Deschutes River Stonefly / Salmonfly Selection

The Deschutes River Stonefly/Salmon fly hatch is quite possible one of the most famous hatches known to anglers everywhere. A True Fly Fisherman has been there for it or has it on their bucket list. For the Native Redside Trout this is Bonanza, Buffet, Banquet and biggest feast of the year all in one relatively short season. For GFS it’s located in our backyard. These Giants are found thoughout the northwest on Rivers such as the Yakima, Henry’s fork, Yellowstone and Big Hole. 

Selection Includes -

• Chubby Chernobyl - Pteronarcys #6
• Chubby Norman #8
• Fluttering Salmonfly
• Fluttering Golden Stone
• Clarks Golden Stone
• Clarks Salmonfly

Find More Great Fly Selections at "The Gorge"

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports (05/15/2016)

What a sunset in the Deschutes River Canyon!  

Local fishing has been superb lately!  Rainbow Trout fishing is still the best bet for a day of great fishing in the area.  The Salmonfly/Stonefly hatch on the Deschutes is going strong from Maupin up to Pelton Dam.

Salmonflies are popping from Maupin to Madras

The bulk of the bugs were up around Trout Creek, but they were flying thick throughout the entire stretch.  I noticed many anglers fishing nymphs under bobbers during my float last week.  I am not sure how they were doing, but I fished a Clark's Stone for three days and had no issues getting fish to come to the surface.  I am heading back out to do Trout Creek to Harpam again this week and planning on fishing all dries again.  I am prepared to fish smaller yellow sallies as they are starting to pop too.  I saw a couple of green drakes, a pile of PMDs, and a huge caddis hatch also, but the fish were sure eager to eat a stonefly all day.  Camping upstream of North Junction on Thursday night, I have never seen so many stoneflies flying at once right before dark.  The sky was nearly black with bugs, birds and bats were happy.  It was definitely very impressive.

Wild Horses rule the Warm Springs Reservation!

Spring Chinook Salmon fishing is still moving along in the Gorge.  There is very little effort from the fly anglers towards salmon.  They are not the most aggressive fish, nor do they tend to sit in spots that are easily accessible for most fly anglers, but they are in the local rivers and plenty of anglers catch them given the time and energy.

Smallmouth Bass fishing has been great too!  The Hood River Marina is a great place to go catch a pile of fish on a lunch break.  Without a boat, bass fishing is a little more difficult, but there are plenty of places in the area to pull off the road and catch some smallies.  Fish are definitely in shallow water, looking to spawn during the full moon this next week.  They turn on to poppers more after the spawn.  I seem to do better right now stripping buggers slower near the bottom for big fish, but if you can find them, they will likely eat a variety of flies throughout the water column moving at various speeds.  

Golden Stones are everywhere on the Deschutes.

Local lakes have been fishing really well too.  Laurence, Lost and Kingsley have all been kicking out loads of fish on dries, nymphs and buggers.  I am sure other lakes are fishing really well too but we haven't heard much from them in the past week or two.  Most anglers are hitting the Deschutes while it is good.  

Shad are starting to pick up.  By the first of June, they should be in the Columbia in catchable numbers.  

Summer Steelhead are starting to trickle in.  There are always early fish in rivers like the Sandy, Clackamas and Kalama, but the big runs of fish in the Deschutes and Klickitat don't start moving in until late July or August.  Westside rivers get more early steelhead than the Eastside rivers. 

Flows:  The USGS sites give us real-time flows, while the NOAA site shows us predictions based on weather patterns.  Both are invaluable tools.

Hood River:

USGS

NOAA

Klickitat
USGS
NOAA

Clackamas:

USGS

NOAA

Deschutes near Madras:

USGS

Deschutes at the mouth:

USGS

NOAA

Columbia River

Bonneville Dam Water Temps
Columbia @ Hood River (The mouth of the Hood backs up at 75 feet)

As always, we are happy to talk fishing any time.  Give us a call if you have any specific questions on local rivers, gear, and tactics, or if you just want some encouragement to get out of the office.  541.386.6977

Andrew Perrault
Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Columbia Gorge Fishing Report (05/07/2016)

Salmonflies a plenty on the Deschutes!

