Gorge Fly Shop Blog: COLUMBIA GORGE FISHING REPORT 6.19.2020

Look at this DANDY! Caught by Zach Parker of the Gorge Fly Shop on his day off with a streamer. In Zach's words..."the fish hit like a freight train!"... chew! chew!

COLUMBIA GORGE FISHING REPORT | 6.19.2020

TROUT

DESCHUTES RIVER:

"The lower Deschutes river is a great option for early summer trout fishing right now! The crowds from the famed salmonfly and golden stone hatch have subsided, and the trout are happy and healthy with plentiful varieties of hatches. This time of year be ready to have a large variety of mayfly, Caddis and stonefly patterns in your box. Green drakes and pale morning duns were the two mayflies that I was seeing good numbers of down in the canyon recently as well as a few Caddis.

There were also quite a few yellow sallies taking flight and fish were keying on them in the afternoon. If you are planning on fishing the lower Deschutes in the coming days or weeks, definitely be prepared to nymph in the mornings with a double nymph rig of a larger stonefly nymph and smaller bead head mayfly nymph as a trailer. Don’t forget to add a little additional weight with a split shot to get your nymphs down where the trout are. Focus your efforts fishing the faster riffles and diamond chop areas where the trout tend to hangout during the warmer summer months.

Another great and rewarding tactic right now is streamer fishing. Utilizing a two handed micro spey rod is a technique we love because of the exciting grab and the generally larger fish you will hook into. Look to fish this setup with a sink tip and Skagit head setup and a larger Sculpin pattern in olive or black. With the slightly warmer water, the trout in the Deschutes will be a lot more grabby to the swung fly and willing to chase a big meal down. Early mornings and evenings are typically the best time to throw streamers. For this method, look for the deep and heavy inside seams and runs and you will be good to go! Give us a call at the shop if you have any other questions and if you get out - good luck and enjoy the beautiful long days down in the canyon!" - Zach Parker, fresh employee of Gorge Fly Shop...by the way Zach, you're doin a good job and we like your waders!

DO NOT FORGET YOUR STREAMERS!

Here is a link to our Trout Dry Fly Selection of flies: CLICK HERE!
Here is a link to our Trout Nymph Selection of flies: CLICK HERE!
Here is a link to our Trout Streamer Selection of Flies: CLICK HERE!

Photo quality may not be that great, BUT the fish quality is amazing! Zach caught a number of fish just like this!

LAKES:

Lake fishing has been great for those getting out. Look for flying ants, Hexagenia's and damsels for your dry fly fishing. If you don't see enough surface action to get you excited try fishing a sinking line and strip in leach patterns such as the Hale Bop Leach or Wooley bugger and Bead head Wooley Buggers. I like to start the morning off, if I don't see a lot of surface activity, fishing Chironomids or a Balanced Leach under a strike indicator. This can be deadly for cruising fish that are keyed on these small insects.

If fishing early in the morning start at a depth about 1 - 1 1/2 feet off the bottom and if there is a breeze, let the breeze work the indicator/Chironomid set up, if there is no breeze, every 20-30 seconds lift your rod tip slowly/slightly and then bring the tip back down. This will mimic the Chironomid swimming towards the surface and then stopping and then falling back down a bit. Super effective way to catch big fish on little flies.

You can also fish this method in deeper water with a full sinking fly line like the RIO Fathom Full Sinking Lines, which are perfect for getting the fly down deep and then using a slow retrieve or a figure of 8 retrieve. Another hint is to fish the hang down directly below the boat because fish will often hit just beneath the boat, so have a bit of patience.

Here is a line to the RIO Fathom Full Sinking Fly Lines: CLICK HERE.

Another hint when fishing Chironomids is to find the depth that the fish are at and then through out the day shallow up because the Chironomid Nymphs swim up and fall back down a bit and as the day goes on they work their way to the surface. It is somewhat critical to find the fish, then when they stop biting shallow up about a foot or so and just follow their progress up to the surface as the day goes on.

