Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports - 3.26.2021

Trout - Deschutes River:

Trout fishing has really been picking up over the last few weeks. Supposed to reach 70 degrees this weekend out in the Maupin area which is a welcomed sight after a long, cold and rainy winter. This warmth should really get the trout and insects active and feeding throughout the day. Nymphing is still going to be your most productive method right now. This is the time of year where Deschutes redsides really start keying in and feeding heavily on the stonefly nymphs that are beginning to get more active as we move into April and the famed salmonfly hatch that begins in early May. 

I’d be running a size 6-8 black or brown rubber legs stonefly nymph with a 16-18 caddis pupae or mayfly nymph behind the big bug. Some of my go to Deschutes droppers that work year round are red lightning bugs, jig style pheasant tail nymph/soft hackle pheasant tail nymph, rainbow warriors, and red or purple psycho prince nymphs. 

 The trout spey bite has been superb. With water temps beginning to warm slightly, fish are getting more aggressive and willing to chase a large meal. 10 feet of T-8, 2x RIO fluoroflex, and a box of sculpin patterns and you’re ready to rock n roll.

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Lake Fishing:

Pretty snowy and cold up at the lakes. Until the spring...

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Winter Steelhead - North Oregon Coast + Portland Metro area 

Winter steelhead season is winding down to close. There are some systems that fish well into early April but for the most part, it’s coming to an end. This weekend could fish decent as the rain last week bumped the rivers up and put some color into them. Again, I’d be fishing pretty low in the rivers to hopefully intercept a late chromer, versus fishing up high and targeting spawning fish. Please be aware of redds this time of year and do not consciously fish to fish that are actively on spawning beds. There is a good chance if you spot a few fish sitting deep in a tailout this time of year, that they are trying to do their thing.

Winter Steelhead - Hood River: 

While this has been a slow steelhead year all around, look for a few more fish showing up in the Hood. We generally see the peak numbers of fish around now in this system and it will fish well into April. Both swung flies and nymph techniques are working for folks.

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Smallmouth Bass / Carp:

Warm, calm, sunny days will bring mr.smallie up from the depths to the shallows in search of a meal. With these conditions fish lightweight streamer patterns slowly. On windy days fish a float and fly rig on drops offs and main river points. 

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-Zach Parker

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports - September 18, 2020

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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.
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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.
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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. 

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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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 8/14/2020

Trout 

Deschutes River: 

The trout fishing has been strong lately. I spoke with a friend of the shop, Tucker, who had a productive day trout fishing down by the mouth recently. He reported strong caddis hatches in the evenings and the majority of his fish came on black pats rubber legs and prince nymphs.

Mainly a nymphing game in the mornings and throughout much of the day. Later in the evenings fish are eating spent and emerging bugs in back eddies which will be your best shot at fishing near the surface. Fishing a spent caddis in the mornings is another good tactic in late summer as the fish key into caddis that hatch the previous night and die overnight and float downriver the next morning.

Late in the summer, these trout become much more wary of artificial flies and have seen most all fly patterns in your box before. This is when using more uncommon patterns can produce results. I still run a rubber legs as my lead nymph fly, but will sometimes tie on something unique and different as my dropper to show the fish a fly they likely haven’t seen much of. Same goes for dry flies. Fluorocarbon is a good idea fishing subsurface and nylon tippet for dries.

Lake Fishing: 

The Mt Hood lakes have been better in the mornings and evening when the high sun isn’t shining directly down onto the water. Hex hatch on Lost Lake is long over but there is decent opportunity to fish dries on the lakes now. Late evening callibaetis hatches can occur on any of the lakes throughout the summer which can be a very time hatch to fish. These are mayflies that typically hatch in a size 14-16.

I like fishing cripple patterns that sit vertically in the film and represent a insect that is struggling to emerge through the surface of the water. You can fish parachute callibaetis patterns like a simple parachute adams representing the full adult form of the insect as well.

Indicator fishing with small nymphs will always produce as well as slow stripping buggers and leeches on sinking lines.

