Outdoor Scoop

I got home last night after three great days of floating a lower section of the John Day River. We were outfitted and guided by Marty Sheppard who owns Little Creek Out- fitters out of Maupin Oregon. We got to experience 45 miles of the wild and scenic river from 30 mile creek to the Cottonwood Bridge. My buddy Bill Jones of Pendleton, and I were joined by a nice couple from the city who brought their own drift boat.

Monty and his two assistants worked hard to provide a comfortable trip. After a day on the water we arrived at our set-up camp with lawn chairs, table-cloths on the table, two person tents, efficient kitchen, hand washing station, porta-potty in a small tent and enough food to sustain a small army.

The supplies were transported in an 18 foot heavy duty raft which the two young ladies loaded and rowed

ahead of us down the river. The methodical loading of the specialized equipment was well orchestrated but still resulted in a large pile in both ends of the cargo boat. Bill was perched in the back of the 18 foot drift boat

while I occupied the comfortable seat in front. Marty manned the oars, coached our angling technique, spotted most of the game and was a non-stop orator on the geology, geography and history of the John Day River Canyon.

While our float area was many miles downstream from the famous John Day Fossil Beds, the geology was still amazing. 15-16 million years ago hot dark and very fluid lava flowed from deep within the earth and cov- ered most of the Columbia Basin encompassing 81,000 square miles. Most of this basalt erupted from vents

near the present city of Monument. Numerous flows formed many layers and is about 2,000 feet thick. The John Day River has cut down about 1,800 feet into the basalt formations leaving a steep sided V shaped valley.

Every basalt cliff was different. The ones that interested me the most are called columnar basalt. Many of the rows of columns are 20-40 feet long and around 3-6 feet in diameter. They formed like this because they cooled slowly. The exposed benched basalt cliffs were all different and captivating, rising 1,200 feet above the river level.

Of the numerous floaters we saw, roughly 1/4-1/2 were fishing. Not so with our group, which was gungho. About 90% of Marty’s clients are fly fishermen. Bill and I were in the minority as we used spinning gear and

presented diving rapalas the shape and color of crawdads. Anglers on this section of the John Day are close to 100% catch and release sportsmen. Billy and I landed about 100 small mouth bass per day. About a third were nice 12-16 inches which I would classify as very scrappy. Another highlight was seeing game and birds along

the river. Canada geese with goslings were abundant. A special treat was seeing well over 100 bighorn sheep,

some within thirty yards of the boat. Bighorns in the John Day is a big deal which I will address in a separate column.

Outfitter Marty Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters, who I endorse wholeheartedly, can be reached at 503- 819-4035.