Gorge Fly Shop Blog: oregon fishing

Showing posts with label oregon fishing. Show all posts

Jan 9, 2021

North Coast Steelhead with Charlie Piette of Harris Anglers

It’s that time of year again, folks. Winter steelhead season is here! The heavy January rains have settled

in and fish are on the move. With the peak of the run yet to come, now is a great time to book a guide

trip and secure some prime dates.

Many of you have met Charlie Piette at the shop, or talked to him on the phone. He is a traveling fishing guide from Wisconsin and joined the Gorge Fly Shop Team this past fall. His steelhead affliction lured him to the Northwest in his early twenties, which eventually transpired into an additional guide season. Charlie now spends his winters working with longtime friend, Todd Harris, of Harris Anglers, out on the Oregon’s North Coast. Here’s what he has to say about the fishery:

“Steelhead fishing on the coast is one of the greatest fishing opportunities the Northwest has to offer.

Thanks to the diversity of river systems, there’s a little something for everyone. Though the coast is

known as the place to be for dedicated swing anglers, it’s also ideal for those just getting into the sport

and interested in learning a variety of techniques. Whether you are an experienced steelheader, or

hoping to catch a glimpse of one for the first time, I will plan our day accordingly to put you in position

for success.”

If you’d like to get in a boat this winter, reach out to Charlie at email or phone listed below.

Email: charliepiette@gmail.com

Mobile: 920-379-8517

Web: www.harrisanglers.com

https://www.gorgeflyshop.com/store/pc/Sale-Closeouts-c38.htm

"The Gorge"

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Jan 15, 2019

Fishing Report 01/15/19: Guide Edition

Currently fishing for winter steelhead is still pretty slow on local rivers which is pretty normal for this time of year. We’ve had a high pressure system sitting on us bringing big winds form the east, sunny skies and low cold and clear fishing conditions. These are the toughest conditions that exist for winter steelhead fishing. The good news is rain is on the way at the end of the week along with some warmers weather.

Local fish hatcheries are recycling some hatchery steelhead, as well as the North Fork Nehalem. For now, I would concentrate my effort on the North Coast rivers, many of these rivers fish well when our local rivers approach too low conditions. When the rains hit we hope to see some decent numbers of steelhead show in the local rivers like the Clackamas, Sandy and Hood Rivers.

If you do go chase chrome focus on the spot where there is enough water to provide cover, fish heavy tips and pair your flies down a bit.

Trout fishing will be good all winter on the Deschutes and other east side rivers. Standard winter tactics should include swinging sculpins and other streamers on heavy sink tips, nymph fishing, and an always open eye for blue wing olives mid day. The weather system moving in should bring some good opportunities to fish blue winged olive mid day.

Sam Sickles
(541) 400-0855
www.steelheadoutfitters.com

Jun 25, 2018

Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 6/25/18

Photo courtesy of Central Oregon Fire Information

Deschutes River/Maupin Area Fire Update- There is an unfortunate fire brewing over near the town of Maupin caused by lightening this last week, which has currently engulfed over 87,000 acres. Our thoughts and prayers for those in the area and hopefully it subdues soon before much more damage is done. It's likely to be another strong fire season here and while fires occur naturally, I sure hope we can eliminate some complacency and human-caused fires. Parts of the river remain open, however camping is not recommended and certain areas are on a Level 1 evacuation. For more up to date info, head over to Central Oregon Fire Info / Blogspot

Now for the Fishing Report...

Chelsey spotting a nice steelhead holding in a tailout. It wouldn't play though.

Steelhead- Local waters have a couple moving through and pressure has remained fairly light. Personally, I'd rather fish for less fish with less pressure than lots of fish and lots of pressure. They just seem to respond better to the swung fly. People certainly like stats and graphs and such so if we check out the dam counts, there's almost 200 fish per day crossing over Bonneville. Which soon means the lower Deschutes will be fishing. Early on in the season, I can't recommend a Jet Boat up from the mouth enough... You simply get to chase the canyon shadows for much longer, which is partly what makes the dryline fishing on that river so renowned. A lot of strays enter the lower 15 miles of the river, and that means that despite the difficult access on foot down low there are just more fish available. Fish generally seem to transition pretty fast through the lower few miles until they get over a couple good rapids, upon which they tend to hold and are more aggressive to the fly. The mouth is already approaching 70 degrees at Moody Rapids, and I hope anglers will also be able to self-regulate themselves as the water warms up to lethal steelhead temperatures in the coming weeks.

Still early, but remember last year was one of those low-return years that provided great fishing...

The Klickitat has been churning out some color lately with these hotter days and full snowpack on Mt. Adams, so turbidity is a bit high come mid-day. However, floating lines are still moving fish and the Klick fortunately hasn't seen much bobber pressure yet either. A buddy of mine recently nabbed a 10# hatchery fish on a single-hander and a swung size 10 soft hackle in about 2ft of visibility- proving its not always about skagit heads, tungsten tips, and lead eye intruders... Sometimes its the archer, not the arrow that makes a difference.

