Gorge Fly Shop Blog: Columbia Gorge Fishing Report (November 9th)

Hood River: 11/05/15
Salmon visibly spawning lower right.

Fishing Report

Last week’s rains really got our rivers up and moving, which certainly helped move salmon and steelhead around. More rains predicted for this next week could help too. We shall see as the week progresses, but it looks like cold weather should deposit mountain snow and the rivers should be in prime shape.

Chinook Salmon are all but done. A large number of fish moved into the tributaries after last week’s high water event. There are salmon spawning all over the place, especially at the mouth of the Hood. Please let them spawn and die in peace. This has been a long journey for them.

Summer Steelhead: The local rivers all blew mud for most of last week. They started coming into shape Wednesday, and are improving dramatically as the weekend progresses here. The Deschutes is improving and should be in great shape this week. The Klickitat was in great shape Friday with 18” of visibility and improving. Jon and I did not manage to swing into a fish. It wasn’t due to lack of effort or conditions; both of which were stellar. We did spend a good chunk of the day exploring the upper part of the river as Jon had never seen it and I had never fished off the road up there, only floated through it.

The Hood River was looking good on Thursday with 2.5’ of visibility, but the powerhouse access was closed for construction, leaving the mouth of the river as the only place to fish. There are several dozen salmon spawning down there (see picture) and it is not holding many steelhead when there are that many Chinook on beds, so I left. Again, please refrain from fishing for spawning Chinook; it is prohibited to fish for Chinook in the Hood River right now. I have already fielded several calls inquiring about how to catch them since they moved in this week and are visible from the footbridge near the mouth of the river.

Targeting Chinook in the Hood River is prohibited after June 15.

Trout fishing is closed on several local lakes and streams now. Please consult the regulations before fishing.

Areas closed for trout include: East Fork Hood, Hood River (for trout), Eagle Creek, and the Deschutes upstream of the northern boundary of the Warm Springs Reservation. The White Salmon above the county road bridge below the powerhouse (old dam). Laurence Lake is also closed, as well as the Metolius River above Allingham Bridge.

Areas open for trout include: Deschutes downstream of the Warm Springs Reservation (Maupin area and downstream are open), Lost Lake, Goose Lake (WA), The White Salmon from the mouth upstream 2 or so miles to the old county bridge and Yakima River. November trout fishing can be really good, especially big fish eating big meaty streamers. Get out your favorite streamer patterns and go!

Smallmouth Bass fishing has been tough now that the level of the Columbia is so low. Ryan did not catch a single bass last week when he went out. This was the first time since moving out here last year that de didn’t get at least one in a day of fishing. The temps are dropping, which is good.

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.