By Mark Morical / The Bulletin
Published: December 01. 2011 4:00AM PST

Steelhead counts at dams on the Columbia River are down from last year, according to Rod French, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist based in The Dalles.

The forecast steelhead run at the Columbia’s Bonneville Dam was 390,000 fish. It appears now that the run will be about 370,000 fish, according to French.

The ODFW does not make specific fish-run forecasts for the Deschutes, but steelhead returning to the Deschutes River from the Pacific Ocean must make their way over both Bonneville Dam and The Dalles Dam on the Columbia before they can turn south into the Deschutes.

“Compared to last year, certainly it’s down some,” French said this week of the steelhead count. “We had a very robust run last year. Everything is down slightly, but real close to the 10-year average. It’s still excellent fishing.”

Steelhead anglers can fish from the mouth of the Deschutes on the Columbia River all the way to Round Butte Dam on the north end of Lake Billy Chinook, a stretch of some 100 miles.

French noted that most of the steelhead on the Lower Deschutes have moved upstream of Maupin and can be found in areas such as Warm Springs, Mecca Flat, Trout Creek and South Junction. Anglers are flocking to those popular fishing locations.

“You won’t find solitude, but that’s where the bulk of the fish are this time of year,” French said. “You can still have some real nice weather and fishing can still be quite good. Search out slower water areas.”

As the river cools with the onset of winter, French explained, steelhead move into slower water to conserve energy before they spawn in the Lower Deschutes’ tributaries in the spring.

“They don’t have as much energy in the cold weather, so they spend more time holding in slow water,” French said.

As the water temperature continues to drop, steelhead become progressively less active and aggressive, the biologist observed. The fishing usually tapers off by January, as the fish are inactive or have already moved into tributaries to prepare to spawn.

The steelhead spawn sometime around late April in tributaries of the Deschutes such as Trout Creek, the Warm Springs River, and Shitike Creek. Fishing is prohibited in the tributaries.

French said that most of the Lower Deschutes steelhead run has consisted of one-salt fish, steelhead that have spent one year in the ocean and range in size from 4 to 7 pounds. He reported a “fair number” of two-salt fish, which have spent two years in the ocean and range from 7 to 14 pounds.

Occasionally, steelhead anglers on the Lower Deschutes will land out-of-basin fish from the Clearwater River system in Idaho that French said are “quite large.”

Most fly anglers this time of year have switched from dry flies to sinking flies and sink-tip leader, as bug activity on the water surface has declined. Two-handed spey casting, also called “swinging,” has become extremely popular among steelhead fly anglers on the Deschutes.

Gear fishermen typically use spinners or casting plugs to land steelhead.

Anglers on the Lower Deschutes are permitted to keep two adult steelhead per day. One additional adipose fin-clipped (hatchery) steelhead may be retained per day for a total of three adult fish harvested daily. Wild steelhead (no fin clip) must be released unharmed.

“We have lots of anglers that will limit, catch three a day,” French said. “It still can be very good fishing.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com