Outdoors
Rec
B
Saturday, June 4, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
The stubborn snow
ETHAN
SHAW
LAY OF THE LAND
W
inter’s encore appearance
this spring gave what,
back at the start of April,
had looked like a dismal mountain
snowpack the chance to play a
little catchup. As we assess to what
degree that springtime snowfall
has improved the regional drought
outlook, I’m also watching the
ebbing snowpatches of foothill
gullies and escarpment breaks
from here in the Grande Ronde
Valley. And I’m getting into gear
for another field season hunting
the more resilient snowfields of
This is part of a project I’ve kicked
off called the Wallowa-Blue Moun-
tain Snowfi eld Project. (OK, it could be
catchier — let’s call it a working name.)
Thus far my fi eldwork’s been mainly
focused on the Wallowa Mountains, but I
do intend to expand into the high ranges
of the Blues down the line.
Snowfi elds? Snowpatches? What
exactly are we talking about here, and
why do they matter?
This project considers both those
patches of snow surviving in the moun-
tains after the snowpack itself has melted
off — seasonal snowpatches — as well
as those perennial snowfi elds that per-
sist through to the fi rst accumulating
fall snows. In short, it’s the longest-lying
white stuff of summer and early fall I’m
most keyed into: surveying its distribu-
tion and tracking its duration.
As to why these snow features are
important — well, that’s a multi-dimen-
sional answer. They’re important com-
ponents of our hydrologic cycle, fi rst
and foremost, which I’ll circle back
around to. They’ve got their own local-
ized geomorphic and ecological eff ects
as well. And — recurring as they do year
after year, in about the same locations
and confi gurations — they’re fi xtures
of our seasonal scenery, annual land-
marks, primal time-of-year gauges. Part
of the fi ngerprint of a certain place at a
certain time.
the nearby high country.
Project aims to study
snowfields in the Wallowa
and Blue mountains
See, Snow/Page B6
Ethan Shaw/Contributed Photo
A snowpatch on the Minam-Lostine divide in early September 2021.
Streams, lakes stocked with trout in time for Free Fishing Weekend
No license or tags
needed June 4 or 5
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE —
June 4-5 is a Free Fishing
Weekend in Oregon, and
you don’t need a license, tag
or endorsement to fi sh, crab
or clam in the state on those
two days.
All other regulations,
including size and bag
limits, remain in eff ect.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
has been stocking catch-
able rainbow trout in many
lakes, reservoirs, ponds
and streams around North-
eastern Oregon this spring,
with more stocking planned.
Trout stocking for the
week of May 30-June 3
Honeymoon Pond: 500
legals, 50 trophy
Wallowa Lake: 6,000
legals, 300 trophy
Weavers Pond: 1,000
legals, 50 trophy
Teepee Pond: 500 legals,
50 trophy
Victor Pond: 500 legals,
50 trophy
Morgan Lake: 1,250
legals
Taylor Green Pond: 200
legals
Balm Creek Reservoir:
2,000 legals
Stocking planned for
June 20-24
Fish Lake (north of
Halfway): 2,250 legals, 500
trophy
Twin Lakes (north of
Halfway): 200 trophy
Wallowa Lake: 6,000
legals, 300 trophy
Salt Creek Summit Pond:
500 legals, 50 trophy
Grande Ronde Lane:
3,000 legals, 150 trophy
Anthony Lake: 1,500
trophy
Pine Creek (Halfway
area): 500 legals
Kinney Lake: 2,500
legals, 200 trophy
McGraw Pond: 500
legals, 50 trophy
Grande Ronde River
Variable fl ows may
make fi shing diffi cult
during spring runoff . As
the water warms, bass
fi shing will become better
in the lower Grande Ronde.
Recently, anglers have had
success fl y-fi shing for trout
in the river between the
Wallowa River and Troy.
Anglers are reminded that
bull trout and chinook
salmon may be encountered
in the Grande Ronde and
must be released unharmed.
Imnaha River
Trout fi shing may be
good when water condi-
tions allow. When the water
temperature increases,
bass fi shing may be good
in the lower portions of the
river. Anglers are reminded
that bull trout and chinook
salmon may be encountered
in the Imnaha and must be
released unharmed.
Umatilla River
Summer steelhead
fi shing on the Umatilla
is closed and will reopen
Sept. 1.
The spring chinook
season is open from the
Highway 730 bridge to
Three Mile Falls Dam until
June 10, and from TMFD to
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation Boundary until Jun
30. There is a predicated
run of approximately 3,000
spring chinook returning
to the Umatilla. A total of
3,482 spring chinook have
been counted at TMFD so
far this run year, with 392
over the past week. Fishing
has been slow up to date
due to high water this year.
