Blue River Questions

[GolfvsFishing]

Is the barbless section typically the best place to fish?

Where should I park?
Obviously I need a little help in figuring out where to go.

[turfdawg]

Depends on who you ask. I’ve never been up there because I don’t really want to walk 45 minutes one way to fish. I fish areas around the crossing and walk in area

[golferjeff]

I go back to the C&R so I can take my dog. LOng enjoyable walk. NOt as many fish in my opinion, but fewer idiots

[flyfishermann1955]

GvsF,

"Best" depends on what you're looking for!

Bottom Line Up Front: The Blue River is a bass stream that gets stocked with trout in the "winter" (1 Nov - 31 Mar). It's a scenic area, in its own sort of way. Of course, so are the desert and the surface of the moon. It's certainly not the Rocky Mt West and not even the Lower Mt Fork. There is very little "moving water" that I associate with trout fishing.  This picture is from a pool at the upper end of the C & R section.




The C & R section is different from the other areas. As Jeff mentioned, it's less crowded. No bait fishermen in lawn chairs. If you go during the week, you may see more deer than fishermen. It will take 30 - 45 minutes to walk there from the parking lot. You park off Hwy 7. You're parking in a "field", not a paved or gravel parking lot. Look in the ODWC Fishing Regulation book for the map of the Blue River. The parking lot is about 1 mile from where Hwy 7 splits from Hwy 99. If you get to the bridge that crosses the Blue River, you missed it. You can fish there too, but it's not the C & R section.

The Campground Area, well downstream from the C & R section, is "park and fish". There are several parking areas. It tends to be much more crowded. You can find some solitude here too, but not at the "low-water crossing". Walk for 15 minutes and it really thins out.  This picture is from the upper part of the campground area.





My suggestion would be to try both areas and see what you like. You can do it in 1 day. Fish the C & R section in the morning, eat lunch, and fish the campground area in the afternoon. The water is much the same in both areas and the same flies work in both places. Let us know what you think after your trip.

Tight Lines- Ken