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| Hood River Steelhead |
This is Fish Boy Gabe. I'm visiting home on my Christmas break from college. Not having fished for Steelhead in over four months I couldn't wait to hit my home waters in search of my favorite species.
Conditions
Fishing conditions have been less than ideal the past couple weeks in the gorge. I arrived to temps averaging the low teens to just below freezing, with a foot of snow on the ground and more in the forecast. I knew my only opportunity would be fishing the Hood River which is always hit and miss this time of year. With the river running a very cold and clear 700 cfs, I knew that my chances of catching fish on a swung fly were pretty low.
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| Hatchery for Harvest |
This called for breaking out the dead drift techniques. I found surprisingly decent fishing once I found what type of water they were hunkered down in. I had most of my success fishing deep holes that you would find salmon sitting in.
Look For
Holes with a turbulent drop at the top of the pool that quickly deepens to 4-12 feet deep and cover every square inch of the spot. I focused on fishing the top of the pools on the boily looking seams and in the deepest and slowest portion of the spot. The most critical thing before achieving a good drift was first finding the bottom and setting my presentation approximately 6 inches off the bottom knowing the fish wouldn't move very far to eat something.
With a lack of rain, not too many true Winter Steelhead are in the system. That being said there are still plenty of late summer run fish dispersed throughout the system. This was the majority of my catch with one fish being a hatchery winter.
Can't catch fish from the couch
This was a good reminder for myself that even though the weather is nasty and cold, there are still fish to be had. You just have to put in the time and keep your confidence high and you will find success.
Gabe - aka: Fish Boy
