Finally the run seems to be settling in in the Troy area on the Grande Ronde River. Last week we were getting many reports of multiple fish days. 4 to 5 fish were being caught in a day on the fly and double digits being caught with bait. Now is the time. You want to get down there before the water temp gets too cold.

Sorry for the gap in my posts. I have been on the road quite a bit in the past 2 weeks and have been unable to post. Hope to be more consistent for the remainder of the season. Please call or email us for more information.

Last week was a challenging one in Troy. The Weather, water temps and flows were highly variable. The Bite was not on for some reason. We did catch a few fish as you can see above. We are still waiting for conditions to stabilize down there a bit. It looks like this week might just give it to us. We have heard some positive reports from the gear guys but very few from fly fishermen. It was encouraging to see the water temps increase last week. We actually saw them get back up to 50. Tom is back on the river this week. I will keep you posted as he reports in.

The water on the Grande Ronde has gone from too warm to too cold in a hurry. With that cold rain and extreme shift in weather 2 weeks ago, we have seen the water temp go from low 50's to 40 and below almost overnight.

The Oregon Grande Ronde top water action has slipped by quickly this year. We are now turning to sinking tips and trying to get down deep to those fish that are holding up in the deep pools. Tom had some success yesterday but only landed a few smaller hatchery Steelhead. He is going to try some nymphing today and see how that goes. The air temps have been in the teens overnight. We are hopeful that as the temperature stabilizes in the low 40's the fish will become more predictable and active.

I will let you know how things go as I get more news from the river. If you are heading to the river this week be sure to bring your sink tips, as well as some Prince Nymphs.

Fish from over the weekend. These are 2 beautiful wild Steelhead caught near Troy, Oregon.

The flows in the Grande Ronde have remained constant at about 900cfs and have not colored up. The water is still clear and cool. Tom fished this morning and found that the water had cooled to about 42 degrees. This may have been a little bit of a shock to the fish making for his morning fish to be a little bit slow. Once the fish settle in to the stable weather pattern and new water conditions it should be game on. The fish are going to be on the move.

Tom called me from Troy yesterday with a great report. His clients caught some beautiful Steelhead including 2 Wild Fish 32 and 28 inches long. These were caught swinging old faithful, the Purple Spey. This is solid confirmation that Steelhead are making their way steadily up the Grande Ronde. Tom also talked to some anglers who had been fishing the lower river below Boggan's Oasis, who reported having 25 fish days. They are on their way and we are getting excited.

The local weather is definitely cooperating with or hopes of increased flow and decreased temps. We had 12 inches of snow at our house just outside of Joseph on Saturday. Tom reported about 1/2 an inch of rain in Troy. This increased the flow on the river to 900 cfs without blowing the river out. The water is still clear and has cooled to about 52 degrees. Conditions are perfect. With snow in the mountains and warming air temperatures coming this week we should see a steady release of all of that water keeping the flows up and cool. Yahoo!

Tom returns from Troy this evening and I will post his photos as soon as I have them. This is going to be an incredible week of fishing with warm temps and lots of fish in the system. Catching Steelhead in a T-Shirt is an experience that we should all experience. See you on the River.

Tom had a good day on the Grande Ronde yesterday. He spent the day floating the River with a beginner and was teaching her the ins and outs of nymphing, with the hopes of hooking a few fish. The Prince Nymph provided again. She caught a few 2+ lb Rainbows but most importantly she hooked up with 2 nice sized Steelhead. They both succeeded in getting away but not before revealing their beautiful color and obvious Steelhead size. It seems that it is game on in Troy. Tom is back down there for the weekend and we are hoping to get some new photos and continued positive reports about those historic numbers of fish making their way upriver to Troy.

The weather has certainly shifted to a more favorable pattern encouraging fish to move upriver. We are expecting below freezing temps, rain and snow over the weekend. The storm last week was a little weaker than expected but it did bring some new cold water into the system increasing the flow to just under 700cfs and dropping the water temp to 55 degrees. If we get the expected precip over this weekend we should see a nice bump in the flows which will certainly improve the Steelhead Fishing. Thanks for checking in and I will keep you posted as I hear from Tom this weekend.