good looking water and there should be plenty of steelhead up there by now.

In my experience the john has been a better bass river than  it has a steelhead/salmon river. And a whole lot of that is probably me, and how I fish it, but having fished and guided a large chunk of it from driftboat, raft, and kayak, I prefer a summer float for smallmouth. A 1 fish to the boat day is pretty solid for me in the winter.  I in no way want to steer you away from the fishery however, the John day and cottonwood area is some of the the most beautiful and prolific in the region.  Fish it for chrome in the winter, but come back when the water is low and slow for bass, there are honestly 50+ fish days in the summer.

Thank you for the help SnoPro & TP. I may not make it this year but what an adventure to plan for the coming 2015. Fish on!
Hugh