Cabinet Gorge Reservoir Fishing Report 5.2.17

I have been thinking of fly fishing for pike every since the new year hit. Yesterday, the day finally came. Conditions were very nice. Temperatures were in the high 50's, and the weather was partly cloudy with the occasional light rainstorm.

Water clarity was excellent in the main stem of the reservoir. The eddies and flats that were not impacted by the current had 3 feet of visibility. This made trying to spot shallow pike impossible.

Do you know how to rig for pike? Find out.

The pike I found were holding at the mouths of sloughs, and off small points in the current that created eddies. The magical depth seemed to be 5-10 feet. I spent way too much time trying to find them in the big open flats. Next time, I am running straight for the bigger moving water.

Check out our selection of flies online, and get ready for the season.

Whenever I found one pike, there were more. I didn't catch anything I consider "GIANT." The biggest was just over 10 lb. The bass however were healthy and sizable.

The smallies I caught and weighed were all in the 3-ish lb. range and full of eggs. The smallmouth were along similar points like the pike, but in 10-15 feet of water. I never found the smallmouth and pike together... I wonder why...

My fly of choice was a personal tie similar to a Musky Money, but to a smaller scale, and in Chartreuse. The smallmouth were caught on a purple with chartreuse tip robo worm I drop shot with a 3/8 weight.

Want to learn how to tie Dillon's bass fly, the Dill's Pickle?

Fishing was not hot by any means, but it was still very fun to get out and chase these aggressive predators.