It is August, the final month of summer and the peak of outdoor activity in the Mt. Hood area. Hot weather and free schedules bring people from all over the state and even the country to hike, boat, raft, and of course, fish. The fishing here is very popular during this time of year, as evidenced by the dozens of boats that constantly dot Timothy, Trillium, and Clear Lake. However, the fishing is not necessarily the best during August, as the waterways shrivel up and trout are forced down into the depths to sulk. Despite this, the fishing can still be good in places that receive a regular influx of cold water. One of these places is the Oak Grove Fork.
Meandering for seven miles out of Timothy Lake, this tributary of the Clackamas holds excellent habitat for cutthroat, brook, rainbow, and brown trout. Wanting to escape the crowds and heat of other lakes and rivers, I headed here early in the morning to do some fly fishing.
I just slid/fell down that cliff.
The first spot I fished at is nicknamed "the Burm." It has some of the best trout habitat of the river, but can be difficult and dangerous to access. Since it requires descending and subsequently climbing a 100 foot cliff, I headed there early so I wouldn't have to scale it in 90 degree heat. Upon reaching the river, I immediately began casting into the numerous pools with a size 14 Bead Head Pheasant Tail. Fishing was slow to start, but I picked up a few nice Cutthroats.
Moving downstream, I found one of the many log piles that dot the river. Most are dangerous and unfishable, but this one houses some of the largest trout in the river. Landing them can be tricky, especially with the balancing one had to do on the narrow, slippery logs.
However, there were no monsters to be had. I caught a few smaller trout before moving upstream (the river becomes shallow and choppy after the logs).
I had never fished upstream of the Burm before, so I was curious to see what the fishing would be like. Dodging branches and pricker bushes, I eventually found a small dam formed by the Stone Creek Hydroelectric Project. I did not take a picture of it, mainly because I was so entranced by an extremely attractive stretch of water just upstream of it. A few casts into the deep riffle, my indicator jerked down and I was into a nice fish.
Although not what one would call "big," it was still a larger than average fish for the river. After a lengthy fight, I released it before hooking into another fish. This one, although smaller, fought even harder. It raced around and even jumped upon being hooked. It made me suspect that it might be one of the uncommon Oak Fork Rainbows. However, it had the distinctive throat markings of a Cutthroat, and not many features of a cut-bow. It must have just been an unusually scrappy one.
Many fishermen, including myself, wonder how these trout show up in the river in the first place.
There are two culprits. One was the formation of Timothy Lake. Before it was dammed, the Oak Grove Fork was a free-flowing section of the Clackamas. Cutthroat had been native to the area for thousands of years, and Brook trout had been stocked by homesick anglers from the east coast. When the dam was built, the population was divided between those in Timothy Lake and those in the Oak Grove Fork. Ironically, the cutthroat in the OGF have fared much better than those in Timothy, due to not having to compete with thousands of stocked rainbows.
My attempt at an "artsy" black-and-white photo. In reality, I accidentally set my camera to the wrong setting.
Secondly, the OGF drains directly into Harriet Lake. As a result, fish from there are able to swim up into the river. The Brown Trout do this, but mainly to spawn. Rainbows do as well, and I have caught individuals of this species as far upstream as the dam. There might have been native Rainbows here at some point, but it is likely that they would have all interbred with the hatchery fish and dissolved their genes in the thousands of stockers.
The famous toilet seat of the Oak Grove Fork that has been here for years. I would remove it, but I don't like the idea of touching it.
Back to the fishing, I checked out numerous other sections of the river, catching good numbers of fish. I experimented heavily with flies, trying Pheasant Tails, Prince Nymphs, Purple Hazes, Caddises, Royal Coachmans, and Soft Hackles. All produced fish.
After fishing for nearly five hours, I was ready to call it a day. However, I still wanted to fish the normally productive tailwater right by the Timothy Lake dam. Fishing here is good, as well as exhilarating due to the constant spray of mist from the dam. It can soak you to the bone and can be very refreshing in the summer.
Try not to think about the dam bursting.
The water here is weedy and more fast-flowing than in other parts of the river. As a result, the fish can be much more aggressive and eager-to-strike. Since I wanted to use a fly that had excellent buoyancy, I chose the Kam's Caddis.
What it lacks in beauty and durability, it makes up for in fish.
This "original" pattern has a spun deer hair body that keeps it afloat very easily. I began casting it into riffles and pools with immediate strikes. All fought hard with the current and were carefully released.
In one spot, I hooked a fish and noticed as I was fighting it that there was a rainbow across the steam. Fumbling for my camera while trying to control the fish, I took a picture that was not nearly as cool looking as I would have hoped. It was still pretty awesome, though.
I landed the fish, and took a picture before releasing it. At that point, I was less than ten feet from the dam, and my clothes were soaking wet. I decided it was high time to head back.
Although it was not an unusually good time of year to catch cold water fish, I still showed that the fishing can always be good in the Mt. Hood area as long as you are willing to explore and stay off the beaten path. Instead of getting skunked with the hordes of tourists at Timothy, I had a great day catching and releasing fish just downstream of it. This is what fishing here is all about.
