Sockeye on the Deschutes River

Last year nearly 50,000 sockeye smolt were passed down stream from Pelton Dam on the Deschutes river.  This year that number is approaching 100,000 smolt.  What will we see in 2012 for a Sockeye return on our favorite river?

See the entire article on this link:  Sockeye on the Deschutes

Deschutes River Spring Chinook - A New Era

With the relicensing of the hydro project on the Deschutes river new things have been happening.   A new revolutionary tower built in front of Pelton dam is now selecting water from different temperature layers of the lake and improving downstream fish migration. 

Here is an interesting clip from a PGE biologist on the NEW ERA of upstream migration in the Deschutes basin.

http://www.deschutespassage.com/news/?p=79

Big Trout and Hoppers Looming

It's trout time on our private water stretch of river.  Fishing has been good as the water has dropped into more normal summer flows.  This year there are a ton of fish in the 6-12” range.  They are a lot of fun on dry flies and have been taking caddis on the surface fairly well.  With the scenery, wildlife and complete lack of other anglers that makes for a fun trip.  The icing on the cake is there are much bigger fish.  Yesterday a lucky angler from Sacramento landed an enormous rainbow in the 6-7 lb range.  These big trophy fish are tough to get and aren’t easy to find but they are there.  These are the fish that eat sculpin flies fished on sink tips.

We've also been seeing more hoppers.  They are getting bigger and more active near the banks.  A good sign for the weeks to come.  www.watertimeoutfitters.com

Fly Fishing Lakes Class Report

Thank you to those who attended our fly fishing lakes class.  We all caught fish and had a great time.  Fishing was a mixed bag with rainbows eating damsel nymphs, callibaetis nymphs and leeches.  The weather cooperated wonderfully for us and everyone had a good time.  Dave Neels even caught a rainbow on a damsel dry fly! 

Join us next year for our lake fly fishing sessions at Rocky Ridge Ranch.  We look forward to seeing you there!  Find out more about us at: www.watertimeoutfitters.com 

                               Here is Chad with one of his biggest fly rod trout ever!

Private Waters Report

Fishing on our private waters has heated up!  The water levels are finally now into summer flows and at good fishable levels.  Fish are active and hitting caddis on the surface and eating sculpins.  New snags and cover from last years flooding are the perfect habitat for big rainbows and this section has plenty of hidey holes. 

The good news is we've already seen hoppers on the water.  Hopper season is almost here! 

Caddis Fly Hatch on the Deschutes

The Caddis hatch action on the Deschutes is heating up as we are getting warmer weather.  The end of June and first part of July have been excellent fishing as the weather is finally cooperating.  For best success on caddis fish the edges near grassy banks and trees.  See the photo above.  Larry K from Florida found this dandy rainbow sipping caddis just inches from a grassy overhang. 

Larry and wife Brenda doubled up on this combo by nymphing a riffle in early morning.  Before the dry fly action gets going nymph fishing a riffle like this with a green rock worm and a sparkle pupa can yeild good results.