Pregame Festivities

Well, it wasn’t opening week on the Deschutes, but it was close. This week I floated from Trout Creek down to Maupin with my good friend Jordan. We got to Trout Creek late in the afternoon and pushed down to our camp. One of my favorite things is taking people on this float for the first time. Seeing this part of the river is amazing, and the fishing is spectacular. 

Sunday was supposed to be beautiful weather with clear skies and no wind. But the forecast for Monday was high winds and rain. So our plan was to fish as much as possible before camp and to basically push out on Monday if the storm happened. 

We got out of camp early with rods rigged and our expectations high. Jordan stepped into his first spot and almost immediately hooked a fish. He continued to fish the spot and put on a clinic. The day pretty much continued that way. Trout are hungry and aggressive right now. We mostly

Caught adults, and it seems like most of the smolts have migrated out of the upper river. Soon they will all have migrated into the Columbia and then out to the ocean. 

The big bugs are starting to migrate to the bank so they can crawl out and hatch, but we are still a few weeks away from fishing the big dries. Typically this time of year, a big stonefly nymph or Pat's rubber legs is a good bet. We fished a couple of stonefly Euro Nymphs like the Rib Roast and the Jiggy Pats and caught fish on them. I probably did the best with the Mic Drop, Peacock Perdigon, TNT Baetis, and the Drag Queen. I often change flies just to see what’s not working or if something else works better. We did also have so dry fly fishing and did quite well with Antonio’s Adult and Emerger. They are hi-vis CDC dries that look very realistic. 

If you have the time or you need a warm-up before the big game starts in a couple of weeks, I suggest you take a trip to the Deschutes. The fishing is good right now, and the crowds are light.