Deschutes - Would You Rather...

[greenheadgunner]

On the lower river, in one day, would you rather catch over 30 redsides that average 12-17" or catch only 2-3 that are all over 20"?

[PacificCoastSteel]

if we're talking redsides id take the 30 fish... i've caught plenty of redsides that look like the cookie cutters and fought just as hard as some of the biggest trout ive caught in there..

that said i'd rather have a 2-3 fish day steelheading on the D than a 30 fish day trout fishing 100% of the time...:twocents:

[clarkman23]

Personally, I'd take two to three fish 12"-17" if I don't see another person out there...



as far as size goes, I've had 13" fish that have fought like steelhead and I've had 19"+ inch fish fight like logs...(case in point, my largest fish there to date...a 24" (taped) redside that did nothing but try to bulldog it's way out, didn't fight much harder than a snagged log...yes, it was a post spawn fish but it definitely had a bit of girth to him)

[Chester Allen]

I guess it depends on the day and my mood. If I'm fishing with Heather or my daughter , I'll take the 30-fish day for sure.

If I'm alone, I might choose 2 or 3 over 20 inches, especially if I can see them rising beforehand....

In any case, there is no such thing as a bad day on the Deschutes.

[nunyet]

On the lower river, in one day, would you rather catch over 30 redsides that average 12-17" or catch only 2-3 that are all over 20"?

Steelhead over 20" are easy to find at the right time of year. Like to spend a day with you on the lower river and give you 100.00 per trout over 20 and you give me 200.00 if you catch none over 20''. You can pick your own spots , I will furnish the boat if needed.

nunyethttp://www.ifish.net/board/images/smilies/flowerred.gif

[PTS]

Deschutes redsides are special to me! I've been fishing 60+ years and spent a lot of the last 25 on the Deschutes. I think I know a little bit about fishing the D but have only caught 2 redsides legitimately measured over 20 inches. A redside over 20 inches is a big fish, really big. I read a lot of reports where 20 inch fish are caught. Seems a little too common to be believable to me. I suspect some are steelhead with color. I do believe reports that come from native american only waters. The pressure on other waters has definitely reduced catching success especially the last five or so years.

A 2-3 steelhead day is ok, but I definitely prefer 30 or more redside days. For me, that used to be easy, but again, it's getting tougher to do especially if you just walk the bank and don't cover lots of water. If you compare a double digit steelhead day to 30+ redsides I might go for steel.

Has anyone noticed the reduction in redsides on spawning gravel. There are some areas where I used to count 100+ fish but in recent years there has been a great decrease in the numbers I have observed. I think fishing pressure, or something, is having some effect on D trout populations. That, or at my age I am losing my touch. I miss the days when there were few paths down to the water. Now human herds, like cattle, trample streamside vegetation to most runs. Sorry for the rant. We old fishermen can't get over the "good old days".

[Slow and Low]

Deschutes redsides are special to me! I've been fishing 60+ years and spent a lot of the last 25 on the Deschutes. I think I know a little bit about fishing the D but have only caught 2 redsides legitimately measured over 20 inches. A redside over 20 inches is a big fish, really big. I read a lot of reports where 20 inch fish are caught. Seems a little too common to be believable to me. I suspect some are steelhead with color. I do believe reports that come from native american only waters. The pressure on other waters has definitely reduced catching success especially the last five or so years.

A 2-3 steelhead day is ok, but I definitely prefer 30 or more redside days. For me, that used to be easy, but again, it's getting tougher to do especially if you just walk the bank and don't cover lots of water. If you compare a double digit steelhead day to 30+ redsides I might go for steel.

Has anyone noticed the reduction in redsides on spawning gravel. There are some areas where I used to count 100+ fish but in recent years there has been a great decrease in the numbers I have observed. I think fishing pressure, or something, is having some effect on D trout populations. That, or at my age I am losing my touch. I miss the days when there were few paths down to the water. Now human herds, like cattle, trample streamside vegetation to most runs. Sorry for the rant. We old fishermen can't get over the "good old days".

