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Hey Y'all,
My father, brother and I are looking for locations to do a 3 day float trip from Aug 11-13 to fish for smallmouth bass. The dates and species for this year trip are fixed, the location is where I'm looking for suggestions. Initially we were thinking of floating the Grand Ronde from Boggans Oasis to Hellar Bar but the water level seems really low this year and we are late in the season so we are looking for other options. We were also thinking of maybe doing the float on the Snake from Swan Falls Dam to Marsing? Anybody know what the fishing is like in that stretch? How is the river? Never floated (or even seen) the Snake in that area before so looking for advise in terms of how many miles of river to bite off, best watercraft options (canoes, rafts, etc.). We will be driving up from the SLC area around noon on Wednesday so also looking for a place to rent water craft, shuttle our vehicle, etc. Just thought I would ask for suggestions here before cold calling outfitters in the larger cities.
Thanks,
Jason
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Better fish massacre rocks to Milner dam. Nice flat float. Don't have a clue about logistics.
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I have floated from Swan Falls to Marsing. I have done the Swan to Walters ferry once and from Walters to Marsing 4 times. My son and I did it in inflatable pontoons. The piece from Celebration park to marsing is an easy float with a canoe. No rough stuff there. The only thing you might have a problem with is wind. We fished mostly for catfish and sturgeon. Had great luck with cats but my rod broke on my sturgeon set up. It is 18 miles from Swan to Walters. The upper part from the Dam down to and including Graveyard rapids is not to hard in a pontoon. The first set of rapids is big enough to get your attention in a 8 foot boat. It has some pretty rough water at times. We went through at 10,000 CFS. If your real good with a Canoe you might make it. I know for a fact I would do it again in a pontoon but NEVER in a canoe.
If you wanted to do a canoe trip I would start at Celebration and go to Parma. It is 24 miles from Celebration to Marsing. 33 miles from Celebration to Homedale. ANd 40 miles to the Idaho State line from celebration. The last 12 miles to the boat ramp is all in Oregon. So you would need to get a permit to fish in Oregon or get out at the state line back at the 40 mile mark. It is about 52 miles from celebration to the boat launch at Parma. You will not see any rough stuff in that stretch. The river can be very shallow in spots and because of that it can be fast.
The Islands in the river are private, federal reserve, and public. It is not legal to camp on the Deer flat land. The private land is sometimes marked. and the public land can have some restrictions. Camping can be found all along the river and a GPS with land ownership is a good idea. I think that the whole trip could be done in 3 days but you would have to keep moving I think. If you went from Celebration to Homedale that would be 10 miles a day and that would give you time to stop and fish. Just depends on what you want to do.
Fishing will be fantastic for cats. I don't bass fish but it should be great.
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Dale isn't there are spot in there that is off limits to boats?
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Motorized boats
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Okay, I always thought it was for all boats. That makes more sense. To go from Massacre rocks to Milner they will need to Portage around Minadoka Dam right?
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I'd float the John Day river over around Kimberly.
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I fish walcott and massacre a lot and there are lots of folks in toons and yaks in the closed area. Kind of a sore subject with the bass crowd. No where else are you going to find that quality of smallmouth. I already stated I don't know anything about logistics, call the freakin Feds. Gosh
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Was just trying be helpful with the map, and I know people go past the buoy lines thinking that they are ok...I fish Gifford a lot and watch people do it...but I didn't want the people who posted to be misled. I target bass, but it's no reason to break the law.
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I'll agree with Rons input about the swan falls to celebration stretch. Raft or drift boat it's not bad and the bass fishing gets a bit stupid (think triple digit catch rates) but most are under 12 inches. I've done it over a full day several times but we usually pick it apart pretty well. Other than that I can't add much other than we usually cat 2-3 crappies and hook one cat fish as by catch.
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Thanks all for the suggestions. Sounds like the fishing will be good even if they are on the smaller side. -Jason
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