New Years resolution… Fish more!
I know it’s been a while since my last report but I’m back with good news of happy wintertime trout. I have had the pleasure of spending 4 days on the water this week, and though the steelhead bite has slowed down the trout are feasting like maniacs on anything that remotely resembles a whitefish or salmon egg. The last couple months have been plagued with intermittent storms causing water flows to jump around quite a bit. It looks like things have mellowed out for now. This year has definitely been filled with plenty of “out of the norm” weather for us here in Maupin. This week we have water temps hitting 47 degrees here in town, which is incredible for this time of year!
River Conditions -
River flows coming out of the dam right now are currently sitting at 4,150 cfs and holding steady there. Flows at the mouth are sitting at 4,750 cfs and also holding steady now that the tributaries have settled down after the recent rain storms. Current temperature of the river at the dam is holding around 47 with only about a degree of variance each day. Current temps at the mouth are holding at 46 degrees with only about a degree of variance as well. These temps can change quickly if we get some cooler weather. If you are coming out to fish it pays off to check the flows and temps at the USGS gauges. If flows or temps jump drastically in one direction or the other the fish will get put off for a day or two. With that being said you can still find plenty of fish in sub-47 degree water. The fish just don’t like big swings in flow or temp.
What’s Happening -
Steelhead fishing has been winding down over the last couple weeks. I put in a couple days of swinging this week and had one legitimate grab fishing an unweighted fly on a T-10 sink tip. Usually around the first of the year I notice the swing bite dies off and I shift my steelhead focus to other rivers with fresher brighter fish closer to the coast. Trout fishing this week was lights-out good with surprisingly few whitefish in relation to trout this week. I noticed the few whitefish we did encounter were usually grouped together and showing signs of spawning after getting them to the net. If you are catching only whitefish in the place you have decided to fish it’s probably an area that they are spawning. A quick remedy to the whitefish blues is to keep moving until you find where the trout are localized. Blue Wing Olives were hatching in between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day getting some fish up and working on the soft edges of runs and in some of our slower back-eddies. Normally I avoid eddies like the plague on this river but the arrival of winter means the eviction of Osprey. Trout become much more comfortable in this water type with the absence of birds of prey. The same thing can be said for some of the sandy substrate runs that lack productivity in the summer.
Flies that have been working well -
CDC Blue Wing Olive Cripple Size 16 & 18
Hi Vis Parachute BWO size 16 & 18
CDC Comparadun BWO Size 16 & 18
Purple Haze Parachute Size 16 & 18
Pink Bead Hares Ear Size 16
Pink Bead Pheasant Tail Size 16
Roza’s Red Tag Jig Size 16
Roza’s Pink Tag Jig Size 16
Silver Bead Pheasant Tail with Hot Orange Collar Size 18
Silver Bead Blue Glo Brite Perdigon with Hot Orange Collar Size 16
Egg Taco in Orange and Peach Size 16
Slush Egg in Orange, Pink, and Peach Size 16
Eggstasy Egg in Orange and Peach Size 16
Jigged Kreelex Minnow in Gold and Silver Size 8
Jigged Mayers Mini Leech in Olive Size 8
Jigged Hot Bead Mayers Mini Leech in Black Size 8
Thanks for tuning in to my report. I hope everyone had a good holiday season and gets a chance to get out on the water this winter, whether it be in pursuit of winter trout or one of those beautiful, elusive coastal steelhead. If you are coming out to fish and I haven’t done a recent enough report for you, please feel free to shoot me a message and I’ll let you know what has been happening that week. I’ve already got some trips on the books for 2024, so if you know the dates you want to fish get in touch to lock those down on the calendar. Tight lines and happy fishing to all. I’ll see you on the water!
