Deschutes River Fly Fishing Reports Archives - Deschutes River Fly Shop & Camp

October Deschutes River Fly Fishing Reports

info October 2, 2026 No comments

Deschutes River Trout Reports

October 2, 2026

Deschutes River — 3,600 CFS

Trout fishing on the Deschutes is excellent right now, and river traffic remains surprisingly light. With the steelhead closure in effect, many die-hard steelheaders are staying home or heading elsewhere. The reduced pressure has paid off for the trout—we’ve had some outstanding days recently, landing remarkably thick, hard-fighting fish.

Season & Regulation Updates

Trout Season Dates: Trout fishing remains open through December 31st, closing for the winter before reopening on April 22nd.
Reservation Access: Keep in mind that access along the west bank bordering the Warm Springs Reservation closes earlier, on October 31st.
Guide Availability: We are still actively running guided trips and have availability into November. Fall offers some of the absolute best trout fishing of the year without the summer crowds—reach out to get your date on the calendar.

Current Hatches & Tactics

Bug activity is steady with caddis, small mayflies, midges, and the occasional October Caddis. If you know where to look, solid dry-fly opportunities are out there—especially during early mornings and late evenings.

Mornings: Trout are keying in on small caddis in shady pockets. Focus on flats, behind tree lines, and along classic foam feeding lanes. A small slate-gray or black CDC caddis fished with fan casts through water where you’ve spotted rises will regularly coax fish to the surface.
Midday into Fall: As fall progresses, look for mayflies like Blue-Winged Olives (BWOs) and Mahogany Duns to pick up midday. Check slower slicks, tailouts, flats, and back eddies during these hatches for steady risers.

Recommended Flies & Rigging

Dries

CDC Caddis: Slate Gray, Black, or Tan (#16–18)
October Caddis: Chubby Chernobyl or Orange Stimulator (#8–10)
BWO / Parachute Adams: Olive or Slate (#18–20)
Mahogany Dun: Sparkle Dun or Standard Parachute (#14–16)

Subsurface & Nymphs

Euro / Dropper Nymphs: Perdigons, Jigged Tungsten Hare’s Ear, Flashback Pheasant Tails (#16–18)
October Caddis Pupa / Larva: Deep Sparkle Pupa or Breadcrust (#8–10)
Midges: Zebra Midge (Black/Red, #18–20)

Leaders & Tippet

Dry Flies: 9 ft to 12 ft tapered leader ending in 5X or 6X for spooky risers in slick water.
Nymphing: 9 ft 4X leader stepped down to 5X fluorocarbon to cut through the current cleanly.

Steelhead Closure & Gear Compliance

Steelhead fishing remains strictly closed. While there are fish in the system, targeting them is prohibited.

Oregon State Police have been actively checking licenses and enforcing the closure along the river. To avoid issues with wardens:

Stick to 6-weight single-hand rods or lighter.
If you’re trout Spey casting, keep it to a 4-weight or lighter.

Swinging standard full-sized Spey rods or nymphing with an 8-weight will make it nearly impossible to convince enforcement that you’re just out chasing redbands. Keep your gear scaled for trout, fish ethically, and enjoy the solitude on the water!

Deschutes & Crooked River Fly Fishing Reports 9/9/26

info September 9, 2026 No comments

River Conditions & Fishing Report

Deschutes River: 4,000 CFS | 57°F

The river is on the rise, likely indicating an early taper to the irrigation season. As a result, we’re seeing increased flows on the Lower Deschutes, paired with dropping levels on the Crooked and Upper Deschutes.

Fishing has improved drastically with the cooler weather—September and October offer some truly incredible trout fishing. A lesser-known secret this time of year is just how productive dry fly fishing can be, especially with renewed early-fall caddis activity. Before evening temperatures drop below freezing, expect great dry fly action on small (#18–20) gray and slate sedges. Because the flies are small and the fish are well-educated by late season, it can be technical fishing, but surprisingly few anglers are targeting them on top.

Steelhead Update: Steelhead Fishing is Now Closed on the Deschutes!
Unfortunately, this season is the polar opposite of last year’s banner steelhead run. Low numbers have prompted a steelhead angling closure on the Deschutes River. It’s a tough blow for the fish, the anglers who love chasing them, and especially our guiding community whose livelihoods depend on those runs. The emotional and economic impact hits close to home.

Because of that, our focus is shifting entirely to trout this fall. The great news? The trout fishing is world-class right now.

Our motto this season: Save a Steelhead Guide, Book a Trout Trip!
For More info on our Deschutes Trout Guide Trips Click Here!

Crooked River: 140 CFS and dropping

As mentioned, the end of irrigation season impacts each river in the Deschutes Basin differently. On the Crooked River, it brings a drop from summer flows of around 300 CFS down to winter levels—which we hope will hold around 75 CFS, though managers have cut it lower in past years (including an emergency closure a few seasons back when it plummeted to 10 CFS).

