Trout
Deschutes River:
Trout fishing is good when the Deschutes has good visibility. The White River blew out again bad due to the recent rainstorm on Mt. Hood. The river below the confluence of the White, is muddy and off color all the way to the mouth and completely unfishable. The white river has been fairly unpredictable the past month, but hopefully more consistent colder weather will get the white more steady and not blowing out as much.
Fishing above the white river confluence has been great for feisty redsides. The lower deschutes trout are some of the hardest fighting trout I’ve ever targeted. A 15 inch fish can easily take you into your backing, which is what makes them such a fun fish to chase after.
Mostly a nymph game with the general, go to nymphs we’ve talked about before. Fish will continue to start moving into their winter holding water of slower and deeper water and back eddies. So I’d start focusing on fishing that water over the fast riffles.
Sporadic late season caddis hatches but mainly a nymphing show. They are eating october caddis pupa patterns really good right now.
Lakes are good and will continue to be good for another month or two. Fish will be feeding pretty heavily trying to fatten up before winter.
Fishing a full sink line with brown, black, olive pr purple wooly buggers or crystal buggers are great options.
Fishing indicators with balanced leeches, chironomids, scuds or pheasant tail nymphs is another productive method to try if stripping flies isn’t producing. Giving your indicator some twitches and movements every now and then will help trigger bites if it’s super calm out.
Crowds from the summer have thinned out some and will continue to go forward into fall. The lakes can be a great option to escape for a few hours and have some productive fishing opportunities.
Summer Steelhead
Deschutes River:
Steelhead fishing is still going strong when the Deschutes water conditions allow. Fishing from Maupin to the mouth will not be productive for the foreseeable future due to the white river continue to blow out. Fishing up above Maupin and all the way up to Mecca Flats is productive for steelhead both swinging and nymphing.Still seeing fish caught on dry lines and small flies as well as big dark intruders. When using skagits and big flies, I tend to stick to the rule of bright fly bright day, dark fly dark day. When it’s dark and cloudy, I like using black and blue intruders and when it is sunny out, I like running orange or pink marabou tube flies.
Nymphing for steelhead is productive as well, and lots of trout anglers have been hooking steelhead as they are nymph fishing for trout. If you want to target steelhead with a nymph setup, then bump everything up a bit. Rod to an 8 weight, tippet up to 1-2x, slightly different flies, and you’ll be set. I like egg patterns or beads, as well as big size 4 egg sucking stonefly nymphs.
Lots of fall chinook around as well up to Sherars Falls that are regularly being caught by steelhead anglers. These salmon like hanging out in deeper water typically but can be caught anymore using any technique.
Hood River:
There are probably quite a few old springers in the lower few miles but not super high on people’s list to be targeting at this time as they have been in the river for quite some time now.
There are definitely summer steelhead spread throughout much of the Hood which can still be caught on the swing and nymphing. Recent rains can get the fish freshened up and more willing to bite. If you’re swinging, using an egg sucking black leech is a tough fly to beat. Other good patterns are dark colored intruders or hobo spey type flies.
Smallmouth Bass/Carp
Smallmouth fishing most years is fantastic in the fall months. The leaves start changing colors and the bite is on. However, recently it has been a little tough out there. The water is very warm and low on the Columbia. The shad are mostly gone which have caused the bass to scatter and been tough to find. Focus on fishing 10-20 feet of water and use small to medium streamer and baitfish patterns. The topwater bite is pretty off at the moment. The key is to continue moving to find the fish, and once you find them stay on em.
-Zach
"The Gorge"
Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977
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