Lower Deschutes Trout Opener 4-26-20

Deschutes River Madras Gauge/ 4200 CFS

Weather/ Mid 70s

Water Temps/ 51

Calm Winds

The river bumped up from 3200 to 4200 over the weekend, I am happy to report the water is now looking as it should for this time the year. We heard a rumor that PGE had been working on their steelhead trap and that required lowering flows for maintenance temporarily. Fishing has been fair during the mornings with the bite picking up throughout the day as water temps warm and subsurface nymph activity increases. That being said adult bug activity has been pretty low so far.  So its mainly a nymph show with a few BWOs still around, we are just starting to see some large mayfly adults like PMDS, March Browns, and Small Caddis starting to pop in the evenings. 

If you find yourself catching steelhead smolt move locations. Rainbows either avoid smolts or cant get to your fly first. You will have a hard time finding those big Redside's around pods of smolt.

Good Nymphs now are SZ 08/06 Stone fly nymphs with some sort of SZ 14/16 F.B Hares Ear, F.B P.Ts, Brassies, Soft Hackles. If your into dredging or Euro Nymphing we just got some hot looking Euro patterns with 3.8 mm Tugsten beads on barbless circle hooks at the Deschutes River Fly Shop and Camp located in Warm Springs. Keep moving around until you find those pods!

In Response to the Coviid 19 Pandemic we are open for business with limited operation following the following social distancing precautions.

- Please maintain 6' of separation from others
-No more than one party at a time in the fly shop.
-Please Use hand sanitizer before handling any product.
-Please wash your hands often.
- Currently there is no out of state licenses sales available. So if you are not from the local Portland metro area, or Central Oregon you probably have traveled too far to get here!
-We encourage you to wear a mask or buff to protect your self and others.
-If your are not feeling well, or know someone that is please is not feeling well please stay home.
-Please stay in the group you came with. Once camping is allowed stay with your group.
-No large gatherings of around the camp fires.

Crooked River and Lower Deschutes Fly Fishing Reports

Crooked River - CFS-180

The Crooked River is open year round and is one of the best options for fly fishing in Central Oregon in the Winter.  The Flows look great right now and the best trout fishing is located from Bowman dam to eight miles down stream. Opportunities for trout this winter and early spring are more fruitful than in the past years. All the Trout are wild and average 8- to 14-. Nymph patterns are effective throughout the day, while dry flies are catching fish during evening hatches. Also check the flows before heading out.  Any big spike in cfs will put the fishing off for a few days.

There are hatches of BWO's on milder, overcast days. And when nothings happening nymphs can be productive in the deeper holes and slots.

Small midge patterns and micro mayfly patterns in black and red work well. Also a small cased caddis fly with a small psycho prince trailer prince can be a deadly combo.

Maupin - CFS-3960

On a side not we have been fishing Maupin a few days recently, the fishing has been consistent with tons of early bug activity. Although fish are still keyed in on there small winter BWO patterns. Small Stones have been red hot occasionally. All this bodes well for the Warm Springs section which opens April 22nd. 

Just a friendly reminder, trout in Central Oregon go into spawning mode now until July. As the population grows extremely fast in central Oregon with more anglers than ever hitting our local waters its more important than ever to educate yourself and others about what type of holding water trout spawn in and how to identify a "RED" to avoid devastation to our healthy wild trout populations.

Now Booking for 2020!

Oregon Winter Steelhead Trips ( Jan. through March) ~ Fly fishing guide trips for chrome bright winter steelhead on the Oregon Coast!

Deschutes River Salmonfly Trips (May) ~ Day and Multi day fly fishing trips for what is the best and most popular dry fly fishing of the season! Book early to secure the best dates. For more info on Deschutes River Guided fly fishing trips.

Read More... 

Deschutes River Camp Vacation Rental ~  Come stay at the camp, either camp out in our campground, or stay in our vacation rental.. Be near the action with views of the river. 

Read more...

Deschutes River Summer Trips, Crooked River Walk & Wade Trips & Fly Fishing Lessons for the 2020 Season! (April - November) ~ Day and multi day fly fishing guide trips on the Deschutes are available after the Salmonfly hatch. We have good fly fishing for trout all summer long, and Steelhead in the Fall.

The Crooked River is another good fishery, close to Bend and great option for beginners.

We guide walk in wade trips for trout from the spring through the fall on the Crooked River!

Read More...

Fly Fishing Lesson near Bend & Portland, Oregon ~  We offer fly fishing lessons for those needing an introduction to the sport or a refresher or want to speed up the learning curve!

Read More...

For More info on guided fly fishing trips or to book a trip, or to reserve a spot at the campground or rent our cabin rental please call  (541) 647-2584

You can also BOOK ONLINE for your convenience..

Upper Deschutes River Steelhead Report

10/10/19

Warm Springs to Maupin

Fish have started moving up the river in good numbers of late! Reports of good catches
have been heard in the South Junction area, between Trout Creek and Wiskey Dick on the camp stretch. And even in the Warm Springs to Trout Creek stretch where we saw two steelhead hooked
on our last day trip.

