Fishing Update

Trout season has been fantastic because of the cool wet weather we have had producing phenomenal mayfly hatches including Green Drakes, arguably the best hatch on the Deschutes. Now with the warm weather coming in the caddis hatches have gained strength and the fish feed wildly in the evening.

For the most part Travis, Harley and I have been on the water almost everyday guiding and fishing and we all agree it has been one of the best trout seasons in years. On top of the great hatches, the crowds have been minimal because of the strange weather pattern we had throughout May and June.

Of course the big news is all the steelhead piling over Bonneville and The Dalles dam ahead of schedule. We have been getting a lot of phone calls in regards to the counts as well as a lot of inquiries about recent fishing reports. The numbers do look great and for that reason my brother and I embarked on a lower river trip for 3 days to see if we could find some super early fish. We fished are asses off from 4:15 am until dark combing every good piece of steelhead water in the lower river. I know from past early season trips if you want to find fish you fish everything all day long. My report is about the same as the last several years I have done a June camp trip: SLOW. In those three days my brother and I bumped into three fish which is always awesome but we worked hard for those fish. My assessment is if you are a die hard you should hike or ride up from the mouth because all three fish were hooked in the last 6 miles of the float. With the current increase in numbers I am sure we will have a stellar season and fishing will pick up by the middle of July. Here are some recent trout photos and as soon as I get a photo of a landed steelhead I will put it up.