jacksalmon
07-03-2006, 05:33 PM
I recently saw a post here complaining about no reports on fly fishing activities, so I thought I would give you all one. I floated from Trout Creek to Nena from 6/28 to 6/30. Overall, I would give the trip a B+. The first two nights the fish were not too much on the caddis, although there certainly was enough activity to justify the effort. But, on the third night, they were all over the caddis as it was one of those every other cast, fish on routines. The nymphing was also excellent the whole trip.
There was one surprise as it started raining at about 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning and did not stop until 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, which is unusual for late June. However, by 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, the sun was out in full force and it was hot. Unfortunately, the rain caused the dam operators to raise the river level from 4250 to 4550 early Friday morning, which wiped out a couple of nice riffles and made them unsuitable for fish to hang in. But, the late night riffles were great anyway. It certainly has been a strange year on the Deschutes with so much water to pass through. On my first night, I even had to deal with mosquitoes--------yes, mosquitoes, which, for me is unheard of on that river. I have never encountered their numbers as I did that first night.
On the second night, I caught a 22 inch steelhead while fishing caddis. How did I know it was a steelhead? The poor fish not only was missing an adipose fin, but some idiot cut off its dorsal fin, too. I can just see the volunteer holding up the smolt for his supervisor and asking him if he was doing it right. I assume he was promptly informed of his erroneous ways. The fish still fought well, though.
The Deschutes is truly a great trip. I can see why there are no reports on this web site. From what I could tell, if it weren't for guided trips, it would have been just me, the ospreys, the mosquitoes and the deformed steelhead. Just the way I like it. There you are, a report.
There was one surprise as it started raining at about 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning and did not stop until 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, which is unusual for late June. However, by 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, the sun was out in full force and it was hot. Unfortunately, the rain caused the dam operators to raise the river level from 4250 to 4550 early Friday morning, which wiped out a couple of nice riffles and made them unsuitable for fish to hang in. But, the late night riffles were great anyway. It certainly has been a strange year on the Deschutes with so much water to pass through. On my first night, I even had to deal with mosquitoes--------yes, mosquitoes, which, for me is unheard of on that river. I have never encountered their numbers as I did that first night.
On the second night, I caught a 22 inch steelhead while fishing caddis. How did I know it was a steelhead? The poor fish not only was missing an adipose fin, but some idiot cut off its dorsal fin, too. I can just see the volunteer holding up the smolt for his supervisor and asking him if he was doing it right. I assume he was promptly informed of his erroneous ways. The fish still fought well, though.
The Deschutes is truly a great trip. I can see why there are no reports on this web site. From what I could tell, if it weren't for guided trips, it would have been just me, the ospreys, the mosquitoes and the deformed steelhead. Just the way I like it. There you are, a report.