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"

Why I fish Hatch Fly Reels

Hatch Finatic 9+

There are few investments made by steelhead anglers more critical to their success than a good reel. A good reel can make or break your trip and will definitely increase your hook-up to landed ratio.

I read a review or “shoot out” the other day that had 19 criteria points for what a good reel is. Overall a good review, too good if you ask me. I don’t need a dissertation on the merits of a good fishing reel, I just need to know one thing, does it work? Can I stop a big fish with it? Will it hold up under every day use year over year? I’m willing to pay for quality but I expect a little bling to go with it, ie, it’s got to be pretty. I’ve fished a lot of reels over the years and my favorite are made in the USA by Hatch Outdoors.

My first Hatch Fly Reel

I ran into my first Hatch at a fly fishing show, it was love at first sight. As a young angler I couldn’t get past price but I had a different set of priorities as a twenty five year old. Fast forward another five years and I finally get my first Hatch, it’s a 9+ Pulse. This is still my go to reel and easily the most used of the many I have in service.

Today I’m 44 years old and a full time fishing guide. I make it a policy to only provide the best equipment for my clients and you will find Hatch Reels available in my boat every day. Before the guys at Hatch were “Hatch”, they wanted to build a better reel based on drag, durability and design. They nailed it.

Finatic

Let’s start with the drag, after all this is a reel we’re talking about. I could go on and on about the sealed drag, the stacked discs, resistant to heat issues, pound for pound fish stopping power, or the low start up inertia. I don’t care about the technical stuff although it does sound awesome, it’s just words. For me a drag’s about smooth reliable resistance. I recently fought a seal lice infested Spring Chinook in 200,000 cfs of Columbia river, and believe me my old Hatch Pulse put the wood to him! Lots of reels claim smooth fish stopping power and out of the box maybe they’re telling the truth. Over time things wear out, need maintenance, fail. The big fails for me are surging, free spooling/loss of drag, and total lock up.



That leads us to durability. Hatch reels require no maintenance, that’s right, NO MAINTENANCE! I’m not going to lie to you, after fishing reels every single day over a number of years and tough conditions even all reels may need a little warranty work. My favorite thing about Hatch reels is that I have never had one fail. I have sent reels back because they were no longer working as well as I expect them to. The good news is I can send them in for repair at my leisure because they still function.

Oregon Steel

Let’s talk about customer service. For the record, I’ve sent lots of reels back to their respective manufacturers over the years. The service I’ve received has been a deal breaker for several otherwise decent reels. Sending your high dollar stuff back to the manufacturer is never a good time. What I don’t want to hear is something along the lines of “never seen that happen before”, or “we’re pretty backed up right now but we’ll do the best we can”. Here’s what you get from Hatch, “send it in, we’ll fix it and overnight it back to you”. Yeah, that’s it…I’m good with that. No excuses just fix it and be quick about it.

Design. Like I said, I’m not a real technical guy but I have pretty high standards. The current version of the Hatch reel is the Finatic, prior to that it was the Monsoon, and before that the Pulse. It’s the same reel inside but it’s gotten lighter and prettier. The spools and reels are all interchangeable and there are two spool options, large and mid. As a Spey guy I will note one thing that’s pretty relevant regarding design and Hatch; Hatch reels are consistently heavier than most of their competition. While on the surface this may sound like a disadvantage, it’s not. Fishing a Spey Rod requires a heavy reel, it acts like a counterweight in both casting and holding the rod it the swing position. The other silent advantage is the precise machining of the Hatch reels. Thin diameter running lines are en vogue and for good reason and aside from a fully caged reel none of the competition can keep the running line inside the reel; that’s a problem.

For me it’s easy to be Hatch guy. Without lots of words, form, fit and function or as the Hatch guys say “drag, durability and design”. Nailed it!

Sam Sickles | Steelhead Outfitters
www.steelheadoutfitters.com
541.400.0855

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Reports

Photo Credit Andrew Perrault

Gorge Fly Shop Fishing Report Archive 

May 11, 2015

Fishing continues to be consistent around the area for a variety of species and situations. May is a great time to be out on the water.

