Final Fall Float

My Deschutes Summer Steelhead season has come to an end. I just finished my last camp trip with Water time outfitters.

This season has been one of the better ones in recent times. We had good numbers early and the fish kept coming. I did my first lower river trip from Mack’s canyon to the mouth just after my 50th birthday. That first trip was really good and set the stage for things to come.

As the season progressed the steelheading leveled off and became very consistent and what Deschutes summer steelheading should be. There were plenty of fish around and if you spent time and worked for them they were there to be caught. By mid September we were getting 3-4 a day on average.

A wide selection of flies worked for us this year. The max canyon, kaleidoscope, freight train and green butt skunks were all great floating line flies. For sink tips black and blue and red and orange tube flies worked great.

When we hit mid October I moved up river and started floating from Warm Springs down to Harpham Flats with Rob Crandall and the Water Time Outfitters crew. These trips were a lot better than we’ve had in quite a few years. My boat was averaging two a day.

Our last trip was a little slower, it was cold and the river was up and off color. The fishing might not have been the best but the friendship and laughter was.

By the end of the season my boat had hooked well over fifty fish, logged hundreds of river miles, saw tons of wild life, big horned sheep, golden eagles, and even a pack of wolves.

I’m sad the summer steelheading season is coming to a close, but it’s time to stay close to home and start the next chapter of our fishing year. Winter Steelheading will start in the next few weeks and I couldn’t be more excited.