Flows are currently dropping but remain very fishable at 140 CFS, and the fishing right now is fantastic. Keep an eye out for hatches of BWOs, midges, and caddis. Surface action can be excellent, especially when canyon shadows hit the water or on overcast days. Otherwise, nymphing small Pheasant Tails, midges, and egg patterns will keep your rod bent.

Deschutes River Fishing Reports & Wildfire/Smoke Updates 8/27/26

info August 27, 2026 Comments Off

Fishing Reports & Wildfire/Smoke Updates

Deschutes River – CFS 3500

We’re still able to find fish on these hot and sunny days, typically targeting fish in deeper runs with nymph rigs. Caddis are around and there are opportunities to throw dry flies early morning and evenings. Swinging flies has also been productive so bust out your trout speys if you’re itching to throw two handers while we wait for the next update on the steelhead count. (Spey rods 5wt and up will be considered steelhead gear so leave those at home to avoid any potential problems with troopers)

The cooler and cloudy weather coming in next week should lead to some solid fishing days. Hasn’t been a ton of angling pressure recently so whether you’re floating or hiking around Mecca Flats you’ll be able to find some good water.

Although we’ve had to deal with some smoke blowing into the canyon lately, there can be some dry fly moments for the fish that think theres a bit of cloud coverage due to the haze.

Wildfire & Smoke Updates:

While we are no longer under an immediate wildfire threat. The air quality is still being affected by fires up in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Most notably the Austin and Grasshopper fires.

The air quality in general has been improving overall. Though it does vary from day to day and morning to afternoon sometimes. With the smoke settling in, in the evening and sometimes taking until mid day the next to blow out.

Next week forecasts call for rain and some weather that will hopefully put an end to all this… and make for some cooler more ideal fishing conditions. Stay tuned!!

Deschutes River Fishing Report and Fire Update 7/31

info July 31, 2026 Comments Off

The river is open as of this morning and we are starting to get back out there! We had a couple of close calls over the last week, but the Bench Fire has moved to the southwest of us and we are getting back to normal operations here at the fly shop and camp. The Warm Springs boat ramp is still closed due to fire crews pumping water and staging vehicles, but we can run float trips from Mecca to Trout Creek and walk/wade trips upstream of Mecca. The AQI is currently at 70 and improving each day. It has been a rough week, but we look forward to seeing everyone back in the shop and on the river!

On a lighter note, the river has seen basically no pressure over the last week and is fishing well! The caddis are coming off in huge numbers, and the fish are rising well to them in the mornings and evenings. The smoke has created a sort of false cloud cover that brings off some decent mayfly hatches also. Nymphing in the middle of the day has been excellent using caddis pupas, perdigons, small mayfly nymphs (size 16-18 Copper Johns, flashback PT’s, etc.), and zebra midges. Streamer fishing with small leach or baitfish patterns like sculpzillas has also been productive. The fish in the picture below was caught yesterday evening on a midge near the camp.

The Crooked River is also fishing well with some mayflies coming up when the sun is off the water, and good nymph action on scuds, midges, and small mayfly patterns. Give us a ring to book a trip or drop by the shop for more intel!

Deschutes River Fishing Report – June 8

info June 9, 2026 Comments Off

Well folks, Salmonfly 2026 is in the books. We are still seeing a few of the big bugs in the Warm Springs to Trout Creek stretch of the river, but the fish are rarely rising to them anymore. You might get lucky if you aren’t willing to throw in the towel, but it is basically over unfortunately. It was a bit of a strange one this year. The bugs were here early and stuck around for quite a while, but the weather was heating up and then cooling off every few days changing the bug’s/fish’s behavior. That coupled with the low water levels, due to a mild winter and light snowpack, made the fishing a little different than we are used to this time of year. We had some great days with lots of surface action, and then some others where it seemed like we could only get them on nymphs even though there were plenty of adult stoneflies out and about. Anyways, it was fun while it lasted, but now we are transitioning into caddis season.

We are already seeing some decent caddis hatches, and it is only going to get better as the weather warms up. This can be some of the best fishing of the year on the Deschutes. The pressure on the river will decrease dramatically as the crowds that were chasing the stonefly hatches head home or to other rivers. Less pressure on the river is always going to improve the fishing, and we expect to start seeing the really good caddis hatches kick off soon. There is some hotter weather rolling in later this week and that should get the caddis much more active. There are also some respectable mayfly hatches happening right now, PMDs, PEDs, and BWOs. We haven’t seen much for green drakes up this high on the river but have heard some decent reports about them further downstream in the camp stretch and Maupin zone. Per usual, the dry fly fishing will be best in the mornings and the evenings when the sun isn’t high on the water.

