Beginning Fly Fishing Class on the Deschutes
Water Time Outfitters starts the spring season of trout fishing on Oregon's Deschutes River. Hatches in the spring can be sparse until things warm up. Water temperatures are hovering around 52 degrees which usually is the temp when stonefly nymphs start to crawl towards shore in their annual emergence. The great "Salmon Fly Hatch" as it is known is when stoneflies both- black stones and golden stones crawl from their bouldery homes and transition into the "double-winged- flying- helicopter- like" bugs of spring which trout absolutely love to eat.
There are other insects hatching in the spring as well as the salmon flies. On any given day you may see: Pale Morning Duns, Blue Winged Olives and a smattering of Caddis. Each day is somewhat different based on the weather. When no fish are rising anglers do best with a selection of nymphs.
Favorite nymphs for spring are: pheasant tail nymphs sz 14 and 16, Green rock worms sz 14,16; stonefly nymphs in black or golden- sizes 6, 8, 10. Prince nymphs can be productive as well. These patterns are best fished with a dead drift technique imitating the natural nymph dislodged from their riverbed home tumbling helplessly along in the current.
One of our first sightings of adult salmon flies in 2014
Adult salmon fly patterns are big flies. As you can see in the photo above these bugs are often up to 3" long. They are also somewhat clumsy fliers and often crash into the water making a juicy meal for trout. Favorite fly patterns are: Sofa Pillow, Chubby Chernobyll, Clark's Stone and Norm Woods Special in sizes 4,6 and 8.
Currently the Deschutes River is running clear and is in good shape near the town of Maupin, OR. Water levels are around 4300 cfs at the Madras gauge. For more information on fishing the Deschutes River visit: www.watertimeoutfitters.com
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