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The Sandy River
The Sandy starts its life from Reid Glacier on the Southwest side of Mount Hood, and flows 56 miles before dumping into the Columbia River near Troutdale Oregon. In 1988 Congress deemed 25 miles on the upper river “Wild and Scenic”, so there are no houses, no traffic and if it wasn’t for the occasional commercial jet flying into the Portland Airport, you would swear you were 100 miles away from the nearest inhabitants.
In 2007 the Marmot was removed from the Sandy and Little Sandy Rivers, creating a once again, free flowing river for the first time since 1912. Now, years later we are seeing first hand the positive effects of a dam free watershed. The river as a whole is much more stable, with a fraction of the blow outs that we faced when the Dam was in, and the wild Steelhead population is as healthy as we have ever seen.
Sandy River Winter Steelhead
We fish the Sandy from December through Mid April for Winter Run Steelhead.
The fish will typically range from 8-12 lbs on a normal day.
We do see true trophies in the 20lb class every season. This is true Northwest style fishing.
Skagit heads, sink tips and Intruder type patterns.
Make sure to pack a good, truly waterproof rain coat and plenty of layers to keep warm.
Even if the weather starts out dry, there can easily be a downpour or a couple inches of snow by the time the day ends.
In true Pacific Northwest Fashion.