Sweata Weatha
The mornings have been crisp and cold and the days are rarely climbing above 90 degrees at this point. It’s weather like this that brings to mind one of my favorite old SNL skits with Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler excitedly announcing Sweata Weatha! Although we have had a milder summer than past years I can’t help but get excited about bundling up in the mornings and watching water temps drop. The drops in water temperature will bring back some great hatches, and mid day trout fishing will once again be back to its former glory seen in the spring.
River Conditions -
Flows currently coming out of the dam are currently around 4,200 cfs and flows at the mouth are currently around 4,700 cfs. These flows are supposed to be climbing up a bit over the course of the next couple weeks as the dam operators are drawing down the reservoir to do maintenance. Thus far they have slowly increased the flow in increments of 100 to 200 cfs. It is not unusual to see flows climb up a bit in the fall, but this year it will be happening a bit earlier.
Temps coming out of the dam right now are ranging between 57.5 and 58.5 degrees. Temps at the mouth are ranging between 60 and 65 degrees. These temps lower in the system are subject to more variation as the outside ambient air temps will affect them as the river winds through the canyon. Regardless of how much they vary we should be past the point of having to worry about afternoon water temps affecting fishing productivity.
The White River has been behaving itself quite nicely this fall. We have only really seen one small plume of sediment released which only slightly colored up the lower river for a couple hours on that day. You can find a USGS graph for the flows on the White River in Tygh Valley if you are concerned about it. If you see a big spike on the graph before you plan on coming out that doesn’t necessarily mean the river is blown out, but I recommend stopping at Sandy Beach Boat Launch to check clarity before heading down to fish below Sherar’s Falls.
What’s Happening With Trout -
It’s the time of year we start to see Caddis hatches increase in abundance, paired with biblical storms of Midges, and some intermittent Mayfly hatches. The midge dries of course are almost impossible to fish on such a large river but their pupa will be a major food source subsurface. Caddis on the other hand will be very fishable in their adult form. In addition to the caddis hatches we are seeing some Mayfly hatches again. The mayflies I have seen lately are a small size 18 and 20 pale bodied mayfly that I am yet to identify. This light bodied mayfly has been hatching in the night and we are seeing a spinner fall happen mid morning on most days. Fishing a small lightly colored spinner on cloudier days can make for some fun dry fly sessions. The other mayfly hatch I have seen are the early fall Blue Wing Olives. These are also going to be a size 18 or 20 but they have been hatching mid day on cloudy days and you’ll want a darker bodied fly to imitate them. The small size 18 and 20 Pheasant Tails are a great option when nymphing as they will imitate both the lighter and darker mayflies we are seeing right now. Small size 16 and 18 caddis pupa in both tan and olive are great options subsurface as well.
If you aren’t seeing activity on the surface then dry dropper and nymphing has been consistently good throughout the day. Fish have been in a mix of both riffles and complex bouldery pocket water. The speed of water and location of fish in your favorite spots will change a bit from day to day and even hour to hour this time of year. You’ll find a mix of fish nosed up into the head of a riffle or sitting in the faster currents within the pocket water, then as water temps change while fishing those same areas we will find fish tucked back into the softer backends of riffles and the softer sides of pocket water. This is pretty typical of this transition time of year. Some days the water temps don’t change enough to move fish around and other days they do. Take note of where you are finding fish during your first couple stops of the day and match that tempo of water. If you have a day where the outside temps vary greatly from sunup to sundown then you may find fish moving into a different water speed throughout the day. Our trout have a peak of metabolic rate between 52 and 56 degrees meaning that the closer the water temps are to that range the more likely that the trout will be willing to move to faster water to feed and accommodate their metabolism.
Trout Spey and single hand streamer fishing has also been picking up as the water temps drop. Small olive sculpin and leeches have been prevailing in the trout streamer world out here.
What’s Happening With Steelhead -
I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time on both the lower river below Macks Canyon as well as the day trip stretches from Pine Tree to Macks. The fishing in the multi-day stretch down low has been great. We have had plenty of multiple fish days and some really incredible sessions finding pods of fish. In the last 10 miles of the river before it hits the Columbia River we tend to find more than one encounter in a run when the fish are moving through. This of course is no secret to the steelheaders that make their way to the Deschutes, so you will undoubtably find a lot of anglers working that section of the river.
Farther upstream the steelhead tend to spread out and become more solitary creatures until they move into their spawning habitat in the late winter. This means that you need to cover more water so that you increase the odds of showing your fly to a willing fish when fishing in and around Maupin or from Pine Tree to Macks Canyon. The town stretch along the pavement and close to Maupin is consistently producing fish for those who put their time in as well.