The fl ows in the Uma-
tilla came up signifi cantly
in the past week from all
the rain over the weekend,
but fl ows should start to
drop and this is when
anglers should really con-
centrate their eff orts as the
increase in fl ows tends to
move fi sh into the system.
Anglers should start to fi nd
success as the clarity of
the river improves and the
river starts to drop. Most
anglers use egg set up with
a slinky weight bounced
off the bottom or a some
have found success with
spinners with water tem-
peratures being relatively
cold. Fish are being caught
throughout the system,
however due to clarity the
fi shing has been better
near Pendleton.
Trout fi shing on the
Umatilla River, and its trib-
utaries, will remain open
until Oct. 31. Trout fi shing
can be good in the upper
headwaters of the Umatilla,
bull trout are not to be tar-
geted and if caught released
unharmed. Bass and other
warmwater species remain
open all year.
Wallowa Lake
Fishing has been good
for rainbow trout near
the south end of the lake.
Anglers have had success
using both fl ies and lures.
Anglers can have good suc-
cess wading out from shore
and casting lures or fl ies
near where fi sh are rising.
Boat anglers will have
better access to more of
the lake and may fi nd fi sh
near areas where the depth
drops off .
There are some nice
kokanee available this year
with some fi sh around 16
to 18 inches. Jigging and
trolling for kokanee can
both be productive ways of
fi shing for them. The docks
were recently put in place
for the season at the county
boat ramp on the north end.
Wallowa River
Recently, when fl ows
have not been too high,
anglers have had success
fi shing for trout. Good
hatches of stonefl ies and
mayfl ies have occurred.
Anglers are reminded that
bull trout and chinook
salmon may be encountered
in the Wallowa and must be
released unharmed.
Snake River below
Hells Canyon Dam
Steelhead fi shing will
reopen Sept. 1, 2022. Bass
fi shing can be good in the
Snake River below Hells
Canyon Dam throughout
the warmer months. For
those with boat access,
sturgeon fi shing can be
good in this section of the
Snake River. Anglers are
reminded that they must use
barbless hooks to fi sh for
sturgeon and sturgeon may
not be retained in the Snake
River. All sturgeon must
be released unharmed and
cannot be removed from the
water.
Fishing for hatchery
spring chinook is open on
the Snake River from Dug
Bar boat ramp (upstream
of the Imnaha River) to the
fi shing deadline near Hells
Canyon Dam. The daily bag
limit is four hatchery chi-
nook, only one of which
may be an adult (adults are
chinook salmon longer than
24 inches). Anglers must
cease fi shing once they
have either retained one
adult hatchery chinook, or
a total of four fi sh. Barbless
hooks are required.
Fishing has been slow,
and only a small number
of adult chinook are antic-
ipated to return to Hells
Canyon this year because
there were not smolts avail-
able to release in Hells
Canyon in 2020. However,
some adults will be avail-
able and good numbers of
jacks have been counted
as they migrate upstream
past the lower Columbia
River dams.
Hells Canyon Reservoir
Bass anglers have had
some success, but many of
the fi sh have been small.
Trout fi shing has been slow,
but there have been some
good-sized trout encoun-
tered by anglers. Anglers
have been catching cat-
fi sh in the upper reaches of
the reservoir below Oxbow
Dam by trolling craw-
dad-like lures. Fishing
bait will also be an eff ec-
tive way of catching cat-
fi sh throughout the warmer
months.
Oxbow Reservoir
Anglers have been suc-
cessful catching bass, and
some have been catching
nicer sized bass larger
than 12 inches. However,
when the weather is cooler,
bass fi shing can be slow.
Angling for trout may be
good especially when water
temperatures are in the
low 50s.
Brownlee Reservoir
Bass fi shing has been
very good, and fi shing
for perch has been good
as well. Anglers have had
good success with crank-
baits for bass, and bait has
produced good catches of
perch. Crappie fi shing has
been sporadic, but some
good fi sh have been caught
with some fi sh as large as
16 inches. The water tem-
perature of the main reser-
voir is about 65 degrees. As
the temperature continues
to warm, more crappie will
likely be available as they
move into shallow water to
spawn. Some catfi sh have
been caught recently.
Wolf Creek Reservoir
Reservoir is currently
about half full. The res-
ervoir may drop quickly
throughout the year so the
best fi shing may be over the
next couple months.
See, Fishing/Page B6