Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Columbia Gorge Fishing Report

Deschutes Trout

The fishing pressure will be on the fade as we head into June. It can be downright amazing how many anglers give up on Deschutes trout when the stonefly hatch fades. Truthfully, some of the best dry fly fishing with stonefly patterns is at the end of the hatch. The selectivity you often see when there is an abundance of bugs goes away to some degree. They know that food source is fading fast and they're happy to gobble up what few bigger bugs remain. Scaling down the size of your dry is a great move at this point in the season. Smaller chubbies can draw a ton of attention. Could be a small golden. Could be a Sally. Could be a big caddis. Could be a terrestrial. Definitely works!

Beyond the stones, caddis are present in great numbers. Though there will be some mayfly activity under the right conditions, caddis will be the daily staple from here on out. Not to be missed, the evening caddis fishing can be just spectacular at this time of year. And it's a pretty angler-friendly program. The bulk of the activity happens when the sun dips below the canyon walls. Focus your efforts on the last couple hours of light. Bring plenty of Elk Hairs, floatant and dry shake. It usually doesn't have to be much more complicated than that. The fish are so tuned in to caddis in the evening that you should not be discouraged if there aren't piles of fish rising. Poke your way up a deeper grass bank and fire away. They'll be looking for it!

Mt. Hood Lakes

Things have changed for the better on the local lakes around the mountain. Many people reported slower-than-normal fishing the first few weeks after the opener, but that's improved. Callibaetis and Chironomids are starting to crank along yielding some great dry fly opportunities. Slip-strike indicator rigs with a Chironomid as the point fly and a Balance Leech below have been extremely productive, especially on the windier days. The lake fishing should be great for the foreseeable future.

Early Summer Steelhead

There have been a few folks out looking for a shot at the title in the last week. And there are a few around! Options are fairly limited this early on with some of the bigger Portland Metro rivers and the Klickitat being the best bets. Notable factor thus far is that water levels remain very low/clear for this time of year. The good news is that this makes the fish incredibly receptive to a floating line. Early summers tend to be great biters as is, and coaxing a fish to grab a skater or wet fly is not a big ask in the generally shallow water. Morning and evening shade will present the best opportunities with fish feeling a little more comfortable under the cover of darkness. In high sun, focus your efforts on water with some depth and chop. Try to fish as many spots as you can in the time you have. There aren't a ton of fish around yet, and getting one to bite isn't the hard part. The challenge at hand is finding one. Don't worry about baby-stepping down a likely run. Fish it fast and move on to the next to up your odds.