Summer Steelhead 

Deschutes River: 

Plenty of steelhead around on the lower deschutes now as we are in mid August. Lots of beautiful chrome wild fish and some hatchery fish around too for the BBQ.

I had a buddy fishing down by the mouth a few days ago and he shared a story of some people who probably had no business targeting such a special creature as a wild steelhead. He saw these two guys step in maybe 50 yards below him as he was swinging through a run, which is not proper river etiquette to begin with, and they proceeded to hook up with a steelhead. He said the one dude just held his rod out in front of him with the steelhead still hooked up, but completely tired out, while his other buddy ran way upstream to grab his cell phone to take a picture. Then they proceed to mess with the fish for around 10 minutes and held the fish out of the water for far too long to get a sweet “hero shot” before finally releasing it. After listening to this story, I felt very confident that that fish did not survive and wasn’t able to spawn. I truly believe most people are good about this and do not overhandle a fish when they land it (at least I hope). If we do not take care of these steelhead, there’s not going to be a future for them, so please be mindful of this and spread the word if you see bad practices out on the water. Don’t get me wrong, I love capturing photos of steelhead but there’s a right way to do it where the fish stays wet the whole time and swims off strong. Anyway, good luck if you get out there though, the fishing has been great!

Skaters and hairwings in the mornings and evenings, and intruders/tube flies with sink tips in the middle of the day.

Hood River: 

I have not heard of any more steelhead being caught on the Hood since the last report, however I am sure there have been. Still pretty colored up water whenever it is hot out, which has been more often than not.

Water temps aren’t as big of an issue on the Hood compared to the Deschutes as this river stays cool year round. The Hood is a great before or after work spot being so close to town. Good luck if you get out!

Smallmouth Bass/Carp:

Smallmouth fishing is good if you’re in the right spots. If you aren’t fishing around rocky structure, you will likely struggle to hook up.

Smallmouth might be the most willing fish to eat a fly however, so when you find them, it can be tons of fun. I like using small streamer patterns, wooly buggers, or crayfish patterns when fishing the main Columbia.

Carp fishing has been excellent with the hot and sunny weather. Spotting fish has been much easier with the high sun and the fish are happy and actively feeding with the warm water.

I went out last weekend on the Columbia and caught loads of big carp using a carp hybrid fly. Very similar to John Montana’s carp hybrid, just with my own twist to it. I even was able to catch one stripping a fly which is pretty rare with carp.

Remember to try and sight them first, and then place a cast at them that doesn’t land right on them, otherwise they will spook. I snapped my 8 weight on one last summer (probably my fault, putting too much pressure on it) but still, these things are brutes, so leave the 5 and 6 weights at home.
Zach

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Small River/Stream Fishing Report

Down by the river...

This past week Travis and I hit up a few rivers and small streams in the Malheur National Forest. Our "hunt" for Redband trout made us eager for every bend in the river and each cast we made. It was a good reminder to how great exploring new waters can be. We also fished for rainbows and smallmouth bass (John Day). I use the word "hunt" but it was a week long adventure that brought new challenges and adventures each day. We came across coyotes, turkeys, deer and antelope, elk and even a big bull. We forded rivers and traveled roads that didn't look like they had been traveled in some time. Sections of river reminded us of Yellowstone and prairies in Montana. In short, it was a blast and recommend to anyone to get out, seize the day and try something new or simply perfect your game. 

Oregon Report:



In the hunt!
Small stream trout fishing is hot right now and success can be found all over the Northwest. On this trip we ventured our way up to rivers and streams around 5,000ft. Our arsenal included varying Sage rods in the 1 to 5wt (Single and Spey). We dry fly, nymphed and spey casted. Some of the most fun we had was found casting in a little stream with Redband and Rainbow trout.

In Summary
This was a trip I won't forget any time soon and it reminded ignited a passion to be ready and to organize my small stream and dry fly boxes. Several times we drove by sections of river and just decided to get out, already in waders to check out the river (with rod in hand). This weekend I'll be hitting up a few small streams in the coastal range.