Rainbow Trout on the Deschutes River are the primary focus for our area fly anglers right now. This is very typical during the second half of May. The Salmonfly hatch has moved upstream of Maupin now and fish have turned on to the dry flies throughout a large portion of the river. Drowning a rubber-leg nymph under an indicator will produce nice fish early in the morning, but the dry fly action should be good this week through most of the river during the day, with both Golden Stone and Salmonfly patterns. A small caddis pattern should also catch some nice fish in the evenings if they turn off of the stoneflies.

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 are still showing in decent numbers. It is getting to be the mid-point in the run and we are looking at a great year so far. A few guys have picked them up on fly rods, but the best action has been on bait or plugs at Drano Lake and the Wind River, where boat anglers are producing good catch rates and nice bright fish. There are few fish still in the Lower Klickitat and Hood River, (the trap at Lyle Falls on the Klickitat only had one fish per day for several days last week), but both of those rivers historically fish better starting after Mother’s Day. Targeting Chinook on a fly rod is still a frustrating game, but I never underestimate a stubborn man with a good fly rod.

Just a reminder… the Klickitat River is only open below Lyle Falls (mile 1.4) and is only open there on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.... The river above LYLE FALLS is currently closed, and opens for summer steelhead on JUNE 1. Drano Lake is also closed on Wednesdays…

Winter Steelhead fishing has been done for a few weeks now, but historically, there are usually a few early Summer Steelhead in the area this time of year. The Clackamas, Sandy and the Kalama all tend to get an early summer steelhead run, usually starting in May. There is generally very little pressure this time of year for summer steelhead on those rivers. Traditionally, our summer fish don’t start showing up in the Gorge until quite a bit later in the season. There are usually a few (very few) caught early in June on the Klickitat after it opens, but then it is typically pretty tough until mid to late August when temps start to fall and the water clarity cleans up. (The Klickitat and Hood both run very muddy during the summer).

Smallmouth Bass are a really good option right now in the Columbia River, with bigger fish working the shallows aggressively. The level of the Columbia has gone up and down over three feet this past week, which dramatically reduced the productivity of bass fishing last week; but it was just temporarily. Things should level out a bit as the two local dams should be wrapping up their annual high-water push to get the salmon smolt downstream and fishing should return to its near epic levels. The fluctuations of river level move the fish around a lot and make it harder to keep their whereabouts in check. The bass would prefer a steady flow, and we should see more of that coming up soon.

The “smallies” are chowing down on a variety of flies, such as clousers, crayfish and big woolly buggers. A floating or intermediate sinking line will work just fine with an 8-10# leader and a six or seven weight fly rod. A boat is nice, and a float tube works great in a lot of places if the wind is down, but there are plenty of places that one can fish from shore.

The John Day River has also been fishing really well for smallmouth bass. It is a lot easier to access and the fish are very easy to catch. They love topwater poppers, ants, grasshoppers and dragonflies. There are plenty of fish, but the big 3#+ fish are less common than in the Columbia this time of year. It is a great place to take someone new to fishing, or if you have had a rough winter of steelheading and need to get that rod bent with little effort.

Many of our local lakes are fishing well right now for Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout. Pick a lake and it is likely fishing well. Timothy and Trillium Lakes near Government Camp, OR are both producing some very nice trout as well as Rock Creek Reservoir near Wamic, OR. Lost Lake is always a good spot to catch some fish, but not much in the way of solitude. The same goes for Kingsley Reservoir near Hood River. It’s a good fishery, but it is crowded with all walks of life from four wheelers and motorbikers to drunken twenty-somethings on vinyl alligator pool floats.

Goose Lake near Trout Lake, WA has been excellent for numbers of smaller trout. Rowland, Spearfish and Horsethief Lakes are fishing very well for stocked rainbows, as well as Maryhill Pond on the Washington side of Biggs Junction.

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.

Andrew Perrault
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Fishing Report: May 5, 2014

"Get out and Fish ~ Make your own report"

Fishing in the Gorge has been good. There are a lot of options open for anglers around here. For the most part, fishing will continue to improve for Chinook, bass and trout, and decline for steelhead as the spring run comes to an end this month.