The nymph bite has been consistently good. Stonefly nymphs always work well. The classic mayfly patterns (hare’s ears, pheasant tails, etc.) have been working very well, along with the jig head perdigon style flies. We are catching a few on caddis pupas, but it doesn’t seem like the fish are totally keyed in on those yet. There are also lots of midges around, so a classic zebra midge can be a great choice. While we are catching fish in the typical spots, it seems like a lot of them are holding in deeper water. They are more vulnerable to predators in some of their standard feeding lanes with the water lower than usual, so heavy nymph rigs in the deeper water seem to be catching the most fish in the middle of the day. Anyways, the caddis hatches are about to get really good, so get out here and get it done!

Deschutes River Salmonfly Report 5/13

info May 13, 2026 Comments Off

Deschutes River:
Hey gang! The river is waking up, and we are getting into some prime fishing time over here on the Deschutes. Lots of salmon flies and golden stones are crawling around on the banks and hitching rides on our guides boats! Not very many of them are flying around and returning to the water to lay their eggs yet, so the trout haven’t fully keyed in on the big bugs. The cooler weather this week will probably keep the stoneflies in the grass for a few more days. If you’re like us and have the itch for some top water action, there have been some decent mayfly and caddis hatches that can lead to fun dry fly sessions, especially in the latter part of the day! Nymphing has still been very productive, can’t go wrong with a classic double nymph rig with a big heavy stonefly pattern and a small mayfly nymph or caddis pupa trailing behind. Or fish a small dropper under a Chubby or big salmonfly pattern, then when the fish start to hit the Chubby, you know its time to start throwing big flies up under the trees. It is going to be stonefly mayhem up here very soon. Swing by the shop on your way out for the day’s best fly options! Looking forward to seeing y’all.

Crooked River:
We have had some fun days over on the Crooked River recently! Midges and scud patterns are working wonders as usual. The Mother’s Day caddis hatch can provide you with great dry fly opportunities. Get the best of both worlds by running a dry dropper rig! Keep an eye out for redds, still some spawning activity going on. There’s a lot of hungry fish so grab your 3/4wts and get after it!

Deschutes River Fly Fishing Report 10/23

info October 23, 2025 Comments Off

The steelhead fishing has been great from Warm Springs to Trout Creek and should stay good into November. The river is in nice shape, and we have been swinging and nymphing fish up consistently. Just remember that the reservation side of the river closes to fishing at the end of October, so we only have one week left of access to the whole river. We have a few days of guiding available over the next week, along with lodging in our cabins/campground available. Now is the time to get it done, so give the shop a call to get on the calendar!

The trout fishing has also been good. There are still lots of October caddis flying around, good hatches of smaller dark-bodied caddis, and a little bit of mayfly action in the mornings/evenings. If you are swinging flies for steelhead, you will likely bump into some big hungry trout at the same time. We can do steelhead/trout combo trips if you would like to fish for both!

Deschutes River Fly Fishing Report 9/28

info September 28, 2025 Comments Off

Fall is our favorite time on the Deschutes with great fishing opportunities for both trout and steelhead. There are prolific caddis hatches coming off in the early morning and late evening. Most are the small dark-bodied variety, but there are also big October caddis. Dry-dropper and double-dry rigs with October caddis patterns as the point fly are doing well. There is also some mayfly and midge action going on. Fish late into the evening if you can. It seems like every fish in the river is rising just as it’s getting dark. Nymphing during the day has also been productive with various caddis pupa patterns and small mayfly, stonefly, and midge nymphs.

The steelhead fishing in the Warm Springs area is picking up, and the fish counts over Sherars Falls are looking good. We have been hearing of a few fish caught, and we should be seeing a lot more fish up here any day now. Don’t sleep on the streamer fishing for the trout either. We always seem to swing up a nice trout or two when we’re swinging flies for steelhead. The fish in the picture below ate a hobo spey fly while targeting steelhead. Float trips in October are filling up fast, so give the shop a call to get on the calendar!

The Crooked River is fishing great with a consistent nymph bite and solid mayfly hatches providing good dry fly fishing. We offer half and full day wade trips on the Crooked, so give us a ring to get booked.

Deschutes & Crooked River Fly Fishing Reports

info August 24, 2025 Comments Off

Deschutes River Fishing Report 8/24

It’s the dog days of summer here on the Deschutes, and the fish are fat and sassy from feeding all season. There are good caddis hatches coming off, but dry fly fishing opportunities are mostly limited to the early morning and evenings. Trout don’t like the hot sun in their face, so they are primarily feeding subsurface in deeper water. This makes for some really good nymphing opportunities. Immature stonefly nymphs are also starting to get active this time of year. Smaller stonefly patterns fished in tandem with caddis pupas, small mayfly nymphs, and zebra midges have been landing our guides some nice redsides!

The Crooked River has been fishing really well. There are good PMD and caddis hatches coming off, but nymphing is probably your best bet with the hot summer sun. Small mayfly nymphs, caddis pupas, scuds, and zebra midges should get it done. We offer half-day and full-day walk/wade trips on the Crooked, so give the shop a call to get on the calendar!