Deschutes Stoneflies

[jacksalmon]

What with all the warm weather, my mind has turned to stoneflies. I know the upper water (Warm Springs to Maupin) very well for stoneflies, but I am not very familiar with how good the hatch is in the Shears to Max stretch. I would appreciate any info from you all about the adult stonefly fishing in this water, such as when they usually appear and in what numbers. Thanks.

[Doryfisher]

In my experience (My annual 4 day trek to the Deschutes) the best fishing with the salmon/stone fly hatch is late May to early June... but this year Who knows with all the crazy warm weather. It would be interesting to find out about the Deschutes temperatures compared to other years. Maybe a truly knowlegeable Deschutes IFisher could help us both out........... :bowdown:

[Blue Tip Spinner]

i think the magic water temp is 51-52 degrees. i don't know the current temp up there, but i sure would like to know.

[Rightbait]

check with john at deshutes canyon fly shop for any info he is very straight about whats up over there.
he has a website. i've known john for years and he won't try to sell you on coming over for nothing.

[klaypigeon]

Ditto that on John. He and his wife are a class act...and know how to destroy that section of river with a flyrod. I am going over there this weekend. I was going to go to the Wilson, but took a drive along highway 6 and that is some sad lookin water. Some sections look like the fish will need legs. I bet the only fishing is in deep slow holes...ick. Please correct me if Im wrong of course. More and more I am thinking this summer is gonna be all about the Perch :smile:

[nookslayer]

I think fishing on the D this sommer can be summed up in one word..... "nymph".

[lost_sailor]

Seems like the hatch pretty much comes on earlier at lower elevations and just moves up the river.

After I win the lottery, I'll just spend the whole month of May on the river - to hit the right day or two.

[rob allen]

don't expect the hatch to really vary much from year to year maybe a few days difference however weather can make the hatch go gangbusters or completely stalling it. Unfortunatly May and early June have pretty unstable weather
expect the best fishing with stable warm weather and poor fishing with cold or changing weather. if the weather turns bad look for mayflies mid day and caddis in the evenings always keep an eye out for green drakes!!!!

[OutTrolling (ot)]

For water conditions try going to the USGS site: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/current/?type=quality&group_key=basin_cd then click on Predifined Displays, scroll down to Oregon Water Table and click go. On the far right of the table are the temps for various waters. The scroll down will also provide water flows, heights, etc. USGS has come up with a pretty good site.And it is in real time. You can check the time when it was measured which is usually recently. ( I think I got all the components of the address in there. If I didn't, Google can find it for you.)

Happy fishing!
Old fisherman never die, they just smell that way.

[klaypigeon]

I fished it Sun-Tues and there were several hatches of small "summer stones", not golden stones like one fella thought. They go .75-1.25 inch. BWOs were active off and on from 10-3, slight March Brown hatches and some kind of mayfly came off when it was really warm on Monday, looked like a PMD, but Im not the best at IDing bugs. I got my best D redside ever which came in over 16 inches and took me 10 minutes to land on 2lb tippet. I also got my Wisconsin visitors into their first dry fly fish sight casting a 16 Adams by the big boulders upriver from Maupin. we stayed at the Imperial which was really lovely and the winter rates are Cheap!! All and all a couple Great days on the river.

The Lowdown : 6-8ft clarity
Hatches: BWO, summer stones, March Brown, PMD??
Water Temp: [potty mouth] cold
Hookups: 6-10/day
Landed: 2-4
Biggest fish: 16+ tungsten bead hares ear, 16
Average fish: 12

Here are a few pics of the trip. Check out the water clarity in 19-22.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/k1aypigeon/album?.dir=1a9a&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http% 3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/k1aypigeon/my_photos
:flowered:

[ssteelheadsteve]

The MAGIC temp is exactly 52 deg F.

[nookslayer]

The last report I got from Smurf was that the BWO's were still the best bet around 2:30 or so. The redsides seemed to be after them around that time. When I was there a couple of weeks ago we stayed at my other residence (the Imperial suite at the Imperial River Co.) and had good luck from Pine Tree to Beaver Tail on the pontoons. There is some great water right now, but don't disturb the spawners. The were still some fish spawing and they can be very aggressive but you don't want to mess with them.
Nymphing was the majority of what I did with the staples of the big D (stones, hares ears, princes, green rock worms, and waht really worked were the san juans).
I would give Smurf a call and see what he suggests though. With the weather things may have changed.