Spring Chinook: Numbers have been good going through Bonneville Dam. 109,000 total for the year so far (as of 5/5). http://www.fpc.org/currentdaily/HistFishTwo_7day-ytd_Adults.htm

These are well above last year’s numbers (45,000) and the ten year average (69,000). Options are fairly limited for the fly angler, as most known holding runs are pretty busy, and there is not a ton of great access. The Wind River, Drano Lake and the Klickitat River have been kicking out some fish on the Washington side. Drano has been particularly good for the plug-pullers, however a guy with a small boat, sinking line and some bright flies can have a good chance at catching a “Springer” or two if they can stay out of the way of the big boats. The Wind and the “Klick” are only open in the lower few miles, and the Klick is only open a few days a week (Drano is also closed on Wednesdays), so be sure to check the regulations before you go as emergency closures are common. The Hood River is currently open for Spring Chinook, but effort has been light and reports have been limited. Mid-May is typically when catch rates increase in the tributaries.

Trout: There are rumors that Salmonflies have been spotted below Sherar’s Falls on the Deschutes River. This is just a little bit early than normal. We have heard that releases from Pelton Dam apparently have been keeping water temps up enough, along with the nearly 90 degree days we had last week, to get the bugs moving. Get ready, get geared up, they will be here soon. We have a good selection of Salmonfly dries and nymphs for you.

Lost Lake, Kingsley Reservoir and Laurence Lake have been fishing well. We heard of a few big trout and steelhead caught at Kingsley last week (I heard of a few 26” and a 31”). Stripping Woolly Buggers on a full sinking line off the edges of drop-offs has been productive. The Callibaetis hatch can be good if the weather cooperates. A Hare’s Ear Nymphs or a Parachute Adams should produce. Damsels should start popping if the weather is warm for a few days. Dragging a Carey Special around should start taking fish soon on the smaller, lower elevation lakes in the area (that warm up quickly), and later in the month for Lost Lake and other higher elevation lakes. Goose Lake is still inaccessible (snow) along with most of the lakes around Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.

Steelhead: The Hood River is still producing a few steelhead, both late winter and early summer fish. The run is traditionally late here and fishing should be fair to good through May, especially after some rain. Access is always the main problem with the Hood River, but fishing the mouth of the river for a few hours is always a good way to spend an afternoon. No reports from the Sandy or the Clackamas. The Klickitat is closed until June 1 and normally has a few early fish around for the opener. The Deschutes won’t see any steel until August or September.

Cowlitz: Just throwing this out there, because I went up there last weekend. Numbers of steelhead have been excellent through Barrier Dam and at the Blue Creek Hatchery, and the “Springers” are just starting to show up. Also quite a good number of decent sized cutthroat around (saw a nice fat 21” fish). Worth a go if you want to try something new. The floats from Barrier to Blue Creek, or from Blue Creek to Spencer/Massey both have great fly water. Look for flows under 10,000 cfs below Mayfield Dam.

Bass: Haven’t had too many (any) reports, but we saw a convoy of bass boats heading up the gorge last weekend, so assuming there was a tournament of some kind. It’s a good time of year for smallmouth. The impoundments on the sides of the Columbia can be good, as well as the main river if you have a bigger boat. Fish should be looking up and fairly aggressive with the warmer weather. Poppers, Woolly Buggers, Clousers, and Chernobyl Ants should work just fine if you can find the fish. Hopefully, a floating line would be all you need, as they should be in shallow this month. Icehouse Lake, Little Ashes Lake, Rowland Lake, and Horsethief Lakes are good bets on the Washington side of the river. Look for structure near the shore. No reports on the John Day, but I would think that has to do with people keeping their mouths shut instead of a lack of effort.

Shad: We are about a month away from a really fun, underrated fishery. The annual shad run in the Columbia can be really fun, and the action can be non-stop. Small bright flies fished deep and slow near the mouths of the tributaries can make for a really good day if you get the chance.

Give us a shout if you have any questions, need some fly recommendations or want more specific details about any of our local waters. 

Gorge Fly Shop Team

541 386-6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"