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| It's that time of year again... cool mornings followed by late burn offs as the days get shorter and warmer temps become fewer and fewer. |
Fishing Report
Fishing continues to be stellar across the region as we
leave Fishtember and enter into Fishtober.
Chinook Salmon are still thick throughout the region, but brighter fish will soon become outnumbered by colored up pre-spawn fish. This clears out a bit of room for steelhead in the runs as the salmon move towards shallower spawning areas. We are still a few weeks away from the bulk of spawning activity, but the salmon are getting ready. We have nearly surpassed the record runs of the past few years. 1.24 million total Chinook for the year is an all time record and 865,000 Fall Chinook is a close second to the epic run of 953,000 in 2013 with a few weeks to go! These are numbers going through Bonneville Dam, so the run was much bigger as commercial fishermen and lower
This also marks the time of year that Chinook start to “bed
up” on their spawning gravel, otherwise known as redds. Please respect the incredibly long and
difficult journey that these fish have made and avoid walking through spawning
areas or fishing at spawning salmon.
They have made it this far, so let’s allow them to spawn and die in
peace so that we can have more salmon in a couple of years. If you see dark colored salmon in shallow water,
they are likely trying to spawn. A
spawning Chinook does not put up much of a fight and you are taking away the
last reserves of energy that it has left for its final act. If you see someone fishing at spawning
salmon, please respectfully say something and suggest that they move on to
better water. We don’t need any
confrontation, just education. Thank you
so much and fish on!
Coho Salmon are soon to follow the Chinook and are expected to
also produce large numbers here in the Gorge, although they are way behind last
year’s numbers so far... The “ocean
abundance” (total run) last year was predicted at 950,000 and this year s
predicted to be down 20% at 777,000. http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/mar0215a/ Coho are typically more dependent on rains to
get moving, so I expect that the lateness of the run is due to the lack of rain
than anything, but we shall wait and see…
Coho are a bit more fun on the fly and are a little easier
to catch. While most of the fish stay
below Bonneville, we do get great opportunities here, mostly on the lower
Klickitat. Give it two weeks and the
numbers should start to jump up to good, catchable numbers.
Summer Steelhead are in the rivers in good numbers now. Dry line fishing is the prime technique on
the Deschutes ,
while guys on the Klickitat tend to
fish more with sink tips and bigger flies.
The clarity on the Deschutes is still
great. The reports are varied, but
overall, people are reporting good fishing throughout the region.
The Hood River Columbia is low enough to provide good flow
down there, but there has been little to report in the way of catching
steelhead. (The Columbia has been too high and that run is
under water and not moving much lately).
What they have told me is that a number of anglers are intentionally
snagging the Chinook that are waiting to spawn in the lowest 200 yards of the
river when there is any current. Targeting Chinook in the Hood River
Lost Lake, Trillium
Lake and Timothy Lake
Smallmouth Bass fishing
has been good. Fish are really active
and eating a variety of lures, flies and baits.
Finding good numbers of fish without a boat is tough. Advice for the month: make friends with
people that own bass boats.
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.
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