Yes, the fish are fewer and fewer on the redds. I have been on the float every weekend but last and seen disturbingly few trout.

On the 20" thing I caught one the other day on a dry and it was a horse. Marked my rod only to discover it was only 19??

As hard core steelheader I would still go with the 30 redside (no smolts no whities) day over the 2-3 steelhead day. Sometimes you get both...right Phil?

[DesChutesDrifter]

2-3 big ones for myself, but if taking newbies or the kids 30 plus is the way to go.

[Twothirteen]

I'd prefer to get the 30 redsides, in order to gain some experience on the water there, etc. :p

Finals just finished -- I'm thinking tomorrow might be a good daaaaay...

[FishWonk]

I'll let you know after I float WS to Maupin next week. I'll try and alternate days of few large fish with days of many fish, and see which leaves me happier....:D

[clarkman23]

On the 20" thing I caught one the other day on a dry and it was a horse. Marked my rod only to discover it was only 19??


I actually had the opposite thing happen a couple of weekends ago...
I hooked a fish in an eddy that took me for a ride and me and my buddy (who was the spotter for this guy) thought for sure the fish was in the 19" range...I measured it up to one of the nodes on my bamboo rod...measured it out when I got home and it ended up being 22" on the dot. by far the largest I've caught out there on a dry (certainly haven't caught very many out there anywhere close to that--probably only one or two)...plus, a weekend or so before that, I had a super hot fish take me for a serious ride but ended up being a mere 13"...

[leadeyedbugger]

hmmmm.....well, i would be ****** if i went to the D and only caught 3 trout no matter what the size so i guess i would take the 30.

[clarkman23]

Yes, the fish are fewer and fewer on the redds. I have been on the float every weekend but last and seen disturbingly few trout.

ditto on that...several of the very visible redds have had noticibly fewer fish on them....although last weekend one of the redds did have greater numbers (around 10 fish or so) on it than earlier in the year...also had two fishermen on it targeting those guys. I let them know (politely) that they were fishing to spawning fish and standing on the redd and they just shrugged and kept at it... :mad:

[Kevin2023]

I would be happy just to hook a redside in the D. I've only caught a whitefish there.

[Skunked]

I'd take the 2-3 +20" fish for sure!
I've had 30 fish days several times, but I've only caught one trout that actually measured 20". Trout that big are very rare in oregon, and difficult to catch, the big fish are just more memorable to me.

While we're talking about spawning redsides, I saw about 2 dozen on one redd south of mecca a week ago, plus another dozen spread throughout the river.

[PacificCoastSteel]

i've been thinking a little more about this... and here are my thoughts -

every time i've had a really good day on the D fishing redsides its been 15+ fish and everything on dries... when this happens about the time i get to 12 fish or so two things happen:
1. i stop counting
2. i dont fish as hard and i just enjoy the day a little more... checking out the canyon, taking photos, heck even napping in the drift boat...

so while i've had my share of 20+ fish days i dont know if ive ever actually made it to 30 (on the lower D)

ive had clients in the group im guiding with hit 30+ in a day down there, with the benefit of camp water and time... every time ive seen it happen its because the fisherman has a real drive to catch as many fish as he can... my trout fishing vibe just isnt that driven i guess...

on the other hand, steelheading on the D is a unique experience... its a whole different deal... i'm more intrigued by big fish, and to be fishing for a legitimate shot at a 15lb+ native on a floating line and a wet fly or a skater is what i'm after... that and if i catch 2-3 hatchery steelhead in a day i'm firing up the smoker - i wont keep trout from the D

so these are my thoughts on my reasoning...

rant off...

[Queeg]

If EITHER of those things ever happened, I'd be bummed out when the alarm went off and I woke up from the dream.

