Hood River Trout

After a long, snowy winter(full of excellent snowboarding so I can't really complain), the roads up to the Hood County mountain lakes have been recently cleared of snow and freshly stocked with trout. The mini-steelheads are happy to be out of the hatchery and jumping for joy. Kayak fishing with light gear got you all the rainbows you could catch. The big daddy holdovers are still a little sleepy and not that active, although I did see a guy pull about a six or seven pound steelie out of the lake.
The snowmelt is causing raging rivers draining into the Columbia and is going to shut down the river fishing for awhile.

nice! which lake were you on? I've been trying to get to Ash & Kidney lakes on the Washington side, but house projects have been taking priority. maybe this week....

Laurence Lake is good, Lost Lake will be good as soon as they clear the road, which you think they would do with Memorial Day weekend coming up. There are a number of smaller lakes up in the hills that are used for irrigation. Some have fish, some don't. The fun is going up there and checking them out.

sweet, I've always wanted to go to Laurence, so this might be a good excuse. thanks.

If you head up to Laurence, keep an eye on the wind. If it's windy in the Gorge, it's windy at Laurence. If you head up to Laurence and the wind is howling, head over to Lost Lake instead, the wind won't be as bad. Both are great for kayak fishing.