Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Columbia Gorge Fishing Report (2.29.16)

Fishing Report

Winter Steelhead has been chugging along as expected. March and early April are usually the most productive times for winter steelhead fishing. As long as the rains keep coming, the fishing should continue to be good in all of the local rivers from the Hood to the Sandy, Clackamas, and Oregon Coastal Streams.

Rainbow Trout fishing has continued to be fabulous on the Deschutes River. Stonefly nymphs doubled with smaller mayfly nymphs has been the most productive technique, with the #14 Copper John being the most productive fly from what our local anglers are telling us. Fishing has been good from Mack’s Canyon all the way up to Warm Springs, and the pressure has been minimal. If you want to get away and have a nice, peaceful day on the river, hit the Deschutes.

Now I did something that I am not too proud of, but I have always wanted to do. It was just a confirmation that I don’t need to do it again, but everyone should probably try it at least once just for the experience. Many anglers do find it quite enjoyable, but it wasn’t really my style.

I went to a local lake to catch the “jumbo broodstock” rainbow trout that have been planted throughout the winter. The specific lake I went to is in Washington, and it is closed from March 1-April 22. There are several lakes in the area that stock them during the winter.

There is still something cool about catching a 12-15 lb. trout, regardless of whether all of the fins are worn down. I couldn’t get most of them into my small trout net; the smallest one did fit at 24”. The big ones didn’t try too hard to get away when I set them on my legs as they stuck out from my Fat Cat.

The most enjoyable thing about the day for me was sending pictures to Ryan, knowing that his jealousy was building with every 30” trout that I landed while he was working. Ryan did not know that these fish were missing most of their fins (I took carefully crafted pictures).

Smallmouth Bass fishing has not changed much. Ryan hasn’t been out in the past week, so there is no new report. It has been tough in general, but any day now the water should hit about 47 and the fish should get really active.