Stay Frosty
Mike - The other Web Guy

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Sage Trout Spey HD 10’9” One Weight Review

Finally got a chance to get out and really test out my new Sage Trout Spey HD 10’9” one weight rod.
I made a trip to the Malheur Mountains to explore some small streams that feed the Malheur River for Redband Rainbows.

Mike Prine and I have had this trip planned for a while. We knew going into this that the feeder streams would not likely produce much if any fish over 12”, but one could hope right. So along with my two and three weight single hand rods I packed my Sage Trout Spey HD one weight two hander.

By the second day we had reached a camp on a stretch of the stream that slowed and broadened out to twenty to forty feet wide. This was a perfect place to swing some soft hackles. I set down my dry fly rod and started swinging with the two hander.

Matched with the Sage Trout Spey 1/2/3 Reel and a RIO Trout Spey Scandi Head in 190 grain weight it made the perfect soft hackle outfit. The rod is light enough you can single hand cast it if you wanted unlike most two handed rods.

Swinging soft hackles on the one weight is a blast for the 8” to 12” Redband Rainbows found in these streams. Even though these fish are small, they still are a lot of fun on this rod. Don’t under estimate this rod because it says one weight on it, a good angler can do much more than many would think possible.

As we worked up stream I spotted what looked like a fairly large Brook Trout, maybe a bull trout. I quickly clipped my soft hackle and 5x tippet off. Grabbed my streamer box and tied on a 2” long white Sculpzilia.

I made a couple of cast and spooked the fish. So I made a couple more cast just for fun. Managed to hook a little bull trout about 14”.

I then realized that I forgot that the rod was called a one weight. I would not sell this as a streamer rod, but I was casting the small #8 Sculpzilla just fine even with the scandi style trout spey line. If I had it rigged with a RIO Skagit Trout Spey it would cast this set up even better.

A short ways up river I could see a huge shadow of a fish moving up into a riffle. If I was back home I would think Steelhead or Salmon, but not here. This drainage is I would guess a 100 plus miles and three dams away from the furthest point migratory fish can pass.

I grabbed my Trout Spey and quickly launched a cast out. As soon as the fly hit the water I started stripping and this fish instantly chased down my fly and inhaled it. I yelled to Mike, “Huge Fish!” He grabbed his camera and came running.

Now I am hooked up to a fish on a one weight trout spey rod that could easily estimate 28 to 30 inches. He rolled and took off upstream as I loaded the rod all the way into the butt.

Not sure what I had hooked but I saw an odd golden color as he rolled and turned. My mind was racing! What do I have? Don’t lose it! Keep the line tight, don’t let it in the logs! Is it a bull trout? It flashed more like a brown, but there are no browns in here, at least that I know of.

Crazy but I was able to keep the fish in control and lucky enough to land him after good little tussle.

Mike asked “what is that?” I looked at hum and said honestly it looks like an old spawned out Spring Chinook, but that is not possible here. We quickly took photos and released the fish.

The next few days we pondered what this fish was. It was really driving me crazy! Most everything pointed to an Spring Chinook that had been in the river for a while but it had no signs of looking like a zombie fish in which a Spring Chinook in September would. The mouth was much more trouty than most Chinook. I was just at a complete lost.

A few days went by and we dropped into cell coverage. I quickly texted my buddy Steve, a good friend and retired fish biologist, the picture of the mystery fish with caption "what is this?" He replied it is an old Spring Chinook.

I called him and told him there can't be no Salmon where I am. Once I told him where I was he said you are right. I see why you are so confuse. He then told me that Oregon Fish and Wildlife had just started a program a few years ago trucking a few hundred left over adult hatchery Chinook to this watershed and releasing them. They were doing this for some of the tribes so they could fish some historic grounds with traditional methods.

So mystery was solved.

Now I am not telling you this to promoting catching old worn out salmon on a one weight trout spey rod. I would have never cast to the fish if I knew what it was. The point of this is to show you even a one weight trout spey with the proper technique can cast a fairly large fly and land a fairly large fish.

