Friday's Featured Fly (GFS - Select Kit Edition)

Our Friday's featured fly is our hand picked Gorge Fly Shop Select Kit - Lake Edition Late Spring (May/June) flies.  This kit comes with all of the essential flies needed to fill your lake fly box.  We created this kit so you don't have to piece it together yourself.

GFS Select Kit - Lake Flies

Check out all of our other options here

Of course, you will need a fly box

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BUYER'S GUIDE TO SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED STILLWATER FLY LINES:

Sometimes fishing late pays off with stunning lake sunsets. (photo by Callum Brock)

Lake fishing seems like it should be simple, I mean, growing up as a child and going to the local lakes  was pretty simple, especially when fishing over planted fish.  However, now, knowing what I know, it can be quite technical.  As Callum from the shop here says it..."Lake fishing is the perfect example of how simple it can be or how complicated you want to make it."  I couldn't agree more.

That being said, it's amazing how technical stillwater fishing can be and it can make your head spin trying to choose which lines to use/buy.  Anyone who loves to fish lakes knows what I'm saying.  Honestly, I mean no offense, unless you're a stillwater ninja, the need for all the different types of stillwater lines out there seems uneccessary.  I hope to try and simplify things here and hope that I'm successful.  When it comes down to it, most often I'm fishing a couple to three lines at the most.  Especially if I am fishing from a float tube or pontoon and space is limited and I can't carry extra rods or a bunch of spare spools.  On the other hand, if I am in my drift boat, then I will carry more in case I need it.

FLOATING LINES:

RIO'S Elite Stillwater Floater:

RIO Elite Stillwater Floater.

RIO Elite Stillwater Floater Taper Profile

When fishing stillwater (lakes) having a full floating line that performs well is a necessity.  I personally like a floating line that can serve as an all-around multi-purpost line.  Unless I'm fishing out of a boat and have much more room for extra rods with different specialized lines, a multi-purpose all around line comes in real handy. 

The RIO Elite Stillwater Floater has been specifically designed to easily cast long leaders, and will turnover indicator rigs with multi-fly set ups we commonly use while Chironomid fishing.  This line has the ultra-low stretch ConnectCore Plus core that provides unbelievable sensitivity for those sometimes subtle takes for a quicker reaction time when setting the hook.  The Stillwater Floater also has a Hang Marker which allows you to estimate when to stop your retrieve and fish the "hang down" which can be extreamly effective.  This line additionally has the SlickCast coating for incredible casting and durability as well and the MaxFloat Tip, which helps keep the tip of the line from sinking as many floating lines tend to, especially when dirty.  The Elite Stillwater Line works well fishing from a boat or from shore.

NOTE:  It is always a great idea to carry a few of the RIO Fly Line Cleaning Towelette's in your boat, pontoon or vest when fishing lakes.  If your floating line starts to sink, they are a blessing and you can get a quick cleaning and your back to full floating.

• RIO Fly Line Cleaning Towelette:

Airflo SuperFLO Stillwater Floater Fly Line:

Airflo SuperFLO Stillwater Floater

Airflo SuperFLO Stillwater Floater Taper Profile

Airflo's version of the stillwater floating line has their classic Delta Taper which is great for casting multiple fly set ups for distance with minimal disturbance on the waters surface, which helps prevent spooking fish.  Airflo lines are made with a durable Polyurethane coating and are 100% PVC free.  This has proven that the lines last longer over time.  In addition, the FLO technology has made it possible to create thinner diameter running lines in comparison to their older lines.  This is a huge improvement because the newer lines are super slick and have minimal friction when going through the rod guides.

Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Anadro Stillwater Indicator:

SA Amplitude Smooth Anadro Stillwater Indicator Line

SA Amplitude Smooth Anadro Stillwater Indicator taper profile.

The Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Anadro Stillwater Indicator fly line has become a pretty popular Chironomid line when using strike indicators.  I like this line alot.  It roll cast really well and is easy to see with it's alternating Hi-Vis bands near the tip.  Even in low light conditions, I can easily track it.  I also like the fact that it is one and a half line sizes heavy so there is no need to upsize the line for your rod.  This also takes less effort to roll cast because it easily loads your rod so that you don't have to "make it" or try to "force it" to roll cast.  With every rod that I have used this line on I just get the line that matches the rating of the rod.  In other words if you have a 6wt rod, get the 6 weight line and you're good to go.

