The Fishing Calendar for Hood River and Big Y Fly Co

We are a bit different here than most destinations.  Take Montana for example.  On your trip to Montana, you will find tons of great trout water.  Lakes, rivers, streams, they have trout in them and you can fish for them in the spring, summer and fall.  

That is the scene in most locations.  You can find their local fish species and fish for them.  Guides will take you and you will have a great time. 

Here in the Columbia River Gorge, we have a different scene. We get plenty of folks that walk into the shop and want a half-day of trout fishing, but its not that simple here.  It's extremely seasonal, and each season brings a different species that we can fish for.  Its a bit complicated, but variety is the spice of life.  

We move across fisheries almost monthly.  We chase the fish that are here when they are here, and they are sometimes only here for a couple of weeks, then we move onto the next thing.  

There are some staples.  The Deschutes fishes pretty well for trout most of the time.  The Hood holds steelhead 365, and you can catch smallmouth in a couple of spots from spring through fall, but its shorter windows on most everything else.

Below, you will find a basic calendar of fishing in the Columbia River Gorge.