Deschutes River Fly Fishing Report

A fishing update from River Runner Outfitters...

Maupin area: The Maupin area is the epicenter of our fall steelhead season. A good day here has been one hookup per angler so far this month. I have had a few four fish days mixed in, but mostly hard work for a good yank. I have to say the fish have been very "plucky". In other words, they have not been sticking too well.

Macks to the mouth: Fishing has been tough, with flurries of action. We have been running trips on the upper river since late September, but Nick and Nate are on a five day trip down there... they will return with a fresh report Wednesday.

Trout Creek to Maupin: We began running steelhead trips on this stretch Sept 25. Our first trip was a lot of fun, but steelhead fishing was marginal. On the other hand, the trout fishing was as good as you could reasonably expect. Redsides were on caddis in the backeddies... less osprey around??? Our second trip was more productive, but still not par for the course. This time I experienced the best blue winged olive hatch on the Deschutes River I have ever seen!!! Every bit of foam from bank to bank had trout slurping mayflies. the hatch came in three waves... just when it started to die off, more bugs! I am so proud to have great dry fly trout and steelhead fishing in one great river.

Warm Springs to Trout Creek: We have run several steelhead day trips up here since September 24. Fishing started off great, then slowed considerably. I feel that the slow fishing came over the whole river, as we have had a strong presence in each "segment". On a positive note fishing pressure has been light in this stretch.