Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 1 17 16

Fishing Report

We had one week of low water conditions, and now our local rivers are on their way back up.  This is great news for winter steelhead junkies.  In an typical year, there is a lull in steelhead numbers during mid to late January, before the later spring fish start really coming through in mid-February.  Not that there are not a whole bunch of fish around; winter has been great so far and our rivers are full of steelhead.  So dont look at the Bonneville Dam counts and come to the conclusion that there arent any fish around.  It only takes one and there are plenty of nice steelhead in all of our rivers.  

As long as the Pacific Ocean keeps pumping rain and snow at us, we should continue to see great fishing throughout the region.  Pick your favorite river and get your swing on.  Just keep an eye on the levels and dont try to fish rivers when they are too high.  Some of them dirty up really quick and others can stay in great shape after heavy rains.  Some rivers get really high and are dangerous to wade or float, so please be aware of your surroundings and conditions  

Rainbow trout fishing has been great on the Deschutes.  It is now open for trout all the way to Pelton Dam. Midges and Blue Wing Olives are the most productive patterns right now, but streamers have been working well too.  

Andrew Perrault
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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Winter Troutin 2016

Ice on the my rod guides and Trout in my hand, Priceless!

Why do I do it? I can give a dozen reasons not to do it like frozen guides, icy cold water, lethargic fish, frozen reels, numb hands, frozen snot and the list goes on. Now clear your mind for a minute and focus on the fishing. Youre in a stream with no one else around. The air is crisp and clean. The sounds you hear other than your own can only be of nature. The fish that eat are the strongest in their environment. Just like you, theyre not lying around being lazy. Just like you, winter trout have learn to embraced the cold and strive to live a life of solitude and peace even when it would just be easier to rest back in deep holes and sip on midge larvae all winter.

Those words are as much to encourage myself as they are to encourage others. You see I dont need another excuse to not go winter troutin but when I put it all aside and finally get to release a strong beautiful fish like the one in the picture all of the excuses to not do it are erased.

How to do it

coffee break

I set out on this cold winters day to float about 5 miles of river in my Outcast Stealth Pro. I especially like to float this time of year. Its so much easier to cover water this way instead of trying to access everything on foot. Snow, mud and ice on foot makes trekking very treacherous. Its much easier to float plus I get to cover a lot of water. Im only looking for the most active eager fish and I find them in current on seams where the water is alive and oxygenated.

On this day I had three rods with me. Thats another advantage of floating, you can carry multiple rods.  My tried and true Winston BIIIX 4110-4 Microspey with a Bauer CFX #4 Trout spey reel. I loaded it with the Airflo Switch Streamer line of 330gr and 10 foot of T-7 Sink Tip. I must confess I modified the Airflo line. Everything is perfect about this line except the abnormally large running line part of it. I couldnt take no more so I chopped it at the back side of the head and applied a RIO Braided loop so I could connect it to RIO SlickShooter mono shooting line. Im not suggesting everyone should do this. Try it first and you might be fine with it. I made it through last year fishing it but winter freezing temps finally made me give up on it. Too thick to work in icy guides and shooting lines such as mono are much better for this cold weather fishing.

Peregrine Falcon

My next outfit is the new Sage ONE 3110-4 Trout Spey coupled with a Lamson Litespeed #3 reel and the RIO Intouch Switch Chucker #3. The Sage rod feels great! Ill be doing a full review on it in the near future once Ive had a chance to fish it some more with some different lines and heads. Right away this grip on the Sage feels so great...It just fits me and the rod balances perfect. What I didnt like on this day was the Switch Chucker. I just dont get this line. It just doesnt turn over for me easy. Maybe its me or maybe I expect too much from it. I started out with 8 foot of T-7 sink tip but backed off to a 10 foot fast sinking polyleader. It still seamed difficult to turn over.  Maybe it needs a 5 foot polyleader or just a regular leader. I will fish the Sage rod again soon with the RIO Skagit Trout Max heads and also try my favorite scandi the RIO Scandi Short VersiTip. I wished I had the VersiTip with me this day. It would have been ideal for some of the slower riffles that were holding fish. The sink tips I was fishing were too much for them.