[Chester Allen]

PTS -- I agree that there has been a decline in numbers of redsides on the Deschutes -- at least in some areas. I suspect these are the reasons:

1. Fishing on redds. Still too many people do this. It's very hard for a lot of people -- especially inexperienced anglers -- to walk away from visible, big fish. People lose part of their brains..... It's the same thing that creates elbow-to-elbow combat fishing on westside salmon rivers.

2. Tons of poaching. There were two guys fishing bait and poaching fish like crazy around Mecca a couple years ago. They wailed on the fish. I know a state Police trooper was trying like crazy to bust them. I think a lot more of this happens than we realize.

3. More fishing pressure. I'm sure that increased fishing pressure changes the trout behavior. They move or feed at different times.

I would be very interested to see any recent trout population surveys on the river.

All this said, there are sections of the river where there seem to be as many trout as ever.

[Slow and Low]

Chester,

I think the numbers are down but it's not pressure. I can't think of a less pressured fishery. Limited season, fly lure only C&R. No fishing from a boat. The Res and super low pressure there. There are still many many fish that have never been hooked in the Deschutes river.

It has to be either an X factor or this once general fishery is becoming technical. I don't know but the spawners are way way down in either case.

[JD77]

30 easy. A 16-17 inch redside is hot hot. I've never personally seen a 20 inch redside, ever. I hooked a beast nymphing that basically was a steelhead fight and it was 18 inches. Like PTS, although I haven't spent the last 25 years chasing the redsides, I think it is very, very, very rare to hook and land a 20 inch redside.

[Chester Allen]

Slow and Low -- I completely agree that the D is becoming a more technical river, and I think that anglers have to be ready to change tactics and flies to enjoy consistent success. For example, I think backeddy fish are much pickier than they used to be. I hardly ever cast an Elk Hair Caddis anymore -- unless it's during the evening blitz or to hold up a Copper John nymph. I do find that an X-Caddis -- basically an Elk Hair without hackle and with a zelon trailing shuck -- is a money fly. Most of my dries -- except for salmonflies, golden stones, October Caddis and hoppers -- now carry little or no hackle. My best flies ride in the surface film.

Others may have completely different experiences, and I'm not surprised. It's a big river....

I do think SOME parts of the river are more pressured than they were in the mid-1980s, when I first started fishing the river regularly. The Mecca area is a good example of that. Yet, there are spots near Mecca that hold many, many trout.

I notice many, many more rising trout during the hottest days of July and August, and I believe less pressure on the river during those days is why the fish rise more freely. Now, these fish don't rise too much during the middle of the day, but early and late can be wonderful. I also find more fish working during deer season.

I also count poaching as part of pressure -- and that horrible practice is on the upswing on the river.

I know spots that have fewer spawners in the past -- and others that have more. The river has changed in many ways during the past 20 years. Once-productive back eddies have silted in and now hold few fish. Other eddies now hold lots of fish.

I'm going to contact ODFW about this and see what they have to say. I'll share what I learn on this site and on my blog.

It would be fun to fish the river together someday.

[Slow and Low]

It would be fun to fish the river together someday.

That could probably be done since we live in the same town.

[AndyK]

" When I was a kid, good fishing didn’t have much to do with deep thought. It meant catching lots of big fish quickly and easily on a day when it didn’t rain, the wind didn’t blow, the mosquitoes weren’t too bad and the outboard started on the first pull. 'Yes sir, we got out limit and were back at on the dock by noon' (with nothing to do for the rest of the day except swill beer and pick the lint from our navels, but never mind about that).

Now you’re expected to progress upward through the various states of enlightenment from lots of fish, to big fish, to the few truly difficult fish (releasing them all, naturally), until one day your pure soul finally leaves the physical plane altogether in a flash of blue light, leaving behind nothing but a pair of singed hip boots."

Even Brook Trout Get the Blues, John Gierach

[sothereiwas]

The Deschutes has trout? Good to know. Until I get around to building a 3wt switch rod for swinging soft hackles I wont be doing much trout fishing. I think I have a problem. :D

Brad