Skwalas, BWO’s and Caddis
It’s really starting to feel like spring here in Maupin this week. With temps climbing into the mid 60’s it’s only a matter of time before we see those hot spring days that bring the canyon to life with wildflower blooms and the return of the Osprey.
Conditions On The River-
Conditions on the river above the confluence of the White River have stayed consistent with flow hanging right around 3700 cfs. However flows below the confluence of the White River jumped by a few hundred cfs this last week. This bump in flows was a result of some spring rainfall pushing down the White River. This in turn lowered water temps within the first 20 miles below the confluence. With the White river mellowing out again and dropping we aren’t seeing as much of an influence on Deschutes river temps. The drop of the White paired with the warmer weather this week has river temps climbing back up and should make for a great week of fishing below Sherars Falls.
What’s Happening-
I was fortunate enough to get out a couple different times this last week and it paid off with an incredible Blue Wing Olive Hatch. During this Hatch I watched a pod of about one hundred fish take turns sipping down emergers then transitioning to readily taking adults off of the surface. As well as having a solid Blue Wing Olive hatch we are starting to see some Skwalas crawling on the banks and a few larger early season Caddis. Our Skwala hatch is a funny deal on the Deschutes, we see an emergence of them but it never gets to be as productive fishing them as we would like. With that being said I almost always have a darker bodied Stonefly dry on when I’m fishing my dry dropper presentation this time of year. If you get lucky you might catch the sporadic day where the fish turn on to the larger offering and it pays off fishing the Skwala dropper setup. Our early season caddis can be a fun way to prospect and cover water with a single dry on some of our sunny days though I have yet to see a lot of action on the caddis as of yet. Nymph fishing remains productive as ever with peak of subsurface activity being mid day as that’s when the temps are optimal. Streamer fishing has continued to be a fun way to mix things up and is producing some nice fish for those who put in the time with it.
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 and Green Tag Jig Size 16
Silver Bead Pheasant Tail with Hot Orange Collar Size 18
Silver Bead Green Glo Brite Perdigon with Hot Orange Collar Size 16
Dark Olive Chubby Chernobyl Size 10 & 12
Dark Olive Body Stimulator Size 10 & 12
Jigged Kreelex Minnow Size 6 & 8
Olive, Black, Natural Sculpzilla in Size 8
Up Next-
March Brown activity is right around the corner (they should be called April Browns on the Lower D) this means it’s time to start tying up or procuring your favorite imitations. We have two different species of March Browns here, some of our population emerge like any other mayfly in the film and some of them emerge below the film. This interesting trait can make for some incredible soft hackle fishing as the trout ambush the hatch. I like to tie my March Brown soft hackle with a mottled wing stretching the length of the body to take full advantage of the emergence.
I hope everyone is getting a chance to enjoy this warmer weather and gets out to pester some trout. We are starting to see more spawning activity as of lately so be sure to keep an eye out for our future populations. Tight lines and I’ll see you on the river!