The fabled Salmonfly hatch on the Deschutes River is now in full effect on the upper river.  Sam Sickles of Steelhead Outfitters and I, along with our buddy Jamie did an overnight float from Trout Creek to Maupin on Wednesday and Thursday (May 4-5).  We were not expecting to see the hatch moving along as quick as it was, but were happy to have the river mostly to ourselves with very eager fish snapping at our flies with gusto.

The biggest concentration of the insects were from North Junction to Whitehorse.  Nymphs were crawling all over, Golden Stones were more prevalent farther downstream, but there were an incredible number of bugs around the entire 30+ mile stretch of river.

Sam does have a few openings coming up during May if you want to fish with one of the best on the river during this fantastic time of year.  You can do a camp trip, a day float or a jet boat trip (on the lower river).  No matter how you go, it is worth it to get expert advice and a world-class experience.

This fattie was eager to eat a Clark's Stone

The fish we caught  mostly ate dry flies. They seemed to like smaller flies more than the big mamas that get thrown alot.  They should turn onto the bigger patterns soon as they are seeing more and more adult flies everyday.  Our three best flies for the trip were a #10 Yellow Stimulator, a Clark's Salmon and a #10 Purple Chubby Chernobyl.  Sam caught his biggest Deschutes trout to date on a Clark's, while I caught my biggest Deschutes trout to date about ten minutes later on a Stimulator.

We did use the nymph rods a couple of times when they were not responding well to the dries.  On Wednesday, rapidly declining weather caused the fishing to be a little spotty, so we used the nymphs a about a third of the day.  On Thursday, it was just for an hour or so in the morning before they started eating on top and we never looked back.  A competent angler should be able to crush fish for the next couple of weeks on dries, especially if fishing from about 10:00 to dark.  Early mornings can be tough during the hatch before the bugs get moving as it warms up.  Late evenings can also see a slowdown in activity; some days they eat all day and some they don't.

Salmon Fishing continues in the Gorge for Spring Chinook.  Drano Lake has been tough, but anglers are catching enough fish to keep most everyone happy.  When the Columbia is high and cool, salmon don't move into the lake as much as they do when the water is low in the big river.  The big reason that Drano is so popular is that it can be a cold water refuge for salmon as they migrate up the Columbia.  They will pop in for a day or two, cool off and then head up the big river.  They don't seem to be doing that as much this year as others because of good conditions in the Columbia.

A few fish have been caught on the Hood River as well.  There are few fly anglers that put in any effort towards salmon on the fly.  The chances of hooking one is pretty minimal, but it certainly does happen occasionally.  There is not much of a salmon run on the Hood, but it is open until the end of June.

The Klickitat is another option for salmon anglers in the area.  There is only one good spot open for salmon: the famed Pine Tree Hole about one mile upstream of the mouth.  The river is closed above Lyle Falls (1.4 miles upstream of the mouth), which is just upstream of the Pine Tree Hole.  It is only open three days a week until June 1 (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday)

June 1 is just around the corner and the Klickitat opens for Summer Steelhead.  While there are very few fish around before August, it is nice to get back out on one of the most scenic rivers anywhere after a long winter.  Just a note:  The Stinson Boat Launch is gone.  It collapsed into the river this winter.  Here is a post from Rolf of Klickitat Trader showing the damage.  No word on rebuilding efforts.  Anglers will have to launch at Leidl Bridge three miles upstream of Stinson if they want to float the canyon section this year.

The Clackamas is a great river to float in May and June to look for early Summer Steelhead as that is when the bulk of the summer fish return to the Clack.

Ole One Eye Sally put up a great fight

Smallmouth Bass fishing is still incredible right now on the Columbia River and it's impoundments.  Fish are pushing into the shallows, scouting out spawning beds, and generally being aggressive.  The fishing is best when the Columbia is high, which it has been, but regardless of water levels the bass fishing is great right now.  They love just about anything that is moving, from big buggers to clousers to poppers and I bet that they would eat just about any winter steelhead fly in the box.