My thoughts on this rod after spending more time with it is that it is one of the most fun rods I have fished ever. It is a blast to cast. Most of all it makes your small water trout fishery a lot of fun with a two hander.

This Sage Trout Spey HD 1109-4 is amazing fun with soft hackles and can handle light duty streamers on smallish water. It wouldn't be my first choice on big water like the Deschutes but for small water and wild trout then I say...YES! GET ONE!!!!
Trav

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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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Clarks' Stone Dry

The Clark’s Stone is one of our go to stonefly patterns during the Salmonfly hatch. 90% of guys I see on the river are throwing gargantuan foam body flies that barely even break surface tension. These flies all generally look the same and it only takes a few hooks in the mouth for a fish to realize he probably doesn’t want to eat those anymore. Enter the Clark’s Stone, with a body consisting of dubbing and deer hair, this bug sits in the film and does an amazing job of being a ‘minimalist’ dry fly. Pack your floatant though, because this fly catches fish, but after being thrashed by a few angry Redbands, it will indeed become waterlogged and sink upon the following casts before being dried back out again. This fly is also an amazing subsurface carcass pattern later in the hatch when bugs that have perished are falling back into the river. The nature of the fly allows for each one to look different in the water, the deer hair wing allows for variation in the silhouette of the bug to look slightly different, making it more recognizable as food and less recognizable as a hook in the mouth to a trout. Next time you’re following behind someone during the big hatch, keep a Clark’s Stone handy, it just plain catches fish.

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Jacob Noteboom | Product Specialist
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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report (5/29/2017)

Happy Memorial Day to all of you!  We hope you are enjoying this day in the great outdoors, it is certainly a beautiful one here in the Gorge.

A stunner Deschutes Redband!

To the steelhead angler this can be a difficult time of year in the Gorge.  There are a few early summer fish around, but they are far between.  The Klickitat River does open June 1, so those looking for a fix and can get in some swing time or nymph one up

For those of you not looking to beat yourself up not catching steelhead, there is a lot going on!

My Favorite Aquatic Insect Never Fails to Impress!

Deschutes trout fishing is in full swing.  There are still a lot of big stones on the river, especially up higher and on the right day you can certainly find some fish willing to take a chubby or clark stone.  The trout fishing can be excellent for June as well, and the crowds should be dwindling as the big flies dwindle.  There can be excellent hatches all through June, so make sure you have a good selection of flies to cover the options.  I would be stocked up on PMD and PED, caddis, green drakes and yellow sallies, with the nymphs to match.  If you want to have an awesome float and get to water that is hard to access on foot book a day with Sam at Steelhead Outfitters (541-400-0855)!  He can certainly get you on the fish!

Another stillwater mini steelhead in the net!

Lake fishing for trout is excellent this time of year.  Local lakes like Lost, Laurance and Kingsley are producing good numbers of fish and the occasional monster.  Buggers and leeches are a go-to, but chironomid larvae/pupae fished ultra slow or under a bobber can crush them this time of year.  Damsel and dragonfly patterns will also get hot as the water warms and summer sets in.  Be sure to have a few Callibaetis nymphs and dries too, when this hatch kicks off it can be epic!

I got the Gabe on a nice one, but we worked for it!

Bass fishing has been fair to middling.  I have spent a lot of time on the Columbia this month, and have had decent days, but it hasn't been red hot.  I think that the biggest factor is the lack of consistent water and weather conditions.  The high flows, muddy water, and large water temp gradient certainly haven't helped to dial in a pattern.  The same can be said for the John Day.  You will likely catch some fish, but the high flows have made fishing a bit more difficult and have spread the fish out a bit.  Smolt/shad patterns fish fast and crayfish flies are two hot methods.  Look for the popper action to heat up as the fish move into post spawn later in June.