Trout- Over on the Deschutes action is still plentiful, but I would try to avoid some of the fire action so crews can continue to contain the flames. Below Sherars Falls is probably a better bet, and one I go to more often as Maupin seems to be more of a magnet for anglers and pressured trout. Yellow sallies are dwindling, but the mayfly hatches of PMD/PED's are still strong. Caddis hatches are also doing very well this year. Nymphing is a productive way to spend some time on the water when the hatches aren't cooperating. As the river warms up, trout will seek the refuge of colder and deeper water where many of the nymphs reside.

Trout happy water void of anglers if you're willing to look for it...

Other trout opportunities exist among the countless streams and lakes surrounding Mt. Hood and Adams. If you grab a map, virtually any blue line or dot represents a fishable area. While many of the streams don't boast large trout, a small 1-3wt trout rod is a blast on those smaller creeks. In the lakes you'll find some larger fish around, but as our days get hotter they'll be seeking the sanctuary of the cooler water deeper down. Make sure you've got a lake line when the heat is out as they don't seem to rise too readily mid-day through the heat of summer.

Hazy light on a nice mountain lake.

Warmwater- The top water bass bite on the Columbia has turned on! Get out there with some big poppers and watch the violent attacks from some big ol' smallmouth. If there isn't any wind to kick up silt which tends to push them deeper, I would also go check out the carp fishing along the Columbia and in the side lakes.

Jacob with a dandy. Do you even two-hand carp fish?!

As always, we are happy to talk fishing anytime. 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 Fishing Information

Bookmark our new link to Weather, Stream Conditions and Fishing Licenses

Cody Booth
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

Jun 12, 2018

Columbia Gorge Fishing Report - 6/12/18

Pit stop on the way to some mountain lakes...

Steelhead- A handful of folks have been out hunting for their needle in a haystack on various "home" waters. So far catch numbers have been low, but we've been hearing of a couple hot fish hooked and lost. While I'm not exactly a numbers guy when it comes to steelhead, I have noticed the Bonneville counts have a decent number of wild fish that have passed over so far and we are closer to the 10-year average (which is heavily skewed from the historical average anyways).

The Klickitat River opened up last week and it's been a slow start. The river has been running low and relatively clear since the opener, which leaves the few steelhead in there to hunker down into the deeper salmon water. If we get a little bit of color or better yet a spike in flows, that will push some fish around and catch rates should jump up a little bit. Nevertheless, it's nice to see an old friend and I was out floating a couple days ago in some beautiful weather. If venturing out, be mindful of private property and especially on the South end of the river as locals are fairly territorial- I even got yelled at for just stopping briefly at a run that was allegedly private, though no signs were posted, and turns out the gentleman didn't own the property anyways. The lesson learned is to just be mindful and know the boundary lines. Politeness goes a long way if you're ever trying to access tricky spots, and I certainly like to keep a couple hard to access spots in my back pocket when water gets crowded.

It's dryline/dryfly season!

A underutilized method for summer steelhead I believe is the dry fly. Dead drifted, grease lined, riffle hitched, waked/skated, twitched, chugged, or down in the surface film. If you've caught a few steelhead before but never on a dry fly, I can't recommend it enough! Indeed, a couple anglers will tie on a dry to work a quick run and after no avail will quickly swap back to a wet fly and maybe a sink tip for the rest of the day. The reality is if you fished dries as often as you're wets, half the fish you get will on the dries. In fact on some of the waters I fish I find more summer steelhead show themselves to the dryfly than a well presented wet. Some will say the surface attack is like crack... While I can't speak from experience on that, I will say watching top water disturbances is fully addicting!

A favorite perch to watch summer-run steelhead rise to skated flies.

Trout- The fishing has been fantastic lately! While many of the big bugs on the Deschutes have simmered down, there are some that are still out. If you're needing to toss big Salmon/Stoneflies focus some of your attention up higher on the river as the hatch migrates upstream. Just because the big bugs have dwindled doesn't mean that the dry fly fishing is over yet! Currently, Yellow Sallies (a smaller stonefly) have been fishing very well, lots of Pale Morning/Evening Duns are out, and Caddis flies are rounding out the dry fly action. Sub-surface a lot of stuff will work, though this time of the year Hares Ear Nymphs, and emerging caddis in the evening are some of my favorites.

The lakes around Hood are a great place to spend a hot day cooling off on the water!

Lake fishing has also been excellent lately. On hot summer days, heading up to a lake is a favorite way of mine to cool down. I haven't really seen the big push of Carpenter Ants but rather just a few here and there. Callibaetis cripplers and leech patterns seem to be a go-to of mine, though I've found some of the trout aren't too particular up in the lakes as they have a limited food season- often a Purple Parachute Adams or Caddis fly works great for me up there.

"Hero Shots" are out, #keepemwet photos are in...