The Loomis GLX Crosscurrent
is very impressive

Tom Larimer and I went out to a little impoundment on the side of the Columbia last week for a few hours in the morning. Bass fishing was great.  We caught some nice fish and I was able to try out a couple of G. Loomis rods that I had wanted to cast.  The 8'8" 8wt Shorestalker was a fun rod to pound the banks with.  It is very accurate and easy to pick up big flies.  I was a little concerned that it would be too short for the float tube, but it was great.  The other rod that I really, really liked was the GLX Crosscurrent 9'0" 7wt.  It was very impressive, lightweight, and powerful.  A fabulous streamer rod for trout, saltwater rod and bass rod.

The John Day River is a great place to go whack some Smallmouth Bass.  It is better from about mid-June through the summer, but it is available right now.  People have been catching them but water clarity and levels have been less than ideal.

Lost Lake is fishing well for rainbow trout, as well as Kingsley Reservoir and Laurence Lake.  I would imagine that Goose Lake should be accessible any day now.  The May 5 road report from the USFS in Trout Lake says that the lake is still inaccessible, but it shouldn't be long before the last of the snow clears off the road.

Flows:  The USGS sites give us real-time flows, while the NOAA site shows us predictions based on weather patterns.  Both are invaluable tools.

Hood River:

USGS

NOAA

Klickitat
USGS
NOAA

Clackamas:

USGS

NOAA

Deschutes near Madras:

USGS

Deschutes at the mouth:

USGS

NOAA

Columbia River

Bonneville Dam Water Temps
Columbia @ Hood River (The mouth of the Hood backs up at 75 feet)

As always, we are happy to talk fishing any time.  Give us a call if you have any specific questions on local rivers, gear, and tactics, or if you just want some encouragement to get out of the office.  541.386.6977

Andrew Perrault
Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Columbia Gorge Fishing Report (05/01/2016)

Spring is here and the fish are biting.  Whatever you like to fish for, it is likely swimming around our area looking to get caught. 

Salmonflies are hatching!!!!

Rainbow Trout fishing in the Deschutes River are getting all the attention right now.  Adult Salmonflies and Golden Stoneflies can be seen crawling in the brush and flying up through Maupin according to the recent reports.  Most trout have been focused on the nymphs, but the dry fly action should be getting better and better over the next few weeks.  Be prepared for fish to be on either the dries or the nymphs.  Trout can also be found eating caddis in the evenings and occasionally mayfly nymphs during the day.  The Green Drake hatch will be coming up soon, so it is a good idea to have a few patterns ready if you are going to be out on the Deschutes in May.  It can be very sporadic, anywhere between epic and nonexistent, but it sure sucks to be there when its happening with no matching flies.

Ryan is an addict, bass are his drug

Smallmouth Bass fishing has also been incredible lately.  Ryan and I snuck out last week and checked out a small impoundment on the side of the Columbia.  It was loaded with smallmouth bass, a few nice ones too.  The fish are not quite thick in the spawning shallows yet, they are moving through the infamous "transition zones". We caught plenty of bass on clousers and big woolly buggers and even a couple on poppers.  The big fish were still near the bottom in 5-6' of water and wanted the fly deep.

This spring salmon went
right onto the BBQ!

Steelhead fishing is poor to fair right now.  Anglers are reporting mostly "kelts" or post-spawn steelhead on their way back out towards the ocean on the Hood River.  There are a few fresh fish around, including a summer steelhead or two.  May can be pretty good for summer steelhead on the lower Columbia tributaries like the Cowlitz, Sandy, Clackamas and Kalama. Summer Steelhead don't move into the Gorge Tributaries like the Klickitat and Deschutes with any consistency until August.  Early season fish are more likely found lower in the system.  You can catch a fresh steelhead around here any day of the year, but there are definitely better times than others.

Spring Chinook are starting to move up the Columbia in decent numbers.  The mouth of the Wind River and Drano Lake (Little White Salmon) have had the best action so far.  This is mostly because the fish are staging in the colder water at the mouths of those rivers as they move up the Columbia.  The fish being caught are not moving upstream in those tributaries, just using the mouths as a staging area.