Gabe and I spent some time sight casting at carp in the backwater ponds on the Columbia.  Most of the fish were cruising, but we saw a few eating.  None were interested in our flies, but hopefully, the Columbia will clear a bit and give us some more shots at ole' rubber lips this summer.

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 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.  541.386.6977

Ryan Van Duzor
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977


Read More from the "Bearded Pescador"

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Columbia Gorge Fishing Report (5/14/2017)

Spring fishing season is in full swing in the Gorge!

Some springers finally decided to show up, the stoneflies have started hatching, and the smallmouth and carp are getting frisky!

Lake fishing for trout has been stellar as of late.  Expect chironomid action early in the day, with a multi larvae/buzzer rig under an indicator or slow retrieved being a great technique, especially in the mornings.  As the midges emerge, often in the afternoon, having a selection of cripple/emerger midges can produce some crazy fun dry fly action.  Streamer and leech fishing is also excellent this time of year. With relatively low weed growth in the spring, fish are cruising the shallows looking for a meaty meal.  Don't hesitate to try a bigger minnow style streamer fished aggressively on a sinking line!

Winston Air 590 and Lamson Micra doing work with a crippled Chironomid emerger dry

Smallmouth bass fishing on the Columbia has been all over the spectrum, from excellent to very difficult.  The river temps, flows and visibility have varied widely over the past couple weeks.  I have seen water temps vary as much as 8 degrees just moving across the river.  My advice is to find slightly clearer shallow water and fish a crayfish fly or Clouser minnow, this time of year I prefer an intermediate or sinking line. The fish are in a prespawn mode and if the conditions are right, they have been very aggressive.

Carp fishing has been on a similar path as the bass fishing as of late, with fish coming into the shallows and feeding heavily when the sun is out and warming the skinny water.  I have even heard a few reports of carp spawning in the backwaters.  If we get a couple sunny warm days again, expect carp to be cruising the flats.  We have a nice selection of carp flies in the shop to help you get hooked up with ole' rubber lips!

The reports from the Deschutes trout fishing have been improving over the last week or so.  The stones are hatching and fish are starting to look up!  Clarity has improved, and the fish are happy.  If the dry fly action is slow, don't hesitate to break out nymph rig with a big bug and dropper.  Rainbows can certainly be moody, and sometimes they just want to be force fed.  Come on into the shop and stock up on the local favorites for this killer hatch!

Ryan Van Duzor
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977


Read More from the "Bearded Pescador"

Cody's Report:

Steelhead fishing- While winter steel are pretty much done on all our rivers, there is a welcomed shift towards summer steelhead. However, most of these early fish are of hatchery origin and are being caught on the rivers below Bonneville Dam- the Sandy, Clackamas, Kalama, etc. are great options for those looking for hot hatchery fish. Wild summer steelhead seem to still be on their way, nevertheless this Wednesday I got out to the Kalama River in Washington looking to see what we could find. Expectations were low but it was fun to get out the old single hand and swing the smallest flies I’ve tossed all year.

Trout fishing- It’s no secret that people are out looking for hungry trout. Most all of our area lakes are open and fishing has been great, with the exception of a few lakes still closed due to snow access restriction. Lost Lake Resort is operational for the season and their boat rentals make it easy for those looking to find fishy water. We’ve also got a great selection of Outcast boats to fit your water needs. Keep in mind that some watersheds have different regulations and some trout streams still aren’t open until May 22nd.

Golden Stoneflies doing their “thang".

Yesterday (Thursday), I got out to the Deschutes for a few hours with my girlfriend because she’d been jonesing for some trout after a long winter of steelhead casting (rather than catching). It’d been a little while since I’ve been out to the mighty Deschutes and it was cool to see the hillsides covered in a blanket of green, wild flowers, and the smell of desert sage in the air. This was the first Oregon river to steal my heart when I was still a Colorado resident and spent summers guiding the river and coaching snowboard camps up on Mt. Hood. More specifically, it was the legendary salmonfly/stonefly hatch on the Deschutes that really grabbed my attention. I feel I’m probably not the only one who loves rising fish and dry flies either… Indeed, this river is not always forgiving. Upon arrival we noticed that the winds would probably be the victor for the day. However, we were able to punch some flies out and find some trout willing to rise.

