Flyfishing

December 4, 2021December 5, 2021

Two Rivers

This week we waded in a couple of very different rivers. The weather turned warm and sunny so we managed to wet a line on two different days this week. The first of the week we headed up to Camp Sherman and the Metolius.

This river starts as a spring bubbling from the base of Black Butte. Just a few miles of flow through open ponderosa forest and the river has tripled in size fed by more springs draining runoff via volcanic passages in Green Ridge and the Cascade mountains.

Spring-fed emerald pool downstream from Lower Canyon Campground

The Metolius’s emerald colored water is crystal clear and remains at near constant levels making it a world class flyfishing stream. There are dozens of campgrounds along the first ten miles of stream, and well developed paths run along both banks nearly the entire length.

We scouted the stretch downstream from Lower Canyon Creek where the river rushes through a rock lined cut.

Later in the week we headed up to the Crooked, which remains at it’s low, turbid winter flow.

Gnarled Juniper trees and basalt columned cliffs are a stark contrast to the Metolius River.

As winter approaches there is a marked increase in bird activity along the river so JQ was busy trying to capture some of their antics.

Fishing was slow but the weather was so great we ended the day sitting on rivers edge soaking in the afternoon sun.

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021

Deschutes River Trip

Road trip this week takes us south to Maupin and the Lower Deschutes River. The summer drought caused Oregon Fisheries people to cancel steelhead fishing. This means there are fewer people on the river, with plenty of fish to be caught, and a beautiful canyon to enjoy.

Fall weather has muted any remaining green and added yellow and orange hues to the hillsides.

The river level is down, but at this point the Deschutes is still a big river. Our strategy is to drive, park, and fish. However, the first order of business is to find a starting point downstream.

We break open the lunch, brew fresh coffee, and enjoy the rush of river. A month ago this spot would have been baking in summer sun, today we are dressed in flannel and clouds flash intermittent bursts of sunlight.

We rig fly rods to the car rack and start the journey back upriver, stopping at select spots. The October caddis fly hatch offers dry fly fishing and nice big Redband rainbows.

Confluence of White River and the Deschutes

As we are breaking down rods, a bank of rain clouds crests the canyon. We wind our way out of Maupin and the Deschutes River canyon as the rains hit.

June 27, 2021June 26, 2021

The Hatch

Our fishing adventures are not season dependent. We’re on the stream all times of the year. However, there are some aspects of fishing early summer that add to the enjoyment. Prolific bug hatches bring dry fly fishing and that is the best.

Now there are aquatic insects constantly crawling, or swimming, regardless of season, weather, or temperature.

As temperatures rise, insect activity increases. In summer the hatches are more frequent often bigger bugs and peak dry fly season is here.

Sometimes all it takes it one size smaller.

The zenith, in our area, is the Salmon Fly a large stone fly hatch on the Deschutes river. Closer to home is the “mother’s day caddis” a prolific hatch at the end of May (thus the name).

This event brings the Crooked River out of winter’s quiet crowd-less days and into a near fishing derby atmosphere. Venture up there on a weekend to find every pull-out and camp site is filled with rod vault festooned trucks. The river is littered with wader covered bodies thrashing flylines on the water.

We share the stream with osprey, though it seems they are the better fisher.

We manage to avoid most of this nonsense by hitting the stream mid-week, though there are still above average crowds. In a few weeks the Crooked’s banks will quiet down, but for most of June it’s game on.

Wading staff waits on the next move upstream.

There is clearly sport found in swinging nymphs and cold weather isn’t the limiting factor. Fish are always feeding and fisherman find success in sub-surface presentations. The biggest catches are typically taken on nymphs or streamers drifted through feeding lanes.

Tip has become a “river dog.” He is quite adept at reading the water and finding just the right spot to wade in for a drink.

That said, there is nothing that compares to fishing over a hatch. Floating an imitation along the top of the water, waiting on a flash of silver, the reaction to hook set, and the rod bending to the fight. It’s just more exciting to take fish on a dry fly. Thus we are here, sharing the river with too many hatch seekers and shrieking with joy even at the strikes we miss.

May 23, 2021May 21, 2021

A Fishing Story

Casting a dry fly near Trout Creek Campground

The Deschutes River collects runoff from the cascade range and carries it through high desert plains, irrigated farm lands, and basalt canyons. Fifty miles from its mouth at the Columbia River, the city of Maupin sits on its bank. Just downriver from there are numerous BLM campsites that offer a fisher wade access, though it is prime driftboat water. Since moving to Central Oregon we spend less time fishing this section of the river, or more to the point, we’re more selective in the times we go there.

In the spring we make a trip to catch the Stonefly hatch. This aquatic insect spends most of it’s life as a nymph burrowed in the river rock, but as water temperatures warm these exceptionally large bugs (three inches) start moving. They are headed toward the river’s edge and masses of the nymphs tumble along the streams bottom.

At this stage weighted stonefly imitations are very effective at attracting large rainbow trout.

It’s the transformation of nymph to insect that also changes the fishing from a wet fly swing to dry fly presentations. The stonefly crawls out of the water and up a stalk of grass and shucks the exoskeleton. It will go through a dozen or more of these ‘instars’ but it’s the last metamorphosis, on dry land, that produces a double winged insect with a distinctive orange body.

The stonefly lives only a couple of days and in that short period it mates, flies over the river, and deposits eggs back into the river. It is at this point where the cycle is reset and fish gorge themselves on spent stoneflies.

A dry fly presentation rarely misses and often nets big fish.

The presence of stoneflies in a river is usually an indicator of good water quality.

The stonefly hatch lasts just weeks but makes for memorable days on the river. While there are always a lot of anglers along the Deschutes, especially now, we’ve found that Trout Creek and South Junction are excellent places to gain access to the stream.

We’re a few miles upstream from Maupin, river levels are lower and wading is easier. By next week the hatch will have slowed or stopped and we’ll be looking for some other bug to imitate as we mark calendars for next year’s outing.

April 11, 2021April 10, 2021

Lots of Water

Another seasonal based trip we make is to the Lower Deschutes River. This final stretch of the river running from Maupin north to the Columbia is a big river. Unlike most of the streams we fish you can’t wade across this one. However, March Brown (Mayflies) and Golden Stonefly hatches make bank fishing much more productive and the two hour drive worth the effort.

Spring weather brings a deep shade of green and paths of wild flowers to canyon walls, plus the white water rafters haven’t started to fill the river. You’ll often see Blue Herons perched in trees along the banks and Common Merganser pairs feeding in slower side channels.

Lunch includes Tip’s favorite … pastrami.

Sunny weather is perfect for shirtsleeves and a leisurely picnic lunch. We had the BLM Oak Springs site to ourselves and enjoyed the day.