Normally, at this time of year the blog would be full of photos and fish stories about fishing for smallmouth bass on the Columbia River and trips into the high country for trout fishing, but this year is a little different. The weather determines what you can and can’t do around here and that is the case with the fishing. It has been unusually hot and dry so far this year. Daytime temperatures have regularly been in the nineties and yesterday the relative humidity was 7%, you don’t see that too often in the Pacific Northwest. The water level in the Columbia River is far lower than usual for this time of year and the water temperature is in the mid seventies. The water level changes with the amounts of water let over the many dams on the river, but it’s safe to say there is less water because of the dryer than normal winter and spring.
These conditions are having a major impact on the sport fishing. Prolonged periods of warm and low water are not good for the native fish populations. Conditions are so marginal that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has started to regulate fishing on most of Oregon’s rivers due to the drought conditions. The smallmouth bass have headed for the deeper parts of the Columbia River, the normally great smallmouth bass fishing has been below average, for sure. Dead fish are starting to wash up on the banks of the Columbia River. On top of all that, as far as kayak fishing goes, it has been windy so the fishing opportunities have been limited.
The salmon fishing season is coming up and we are wondering how these drought conditions are going to affect the fall salmon and steelhead runs. Environmental conditions change all the time around here, so you never know what’s going to happen. The bigger question is are these dry conditions short term or the initial signs of potential planetary climate change? Many unanswered questions, as there always are.