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Gorge Fly Shop | River Reports |
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 Report for 4/09/13 River was on the rise and peaked near 3000 CFS...without blowing out. In these situations where the river rises but doesn't blow out, fishing can still be good. Most folks assume the river is blown and won't even bother. A quick trip to the river to check it out could pay big dividends.  When fishing high water conditions you'll want to focus on fishing the softer edges near the shore. These are sweet spots when the river is running high and fairly easy to spot. Depending on conditions, rivers can rise but still have ample visibility. Yesterday I was wading waist deep and could just see my feet, so I had about 3' of visibility looking down into the river...keep in mind that the fish have much better visibility due to the fact they are looking up and your fly is silhouetted against the light. You'll want to shorten your sink tips and try lightly weighted to non-weighted flies so they continue to swim and not die in the soft edges near the shore due to being too heavy. Flies that still have a big profile but don't carry a lot of weight and fish well in these conditions are the "Fish Taco" or a lightly weighted "Reverse Marabou Tube Fly" are a few of my favorites. Yesterday at near 2800 CFS I was Abel to get out before work and hook and land about an 8-9 pound wild steelhead. The river dropped considerable over night and was about 1800 CFS this morning. Went out again for a short time before work and utilized the techniques mentioned above and caught a dandy 11-12 pound hatchery chromer. So get out there...you can't catch em if you don't go...if I had to wait for perfect fishing conditions my days of fishing would be few... Report for 3/26/13
Well, finally a bit of moisture to spice things up. It’s been tough fishing out there for fly anglers over the past couple of weeks, leaving many scratching their shivering heads in the cold, clear waters around The Gorge. The Sandy, Clack and Hood all got a bump in levels and already, the reports are sprinkling in about bright steelhead eating flies on the Clackamas. Not a huge bump, but just enough to get fish moving and zest up those dour attitudes. After a long winter, the hope of spring is finally here. With the change of season comes new fly fishing opportunities around the Columbia Gorge. While the Deschutes has been giving up some decent Blue Wing Olive hatches over the past month, dry fly season really starts cooking with the arrival of March Browns. A fairly large mayfly, March Browns are hard to miss when the come off the water. Look for the hatch to get going around 11:00am. This time of the year the fish are typically relating to back eddies and softer water. However, with the Deschutes running at 6200 cfs, don’t overlook riffles that would normally be to fast for this time of the year. Come to the river armed with March Brown parachutes, blue wing extended bodies and BWO emergers. Also, it’s not uncommon to see a few Skwala stoneflies out there as well. Although this is not a major hatch, it pays to have a few in your box. Prior to and after the hatch, try nymph fishing with fox tail squirrel nymphs (#14-#16), pheasant tails (#20-#22), Jimmy Rubber Legs (#6) and San Juan Worms. Steelhead The winter steelhead game has remained somewhat spotty. Some days the fishing has been great, other days you have to work for them. -Sounds like winter steelheading, right? We had a good flush of water last week that brought new fish into theHood,Sandy and Clackamas rivers. With a dry, warm weather forecasted for the week, the rivers will continue to drop. Sunshine in the winter is a blessing and a curse. The fish are less active when the sun is shining yet the warming of the water makes them more aggressive. Bottom line; focus your fishing efforts in the low light time periods and enjoy the sun and spring weather in the mid-day. Good Luck! In this article by Tom Larimer, he discusses the how changing river conditions influence sink tip selection and fishing methods. It’s a great read and a must read for those anglers hoping to tailor their tactics to fit present conditions. Presently, with the added bump in levels, we are now in a time of transition. Levels have peaked and now are on a steady decline. This is a great time for swing anglers, as fish will spread out more and travel a little higher in the water column to take a fly. Moving through the week, the forecast is calling for more moisture with certain rivers expecting to rise a little, which is all quite dependant on freezing levels. Although moisture is predicted, rivers are not expected to blow out. So with a few small bumps here and there coupled with warmer temperatures, we should start to experience some better fishing. Check out our Facebook Page for more up to date reports Contact our staff at our fly shop for up to the minute fishing reports.
541.386.6977 or email at: info@gorgeflyshop.com "Fly Fish the World with Us" Local Weather Reports:
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