NOTE:  One thing to note is that indicator specific lines tend to take up a lot more room on your reel because of the fact that they are sized heavy.  Instead of a standard 6wt line being put on your 5/6wt rated reel, you're now trying to put a line that is more like a 7.5wt line on that reel.  So your backing capacity will need to be adjusted accordingly.  We also typically use longer rods like a 9.5' or 10' rod and sizing up on the reel is a great idea for two reasons,  #1 it will balance out the rod better and #2 it will have the capacity to hold the right amount of backing and the indicator fly line. Make sence?

Beautiful Bow Bow, caught with a Chironomid and a sinking line.

SINKING LINES:

Let's face it, when fishing stillwater, having sinking lines is critical to consistent success, especially when fish are not activly feeding on or near the surface.  This is where it can be overwhelming, with so many choices of different sink rates available.  Some manufactuers even have different stages of intermediate sink rates which we will discuss shortly.  This is where having multiple spare spools make sense to me, especially when fishing from a float tube or pontoon.  If you can easily change the spool to accomadate the techinque or sink rate you need, then having spare spools uses up less space than having seperate rods for each depth or tecnique to get the job done.

RIO Elite Sub-Surface CamoLux Fly Line

RIO's CamoLux Sub-Surface Line

CamoLux Taper Profile

I probably use the RIO CamoLux sinking line the most.  It's a full interemdiate line that sinks at 1.5-2 inches per second, and is perfect for fishing near shore or in shallower areas or even when slow trolling.  This line works really well when fishing Chironomids without an indicator and utilizing a super slow figure of eight retrieve.

The beautiful thing about this line is that the weight forward taper makes it pretty easy to roll cast or overhead cast and it has a hang marker to let you know to stop stripping and start slowly raising your rod tip up to fish just under the boat.  This can be extremely effective.

The CamoLux comes in line sizes 4wt to 8wt and has a camo tone color scheme and the ConnectCore Plus technology.  Another option of this line is the RIO AquaLux, which has the same taper and sink rate as the CamoLux but has a Clear/Translucent Green color scheme.

SA Scientific Anglers:  Sonar Stillwater Clear Camo

SA Sonar Stillwater Clear Camo Fly Line

Intermediate Versions:  SA's Sonar Stillwater Clear Camo line with AST (Advance Shooting Technology) is famous for this technology which is an aditive that is impregnated into the line and creates a super slick line that cast like a dream and it enhances the lines durability.  This line has also been built on the very popular MPX taper and it is a full intermediate sinking line that sinks at a rate of 1.25" per second, allowing you to fish just under the surface and choppy water and it is a full line size heavy, so there is no need to line size up.  This line is perfectly suited to fish nymphs and streamers in your favorite lakes when you're not trying to get deep fast.  Offered in line sizes 4wt thru 8wt line sizes.

SA Seamless Density Lines

Deeper Sinking Versions:  SA Sonar Stillwater Seamless Density fly lines are designed to provide straight line presentations to your subsurface flies with a seamless transition between the sink rates.  These lines are based off the SA MPX taper and are two line sizes heavy for casting multiple fly set ups.  Offered in S1/S3, S3/S5 and S5/S7

Airflo:  Sixth Sense Stillwater Fly Lines

Intermediate Versions:  New to us is the Airflo Sixth Sense 2 with Power Core and a smooth running line.  A few have started to show up in the shop recently.  The line boast low stretch of 6% and has hang markers at 10', 20' and 40' so there is no excuse to not fish the hang and feel confident you know exactly where what your depth is.  Just in the intermediate versions, they have three different options, #1 Slow Intermediate at .5" per second, #2 Mid Interemdiate at 1" per second, and #3 Fast Intermediate at 1.5" per second.  I personally would never fish all three of these, BUT if you're a stillwater ninja like I mentioned before, you might need all three.  If I had to settle on one of the three, I would just fish the normal intermediate which is the Fast Interemdiate at 1.5" per second.

That said, I could totally see fishing the slow intermediate for instance in the very shallow weed beds along the shoreline where fish are cruising.  Being able to keep your fly in the zone would be pretty important in that instance.  A line that sinks too fast, requires a faster retrieve if trying to fish in shallow water, therefore giving the fish less time to decide to eat.  Other manufactuers like RIO and Scientific Anglers have a Hover and Midge-Tip verstion of these slower sinking "intermediate" rates of .5" - 1" per second.

