Spikes and Drops
The last two weeks of fishing the Lower Deschutes has had its highs and lows. We are still seeing the effects of a spring heat wave that is rapidly melting our large snowpack on the Cascades. The initial spike in water in the beginning of the month barely cleared up before the Lower Deschutes got hit with another blast of mud from the Crooked River. Early this week a spike of over 2,000 cfs brought some really dirty water down river. With less than a foot of visibility, conditions were less than ideal for fishing. Last night the Dam cut flows by 1,000 cfs and the main stem has started to clear up again.
During the week after the first spike in flows the big bugs finally started hatch. I have not yet seen the day where the fish heavily key in on dries, but trout have been eating the stonefly nymphs and I found a few willing contenders on the dry each day. Trout should really start to key into the dries soon. It always take a few hot days and a few big flights of the adult stones to get the fish consistently eating.
The water flows during this stonefly hatch are larger than the last few years, but that’s not always a bad thing. With these higher flows the majority of the trout will be hanging close to the banks. This means more hungry mouths where we are throwing our oversized creations of foam and fur. Remember to focus your efforts on areas where there are overhanging trees or heavily grass-lined banks. This habitat is where the bugs will be most likely to fall in. The trout figure this out quickly and will pod up ready to ambush.
The Moody gauge is currently reading 9,510 cfs and dropping, meaning this is the flow you can expect to be fishing below the confluence of the White River. White River is slowly dropping but still putting out 1,100 cfs as of today. The estimated flow through town right now is around 6,600 cfs based on a combination of flows from the Warm Springs River and the flows out of the Dam.
Good luck to everyone who is out braving the high flows and chasing Redbands this weekend. Stay safe wading the big water and put your flies as far under the trees as you can. I’ll see you on the river.