Mr Brown hammered a streamer in icy cold water

My third outfit was a 9 7wt unnamed rod lets consider it a prototype coupled with a Bauer CFX #4 Trout Spey reel. For lines I had a RIO 0.024" Powerflex shooting line looped to a OPST 225gr. Commando head and 8 foot of T-7 Sink tip. I cant begin to describe how fun this setup is. Just think about what you want to achieve and do it. Roll cast like a dream, overheads easy and spey is just too fun. Set you anchor and let it rip or perform a touch and go cast. These super short commando heads bring life to single hand rods in ways that one should not overlook. I found myself fishing small micro seams that I used to pass over because my two hand rods were just to much for these little pockets. With OPST Commando heads or the RIO Skagit Trout Max heads I am now seeing new water to fish and its paying off. The trout on the top of the page came on this outfit on a micro seam.

Towards the end of my float is a long great swing run. Another advantage of floating is I was able to set up on the opposite side of the river of were it could be foot accessed. A nymph angler was across the way so I stayed clear of him. I was backed up tight to the bank and needed to Snap T cast to set up my swing. A minute later the nymph guy yelled down and said "Nice Snap T!" I yelled back and said you are the first person on this river to know what that is. I went on and caught a couple and he also caught a couple. When I left I rowed my boat across river and up the back eddy to the guy. Got out and chatted. Yep he lived in the NW and had been spey fishing for 20 years on the peninsula and BC. He continued to fish as we chatted and I couldnt help noticing the double spey he was doing with his single hand nymph rod setup. The only reason I bring this up is that it doesnt matter what technique youre doing out there anyone can benefit from some two hand techniques. After watching him perform endless double speys I had no reason to doubt any word he spoke of his steelhead experiences. He wasnt thinking about what he was doing, he was just doing it.

So back to the question "Why do I do it?"
 I think the answer to that is somewhere in this article

More articles like this one in Trout Spey Chronicles

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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Ross Reels A Closer Look at the Animas and Cimarron II

Back by popular demand!
The original Double R logo

Its been about a year now since Ross Reels announced their return to a fly reel ONLY company and I have to say we were glad to hear the news. After Ross Reels acquired the new ownership from a company called the Mayfly Group (who happens to also own Abel Fly Reels) it was decided that the right direction for Ross was to drop the line of imported rods and get back to their roots of building high quality USA made fly reels.  

Ross Animas
The Animas is named after the Animas River that flows through Southwest Colorado and conjoins the San Juan River in Northwest New Mexico. Some key features to note about the Animas is the machined aluminum reversed taper crank, tool-less easy right-to-left conversion and a time honored drag system taken from the indestructible CLA and remodeled with some high grade component upgrades.

Animas Specifications

Model	Diameter	Width	Weight	Rod wt	Line
3/4	3.125"	0.97"	4.3 oz	3/4	WF3+75yds/20#
4/5	3.25"	0.97"	4.5 oz	4/5	WF4+100yds/20#
5/6	3.50"	1.01"	4.9 oz	5/6	WF5+150yds/20#
7/8	3.875"	1.09"	7.0 oz	7/8	WF8+200yds/20#
9/10	4.25"	1.17"	8.5 oz	9/10	WF9+250yds/30#
10/12	4.625"	1.19"	9.5 oz	10/12	WF12+275yds/30#

Ross Cimarron II
The Cimarron II replaces the aging CLA (Cimarron Large Arbor). The Cimarron II models the drag system from its predecessor but sees some upgrades including some new composite  and stainless steel materials resulting in a much more powerful drag pressure while maintaining smooth startup inertia. In keeping with the CLA tradition the new Cimarron II offers high performance large arbor disc drag design in a lightweight economical USA built fly reel.

Cimarron Specifications

Model	Diameter	Width	Weight	Rod wt	Line
3/4	3.125"	0.97"	4.77 oz	3/4	WF3+75yds/20#
4/5	3.25"	0.97"	4.85 oz	4/5	WF4+100yds/20#
5/6	3.50"	1.01"	5.11 oz	5/6	WF5+150yds/20#
7/8	3.875"	1.09"	6.82 oz	7/8	WF8+200yds/20#
9/10	4.25"	1.17"	7.54 oz	9/10	WF9+250yds/20#

Oh and the one of the best changes that happened at Ross Reels was the return of the double R logo! Sometimes you have to take a step back to see the correct path forward!

Ross is Back!

Just Wrong!

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 1 4 16

Photo courtesy of Sam Sickles - Steelhead Outfitters

Fishing Report

It’s gotten cold, really cold. Water temps in most western rivers are in the mid thirties. Prior to that temps were hovering around forty and we were finding some fish. The last two steelhead I saw caught came on a third pass and a second pass respectively. What that means is, slow down. I generally take three to four steps between casts but right now the fish are glued to the river bottom and don’r want to move, so slow down and be meticulous. If you aren’t hanging a fly here and there you’re probably not close enough to the fish so tip up or fish a weighted fly and a bit longer leader.


