Fishing has really picked up on the Deschutes
and is primed for some good days on the Klickitat this week. Get out and fish! The 2:00 restrictions have been lifted for
the Deschutes , but most others remain in
place. Please check with us, Washington
or Oregon Fish and Game Departments before fishing if you are not sure about
the current regulations.
Summer Steelhead is generally the fish of choice for most of
the hard-core anglers in the area and prospects for a fabulous day on the river
are looking really good. We heard
fabulous reports from the Deschutes
River last week and expect it to be good this week and next week too. The White was spilling dirty water for a few
days, but it did not stop the fish from snapping. The dirty water usually just prevents anglers
from getting out. I love fishing when
the clarity is 1’- 3’ because the fish tend to be in closer to shore and you
can typically fish a light tip as they are sitting in the shallower water than
typical.
The Klickitat River
has been fluctuating clarity from around 1’ to 3’ or so (and we love it). It never quite got to that “steelhead green”
color that everyone else likes, but it has been fishing pretty well
nonetheless. The clarity hasn’t seemed
to match the temperature as much as typical.
I believe (and I am usually wrong) that the “in-river” work that has
been going on is affecting clarity as some natural settling of the dirt is
throwing some sediment into the river that wouldn’t be there otherwise. The work that I am talking about is the
removal of an old road above where the Little Klickitat comes in. This work is a good thing. Improvement of habitat and returning portions
of the river that were altered back into a natural state is one thing that we should
all be able to agree on, even if it causes a little extra sediment to flow down
the river. So that being said, the
clarity should get better, but I love fishing with it hovering about 1.5’
because I can go wherever I want; there is no one to compete with and there are
just as many fish around as when the river is clear.
Smallmouth Bass fishing has been excellent on the John Day River
and Columbia River
along with many of the impoundments along the freeway on both the WA and OR
side of the Gorge. The Columbia came up quite a bit as the powers
that be have been pushing water downstream in a successful attempt to cool down
the big river. It should finally drop
below 70 this week for the first time in two months. This should get the smallies moving and opens
up a bit of water as the weeds have not been able to grow up to the surface yet
in a lot of spots that have otherwise been really weedy this summer.
Carp fishing has been good this past week as the rising flow in
the Columbia
has moved fish into some new flats that are relatively weed-free right now and
holding quite a few fish.
Trout fishing has been great in most places this past week. Unfortunately for you trout guys, the reports
on trout fishing tend to get pretty sparse as soon as the steelhead start to
show up. As soon as one guy says
“steelhead”, everyone seems to forget about the trout fishing. I would bet that the Crooked, McKenzie, Metolius and
Upper Deschutes are all fishing
really well. The upper part of the Lower Deschutes (near Warm Springs) has
also been great lately with both Slate Wing Duns and a few early Mahogany Mayflies
hatching that have been getting some attention as well as the evening caddis
hatch just before dark.
Lost Lake is
still fishing very well, and trout have been coming up to the surface early and
late to eat Callibaetis, Grasshoppers and Carpenter Ants, as well as just about
anything else including beetles, damselflies and maybe some early caddis.
As always, we are happy to talk fishing any time. Give us a call if you have any specific
questions on local rivers, gear, and tactics, or if you just want some
encouragement to get out of the office.
"Fly Fish the World with Us"
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