2026 Summer Fishing Report

During the doldrums days of July and August, with temps in the high twenties/low thirties, fishing the local reservoirs is still pretty good. With calmer wind and wave conditions, anglers will do well. The walleye are there and on the bite. Whether it’s Travers, Mcgregor, Crawling Valley and all of their kin, these lakes are producing. The trick is to catch the fish that are in the slot size or on your special license. That is definitely the crux of the matter! Releasing plus 55cm. fish is a mixed bag of emotion, happy to catch them, happy to see them, sad to let them go…

Foothills streams, in these high temps, are a bit of a challenge. Runoff is basically done but heavy rains can alter stream conditions. Experienced fly fishers will read the flow conditions and plan their strategies accordingly. They will still enjoy some bent rod action!

WEST COAST NEWS
Just returned from an epic west coast fishing experience. We caught eleven different species in one day! I won’t disclose the location but WOW! despite the dire messaging from various sources, there are lots of chinook, coho, ling and halibut around. Sizes are averaging smaller than in the hay days, but numbers of fish are still robust. When considering a west coast adventure, do your due diligence. Do you really want to pay a thousand dollars a day to keep one or two fish? Check catch and possession limits for the area you wish to fish. They vary widely and wildly!

It’s basically a ‘meat fishery’, catch and release only happens with fish who don’t meet the size/retention limits and that is entirely a different mind set from what freshwater anglers are used to. For current and very up to-date reports for all coastal regions, check Island Fisherman monthly magazine.

Wishing all readers some bent rod action!

Peter Varga
ODFGA Fish Chair