Warmwater species- The John Day River has been great place to explore smallmouth bass fishing and a wonderful place to take somebody out for their first time. If you're not having a good time on the JD fishing for smallies, something's wrong... Top water stuff works great out there, however my favorite pattern on the JD is really just a small dark Bead Head Hale Bopp Leech, or a natural colored muddler on the top. On the big river we've finally seen some levels drop- Friday was the first day in a couple weeks that I've actually seen water flowing out at the mouth of the Hood River and not backed up from the Columbia. The top water bite is about to be on for the Columbia, and best time of the day is usually nearer to the evening. Carp and Largemouth are also readily available in lots of the side lakes/ponds to the Columbia and can be a fun way to try something new.

As always, we are happy to talk fishing anytime. 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.

-Cody

Local Fishing Information

Bookmark our new link to Weather, Stream Conditions and Fishing Licenses

Jul 23, 2017

Destination Fly - Deschutes River

Deschutes River - Pacific Northwest

There is good reason that the Deschutes is Oregon’s best known river. The Deschutes is a desert oasis rife with wild rainbows, hearty steelhead, whitewater and stunning scenery. During the steelhead fly fishing season the Deschutes becomes a “Temple of Spey.”

Request More Information

Jun 8, 2015

Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports (June 8th)

June 6, 2015

Fish Boy Gabe has Mastered Carp Angling

Most of the streams in both Oregon and Washington are open now for general season trout fishing, so exploring the high mountain streams is an option. The opportunities for fishing are vast in the gorge right now. From Shad to Carp to Bass, the Columbia is fishing great. Local tributaries have kicked out a few early steelhead, and there is still a chance for catching a Chinook Salmon or two, but make sure to check the regulations before you head out the door.

WASHINGTON:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01590/wdfw01590.pdf

OREGON: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/docs/2015/2015%20Oregon%20Sport%20Fishing%20Regs_r12-11-14.pdf

John and I did an opening day float on the Klickitat on Monday. I managed to get one fish to eat early in the day and I lost him at my feet after a quick battle. It was the first opening day fish I have hooked in the Klick in three or four years now.

There are thousands of hungry steelhead smolt in the river right now and keeping them off the line is difficult. There are certain flies and colors that they like and dislike more than others, but its pretty tough to deal with them if you are in the thick of a smolt school. There was a run where I just had to sit down and wait for John to stop because the smolt were hitting my fly on every cast from the second it hit the water to the second I recast it.

American Shad are running thick on the Columbia River right now. The majority of the action happens below Bonneville Dam, near Beacon Rock, near Cascade Locks and upstream near Rufus. If you can find them you can catch them. They are hard fighting fish that readily take flies and are tons of fun on a 5 or 6wt fly rod.

Fishboy Gabe has been catching carp on the fly with some consistency lately. They are in shallow on the Columbia and the impoundments near the highway 84 and feeding late into the evening. Carp often stop tailing in the shallows in the mid afternoon, making evening fishing hard, but they have been feeding heavily lately all day from sunrise to sunset.

Rainbow Trout on the Deschutes River are still a great option for anglers. The fishing has not been red hot, but there have been some great days and some bad days out there. Small dark caddis have been hatching later in the day, while nymphing with a #20 flashback pheasant tail has been the most consistent during the day. If you get out super early, a spent caddis will work before the sun comes up. Swinging a soft hackle on a micro spey has been good and streamer fishing has been good in the mornings.

Remember that there is NO FISHING FROM A BOAT ON THE DESCHUTES and also, fishing on the Warm Springs Reservation is highly regulated, so check the regulations before you start fishing on the wrong side… Some sections require a permit and others are prohibited all together.

Spring Chinook have really shut down in a lot of places. The Klickitat River has been a bright spot in the area for Chinook. Anglers have been able to catch a fish or two a day with plugs or drifting bait through the deep holes. The river below Bonneville Dam has been opened the past few days and rumors of the big “June Hogs” have been circulating though the area.

The Cowlitz River has been kicking out some summer steelhead already, and is probably the most consistent producer of fish in the Northwest for steelhead through the summer.

The Klickitat River opened for summer steelhead and Chinook salmon on Monday, June 1. The action has been good for June. Typically, the water is high and dirty this time of year and it makes steelhead fishing tough. With low water conditions, it feels more like fall out there. There are steelhead in the river, but we are a few months away from consistent fishing.

Smallmouth Bass have been hitting topwater late in the day on the Columbia River and John Day River. Look for structure near deeper water, but the fish may be in shallow late and early in the day. There are big fish around, it just takes some searching.

Rainbow, Cutthroat, Brown and Brook Trout have been eating flying ants in the high elevation lakes. They tend to gorge on them later in the day when the bugs start flying heavily. Damselfly nymphs and callibaetis are also working well, along with smaller chironomids. Timothy, Clear, Trillium, Laurence and Lost Lakes are all great Oregon Lakes, while Merrill and Goose Lakes are great choices for Washington anglers.

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.