Trout - Deschutes River:
Starting to feel like spring out there recently! A warm welcome after what felt like a long yet short winter, if that makes any sense. Trout fishing has been picking up with warmer weather and some fish looking up for BWO’s more consistently. Nymph fishing has been fantastic though! I fished the Deschutes about a week ago, and had some great nymph action throughout the day. Fish ate a size 8 brown rubber legs good as well as a soft hackle pheasant tail nymph in a size 18. Water is still a little bit on the high side, but great clarity and hungry trout. Had a small window where bwo’s were coming off and managed to fool a few decent trout on the surface, but more recently (last day or two) have gotten reports from friends of better and longer dry fly windows. These winter bwo mayflies typically hatch in a size 16-20.
The salmon fly hatch is right around the corner and March-April the fish really start keying in on the stonefly nymphs, before those nymphs start to crawl onto the shore and hatch in May. If you’d like to book a jet boat salmonfly hatch trip with Sam Sickles, visit his website at steelheadoutfitters.com. Far less pressure accessing from the mouth of the Deschutes, and plenty of great water and nice trout looking up.
Pretty snowy and cold up at the lakes. Until the spring...
Winter Steelhead - North Oregon Coast + Portland Metro area
Fishing remains fair to good if you are putting in the time and covering water. Certain systems seem to be producing far better than others this year, whereas last year it seemed like there were fish in all systems more consistently. Rivers on the north coast are on the drop this week and will be fishable through the weekend. There is a rain event predicted for Thursday night, so we will see how much accumulates but my guess is that it might cause a small bump in flows.
Dead drifting beads is highly effective. I usually run orange and pink 10-12mm trout beads on a size 4 trout bead hook under a large thingamabobber with a few split shots pegged on the leader 8-12 inches above the bead. You can either peg your bead to the leader using a toothpick or trout bead pegs, or you can tie a blood knot an inch above the hook so your beads slides down to the knot and stops. Regardless, you want your bead an inch above the hook.
Swung fly tactics are producing as well. A piece of advice for this method would be to not get stuck fishing the same setup all day if it is not producing. Switching up fly colors/sizes, changing to a heavier or lighter sink tip, or even changing out shooting heads is important. Take the time to make the necessary changes for the kind of water you’re fishing rather than just trying to make one setup “work” all day.
Winter Steelhead - Hood River:
There are some fish around for sure on the Hood. Just like the valley rivers and the coast, both beads and swung flies will work. Cover as much water as you can throughout the day and you might have an encounter.
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Smallmouth Bass / Carp:
Smallmouth fishing has remained pretty tough recently. Fish are still fairly spread out making them tough to find. Sinking lines with streamers and crayfish patterns are getting it done down there. People gear fishing have a better advantage of getting their presentation down in their face quicker.
-Zach Parker
"The Gorge"
Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977
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