Goodbye Stoneflies, Hello Caddis

The stonefly hatch is getting down to the bitter end now. After a few weeks of great big bug dry fly fishing the fish are starting to shift their focus to the ever-increasing caddis hatches. The stonefly hatch this year was great, as always, even though we were challenged by intermittent cold weather. Big thanks to everyone who came out to fish with me this May! The kick start to our season here on the Lower Deschutes was a ton of fun.

River Conditions -

Flows out of the dam lately have been fairly consistent with some slight fluctuations between 4,000 cfs and 4,400 cfs. With the runoff in our smaller tributaries over, we should be settling into our steady summer flows. We currently have 4,400 cfs out of the dam and 4,800 cfs at the mouth. The Warm Springs River is settling in at 266 cfs and our other main tributary the White River is settling in at 205 cfs. These tributary levels will likely drop a bit more over the month of June as things dry out and warm up more. Current temps coming out of the dam are ranging between 51 and 55 degrees and temps at the mouth are ranging between 61 and 69 degrees. With some cooler weather in the forecast we should see the overall temperatures at the mouth drop by a couple degrees soon.

What’s Happening With Trout -

There have still been a few fish willing to take stonefly dries this last week. Fishing the faster pocket water will increase the likelihood of this occurring as the fish have less time to evaluate the fly. If you are fishing fast water and your stonefly dry drowns, don’t be afraid to keep fishing it as some of the fish who aren’t willing to come to the surface to eat a stonefly will gladly take the sunken offering.

Caddis hatches in both the lower section from Pine Tree to Macks Canyon as well as the Upper River Camp Trip stretches have been quite good. The largest concentration of this hatch will happen in the afternoon, meaning this is a great time of year to fish the evening twilight with a caddis dry, emerger, or soft hackle. If you came into town late and missed the evening session there is no need to worry, fish will key into dead caddis in the morning following a good hatch. For dead caddis imitations you will want to fish something that sits lower in the film such as a parachute style caddis or splayed wing dead caddis pattern like the Shaner’s Dead Bug Caddis.

Mayfly hatches in the lower river below Maupin have been pretty sparse; however, we have had some isolated zones where we found fish rising to Pale Morning Duns and Pale Evening Dun spinners. As always you will want to bring your Mayfly box with you if it looks like a cloudy day. Pale Morning Duns will be considerably smaller in size 16 and 18 and our Pale Evening Duns will be larger in size 12 and 14. The easiest way to tell them apart is size, but you can also identify them by their tails. Pale Morning Duns will have three small tails and be a brighter yellow. Pale Evening Duns will have two very long tails and be a more tan/cream color. These bugs will of course change color through their lifecycle, leading to a more grey appearance throughout time. Hence the love that so many people have for a Parachute Adams.

I haven’t done much streamer fishing this spring as the dry fly and dry dropper fishing has been so consistent. I have heard some good reports from buddies that streamer fishing has been decent in the fast, shallow riffle breaks.

Nymphing as always will produce, and focusing your efforts on fishing small caddis pupa patterns and mayfly nymphs should do the trick. This time of year, I recommend staying out of the slower nymphing pools you’ve fished this winter and work the faster upper end. Our fish get a lot of pressure from Osprey throughout the summer and if the surface of the water you’re fishing is glassy, there will likely be a lack of high fish numbers. Broken water provides great protection for the trout from the Osprey above.

What’s Happening With Steelhead -

It’s still early to be out swinging flies in pursuit of summer steelhead but we have some fish starting to trickle over Bonneville Dam and I’ll be sure to post as soon as I see the first chrome bright fish hooked! In the meantime I’d start cranking out your favorite summer steelhead flies. Muddlers, traditional Hairwings, and Skaters are the name of the game for our summer fish when they return.

Flies that have been working -

• Henry’s Fork Foam Stone Size 12, 14, and 16

• Hi Vis Micro Chubby in assorted colors Size 12, 14 and 16

• Chubby Chernobyl in assorted colors Size 8, 10, and 12

• CDC Bullet Head Caddis in Olive or Brown, Size 16 and 18

• Finfetcher Caddis in Olive or Tan, Size 16 and 18

• Elk Hair Caddis in Olive, Tan, or Brown Size 16 and 18

• Galloup’s Tilt Wing PMD in Size 14, 16, and 18

• CDC Comparadun PED in Size 12 and 14

• Silver Bead Green Glo Brite Perdigon in Size 16 and 18

• Silver Bead Roza’s Green Tag Jig Size 16

• Pink Bead Tasmanian Devil Size 16

• Pink Bead Hares Ear Size 16 and 18

• Copper Bead Olive Hares Ear Size 16 and 18

• Copper Bead Quilldigon Size 16

• Egan’s Frenchie Size 16, 18, and 20

• Olive and Partridge Soft Hackle Size 14 and 16

• Peacock and Partridge Soft Hackle Size 14 and 16

• Tan and Partridge Soft Hackle Size 14 and 16

Thanks for tuning in to my fishing report! I’ll be on a string of camp trips and day trips this coming month so it may take some time to respond, but if you are looking for a more up to date report on what’s been happening feel free to shoot me a text or email and I’ll respond as soon as I’m off the water.

Tight lines to all who get out fishing this month! Fish shorter cleaner drifts, cover lots of water, and remember proper fish handling practices. I’ll see you on the water!