East Side Opener Preview
Here in Oregon, we have two opening days for trout — what locals call the “East Side” opener on April 22, and the beginning of our general statewide trout season a month later on May 22.
The East Side opener is a fairly modest one, but it includes two waterbodies beloved by Portland-area trout anglers: the Warm Springs-adjacent sections of the Lower Deschutes River and Laurance Lake on the northeastern side of Mount Hood.
Lower Deschutes River
The vast majority of the water that will open to trout anglers on April 22 comes from the Lower Deschutes. The river closes seasonally from its outlet at Lake Billy Chinook to the
northern boundary of the Warm Springs Reservation, a span that includes beloved stretches like Mecca Flat, Whitehorse, Davidson Flats, and the Warm Springs to Trout Creek float.
The Lower Deschutes opener arrives just in time for anglers to spread out and enjoy the salmonfly hatch along its entire length. After April 22, you can fish the entirety of the lower river, from Lake Billy Chinook all the way to its confluence with the Columbia River just east of The Dalles. Remember, you always need a tribal permit to fish the reservation side of the Lower Deschutes.
Don’t Ignore Maupin
With all of the amazing fishing opening up around the Warm Springs stretch, don’t forget to pay attention to the water that stays open year round. Once the East Side opener takes place, people tend to fish only the Warm Springs area, which can get very busy, especially around the salmonfly hatch. Typically speaking, the salmonfly hatch arrives lower in the river system and works its way towards Warm Springs, but even after the salmonfly hatch has passed, don’t avoid the water above and below Maupin. You will find it much more open, and if you know where to look, you will find the big redsides everyone says only exist at Warm Springs.
Laurance Lake
Closer to home, just 20 miles south of Hood River, Laurance Lake offers up some of the best stillwater fly angling on all of Mount Hood. This deep reservoir receives inflow from Clear Branch Creek and Pinnacle Creek, two glacially fed tributaries of the upper Hood River watershed. Wild cutthroat, rainbow, and bull trout use these pristine little creeks — which are strictly closed to angling year-round — to spawn.
The Hood River is, historically speaking, a steelhead river. The trout that now find themselves landlocked above the Laurance Lake dam are the distant descendants of steelhead, not resident redsides, and it shows. These fish are almost golden in color, lightly spotted with a copper-red hue that isn’t confined to the lateral line but rather radiates out through the entire body of the fish. They grow big and fight hard, and are the cleanest wild rainbows an angler can catch up on Mount Hood.
The bull trout, while illegal to target, are encountered occasionally by spin and fly anglers alike — but their presence is the reason for Laurance Lake’s “no bait” regulations. Anglers are also not allowed to keep any wild fish, and Laurance is stocked sparsely to allow native populations to thrive. All of this conspires to keep away the majority of put-and-take anglers, rowdy kids, and total novices, making for a more pleasant fly-fishing experience.
Laurance is a deep lake, which makes it an ideal place to troll. It can get windy, so be sure you have a full intermediate line in your arsenal to get below the choppy surface. Anchoring can be difficult in the middle portions of the lake, but fish are distributed throughout and typically feed in the top 3–5 feet of the water column. Keep in mind that fishing is not allowed inside the marker buoys that protect the mouths of Pinnacle and Clear Branch Creeks, as a means of protecting bull trout. If you do encounter a bull trout, be sure to keep it in the water and release it unharmed. Barbless hooks aren’t required, but are highly encouraged.
Need A Floatation Device?
Laurance Lake is fished most easily from a floatation device, although at certain times when drawdowns have occurred, we have certainly caught them from the shore. But the most effective method in a lake is always going to be from a floatation device. If you don’t have a boat or a float tube, we sell and rent float tubes, pumps, and fins so you can get on the water.
Rent a Float Tube & Fins Shop Float Tubes
April 22, coincidentally, is Earth Day. What better way to spend it than out on the water, communing with nature in the way we all love most? Whether you spend your East Side opener strolling the long trail upstream from Mecca Flats or trolling the shorelines of Laurance Lake, we hope it’s a day to remember.
Â
About Joseph Beare
Joseph Beare is a guide for Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters and a regular contributor to the NWFFO blog and newsletter. A former sports reporter, Joseph has been telling stories about outdoor and athletic endeavors for more than 20 years. As a guide, he specializes in unique trout trips, including local year-round water in winter, alpine expeditions on Mount Hood in summer and spring, and searun cutthroat floats in the fall. You can find him on Instagram @pdxflycollective.