Let’s talk about comeback fish. What I’m talking about in this case is a fish that you finally hook after making 1 or sometimes even 3 fly changes. Many old steelheaders will tell you that the fly doesn’t matter. In some ways this is true: if you are fishing to a fish that has not been hooked yet then chances are that fish will happily grab a larger size 4 or size 6 traditional on the first swing and another fly is not necessary. For the fish that have been hooked by that size fly or even larger conventional gear, they may need a little convincing to go after your offering. This year myself and some of the other guides I work with are happy to see a fair number of comeback fish. We have been fishing size 4 to size 6 flies to start, when we have a grab but don’t fully connect with that fish we have been changing through a series of smaller flies in an attempt to convince that fish to eat.
First, let’s define a grab. Grabs from steelhead come in many variations. Sometimes it’s just a light pluck as your fly swings, sometimes the fish will pull just a couple feet of line off the reel in a hard yank. Sometimes you get a big grab and it tears 10 ft of line off your reel—while exciting, this type of grab does not give me hope in that fish returning to another fly. The more line that comes off your reel the more likely that the fish has felt the hook point and will be spooked. If you haven’t caught a trout on the swing all day and you have one small deliberate yank on the line I’m more inclined to think you’ve found a steelhead than a trout. I’ll almost always start working through my fly series to convince that fish. A trouty grab will likely feel like multiple little bounces on the line and rarely takes more than a foot of line off the reel.
Second, the fly change. When I have a grab that I feel might be a steelhead I will always go with a smaller fly. Before I throw that fly at the fish I like to take 6 steps back up the run, take my time changing the fly so the fish can rest, and then proceed to work my way back to the fish taking one step between each swing to be sure that the fish has a few chances to see the new offering. Sometimes you get lucky and the fish will take the second fly; other times you will get to the same spot and have yet another grab that doesn’t fully connect. At this point I’ll change my fly again and repeat the process. Each steelhead angler will have their favorite patterns to work through this process, so there is no magic fly. I tend to work down one size at a time and progress to more and more natural colored patterns. Two of the best comeback flies out there are the simple but elegant Hazel’s Steelhead Coachman or the Dutt’s Addison. I have these in my box in sizes 8, 10, and 12. In addition to those I have a myriad of other neutral tone flies that I will work through depending on time of year.
Mid day sink tip fishing has also been producing fish for those of you unable to make it out to fish the morning and evening shade sessions. I will almost always start with a Hoh-bo spey, large traditional, mini intruder, or reverse marabou style of fly with a larger profile, but I still work my way down in size if I get a grab. Steelhead will eat a small hairwing or muddler on a sink tip. When casting small flies on a skagit line be sure to wait a good couple seconds after your setup as these flies are more prone to blowing anchor. Due to their lack of size they don’t create the same resistance as an intruder to hold your sink tip in the water throughout sustained anchor cast such as the Snap T or Double Spey.
Flies That Are Working -
Henry’s Fork Foam Stone Size 14, and 16
Hi Vis Micro Chubby in assorted colors Size 14 and 16
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
Silver Bead Roza’s Green Tag Jig Size 16
Pink Bead Tasmanian Devil Size 16
Pink Bead Pheasant Tail Size 16, 18 and 20
Pink Bead Hares Ear Size 16, 18 and 20
Copper Bead Olive Hares Ear Size 16 and 18
Egan’s Frenchie Size 16, 18 and 20
Red Zebra Midge Pupa Size 20
Black Zebra Midge Pupa Size 20
Sculpzilla in Natural and Olive Size 4 and 6
Olive Bugger Size 10
Olive Mayers Mini Leech Size 12
Turkey Wing Orange Muddler Size 6 and 8
Steelhead Bee Size 8
Tied Down Steelhead Caddis Size 8
Rusty Bomber Size 6
Hoh-Bo Spey in Black/Blue, Purple/Fuchsia, Black/Orange
Reverse Marabou in Black/Blue, Purple/Fuchsia, Black/Orange
Stu’s Mini Intruders
General Practitioner in a variety of colors and sizes 2 and 4
Any of your favorite Hair-wing or Skater Steelhead flies in smaller sizes
Thanks for tuning in to another fishing report. I hope you all have a great fall filled with fishy days chasing whatever species your heart desires. I’ll be on a number of camp trips this fall and out of cell reception intermittently. As always if you have any questions feel free to shoot me a text or email and I’ll respond as soon as I’m back in service. Tight lines and happy fishing to all. I’ll see you on the water!