Curiosity led us to the White River to see its condition and it turned out to be less of a factor, but I did notice less bugs at the time down lower. We’d found more stoneflies than salmon flies down low, while after up river some nearer to Maupin it seemed about 50/50 among the big bugs in the grass. March Browns are done and the Drakes are still a little ways out. I did see a few Caddisflies and Blue Winged Olives flying around too. This river is quite the trout factory with its prolific hatches and strong shouldered redside trout.  

Giant Salmonflies were digging the Winston Microspey as much as I was. It’s super fun to skate flies and spey cast for trout! These new S/A integrated Skagit and Scandi Lite lines are awesome too!

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 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.  541.386.6977

 

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports (05/29/2016)

Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports (05/29/2016)

Hood River from the Washington side

Fishing is still great throughout the area.  Oregon trout streams are mostly open now as the general trout season started on Saturday, May 28.  This opens the East Fork of the Hood for trout only (it's never open for salmon or steelhead).  Eagle Creek near Bonneville Dam is another nice trout stream that is open near here now.  The West Fork of the Hood is always closed above punchbowl falls...

May and June are the best months to catch a nice brookie!

The Washington small streams are opening either June 1 or the first Saturday in June.  Check the WA regulations.  The Klickitat opens June 1 for trout and steelhead.  Trout Lake Creek is a small trout stream in Washington that is fun to fish and is absolutely gorgeous.  It opens Saturday June 4.


Most area lakes are open now.  Goose Lake, Lost Lake, Laurence Lake, Timothy Lake, Clear Lake and Trillium Lake are some of our local favorites and all are fishing very well right now for rainbow, brown and brook trout (and the occasional cutthroat trout)  There are countless other lakes in the area that are all fishing well now too but not as popular.  Get a map, do some research and get a rod in the water.  A lot of the lakes are inundated with flying ants right now and the fish are gorging on them.  An olive woolly bugger will produce fish all day, as well as Callibaetis nymphs & dries, and some lakes may be holding damselfly nymphs already.

The Deschutes River is still fishing very well for Redband Rainbow Trout.  Just because the salmonflies are done doesnt mean that fishing is any worse than it was when the salmonflies were thick.  It can be very, very good right now.  Anglers just have to change flies, locations and strategies a little more often and they can have just as productive of a day as any.  The strategy starts basically with PMD nymphs in the morning (often doubled with a caddis nymph or stonefly nymph), and the possibility of a hatch late morning in shallow riffles.  Trout are also eating stoneflies, both goldens and yellow sallies opportunistically throughout the day.  They are also eating caddis pupae in the afternoon through evening with a chance at catching fish on caddis dries in the late evening.

Bass fishing is phenomenal right now!

Steelhead fishing is fair to good on the Sandy and the Clackamas, as well as the Kalama.  The Washougal opens June 4 too, and it can be very productive in June.  The Klickitat opens June 1, but is typically not productive until later in the summer.  There are always early fish in all the local rivers, including the Deschutes, but the best strategy for steelhead is to go where the most fish are and right now, the bulk of the summer steelhead are in the lower Columbia tributaries for now.

Smallmouth Bass are biting topwater flies on the Columbia.  Many of the fish in the river spawned recently and are looking for food more than they normally are.  Big fish are still more likely to be caught near the bottom, but fishing is great nonetheless.  The John Day River is fishing well for bass too.  Topwater poppers all day long...

Spring Chinook fishing continues in the area.  The Klickitat, Wind and Hood Rivers are great places to go soak some roe for a fish or two.  Ryan Davey and I spent an hour fishing the other day and got one nice buck that went straight onto the bbq and it was much appreciated by all my neighbors and friends that came over that night.  I fish for salmon for food as it is far, far more productive to use roe than a fly, although fly anglers occasionally catch salmon on the fly around here.

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"