Our rivers in the Gorge typically don't see a big push of Chinook until mid-May, but there are definitely a few around.  Several of our regulars have reported hooking fresh springers in the Hood.  The Deschutes is now open from the mouth to Sherar's Falls as of today (May 1).  The Klickitat is only open to Lyle Falls (mile 1.4) and only three days a week.  (Monday, Wednesdays and Saturdays)  Springers are still not easy to catch on a fly rod, but I never underestimate a motivated angler with a big fly rod.

As always, we are happy to talk fishing any time.  Give us a call if you have any specific questions on local rivers, gear, and tactics, or if you just want some encouragement to get out of the office.

Local Water Flow Reports

Hood River:

USGS

NOAA

Deschutes near Madras:

USGS

Deschutes at the mouth:

USGS

NOAA

Columbia River water temperatures going through Bonneville Dam:

FPC Water Temps

Andrew Perrault
Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Fly Fish the Salmonfly Hatch

Salmon fly Hatch | Fly Assortment

Hitting the Salmon fly hatch right can lead to one of an angler’s best days on the water ever. Memories of epic days of big trout eating dry flies with reckless abandon keep me awake at night, but also comfort me while I sleep. Some experienced anglers have never hit it right and don’t believe in these legendary 60+ fish days. Others have lucked into it and bring home these tales that are often doubted then shrugged off by friends and family.

Deschutes Salmon fly Hatch

There are many freestone rivers in the west that get a Salmon fly hatch, and a few that get a significant hatch. In some rivers, trout get most heir yearly caloric intake in a few weeks time. In our neck of the woods, the Deschutes River is our best chance at an amazing day.

The fishing during the Salmon fly hatch can actually be very difficult at times. I have guided clients on the Henry's Fork, South Fork Snake and Teton Rivers during these hatches. I have actually had some of the toughest days ever with some stellar fishing sporadically dispersed throughout the two weeks of the hatch.

One memorable day

One memorable day on the Henry’s Fork in 2008, the Salmon flies were crawling, flying, swimming and falling everywhere. It was not a day for the squeamish. Bugs were all over everything, but fishing was tough… why? Well, the two fish we caught were bulging; as fat as a fish can be. The first one backed down my Rogue Salmon for ten seconds before committing. You could feel the Salmon flies in its stomach; crunching and distending its already large belly. The fish had eaten all they wanted for the day and were really just being picky and lazy. This often happens for a day or two, and then the fishing turns on again with hive-like mentality.

My best days were always a few days before the adult Salmon flies started coming out in numbers.

Get Ready!

Before the hatch gets going really well, the fish are less picky and more hungry. As the nymphs get crawling towards shore, trout can become stupid. My favorite rig for this time of year is a hopper/dropper combination, with a Rogue Salmon or Henry’s Fork Salmon fly (think big and foam) as the hopper, with a Jimmy Legs, Girdle Bug or Lex’s as a dropper (heavy, but not sink-your-foam-fly heavy). With the nymph 3 feet or so under the foam fly, you can search effectively to find out if they are eating the dries yet or still focusing on the nymphs. Fish can often be tucked in close to the bank at this point as they are intercepting nymphs as they approach their fate on the rocks and trees on the shoreline.

With some luck and the right conditions, fish have started looking up for their food, hopeful for an early adult Salmon fly to munch on. If this happens, you can often take the nymph off and replace it with another dry, like a Norm Woods or a Salmon stimulator, something that contrasts the first bug. If my lead fly is foam, then my second fly is going to be a traditional hackled fly. Show them two different bugs, and don’t be afraid to switch it up early and often, and try to keep the bug that is working best while switching others until you are successful.


NOTE: I don’t condone throwing more than two flies, but an experienced angler should be able to throw a big dry with two (or more) nymphs…. Just don’t call me from the river with a mess of monofilament on your hands.


Within an hour or so, you should know where the fish are focusing. If you have seen little or no surface action, take off that dry and replace it with and indicator. Add a second nymph to your rig and get it down to the fish. If you are a few days too early, dragging a Jimmy Legs with a San Juan worm as a trailer along the bottom has been very productive for me. Two different contrasting Salmon fly nymphs is also a good idea.