Reports of good numbers of healthy wild fish are in as well.. seems the wild fish are better at surviving the less than ideal ocean conditions and the gauntlet run through the Columbia! Who would guess that?

The fishing closure on the Columbia has to have helped the fishing on the river as well. As more fish have most likely made it into the river with no fishing going on on the Columbia. As a result steelhead fishing has been better than the doom and gloom and pour fishing forecasted early in the season because of low fish counts at the dams.

The remainder of this month and even November should be really good in the upper sections of the Deschutes, as the fish continue to congregate and stack up in the upper sections of the river.

The Warm Springs side of the river (Below Dry Creek) closes at the end of October.  And the whole river bordering the reservation closes at the end of December. There will be anglers fishing all the way up to the end of the year!

We still have availability for day trips this month and into November! We will typically run trips into November each season, weather permitting. Our last trip was November 11th last year. The last couple of seasons saw some pretty mild weather in the bringing of November.

For more info on Deschutes River Steelhead trips Read On...
You can also give us a ring or shoot us an email if you would like more info on Deschutes River Steelhead trips or for more of an up to date report!

Guide Service Phone ~ 541-647-2584
Fly Shop ~ 541-553-2589

You can also BOOK ONLINE at your convenience..


Shears Falls fish counts are a good barometer of when and how many fish are moving into the upper river. It's guesstimated that as many fish go over the falls than through the trap so double those numbers for an idea on total fish counts.

Note: Really cool to see how many wild Coho are returning to the river. Don't be surprised if you hook into one while fishing this Fall!

Deschutes River, October Fishing Forecast

10/1/19


Trout fishing is picking up around the Warm Springs and Mecca Flats areas of the Deschutes! October caddis are getting more plentiful by the day and the trout have been coming up to the surface for the caddis and pale evening dun's during low light hours once again.

Things get fun this time of the year on the Lower Deschutes River! The weather is mild with sun on most days. Fishing dry flies, swinging soft hackle's,  nymphing, and trout spey tactics all have their time from day to day. As the weather start to shift the trout sense winter is coming and will start feeding heavily. Using orange colored fly's is a good bet for the next few months.

Flies ~ Orange Beaded Stone, Egg Patterns, Soft hackles, Psycho Princes, Frenchies, Pheasant Tails, Elk hair caddis,  Stimulators, Skulpzillas, Jimmy Legs, and Green rock worms are all good patterns this time of year

Steelhead:

Folks putting in the time are finding a few in the Warm Springs area. October and November is prime time up here. Cover as much water as you can and just hope for the best. Swinging will cover those big runs more effectively while nymphing is key in narrow slots and ledge type structure.

Water temps are good for dry lines in the low light hours in morning and evening, tip and leaches are going to be more productive during the bright sun periods.

Guide Trips are available from now into early November! To book your guide trip or for more info
call the shop or the guide service number. You can also  BOOK ONLINE ...

Fly Shop Number ~ 541-553-2589
Guide Service ~ (541) 647-2584

One of our guides caught this rainbow yesterday on his day off. The fish took a orange beaded stone fly, get out there and have some fun!

Deschutes River End of August Fishing Report

Fishing for trout up in the Warm Springs area has been fair to good lately.  Quality over quantity is the mind set you should be in until the weather cools and fall makes its appearance . That being said there are some big trout being caught most days on the day stretch.   Two fly setups with spit shot fishing deep under an indicator is your best bet right now. A small Jimmy legs with some sort of mayfly trailer has been a good set up lately. Soft hackles, Psycho Princes, Frenchies.

Steelhead season seems to be off to better start than last year. Most folks fishing long days and that are covering  tons of water are averaging a fish a day.  Best bet right now is from Maupin to the mouth.  Mornings and evenings are best fished with a floating line and traditional patterns then switching to a sink tip like a ten foot T-8 and large profile flies like the fish taco, during the day.

Happy Holiday weekend to you all and we hope to see you in the fly shop soon!

Day and multi day guide trips are available on the Deschutes all season long, give us a ring at 

541-647-2584 for more info...

Caddisfaction

Fishing has been picking up on the lower Deschutes the past week. We are seeing blizzard caddis hatches on most nights  and the redbands are keyed in on the caddis now. With the late spring weather lingering things are a little late this year for dry fly fishing but its getting good! Weather forecast predictions call for steady high pressure and hot weather over the weeks to come which will bode well for the dry fly fishing. Nymphing has been solid all summer long using stone fly nymphs with a mayfly trailer.  Have not seen a whole lot of action on caddis nymphs which blows my mind with all the adult caddis that are present on the river. July is one of our favorite times to fish the lower Deschutes. Salmon fly crowds are gone and on most days on our guide trips from Warm Springs to Trout Creek we have the river all to ourselves with plenty of willing trout to sip a dry fly. On a side note trout Spey fishing has been exhilarating as of late. Evenings and mornings are best for swinging. We are carrying some new short sink tips and patterns that we happily turn you onto. Happy Forth of July to you all and we hope to see you soon!