Airflo Sixth Sense Sinking Stillwater Fly Lines

Sixth Sense Taper Profile

Airflo's Sixth Sense Stillwater sinking lines come in a variety of sink rates.  If you need a line that sinks deeper than the intermediate sink rates, you can choose from either Sink 3 (3ips), Sink 5 (5ips), Sink 7 (7ips) and Sink 8 (8ips).  Comes in line weights from WF5/6 TO WF8/9.  These lines are very subtle and easy to manage, which is really nice and helps cut down on the line coiling on retrieves.  These are also great for slow trolling or a slow figure of eight retrieve.

NOTE:  The Airflo Sixth Sense sinking lines DO NOT come with a tip section loop at the front, there is a loop that attaches to the backing but not one up front.

RIO: Lake Series Fathom Sinking Lines

RIO's Fathom Sinking Line

RIO's assortment of Lake Series lines pretty much have you covered for any situation you might find yourself fishing.  Just like Scientific Anglers and Airflo, RIO has put a lot of thought and effort in helping stillwater fisherman become better and more consistent anglers.  From full floating lines, to Hover lines, to Midge Tip lines to Sink 3 to sink 7 lines.

One cool thing about the different colors for  the different sink rates is that, if you can remember, just by glancing at the reel, you will be able to tell the sink rate by the color.  Honestly I am a big fan of the sinking lines since I use them the majority of the time, which makes sense also because the trout spend their majority of time below the surface.

Parablolic/Cleansweep sinking lines:

These lines get even more technical.  Designed to sink in a "U" shape allowing to fish different depths in a single cast and retrieve.  Wether you use the RIO Fathom CleanSweep or the Scientific Anglers Sonar Stillwater Parabolic Sink line, you will be fishing effectively.  These lines help cover the more water per cast than a typical sinking line because when you strip the fly in, you go from shallow, to deep, level out a bit and then go from deep to shallower as you retreive.  Sounds pretty effective doesn't it.  Well, you should try it and see what happens.

RIO's CleanSweep Lines - Slow & Fast Sink - Avail in 5 through 8 wt lines.

Scientific Anglers Sonar Stillwater Parabloic Sink Line

Available in 5 thru 7 wt lines.

As you can probably see by the length of this article that there are a lot of options of fly lines for stillwater fishing.  I'm just scratching the surface without really going in to super detail about each line.  This is where it is good to call the shop if you need to get deeper into it.

As a kid, I loved how it seemed simple to go lake fishing.  Never gave it much thought.  We just went and fished and whatever happened, happened.  Now that I'm older and more inclined to think about why I am not catching trout in a lake, I am very pleased that we have the assortment of lines to choose from.  Turns out, that having your fly at the right depth and the right time makes a huge difference.

Well, nuff said.  Hope you got something out of this.  If you have questions you can always give us a call at 541-386-6977.

GFS Team

John G.

PARTING SHOT:

Beautiful Rainbow couldn't resist a Chironomid and a super slow retrieve on sinking line.

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Justesen Lakes - Book Now!

Now is the time to start planning your Spring trip to fish the private lakes at Justesen Ranch.  Just a little over an hour east of Gorge Fly Shop are some prime private lakes with some excellent trout fishing.  These lakes generally start fishing March 15th and wrap up around June 15th.  The prime fishing dates will book up fast.  Give us a call and we will on getting your dates secured.   When you book a lake at Justesen Lake, that lake is yours for the day.  They do not book anybody else on that lake.  Also, there are options on their ranch for lodging if you choose to make it a fun getaway.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Read More about Justesen Lakes Here

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Pictures from Lake Fishing Shop Trip

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports - September 18, 2020

Shop Sale

Trout

Deschutes River:

Quite a bit of smoke is still lingering around most of Oregon and the lower Deschutes River. It should start to get better out there going into the weekend, especially with some potential rain coming tomorrow. Fishing has seemed a little unimportant at the moment with all that is going on around the state. 

If you do get out on the Deschutes to fish, I’d wear a KN-95 mask, which is the best mask to block out small smoke particles. Fishing has remained strong however for trout. Lots of fish euro nymphing recently with some truly large Deschutes redsides being brought to hand throughout the whole lower river. Small red copper johns or lightning bugs are good droppers behind your big rubber legs lead fly. 

Cooler water and cooler air temps for sure out there so the trout will be feeding quite heavily to fatten up before winter arrives. There have been some October caddis around on the lower river as well, which is a larger caddis that hatches in about a size 10-12. I like using either big orange elk hair caddis patterns, or a big foam october caddis for my dry. October caddis nymphs can be run as a lead fly in a two fly nymph rig as well as they are good size bugs. Look for these to become more important and prevalent as we move closer to October. 

