Being a frugal sort, the expenditure of copious amounts of cash for fuel kind of grates on my sensibilities. But my frugal self is often overpowered by my stronger fishing self. Sometimes my mediator-self steps in and suggests a compromise. Fish close to town, it tells the other selves. And everyone goes away happy.

So this year, in the face of $5-per-gallon gasoline, I find myself fishing closer to town. Not my town so much, which is arguably the best fishing town in the West, but more properly stated: other towns. Last January, I fished close to Culver. In March, I fished near Tillamook and on the city limits of Heppner.

Now if you’re hoping to learn how to save a little gas by the time you finish this article, you may end up disappointed. On the bright side, I’ll tell you where to catch good fishing if you find yourself with a full tank of gas this month.

Shad fishing

One of the best fisheries in June is for shad on the Umpqua, the Columbia and the Willamette rivers. American shad were introduced to the American West in 1871 when fish were released in major rivers up and down the Pacific coast. Today millions of shad return to spawn in the spring. Plankton eaters, our American shad is the biggest of the herring species and averages 3 to 5 pounds. They bite and fight with abandon.

One great place to catch them is below the falls on the Willamette River at Oregon City.

They take small spoons like Dick Nites and Mack’s Lure Sonic Baitfish and red, yellow or chartreuse jigs. Fly-rodders can get them on small shad flies and darts. And they are a blast to catch.

A fisherman can have 50-plus fish days in June, and contrary to popular opinion, shad are good to eat. Hint: learn how to debone them. And shad roe is good to eat too. Fast fishing continues through mid-July.

Smallmouth bass fishing

Smallmouth bass are spawning later this year as the waters are still running cold, but June is a great month for smallies and when the water is running fast, they are likely to be in the eddies along the rip-rapped banks of the Willamette. One of the best city fisheries in the Northwest is from Oregon City down to the steel bridge in Portland. I’ve caught big bass beneath the Sellwood, Ross Island and Burnside bridges. And when fish aren’t biting, there is always entertainment happening on the banks.

The Dalles is another great fishing town with smallmouth bass on tap all summer and a great sturgeon fishery, too. Taylor Lake, right on the edge of the city limits, has been stocked with 5,000 legal rainbows already this spring.

Pikeminnow

Northern pikeminnow are those toothy critters we used to call by a different name. They thrive in the tailwaters below the dams and eat tons of baby salmon and steelhead. And for this they have a bounty on their heads. Register at the check-in station early in the morning at The Dalles Boat Basin, then prowl upriver and downriver for northern pikeminnow — nightcrawlers are a good bait — and take your fish to the check-out station at the end of the day. Click on www.pikeminnow.org for more information. A fisherman can make $6 a fish these days. According to my calculations, I’ll need to catch 15 to break even on the fuel.

This time last year, the creeks and rivers were skinny and the best fishing of the year was already behind us. What a difference a year makes.

Last week the Umpqua was running bank-full and the Willamette was the color of chocolate milk. Many of our favorite lakes are still locked in with ice and a lot of campgrounds are closed until mid-month because of melting snow. It’s shaping up to be a good fishing summer. If you have to go to the big city, bring a fishing rod. And carpool.

It has to be one of the most exciting hatches in the West. And it only happens in a few places in Oregon. On the Williamson River, the action lasts for maybe 45 minutes right before dark. The Floating Hex Nymph was developed by Dick Winter of Klamath Falls.

Use this pattern in the last two hours of the day. And don’t be afraid to fish it in tandem with an adult Hex dry imitation. Tie it on before the hatch starts, and cast it as close as possible to the rocks and the grass and let it work down the foam lines mid-stream.

Tie this one with tan thread on a Daiichi 1270 No. 6 nymph hook. For the tail, use pheasant flank or Chinese rooster flank. Up front, tie in small Hareline mono nymph eyes. Build the body with light tan fuzzy yarn and rib with tan 3/0 thread. Use 2mm brown Hareline Dubbin foam for the wing case, light brown fuzzy yarn for the thorax, soft butt pheasant flank for the gills and golden pheasant rump fibers for the legs.

—Gary Lewis, for The Bulletin