Living Smelt dippers return to Sandy River for rare one-day fishery Updated: Mar. 28, 2025, 10:00 a.m. | Published: Mar. 27, 2025, 7:33 p.m. 45 1/45 Sandy River smelt run 2025 Mark Graves ...

Troutdale Historical Society Crowds swarm the Sandy River in 1923 to fish for smelt or watch the spectacle The smelt season this year may just have been the shortest fishing season in Oregon.

Gipe lives east of Sandy, along the Sandy River, tucked away from the main road. On Saturday, a tree crashed down from the hillside behind their house and into their son’s bedroom.

The Sandy River is a near-perfect getaway not 20 miles from downtown Portland. Hundreds of people make the trek past Troutdale to cool off in the river’s milky waters and relax on its sandy beaches.