STEELHEAD/SPRING CHINOOK:

HOOD RIVER:

The Hood River continues to produced some nice spring Chinook and although the river has come up a bit, it has still been fishable and not completely blown out. There has been a string of days where the Columbia River was high and it made the mouth of the river seem more like a lake than a river. There are a few summer steelhead coming over the dam as well and the opportunity to get one on the Hood is still there.

Most of the Chinook have been caught down river near the mouth most are being caught by gear/bait fisherman but there are some being caught my guys swinging flies as well. If you're going to be swinging a fly for them try flies such as listed below:

Click here for a great selection of Chinook flies: CHINOOK FLIES
Click here for an effective Steelhead Fly selection: STEELHEAD FLIES

KLICKITAT RIVER:

The Klickitat has fished well, considering that it is early in the season. I have spoke with a number of folks who have had success and one of my guide friends, who knows the river very well, who gear and fly fishes has been having some dandy success. Although most of his fish have been caught on gear/bait it does show that they are in the system and if you prefer to swing flies, it can be just a matter of putting in your time before you strike silver.

REPEAT From Last Report: As far as I am concerned an early Klickitat Summer run steelhead is as ornery as they get and often will hand you your lunch in a hand basket...THEY ARE HOT!

One tip when fishing the Klickitat early or when you have lots of water to cover in a day is that rather than your typical routine of casting and then taking a step down, and then repeating this process in a slow manner, try taking 2 or 3 steps down at a time to cover more water. This is especially true when you have good water clarity. If the water is off colored to the point it is a shade of brown then slow your groove down so the fish more time to see the fly, and let the fly hang a bit on the hang down. Like 4 to 6 seconds before stripping in the fly to cast again. I have had numerous fish over the years, after letting the fly marinate on the hang down, grab my fly as I start to strip in, sometimes the grab will come on the second or third strip in.

We have had some cooler weather and the river is actually low and mostly clear. Should be great time to swing a floating line and a "Purple Green Butt Skunk" or the "No Name Variant", a couple of my favorite summer steelhead patterns for sure. If you get some hard sun on the water and want to use a sink tip, I know this may sound sacrilegious to some, but DON'T BE AFRAID to fish a Purple Muddler Minnow with a sink tip! I know this fly was designed to fish on the surface or near the surface originally, but I can tell you for sure that I have caught LOTS of steelhead fishing this fly on a sink tip!

Early in the season, with some cooler days and lower water levels, look to fish lower in the river, say from the town of Klickitat down. Not saying you couldn't catch a fish higher, just saying the odds are forever in your favor if you target the lower river. For detailed information on how to fish the Glacier fed Klickitat River, visit the three part blog that I wrote 5 years ago. It may have been awhile since I wrote this piece, but the information is still golden and relevant...

Here is a line to the Detailed Klickitat River Blog: CLICK HERE!

Klickitat Steelhead are strong and fight like a steelhead is supposed to fight! - Photo John Garrett

SMALLMOUTH BASS:

Smallmouth Bass fishing has just gotten better and better, as I have said in recent reports. That said, I cannot wait to get out and catch some Bronzebacks! Few folks are targeting Bronzeback with the trout fishing being so productive and the steelhead and salmon fishing that's going on. Pound for Pound they are as aggressive and scrappy as most any fish! Surface action is happening and will only get better. When they start keying on the surface, you seriously cannot throw a fly big enough or strip it in fast enough.

If they are not keying on topwater tactics, use sinking lines and Crayfish patterns and getting down is the key right now. Clouser Minnows or Bead Head Wooley Buggers and what not. Try fly and float along steep ledges and if there is a bit of wind and you want to get under the overhanging branches, cast to the edge of the trees and let the wind/waves carry your float under the branches while the fly is jigged up and down by the motion of the waves.

Click here for an effective Smallmouth fly selection: CLICK HERE!

"Just because they are called Smallmouth...doesn't mean they don't eat!" - Ryan V. - Bass Ninja

That's it for now, have a great weekend, enjoy the fact that you can get out the house and be safe and healthy. Enjoy every minute you've been given and make the most of them. We'll see you out on the water!

The Gorge Fly Shop Team

John G.

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