Fishing Report: Lower Deschutes River

My last few days on the Lower Deschutes were spent casting stonefly patterns under trees to trout that had full bellies and seen plenty of imitations. We rose a ton of fish and landed plenty, but a lot of them swiped at the fly but were not committed enough to eat. We missed a good number of trout altogether, and a few were hooked in their pectoral fins or bellies. Were they trying to sink the fly before eating it or just attacking with closed mouths? My guess is the later. Most of the trout landed were fair and square in the corner of their mouths. At the end of the day I care more about the action than number of fish landed.

We just wrapped up our big push of stonefly trips. I didn't waste any time getting my wife, daughter, niece, and father in law out to get in on the action before it was over. We had a great day for many reasons. Paley loved the stoneflies! She couldn't get enough of them.

Expect caddis and pmd action for the next few weeks. The stoneflies are gone... if you go tomorrow you might find a trout or two deep in tree cover still willing to take a big bug, but it really is time to move on to smaller flies. Looking forward to a less busy river and sight fishing for big redsides. As the size of the insects shrinks over the summer the trout spey game will improve.

Be safe and have fun,

Chris