Sun River area fishing?

[FishfulThinking]

Heading out to Sun River with the family this weekend and would like to sneak out for a few early morning hours of fishing. I'm not familiar with the area - any ideas as to where to try, patterns, etc? Any help appreciated. graemlins/1zhelp.gif

[boo]

Fall River. Start at the Hatchery and learn the water from there. Upriver it get's less pressure but the spot's are a bit more difficult to find, as there's lots of private water up there. Stop by a local Bend flyshop or the shop outside the entrance to Sunriver and they'll set you up.
Boo

[lost_sailor]

Fall River (15 minutes) or Crooked River (1 hour +).

You'll catch more fish at Crooked. You'll see more at Fall.

Deschutes is open below Benham Falls, snow could be pretty deep on that road.

[FishfulThinking]

Thanks, guys! Any ideas on patterns/hatches?

[FallRiverGuy]

You will find plenty of snow when you come over. There are not the numbers of fish in Fall river as in past years, but some are still to be had. The crowds at the hatchery are light so that may be your best bet. Other spots above the Falls will be more difficult to reach due to the amount of snow (about 2.5 feet) on the ground. For hatches, there is a winter stone fly that comes off every day and a very sparse size 14-16 black caddis can work. There should also be a BWO hatch around mid-day. Some days it only lasts 5 minutes. They are small as in size 20 small.

There are a few places on the Deschutes just above Bend(and below Benham fall) that should not have much snow. I can't remember the park but the turn off is just before Widgi Creek golf course has good river acess.

[boo]

FallRiver Guy is referring to Meadow Camp. Lots of access and no pressure, maybe because most of the fish I've caught in that area run about 8 inches. There's a few sizeable ones...even some Browns.

[FishfulThinking]

Thanks, y'all. I'll be sure to post a report if I have any luck.

[Blue Tip Spinner]

check your e-mail. BTS

[Blue Tip Spinner]

so, how did you do????

[FishfulThinking]

I've only been there once before; fished the hatchery area this past spring. This time I decided to devote some time to exploring. Saturday my photography buddy and I poked around the headwaters. I didn't have my waders, and all the downed trees in the water made fishing difficult. Saw one regular riser who was hanging out at the end of one of the downed trees. Nymphed a couple of runs close enough to shore to cast to, but no takes. Then we drove down to the campground - spotted lots of trout just below the foot bridge. I think they spotted me first, 'cause I couldn't get any to take.
Sunday everybody wanted to go to the hatchery to feed the fish. Nymphing the outflow runs I caught two nice looking rainbows in the 11 inch range back to back. The only problem was that the kids couldn't see the fish from up on the high bank, so my wife suggested we move to the flats higher up. So we moved to an area where the bank was low, and of course I didn't catch anything there for the kids to see. Heading back, I saw a guy fishing the same outflow run I had been in, and watched him catch and release a trout that had to be at least 18 inches. My wife is still apologizing...still, we had a great time, and I can't wait to hit the headwaters with my waders on. Thanks again for all the great help and suggestions.