Deshutes Steelhead
Here we are again. The front end of Summer Steelhead Season!!!! It's a truly magical time of year for its devotees, but per usual, fraught with a bit of uncertainty. Most of this is related to warm water in the lower river again. The Moody gauge at the mouth has already hit 70. Sadly, not an uncommon situation for this time of year. The lower Deschutes was once a coldwater sanctuary for its native fish and for salmon and steelhead headed to other locales further east. Now, it's not terribly uncommon for the lower river to be warmer than the Columbia, making it unappealing for any migrating fish. Not to be all doom and gloom here as this all can change with the flip of a switch, more or less. There was a breif yet notable drop in temp out of the dam in early July last year. Hopefully this will happen again.
So what's going on with the front end of the run? Early numbers of fish moving through the Columbia are a fair bit below where they were at this time last year, but that could easily be weather-related. We've had some heat, but it's been fleeting. Certainly not enough heat to bring up the Columbia temps enough to make steelhead move quickly upriver. Recent counts over Bonneville are starting to go up. As are numbers over the Dalles. Hopefully this is the tip of the spear!
If you're ready to give it a shot for the first time, go early. Fish for a few hours starting at first light when the water temps are at their coolest. This is a dry line game. Fish heavy tippet and stout hooks. If you are lucky enough to come in contact in the next few weeks, be prepared for a serious battle. Early summer fish are truly about as good as they get in every conceivable fashion! They can be borderline unlandable in a lot of situations....and that's a risk worth taking!
Deschutes Trout
As we slide into steelhead season, Deschutes trout tend to take a back seat. The beloved anadromous cousins steal the limelight, but don't forget how good the trout fishing can be! We're settling into the standard summer trout program which largely entails dead caddis early in the morning and swarms of mating bugs in the evening. Look for the best dry fly fishing of the day to be in low light. The last hour of fishable light often has the river very alive with trout looking for caddis. Dead drift it...skate it...sink it and swing it. Lots of techniques can be effective when they're into them.
Mount Hood Lakes
The stillwater fishing continues to be steady. Callibaetis are present area-wide and the warmer weather is starting to spur more damsel activity. The last few days have presented some interesting conditions. Lighter winds with sporadic bug activity. Fish were rising here and there. Blind-casting a Callibaetis dry and letting it aimlessly drift was drawing the most attention. Random small terrestrials were working, too. Below the surface, fish were definitely looking for Callibaetis nymphs both under an indicator and creeped along on a midge tip line.
"The Gorge"
Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977
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