Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports

Trout - Deschutes River:

Big bugs are here and trout are looking up in the lower sections of the Deschutes. There are salmon flies and golden stonefly adults all the way up to Maupin but with a cooler weather pattern this weekend, these bugs will not be as active taking flights and laying their eggs. Fishing with dries should still be productive though! Next week it is really going to take off with weather in the low 80’s predicted. We have a great assortment of salmonfly and golden stonefly patterns to choose from so give us a shout to get dialed up. Don’t forget about the smaller little yellow sally stoneflies, the Deschutes trout love eating these smaller stoneflies and will become more prevalent later in May and into the month of June. Tough to beat a purple chubby this time of year.

Cheers to the start of what should be a fantastic month of dry fly fishing our favorite river.

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Lake Fishing:

Coming soon!

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Steelhead -

Coming soon!

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Oregon Coast Rockfish

Rockfish and lingcod fishing off the jetties has been really productive when the ocean lays down. Large clousers with dumbbell eyes and a full sinking line something in the 250-350 grain weight window is good. Go when the swell is predicted to be 3-5 feet or less. I like fishing an outgoing tide and into the low tide the best because you are able to get down lower to the water and fish the deep slots and troughs where the big lings hangout. Vary your strip speed but the technique that works best for me is a quick jerk of the rod tip then stripping in the slack slowly. Continuing that all the way back. This causes the fly to dance right off the bottom of the rocks.

Smallmouth Bass / Carp:

Smallmouth fishing has remained steady this spring. As weather and water temps continue to increase, the fish will become more responsive and less lethargic. Early spring, slow your presentation down significantly as the fish aren’t as aggressive. There are still some great smallies being caught now around the Columbia basin and should only get better. Slow stripping baitfish and small streamer patterns is an excellent strategy as is fishing a jig style fly under an indicator.

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-Zach Parker