Deschutes Trout Report near Warm Springs OR

Troutfishing has been off the charts the past two weeks, after a fairly slow start to the July caddis fly hatch. There are tons of caddis hatching, as well as aquatic moths (an often overlooked food item). An elk hair caddis in size 14 will imitate both bugs, while an emerging style pattern such as the x-caddis or E/C caddis works very well as a caddis fly. Trout have been showing themselves in backeddies where drifting food collects. This time of year the trout have seen it all, so extra careful stalking will go a long ways. 4X tippets are still working fine, but have 5X handy for those extra picky redsides.

Late July and August is also a good time for nymph fishing. Some anglers prefer to always stick to dry fly, while others enjoy changing up the game from time to time. While we are dry fly nuts, nymphing is an enjoyable way to follow up stalking a big trout for thirty minutes. For the nymphers, size 14 sparkle pupaes, Silvey's edible emergers, and size 16 no bead pheasant tails have been working great. We like to rig the caddis pupae behind a split shot or two, and tie the pheasant tail off the pupae. Tying the dropper from the eye of the lead fly, rather than the bend of the hook, will result in more fish taking the lead fly. Another option is to tie on a size 10 or 8 brown stonefly nymph... you won't likely find large numbers of trout, but the oversized gluttons will have a hard time passing up the meal. The stoenfly nymphs (smaller than you might fish pre salmonfly hatch) will play an increasingly important roll later in the summer.

Either way you slice it, the trout are in immaculate condition! Some of the fattest and hardest fighting trout of the season have been caught in the past week. Combined with beautiful sunny weather and very little fishing pressure, saying it has been great is an understatement. Here are a few photos from Saturday...