Yesterday on the Lower Deschutes was a classic. We had periods when we got eaten every few minutes and some when we might go an hour between. But almost every fish we hooked was a good one! It’s still that time of the year when, if you’re targeting trout, you’ll want to be on 5 and even 6X tippet using pretty small bugs. Yesterday’s hot fly was either the #18 Purple Psycho Prince or same sized red Two-Bit Hooker. We had one eat a little prince nymph, one on a olive Soft Hackle, one on a big rig of Lex’s Improved stonefly and glo-bug. That fish, like many others did not swim into the net for us. We had several take-downs on really BIG FISH that we never even saw!
This fish I caught a week ago on a #18 Red Lightening Bug while fishing with Jasper. It was one of three fish that all ate in the same spot, but each ate something different. The point is that if you’re fishing good water and making quality drifts and covering it thoroughly -which is to say making many, many good passes before considering it covered- then try something else before moving on. There is no “one hatch” going on. Yesterday afternoon, when the sun came out, there were a bunch of caddis and mayflies out. There were at least two different caddis and three mayflies. Actually three caddis. I saw two Octobers flying. There are bunches of big cased caddis on the rocks and we should see that “hatch” soon.
As for steelhead, there are a few in there. We had a good camp trip a week and a half ago and ran into a fair number, which means they are either in the day stretch or soon to arrive. We’ve hooked a handful already. So stay tuned on that front. But in the meantime, this is a special time of the year down there so get after it. As always, touch base with the shop before you go. Everyone there get intel from the guides ad can at least give you a baseline starting point and some tips.