I'm packing up the family and heading over to the 'Ronde this weekend for some fishing, but I'm a little concerned about the river being frozen. I've been there before where it takes 'till noon before the river is fishable--it's starts the day with the consistency of a 7-11 slurpee. Anybody been there recently and can confirm that the river is flowing freely?

Thanks,

Why not call Bogan's Oasis for an "eyes on the river" report? 509-256-3372

Wish I was heading that way. Have fun!

GOod idea--I'll do that.

So how did it go?

Not bad; caught two--one hatchery hen, about 27" and one native buck, maybe 22". Both were caught on the Oregon side on spinners. Also tried corky/yarn with eggs or prawns and also jigs/prawns, but only the spinners got any attention. Maybe it's just that I'm good with spinners and new to the other techniques--the water was 36 deg, so I would have figured bait to be the better choice. Creel checker said fishing was good. The Ronde is on the rise, so I would expect fishing to be off until it peaks and begins to clear. Normally, I would say that two fish for a weekend is on the slow side, but with the family streamside, we're on the water at the crack of 10:30 and off by 3:00 and my line is wet maybe half of that time so two fish given that level of effort was as good as I could hope for.

Way to go-- I'd say with the family in tow, just getting your line wet is a successful day! Good job.

Thanks Starfish. I know you have at least one of your own--I saw that she got first prize in the kids salmon derby--so I'm sure you know what it's like. I'm looking forward to the days when the kids are a bit older and can fish a bit on their own, but for now throwing rocks and collecting sticks is good enough. We had a great weekend.

Actually I've got four of them, and all four have caught salmon, steelhead, and walleyes... but still the rocks and sticks are often the preferred quarry! With kids you gotta pick the right times and places for fishing.

Four! I don't know if you do it often, but I can't imagine all four on a boat at once. I already have my eye on an extra two feet worth of boat for the time when the kids get as big as I am--but luckily that's still half a dozen years off.