Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Columbia Gorge Fishing Report

Nice Deschutes fish on an Intruder

Trout

Deschutes River:

Trout fishing remains strong this week. Lots of hot weather in the forecast, so fishing early in the morning until about 2pm and then the last couple hours of daylight will yield the best results for trout. Nymphing with rubber legs, red lightning bugs, red copper johns, soft hackle pheasant tail nymphs, jigged CDC pheasant tail nymphs and guides choice hare’s ear nymphs are all good bets right now. Look to fish the highly oxygenated areas like riffles and deeper runs. Decent caddis and pale morning dun hatches throughout the day so have some dries ready to go. A #16 tan x caddis is money! Streamer fishing is slow. The trout have plenty of other insects to feed on throughout the day so they seem to ignore the big meals in the heat of the summer.

Lake Fishing:

Lakes have been good. The Hex hatch on Lost Lake is happening now and the fish are definitely keyed on them throughout most of the day. Typical lake methods of either fishing an indicator with some nymphs or fishing a full intermediate sinking line and a balanced leech or wooly bugger on the strip are productive methods right now as well. Trailing a small beadhead prince or pheasant tail nymph behind a larger leech is a good option as the fish see the big profile fly then take the smaller offering behind it.

Summer Steelhead

Deschutes River:

The Dalles Dam counts are looking promising and we have been seeing a few fish around on the lower Deschutes recently. Not a ton of fish in the system yet, but the ones that are in there are chrome bright wild fish that are biters. Covering water is the key still to these early July fish as they are somewhat spread out. Fishing dry lines with floating or intermediate polyleaders and hairwings or skaters is best early mornings and evenings when the sun is off the water. Fishing a T-11 sink tip with a marabou tube fly or intruder is productive at any time of day and will yield some aggressive grabs. Keep a close eye on water temps, when they hit 69-70 degrees Farenheight, quit fishing and give the fish a rest. Early mornings are your best shot throughout the rest of July and all of August when it’s hot, with temperatures hovering around 62-63 and will slowly rise throughout the day as air temps increase.

Hood River:

There are some summers around on the Hood. Not plentiful, similar to Deschutes, so moving around and fishing a lot of water is key. Less visibility than the Deschutes so darker and bigger profile flies are good with sink tips. Nymphing for steelhead with an egg sucking stonefly nymph or bead under an indicator can also catch fish.

Smallmouth Bass/Carp

Smallmouth fishing has continued to be consistent since the last report. Finding areas with some depth and rocky structure is important. Carp fishing is good as usual as long as the sun’s high to make spotting fish easier.