With this more off color water, you can get away fishing heavier tippet and bigger flies. The fish also aren’t as spooky because they can’t see as well. Use this to your advantage.
Shop Trout Flies

Lake Fishing:

Lakes continue to produce fish. Similar to other bodies of water, trout in the high mountain lakes are going to be feeding quite heavily in preparation for winter. Colder mornings up there, so it can take the fish a little while to wake up and eat your fly but by mid to late morning, they usually snap. 

Same techniques we always talk about. When the water starts getting cooler and you are fishing a sinking line with some sort of leech or bugger, slowing down your strip retrieve rate is important. When the water is warmer in the heat of the summer they are more aggro towards a faster strip rate. Try slowing down and downsizing your flies to smaller patterns, and you should find success.
Shop Stillwater Flies

Summer Steelhead

Deschutes River:

The steelhead fishing remains good. With the more off color water we are seeing, fishing sink tips and big flies is the best bet. In off color water I like running a quite large black and blue intruder, something the fish can see and react to. Using heavier sink tips is smart as well. T-11 or even T-14 to allow your fly to get right down in their face where they can see it. The numbers are looking quite good over the Dalles Dam in recent days, so if you brave the smoke, you might get rewarded. 

Steelhead are spread throughout the entire river by now, probably a slightly higher concentration down by Mack’s/Mouth, but lots of fish above Sherars falls around Maupin as well. Hopefully this smoke clears sooner than later so we can enjoy a beautiful fall out in the canyon.

Lots of fall chinook around as well and will often take similar steelhead flies. They typically like to hang in deeper pools but you’ll run into the odd one here and there sitting in steelhead water.

Hood River: 

The Hood has been fishable with cooler air temps as of late. Even with slightly more visibility on the Hood, fishing sink tips and larger intruders or tube flies will be your best bet. The Hood is not really a dry line/small fly steelhead river. Fish are more willing to crush a properly swung black and blue intruder than anything. 

Shop Steelhead Flies

Smallmouth Bass/Carp 

Carp fishing is not very good right now. With so much smoke, it is nearly impossible to see fish cruising at all. This is the time of year anyway, when carp fishing is over. It’s more of a June, July and August fishery.
Shop Carp Flies

Smallmouth bass fishing is strong if you know where to look. The main Columbia is a big river so being able to find the pockets along the shore with rocky structure is important, and you’ll find the bass here. Sinking lines with streamers is a good method as is fishing under an indicator with a big balanced leech or wooly bugger.

We want to thank all of the brave firefighters during this tragic time in Oregon. Our hearts and prayers are with those impacted by these wildfires and we hope that we can get through this difficult time. Let’s hope mother nature comes through with some rain today to help ease the spread of these fires.

Shop Bass Flies

Stay safe everyone!
-Zach 

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report September 4th, 2020

Open Labor Day 9:30am - 4pm

Trout

Deschutes River:

Pretty smokey down in the canyon from the White River Fire at the moment. Going to be another super hot weekend out there too. Hopefully the last really hot weekend of the year, but who knows.

Trout fishing has been fair. Good nymphing action throughout the day with the chance at picking off some risers in the back eddies and riffles later in the day and into the evening.

Caddis pupa’s in the last few hours of the day has been really good. Swinging soft hackles is another good tactic both during a caddis hatch or just at any given time throughout the day.

The streamer bite has also been strong in the early mornings mainly. When the sun gets up, the streamer bite isn’t as good.

Shop Trout Flies

Lake Fishing:

Fishing up on the lakes has been good. Sinking lines with damsel nymphs, prince nymphs, smaller wooly buggers/crystal buggers is producing fish consistently. Floating lines with indicator rigs in areas where the lake drops off to deeper water is good.

Expect lake fish to start feeding more heavily over the next month as we transition into fall.

Shop Stillwater Flies

Summer Steelhead

Deschutes River:

Steelhead fishing is still really good as we move into September. The people who are fishing down there consistently and working the water thoroughly are being rewarded for their efforts.

September is the month we generally see the greatest push of steelhead into the lower Deschutes river, and both the air and water temps begin to cool off, making it a very pleasant time to be swinging a fly.

September is by far my favorite month to fish for Deschutes steelhead. Water temps are good all day, lots of new fish still entering the river, and fish looking for swung flies.

