Trout - Deschutes River:
Lower Deschutes River
Fishing on the Deschutes from Warm Springs down to Maupin is getting better and better as we move into the middle of September. With overnight and daytime temps beginning to significantly cool off, the river and trout alike are responding well with more active feeding fish throughout the entire day, giving anglers more time to have productive fishing.
Caddis are still happening and people are having success fishing dead imitations in the mornings and adult patterns in the evenings. A size 18 cdc x-caddis is a great pattern for the evening bite. Nymph fishing continues to produce the most action with frenchies, soft hackle pheasant tails, psycho princes and pat’s rubber legs all being good patterns. The streamer game has been picking up as well as we move into fall and get some cooler water temps. Swinging sculpzillas or the RIO meat sweats on a 3-4 weight trout spey is a good bet right now.
Don’t forget to purchase a boaters pass if you are floating any part of the Lower Deschutes. They can be purchased at recreation.gov and are required to have when floating.
Middle Deschutes River
No recent report from the middle Deschutes but I would imagine it is good with the cooler weather and water temps we are starting to experience as we roll into mid September.
Upper Deschutes
The upper Deschutes is currently closed due to the Cedar Creek Fire which is burning near the town of Oakridge. Cascade Lakes Highway, Crane Prairie Campgrounds and Wikiup Reservoir campgrounds are all closed indefinitely until the fire becomes more contained.
Metolius River
The Met is phenomenal right now on all fronts. Prolific hatches, an abundance of bull trout, and great nymph fishing in the mornings are all happening right now on my favorite river in the world. Let’s start with the hatches. The fall green drakes began hatching over the last week and will continue to consistently hatch between 2-5pm most days for the next month I’d say. These large mayflies hatch here in a #10. Have both cripple and dun patterns during this hatch, these Metolius trout absolutely go crazy for these bugs. Additionally, flavs (#12-14 mayfly), a smattering of caddis and pale morning duns are all going off too. Because many of these bugs are all hatching at the same time, try using a double dry rig. Same setup as a double nymph rig, just with two dries. I like using a large green drake pattern with a smaller pmd or caddis pattern 18 inches off the big dry. Fishing is good folks.
Nymphing in the mornings before the hatches get going is picking up fish as well. Lots of bull trout in the river and they are quite aggressive to streamers. Bring your 8 or 9 weight for these fish. They are big and pull hard in the fast current.
Mount Hood Lakes:
Lake Update
Lake season around Mt. Hood is in full swing. Float tubes are the best tool for the job up there and can be a ton of fun. Slow stripping wooly buggers, damsel nymphs and leeches is a great method. Nymphing with a set of chironomids or a pheasant tail nymph is a good bet too. If fishing this method, giving the indicator a few pops and strips here and there help bring those bugs to life and will trigger more takes.
Steelhead -
Steelhead fishing has been fair to good. You definitely have to be covering water and searching hard, but those who are putting in the time, are finding fish for sure. Dry lines and skaters and/or small wet flies in the mornings and sink tips and intruders when the suns high. The smoke in Central Oregon is providing good cover to the sun allowing you to fish floating lines all day. Water temps are great with the Moody gauge reading 60 degrees today. Brisk fall mornings are here, get out there and get after it!
https://www.fpc.org/currentdaily/HistFishTwo_7day-ytd_Adults.htm
This is a quick resource to check fish counts over the dams in the Columbia.
For the latest on fishing regulations in your angling zone visit https://myodfw.com/recreation-report/fishing-report/
Smallmouth Bass / Carp:
Carp fishing has been killer during this heat wave! Look for carp cruising the shallow flats and back sloughs off the main Columbia River and be prepared to put an accurate cast right in their face to get an eat. It’s a super addicting way to fish and we have all the good carp bugs at the shop.
"The Gorge"
Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977
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