March and April begin our Deschutes River dry fly season with dense hatches of blue winged olives and March brown mayflies.
During overcast afternoons the mayflies hatch and fishing is best in the backeddies and soft riffles. Sight fishing is the way to go during this time, as the trout are cruising just below the surface and sticking their noses up to sip the bugs. The best dry fly fishing is generally from 2:00 to 4:30 or so depending on the day. Our favorite patterns for the early mayfly hatches are parachute and comparadun style. Leaders and tippets this time of year need not be lighter than 4X as the trout have yet to become educated. If there are trout rising this time of year you will see them. Blind fishing with dry flies is rarely productive until later in the spring and summer. Nymphing with small mayfly patterns such as pheasant tails and hare's ears is productive just prior to the afternoon hatch. Good dry fly fishing rarely gets going before 10:00 am in the early spring. These mayfly hatches usually fade a bit once the weather gets really nice towards the end of April.
May and June bring the legendary salmonfly hatch, followed shortly by golden stoneflies and yellow sallies. This is collectively referred to as the stonefly hatch. These larger sized bugs (size 6 and 8) create a unique and exciting dry fly opportunity. The trout are looking up and ready to pounce on a well drifted offering. This is a popular time to fly fish the Deschutes, and for good reason. Trout are eating large bugs that are highly visible, on heavy tippets, and are not so spooky due to the temptation of such a rich food source. We have a page dedicated to fishing the salmonfly hatch.
During the stonefly hatch, on cloudy and wet days, the Western Green Drake hatch sporadically. While this is an unpredictable hatch it is essential that an angler have some Green Drake's in their box. These large mayflies hatch from the water, so the trout key in instantly. There might be a million salmonlfies on the water but when the Green Drakes come off the trout stop eating anything else. Only a Drake will do. Cripples are also good patterns to carry as the Drakes prefer to hatch on inclement days. When you encounter a perfect Green Drake hatch and the trout are gobbling them it will be the dry fly experience that all others will be judged by.