9/18/22

Deschutes River Fly Fishing Reports

We are headed into fall.. the turn of the seasons is very welcome. Fall is a wonderful time in Oregon. Cooler temperatures plus the arrival of some anadramous fish makes for an exciting time to fish the Deschutes! Fishing is good for trout on the river. The fall is when we see a resurgence of hatches, including caddis, Mayflies (BWO’s & Mahogany duns) and we are already seeing some October Caddis also.

Long line nymphing and euro nymphing techniques work best for nymphing. There are fish looking up as well.. small caddis dries and caddis emerger type flies work. As long as the weather stays warmer (70′-80’s) and before it cools off too much the caddis will be out. The last few evenings have been very buggy and we are seeing trout on the surface like it was June!

As it cools down we will see more mayfly hatches and October Caddis. Hatches of BWO’s and Mahogany Duns can be imitated with parachute mayfly patterns like adams and purple hazes in sz.14-18. Some of your old Salmonfly dries like Norm Woods and Orange Stimi’s can imitate the Oct. Caddis

We also have some October Caddis specific patterns in the fly shop, and along with a ton of other there good flies! Swing into the shop before you hit the river for more recent intel!

Steelhead Update:

While there have been a few reports of steelhead in the Warm Springs area, based on the Sherars Falls fish counts there are not too many fish in the upper river.. yet. We had a client swing one up on a trout spey just above Maupin last week though. The trap numbers have not been updated for over a week at this point either. That many and more go over the falls and not through the trap so the numbers in the trap are not accurate to the exact number. But the numbers are low so far..

The good news is that there is over 50K more steelhead total over Bonneville Dam on the Columbia at this time versus last year. And there have be reports of some pretty good catches on the lower river so we are hoping that we will get some fishable numbers in the upper river too! Late October and November, even December (for the die hards) is best in the Warm Springs section of the Deschutes!

We offer trout/steelhead combo guide trips until then, and steelhead specific trips in October and November on the day stretch (Warm Springs to Trout Creek) Call the shop or shoot us an email for more info..

Deschutes River – (4,000 CFS) Good flows

Fishing is good to excellent on the Deschutes right now, and will only improve over the next month… The river has been most recently in transition from the Stonefly hatch to the summertime mix of Caddis, PMD’s, Little Yellow Sallies, and the like. Fish have had gorged themselves and been pressured hard during the hatch, so once they recover and digest the fishing usually picks up!

We see some of the best dry fly fishing of the season in June and early July, typically head hunting and stalking fish slurping caddis. The evenings and morning can be especially good this the time of year when you can experience those magical evenings when it seems the whole river is boiling! Crowds are typically more light and camping and weather ranges from warm to hot.. but don’t let that detour you from of some of the best fishing of the summer! Stop into the shop for more beta on top flies and where and how to get in on the caddis topwater action!

Crooked River Fishing Report (85 CFS) Low water level

The Crooked is fishing good right now, but low water levels are concerning and leave us wondering just how long the water will last this season. Typically the Crooked is a great summer fishery as the the dam is a bottom release dam, releasing cold water from the bottom of a deep reservoir. But currently water levels and a persistent drought again make us wonder how long the fishery will hold up this summer.

Typically the PMD’s and Glossosoma Caddis start to hatch here soon, and you get some great summer dry fly fishing. Nymphing is always good on small midge, mayfly, and caddis patterns and the like. We will be running trips out there almost daily for the remainder of the summer or until flows get reduced.

Flows much under 75 CFS are really to low for good fishing, and the fish mortality also increases also with the lower flows, less oxygen, etc.. the fish are already stressed at that point.

Spring trout fishing is upon us and its opening weekend for the Warm Springs section of the Lower Deschutes. Its pre Stonefly hatch nymphing time, Jimmy legs as a point fly with your favorite dropper in size 14/16. Other hatches happening are small BWO’s, March Brown’s, and early Summer Caddis. Deep nymphing with two fly rigs will be good thoughout the summer season. Watch out for spawing fish and areas that trout tend to spawn (gravel bars). Dry dropper rigs using a Salmon Dry attached to a long piece of 4x off the bend of the hook is a great bet as well. Look for trout eating spent caddis up top before the sun hits the water, nymphing midges can be good early as well. Then look for fish to hide deep mid day, coming back into the shallows again when the sun is behind the canyon wall. Stay fishy and have a great weekend.

Recommended Nymphs: Jimmy Legs, Trout Retrivers, Frenchies, San Juan Worm, Prince Nymph, Lightning Bugs, and Zebra Midges.

Recommended Drys: Purple Haze, CDC+ Caddis, March Browns, Sparkle Pupa, Parachute Adams.