The best time to fish during the hatch is morning. I am not a six a.m. type of guy, and neither are Salmon flies. The best fishing for me has always been between about 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The bugs start moving when the water starts warming up; after the sun has hit the water. If there is a lot of food coming down the river, whether adults or nymphs, the fish tend to fill up by the afternoon and fishing often shuts down. There is often a nice window of feeding activity mid-morning. This is not always the case and I am sure others will argue with me about that, but I am relating my experiences. This all depends on how far along the hatch is and how prolific the hatch is on any given river.

Towards the end of the Salmon fly hatch, the fish do tend to be full, fat and lazy. It can often be painful to see all these insects around and have very little activity on the water. The feeding window is smaller and more sporadic. Maybe fish eat a few bugs in the morning and then a few in the afternoon.

When this happens, you can look forward to the next hatch. The Golden Stone flies are often right behind the Salmon flies, along with PMD's or other various Mayflies depending on your location. My go-to rig when fishing the tail-end of the Salmon fly hatch is a #10 Yellow Madam X or a Rogue Golden with a #16 Tungsten Bead Pheasant-Tail dropper, adding a #18 Red Copper John if you are feeling like flirting with disaster. It’s like bringing out the cheesecake when the main course is still on the table. There will always be a couple of takers.

Rigging up:

Tips for rigging up for the hatch:

I use a 9’ 6wt or 7wt rod during this time of year for two reasons. The first is that I will be throwing set-ups with multiple large flies. I want to be able to quickly pick up a big set-up and cast it accurately with no false casting. A fast-action 6 wt. like a Sage One or G. Loomis NRX is a perfect rod for the Salmon fly hatch. 4 and 5 wt rods just don’t have the backbone to pick up heavy rigs and cast them with any accuracy; you will be spending too much time and energy false casting with a smaller rod. This is a battle I have fought with many friends over the years that love fishing their 4 wt rods, but then they can’t cast quickly and accurately, ultimately costing them fish without knowing it.

I use 7.5’ 2x trout leaders. I haven’t found the trout to be all that leader-shy during the hatch. Due to the weight and wind-resistance of big Salmon fly patterns, I would never use tippet smaller than 3x to a large foam fly. In some high-traffic rivers, using longer, smaller tippet/leaders, like a 9’ 4x leader, is a common strategy for spookier trout, although a 7.5’ allows easier pick up those heavy rigs more easily and accurately than with a 9’ or longer leader. For better or worse, I tend to change flies and make longer casts before I change up my leader/tippet setup. I rig up a #2-4 Rogue Salmon directly onto the 7.5’ 2x leader, and then drop a #4-6 Jimmy Legs 3-4’ off of the Rogue with 3x tippet. If fishing is tough or the hatch just isn't happening, I add a small nymph like a san juan worm, #14-18 pheasant tail or #18 red copper john off the jimmy legs using 4x tippet. With the addition of the second nymph, you now have the dreaded triple-rig, universally feared by trout guides everywhere. Only continue with this if you are going to be able to cast it without tangling….

The second nymph should be 12-20” from the first nymph. Always tie the tippet to bend of the hook on the upper fly with a simple clinch knot. Some people tie their dropper onto their upper fly using the eye of the upper fly, but I think that it swims at a weird angle when tied like that. Using the method outlined above, I have never had the dropper slide off, and the knot rarely, if ever fails using this method. If fishing an indicator and nymphs, I use a large ORANGE indicator (1” thingamabobber or equivalent). I then add about 12-18” of 3x tippet to that 7.5’ 2x leader. The Jimmy Legs is my go-to Salmon fly and Stone fly nymph. I always make sure to taper down the size of the flies so that the lead fly is the largest and the last fly is the smallest. With large nymphs and the nature of fish eating stone flies in fast, shallow water, you usually do not have to have more than 4-5 feet of leader between the indicator and the first fly. 

Get your fly arsenal ready...

No matter where you go, if the Salmon flies are there, then you have a chance at hooking fish at their fattest, strongest point of the year. Often, fish come out for this hatch that cannot be caught during the rest of the year. Fish of monstrous size often show up out of the depths just for this hatch, then go back to eating other fish for the rest of the year. Now get ready, start tying, and get out there!

Andrew Perrault
Gorge Fly Shop

 "Fly Fish the World with Us"