Fishing floating lines and skaters or near surface wet flies is good all through September and as the sun’s angle gets lower and lower as fall progresses, you can fish a floating setup nearly all day with confidence.

October and November generally are sink tip months as water gets much cooler in these months and fish are less willing to rise up to a fly.

**The White River up by Maupin blew out yesterday 9/3 and the Deschutes all the way down to the Columbia is pretty off color and unfishable. Hard to say when it will be back in shape, it’s anybody’s guess. FYI fishing this weekend will not be effective in this dirty water.

Hood River: 

The Hood has been fishable with cooler air temps as of late. Even with slightly more visibility on the Hood, fishing sink tips and larger intruders or tube flies will be your best bet.

The Hood is not really a dry line/small fly steelhead river. Fish are more willing to crush a properly swung black and blue intruder than anything.
Shop Steelhead Flies

Smallmouth Bass/Carp 

Carp fishing has been HOT. Lots of sunny warm days which are ideal carp fishing conditions. A very fun way to beat the heat and is in close proximity to Hood River and Portland. This is not a wake up early deal either, sleep in, and get fishing in the afternoon when the sun is high. Beadhead san juan worms, John Montana carp hybrid, and the carp nasty are all great patterns for this kind of fishing.
Shop Carp Flies

Smallmouth fishing is good if you know where to find them. Similar to the last report, they are in fairly deep water, 15-30 feet, and are eating stripped streamers on full sinking lines.

Switch up your retrieve speed to find what they like, but they usually aren’t too picky so long as you have a good looking fly on and are in the right depth of the water column.

Fish around rocky structure where there’s a drop off from shore. I like using crayfish patterns, large wooly buggers, and sculpin patterns. Poppers when the wind allows.
Shop Bass Flies

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 8-28-2020

Trout

Deschutes River:

Trout fishing has been better this past week than I’ve seen or heard of the past month or so. It seems the fish are starting to feed more heavily before the cold season creeps up on us.

Traditional and european style nymphing in the swift seams and runs is producing the most amount of trout hook ups. Soft hackle pheasant tails, cdc jig style pheasant tail nymphs, stonefly nymphs, and caddis pupa are all good nymphing patterns to be using at this time.

A few trout up near the grass banks and back eddies sipping flies in the evening hours when the sun is off the water. The water temps are dropping again to the lower to mid 60s which make the trout happy.
Shop Trout Flies

Lake Fishing:

Fishing up on the lakes has been good. Sinking lines with damsel nymphs, prince nymphs, smaller wooly buggers/crystal buggers is producing fish consistently.

Floating lines with indicator rigs in areas where the lake drops off to deeper water is good. Expect lake fish to start feeding more heavily over the next month as we transition into fall.
Shop Stillwater Flies

Summer Steelhead

Deschutes River:

There are quite a few steelhead being caught daily in the lower 20 miles of the Deschutes right now. Water temps are ideal throughout the day. I was out last Friday/Saturday fishing and have some takeaways from the trip.
Number 1: it is BUSY down there right now. If you want the best chances to fish the good stuff, camping on the river is how to achieve that. I have hiked into some of my favorite spots long before the sun was up, just to find someone already in the river who basically crawled from their sleeping bag into the run.
Number 2: fish new water. Fishing water that most anglers are passing up, can be a good way to hook fish with how busy it is out there. Quick inconspicuous buckets and runs that don’t see as much pressure is a good way to fish water that hasn’t already been fished.
Number 3: be thorough. Last weekend my buddy swung through a sweet little run with a scandi setup and small “No Name Variant” pattern and had a very suspicious grab. He changed flies and swung through it again with no love. I had a sink tip and big fly setup on so I swung through it after him and got nothing either but I just knew there had to be something holding in there as it looked too good.

So I switched up to a bright orange marabou tube fly on 10 feet of T-11 and first cast got hammered and landed a dandy wild hen. That was the third setup going through the same short bucket and it got the fish to react. Good luck out there and be sure to stop by or call the shop if you have any questions or just want to talk fishing!

Hood River: 

The Hood has been fish-able with cooler air temps as of late. Even with slightly more visibility on the Hood, fishing sink tips and larger intruders or tube flies will be your best bet.

The Hood is not really a dry line/small fly steelhead river. Fish are more willing to crush a properly swung black and blue intruder than anything.
Shop Steelhead Flies

Smallmouth Bass/Carp 

Carp fishing has been HOT. Lots of sunny warm days which are ideal carp fishing conditions. A very fun way to beat the heat and is in close proximity to Hood River and Portland. This is not a wake up early deal either, sleep in, and get fishing in the afternoon when the sun is high.

