Columbia Gorge Fishing Report - 8/5/19

Judah enjoys fishing when ever he gets the chance.  He cracks me up with his excitement and expressions!

Trout:

Laurance Lake:  The water levels at Laurance Lake are low, lowest in sometime, however fish are being caught. On the days that it's hotter than the gates of you know where, the lakes can be a solid choice to beat the heat so head up to a lake because typically it can be 10 -15 degrees cooler than lower elevations and you just might catch a fish or two.  Best to fish with a floating devise but there is bank access as well.  

Lost Lake:  Lost lake has been having a Hex hatch going on and it has been best the last hour of daylight.  This can be a really fun fishery because most of the day traffic on the water (SUP's and swimmers and recreational boat traffic) tends to slow down as folks are headed home or back to their campsites.  This can be a very peaceful time except you will hear the hatch happening as it can be a noisy experience if it is otherwise quiet enough to hear.  Plus, the fish really key on them during the hatch. High Mountain Lake Fly Selection

Best results have been fishing an intermediate or slow sinking line with a variety of #8-10 leach patters in Black or Brown. Suspending a Balance Leach under an indicator with a floating line has been lethal to. Dry fly fishing has been good in the mid-morning or in the evening with Parachute Adams #14-16, Tilt Wing Callibaetis #14-16, Black Ants #8-12 also Hexagena patterns in the evenings.  Stillwater Trout Selection

Mr. Bow Bow was fun on an intermediate line and a bead head Wooley Bugger!

Man I wish I would have invented that fly!

Small Mountain Streams: 

The smaller mountain streams have been fishing well. Places like Trout Lake Creek, Lewis River above Swift Reservoir, East Fork of the Hood, White River to name a few. Fish in these locations are small, 6” to 8” average, but they are always looking up. These waters offer great dry fly fishing. Take your light rod and have a blast.  Regarding fly patterns, they are not too picky so take a few Caddis and you are good to go.

Summer Steelhead: 

Deschutes River:  The Deschutes River has been producing a few Steelhead for those that are going and putting in time.  The counts over The Dalles Dam have been steadily over 200 - 300 fish, which isn't great but those are fishable numbers.  We have anglers reporting that they are hooking a few but by no means is it HOT yet.  With some hotter weather on it's way in the days to come, this is a great chance to do some wet wading and try to get your groove on. A hot healthy Steelhead is always icing on the cake. Be mindful of the water temps and if you see it creeping above 68 + degrees, maybe consider giving the fish a break and head home early.  To get the most fishing time as possible, I would head out as early in the morning as possible and then fish until the temps got too warm. Summer Steelhead Fly Selection - Deschutes Steel Destroyer Fly Selection

Guided Fishing for the Deschutes River:

• Sam Sickles - Steelhead Outfitters:
• Phone: 541.400.0855
• Web: http://steelheadoutfitters.com/

Klickitat River:  The Klickitat River has been off colored for awhile now and with the recent heat from this past weekend it seems like it will remain this way and even get worse until cooler temps arrive to allow the river to clean up a bit.

The Klickitat will "cycle" at times, which means you will have a window of opportunity to fish cleaner water from the cooler night before a warm day.  This will happen as long as the nights are cool even if you have a fairly warm day, but once the evenings stay warm in conjunction with hotter days the river will blow out and be out until cooler temps allow it to start cleaning up. Klickitat Super Slammer Fly Asst.

Here are some golden nuggets when it comes to fishing the Klickitat River and facing the challenges of river conditions throughout the season.  I wrote three extensive blog post a few years ago describing in detail fishable conditions and non-fishable conditions and effective techniques for the Klickitat River, here is the link to those articles:

• https://gorgeflyshops.blogspot.com/search?q=klickitat+river

Guided fishing for the Klickitat River:

• Travis Wallace - Western Waters Guide Service:
• Phone: 509.850.5125
• Web: https://www.westernwatersguides.com/
• Sam Sickles - Steelhead Outfitters:
• Phone: 541.400.0855
• Web: http://steelheadoutfitters.com/

Decent Bronzeback on a Crawfish pattern mid day with a sinking line.

Smallmouth:

Columbia River:  Top water action on the Columbia is starting to heat up.  Don't be afraid to fish up till dark.  Fishing is best by boat as you can cover a lot more water and structure. Often you will find some of the hottest action just before dark so make sure your boat lights work so you can find your way back to the dock.  Effective fly patters are LARGE poppers, and for streamers take a handful of Clouser Minnows from size 2 up to 2/0.

Seriously cast the biggest poppers your able to with your rod and see what happens!  Also, try smacking that popper on the surface intentionally making some purposeful noise and then just let it sit.  Let it sit long enough that you can't stand it.  Occasionally without even moving the popper the fish have seen it hit the water and will explode on it, even if it has been 6 - 10 seconds just sitting there doing nothing.  If you don't have a boat, try the sloughs and back channels from accessible bank spots.  You can still get some action but it just isn't the same as fishing out of the boat. Bronzeback Buster Fly Selection

GFS CUSTOMER HERO SHOT:

Gorge Fly Shop Faithful - Brent Hill with a DANDY Striper caught on his Sage Salt HD 1190-4.  Well done Brent...Well done!