The good news is we’ve got a good batch of early steelhead and they are grabby. Here’s a tip; when river temps reach rock bottom (right now) there’s only one way to go and that’s up. I know you’re thinking, Duh! What I mean is it’s tough to fish water temps on the decline, the fish get lethargic. The opposite is true for rising temps even if they are really low, so watch for warmer water temps, even a degree or two and be ready for fish that become a little more aggressive as the days warm up.


For now, heavy tips and heavy flies casting to the deeper slower water. Good luck.

Sandy River Steelhead

Sam Sickles

Steelhead Outfitters

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

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G Loomis NRX Fly Rods Sales Event Changes for 2016

Its a good time to be a G.Loomis fan.

Never before has there been a sale on NRX Fly and Spey rods. 

View Sale Items!

Since conception the G. Loomis NRX is one serious rod to contend with! Other manufacturers scrambled to come up with a design to match the performance and durability of the NRX and most contenders have yet to equal the abilities of this Nano Resin creation.

NRX Fly and Spey Rods

The original color Stealth Matte Black with Blue wraps identified with the bold power the NRX is capable of while the next year came the second color of Evergreen with Green wraps which defines the gentle forgiving nature of the Nano Resin Technology.

Both colors deserve the right to adorn the NRX. Countless inquiries about what one color is the proper choice only led all discussion into a stalemate stance.

So what is the right color choice? Sometimes the obvious answer is not in our own opinions but better matched to the environment in which we place the subject in. Since the NRX line of rods spans the anglers needs from lite presentation trout streams to the explosive power of unforgiving saltwater beast such as tarpon and Permit it was concluded that no one color could properly identify across the board spectrum.

For 2016 the choice was made to establish color identification to the NRX family of fly rods. The NRX Trout, Trout LP, Trout Nymph, Salmon/Steelhead and Two Hand Spey will acquire the Evergreen color while the Saltwater and Saltwater Pro-1 NRX fly rods with be identified with Matte Black / Blue Wraps.

We believe a wise choice has come about that in the end helps everyone. The angler will better understand the thought behind each individual rod, the dealer will see improved availability and G.Loomis will see a more streamline manufacturing that will allow time for future innovations.

With this change comes some inventory that needs to be cleared. Here is a list of models and colors that are affected...

• NRX Lite Presentation - All Matte Black w/Blue Wraps
• NRX Trout - All Matte Black w/Blue Wraps
• NRX Nymph - All Matte Black wBlue Wraps
• NRX Salmon / Steelhead - All Matte Black w/Blue Wraps
• NRX Two Hand Spey - All Matte Black w/Blue Wraps
• NRX Salt - All Evergreen w/Green Wraps
• NRX Salt Pro 1 - All Evergreen w/Green Wraps

View our Inventory!

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Columbia Gorge Fishing Report 2 16 16

Jeff and my dog Hendrix on a coastal stream

Fishing Report

Local rivers are on their way back up, and we will have another good opportunity for anglers to hit winter steelheadas the flows drop.  All of the local rivers should see an influx of fish when the levels peak.  Our favorites within an hour drive are the Sandy, Clackamas, Washougal, and the Hood.  Within two hours, we can hit the Kalama, Cowlitz, East Fork Lewis and the Santiam.  Portlanders have a nice location as all of the coastal rivers are within a reasonable drive. 

Jeff forgot his wading boots.  Gorilla tape is key

Rainbow Trout fishing has been great on the Deschutes.  If you are looking for a nice change of pace and are overwhelmed with the number of steelhead anglers on seemingly every river, take a day to go trout fishing on the Deschutes.  It is open all the way up to Pelton Dam now and there has been very little pressure. 

Trout are eating Skwala nymphs, March Browns in both nymph and adult stage, along with Blue Wing Olives.  The Skwala nymph should be a go-to for most of the day because of the large size and easy target; they provide a ton of calories quickly.  Fish a Skwala nymph doubled with a smaller mayfly nymph to be doubly effective.  The March Browns and Blue Wings are not entirely consistent as far as hatches go, so they may or may not provide any dry fly fishing on any particular day.  March Browns tend to hatch when it’s warm and sunny, while the Blue Wings tend to hatch on cloudy days.  Blue Wings also often hatch in back eddies and in soft water near the side of the river, where March Browns are more of a typical mayfly and hatch in and near riffles. 

Swinging and twitching streamers can also produce some nice fish this time of year.  Sculpins and leeches are good food for trout, and presented slowly their imitations can be very productive. 

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 Fishing Report"

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