Beadhead san juan worms, John Montana carp hybrid, and the carp nasty are all great patterns for this kind of fishing.
Shop Carp Flies

Smallmouth fishing is good if you know where to find them. Similar to the last report, they are in fairly deep water, 15-30 feet, and are eating stripped streamers on full sinking lines.

Friend of the shop with a nice bronzeback on the Columbia!

Switch up your retrieve speed to find what they like, but they usually aren’t too picky so long as you have a good looking fly on and are in the right depth of the water column.

Fish around rocky structure where there’s a drop off from shore. I like using crayfish patterns, large wooly buggers, and sculpin patterns. Poppers when the wind allows.
Shop Bass Flies

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Echo Lago Fly Rods

Optimized to cast sinking and floating lines while sitting close to the water

Lake angling is a unique fly fishing adventure but it also comes with some unique challenges. Casting and fighting fish from a float tube can test your patience. Echo Lago is designed with these challenges in mind.





Features

• Optimized to cast sinking and floating lines while sitting close to the water
• Action and power levels that work well for all trout fishing conditions
• Modest shaped handle for all casting styles and grip positions

People who fish lakes rely on an acute awareness of what depth their fly is and how fast it is moving. Because you rarely sight fish when in a float tube or boat, successful anglers are often the ones who cover the most water and keep their fly in the zone as long as possible. Being able to cast far and cover the most water, using a sinking line, are the halmark of the expert lake angler. The ECHO LAGO rods are designed to help extend your reach and make casting long lines easier.

To optimize casting while sitting, you want a rod that is light in the hand and as long as possible. A longer rod helps you keep your back cast off the water and helps you roll cast your line to the surface prior to making your next cast. Long rods help you when fishing long leaders and tippets even when fishing a nymph and indicator. We chose to make the rods 10 feet long which is the perfect balance between easy casting and maximum line speed. Because a full day on the water can mean thousands of casts the weight of the rod is a factor. We selected a blend of intermediate modulus graphite for the LAGO rods to help make them tough a forgiving when landing big fish while still keeping them light in the hand. Their modest tip power and a firm lower half allow a rod to perform using a wide range casting styles.

ECHO LAGO rods are 10’0” long and are bathed in gloss flash cobalt finish and are four piece for easy travel. It features a low maintenance anodized reel seat and the full wells handle has a modest curve to allow different grips while casting. It comes in sizes to cover all trout lake fishing situations.

Specs -

MODEL	LENGTH	LINE WT.	PIECES	WEIGHT
LG-5100-4	10'	5	4	3.9 oz
LG-6100-4	10'	6	4	4.1 oz
LG-7100-4	10'	7	4	4.4 oz

Buy Echo Fly Rods

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Important closure information

Julia looking for Brook trout sipping Callibeatis off the surface. 

A couple lakes close to us will be closed for the season- The ODFW has closed all fishing at Kingsley Reservoir and Laurance Lake due to dam maintenance and reconstruction for the rest of the year, and Kingsley will also be closed next year as well.

Irrigators plan to raise the dam at Kingsley to increase water storage, resulting in flooding some forestland in the area. Kingsley Campground will be closed and a new site is proposed for the opposite bank in 2019. The reservoir project came in response to historic water shortages that valley irrigation districts face on dry summers- a Hood River Basin Study predicted water shortages to “be more frequent and severe in the future.” The Kingsley project is hopeful to improve water rights and allow better camping facilities for future use.

Laurance Lake is also closed due to an irrigation project at Clear Creek dam, along with some surrounding campground closures also being impacted. Unlike Kingsley, the U.S. Forest Service plans to have the area re-opened for 2019.

 The Milky Way from one of my favorite summer lake fishing/camping spots. Go explore!

Despite the closures there is still plenty of other angling opportunities available. For those that like to fish stillwater, Lost Lake, Clear Lake, Timothy, Trillium, Frog, etc. Will provide some good action, and furthermore on the Washington side. One resource available at the shop that I’ve found very useful is the book titled “Fishing Mount Hood Country”, as it lists tons of valuable information regarding various lakes and streams around the Mt. Hood National Forest. 

For more information regarding the closures: 

ODFW Central Zone Fishing Report/Updates

Hood River News - Raising the Bar, Kingsley Reservoir

Hood River News - Lurance Lake Closure

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