Where to Fish - White Salmon River

Part of our series on fishing locally in the Hood River/Columbia Gorge area. Species:  Rainbow trout, winter and summer steelhead, chinook a...

Part of our series on fishing locally in the Hood River/Columbia Gorge area.

Species:  Rainbow trout, winter and summer steelhead, chinook and coho salmon.

Seasons:  Please check regulations.  Varying seasons have changed almost yearly.

Location.  Husum, WA.  10 minutes north of Hood River.

Summer and Winter Steelhead in the White

This is a very unique river in the area.  Very cold, clear water are not actually as commonplace here as we wish.  The Hood and the Klickitat can become too muddy to fish during the summer, and the Deschutes can reach dangerously warm temperatures.  Having a little cold, clear stream is nice during these hot summers. 

The White Salmon flows from Mt. Adams south through the towns of Trout Lake, BZ Corner and Husum before meeting the Columbia almost directly across from the town of Hood River.  

Please check regulations.  The river has been closed to steelhead fishing in recent years.  Trout season is late May - October 31, but the lower river is open year-round for trout fishing (again, please double check the regulations, they keep changing).  Salmon seasons vary depending on predicted and observed run sizes.

So many waterfalls inhibit boating

The Condit Dam was removed in 2011. Check out the video here.  This dam was only about a mile and a half upstream of the mouth, and it prevented upstream passage of salmon and steelhead for about a century.  Establishing a healthy run of salmon and steelhead will take a generation or more to fill in the upstream habitat, but the cold water still draws plenty of salmon and steelhead into the lowest mile of river.  The fish prefer the colder water of the White Salmon over the warmer water in the Columbia, so they will use the river mouth as a cold water refuge during the summer.  This provides decent fishing opportunities at the mouth of the river.

Husum Falls is huuuuge

One note about this fragile river:  When the dam came out, all stocking of fish ceased.  The river is being allowed to repopulate naturally.  Please be very careful and release wild steelhead and trout.

Access at the mouth is decent.  There are a couple of pullouts along the highway near the river in the lowest mile or so.  Looking upstream, there are several large rapids/waterfalls just past that flat water that looks so inviting in the lower river.  There are a couple of class V+ floats that are run commercially by a couple of rafting companies, but guided fishing trips are not feasible or allowed under USFS rules. Even the rafting companies make the clients walk around at least one of the waterfalls.

Trout from the White

There is some access at Northwestern Lake Park, which once was a reservoir, but now is a flowing river.  Maybe a half mile of riverside access exists in the park area with some decent trout fishing opportunities.

Access to the upper river is very limited.  There are two bridges over the river at Husum, but the accessible water at the bridges is poor for fishing.  Worth a look if you are there, but I have not had any success in Husum.

BZ Corner offers the next access point upstream.  Past that, the river gets very skinny.  There are trout in the White Salmon near the town of Trout Lake and upstream, but we would recommend going on over to Trout Lake Creek if you are upstream that far.  Trout Lake Creek is a tributary of the White and it has better trout fishing. 

So in conclusion, at least the lower part of the White Salmon is a fun place to fish in the summer.  There are some trout, salmon and steelhead in the lower river.  The river is extremely cold and usually stays pretty clear in the summer.  The access is easy at the mouth and it is easy to walk around in the river bottom.  Access above the lowest mile is nearly nonexistent and of poor quality where it exists.  The river mouth is a really fantastic area to spend some time fishing on a hot day.