Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports

Trout

Deschutes River:

Trout fishing remains good in the mornings and late evenings. Afternoons can be tough still with hot weather and heavy wind.

Nymphing a double nymph rig with a stonefly nymph and a small beadhead mayfly nymph or caddis pupa is a strong bet to get into some nice trout.

Dry fly opportunities can be had in the last few hours of daylight with fairly consistent caddis hatches.

A buddy of mine had a killer streamer day recently with the micro spey. He was swinging sculpin patterns with 10 feet of T-8 sink tip on a little Winston 3 weight. If you’re interested in trout spey, give the shop a call. We’d love to talk to you about it and get you outfitted with the right setup. It seriously is such a fun way to trout fish and a good change of pace from dry or nymph fishing.

Lake Fishing:

The lakes around Mt Hood continue to fish well as we move into the dog days of summer. I’ve been seeing some of those giant brooder rainbows that ODFW stocks up there being caught which is cool. Plenty of small planter trout to take home and eat as well as some native cutthroat and brooke trout.
Typical lake methods have been producing.

One tip: when fishing a sinking line and leeches or buggers, slow down your strip but give it a little pop at the end of the strip. Make that leech rise up and fall back down slowly. The trout won’t be able to resist this presentation.

Summer Steelhead Deschutes River:

The steelhead counts over the Dalles Dam are stronger than we’ve seen in recent years for sure. More and more fish are entering the lower Deschutes River everyday and are shooting upriver pretty fast in search of cooler water.

The majority of the fish are below or in the lower reaches of Mack’s Canyon with of course, a few up near Maupin I’m sure. But I’d be focusing lower in the system for the next few weeks, then as we get closer to September, start fishing around Maupin more.

We have finally been getting a break from the super hot weather which helps the fishing and the water temps. Still keep an eye on them and voluntarily quit fishing and go tie flies or drink a riverside beer if they are approaching 70 degrees.

Hood River:

I’ve heard of only a couple steelhead caught on the Hood River. Water clarity has been a little better with the cooler weather which makes it more fishable. Still focus your efforts swinging sink tips with intruders and marabou tube flies so these fish can see your fly better.

Nymphing a bead, egg pattern or egg sucking stonefly nymph can be productive in the Hood in the areas that don’t swing the best. These fish like to nose up and hold in pocket water in and around boulders so utilizing a simple nymph rig can be a good method to find some 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.