The Turn Of The Season
Hi Everyone, apologies for the long time between my last fishing report and this one. This last month has been full of back to back camp trips and countless hours of prying the waters in search of steelhead and trout. Fall is here to stay and quickly turning into winter in Maupin. Even though it is getting cold and dreary outside, our trout and steelhead have yet to get the memo and are taking flies consistently.
River Conditions -
Flows on the river have been fluctuating quite a bit due to a few different factors over the last 30 days. Each fall we have flows that become a bit erratic when irrigation on the upper tributaries of the river is cut. This is perfectly normal however it can have some negative impacts on both trout and steelhead fishing as it pushes these fish out of their resting areas. Flows at the mouth have also been changing a bit more than the town stretch due to the impacts of the white river. It appears we are on the other side of the flow changes and fishing for trout and steelhead has become more reliable over the last week. The few weeks prior were a bit tough for anglers out on the hunt. Flows at the mouth are currently 4600 cfs and flows at the dam are currently at 4100 cfs. The white river has (fingers crossed) leveled out and begun to clear as the mountain gets snow and the days get cooler. Temps out of the dam are hanging around 55 degrees and temps at the mouth are just a couple degrees warmer hanging around 57 degrees. This means it’s still a great time to swing your Scandi lines with traditional hair wings for steelhead!
What’s Happening With Trout -
Trout fishing is very similar to my previous report in that we are still finding a lot of fish on small size 20 pheasant tails and midge nymphs. Faster pocket water is waning in productivity and fish are starting to transition into some of the slower paced water to preserve energy as water temps drop. You can still find fish in faster water when the peak of temps happen each day, but for the early morning and late afternoon it will pay dividends to fish some slower or mid paced water. Dry fly hatches have been scarce lately but this is the time of year we start to see decent Blue Wing Olive hatches emerge so be sure to have some of those ready on the rainy days.
Trout spey has been decent for those looking to find some on the swing. This time of year I like to fish egg sucking leech patterns, small leeches and occasionally sculpin. When fishing larger mid paced runs I lean on the leech patterns and twitch them more lightly or passively swing them. For sculpin patterns I like to focus my efforts on fast shallow riffle breaks or boulder filled pocket water. If you are fishing sculpin wait until temps reach their peak for the day, fish them a bit faster and with big jerks of the rod tip while swinging or even strip to speed them up. I am looking for the aggressive fish with a sculpin that is looking to eat a big meal as compared to the leech pattern which is more geared around the average trout here. Both T-8 and T-11 tips on the trout spey will do the trick depending on speed of water.
Egg patterns are beginning to work quite well as salmon settle into the spawning redds. If you are out on the hunt for trout with an egg pattern please remember to be respectful of our spawning salmon and stay out of their spawning habitat. Eggs can be a deadly pattern in the late fall and winter but there is an ethical way to fish these patterns without having a negative impact on our future generations of salmon. Keep your eyes peeled for clean gravel and be sure not to tread on the redds. Even if there are no salmon spawning grounds close to you the egg patterns have been producing plenty of fish in all the typical trout spots.
What’s Happening With Steelhead -
Steelhead fishing has been good lately with fish still taking skaters and floating lines in the shade. Water temps are starting to cool down so it’s not a bad idea to fish a sink tip and bring your fly closer to the fish on cooler days or in the full sun. Luckily it is not crucial to get your presentation low and slow yet. On the last camp trip we had about the same amount of fish hooked on floating lines as we did sink tips. Whenever someone tells me it’s too cold to fish a floating line I recount the story of my fishing trip last November. With a high of 17 degrees a friend and I fished sink tips the entire day with no success. At the end of the day I chose to change my tactics and landed a fish on my grandpas bamboo rod with a muddler and floating leader. Long story short, we still have time to enjoy the delicate presentation of our Scandi lines delivered with a touch and go cast like the single spey or snake roll. Patterns that resemble an October Caddis are always a stand by for me when fishing in the fall. I like to start by searching with a riffle hitched October caddis Muddler and then come back to a boil or grab with a small size 8 October caddis Pupa. If you are fishing subsurface with a tip you can still fish the smaller flies or switch to a small intruder that is lightly weighted such as the Hoh-Bo spey or the Bretts Klamath Intruder.
Flies That Are Working -
Henry’s Fork Foam Stone Size 14, and 16
Hi Vis Micro Chubby in Orange and Tan Size 14 and 16
Silver Bead Green Glo Brite Perdigon in Size 16 and 18
Silver Bead Blue Glo Brite Perdigon in Size 16 and 18
Silver Bead Roza’s Green Tag Jig Size 16
Pink Bead Tasmanian Devil Size 16
Pink Bead Pheasant Tail Size 16, 18 and 20
Pink Bead Hares Ear Size 16, 18 and 20
Copper Bead Olive Hares Ear Size 16 and 18
Copper Bead Quilldigon Size 16 and 18
Egan’s Frenchie Size 16, 18 and 20
Root Beer Midge Pupa Size 20
Black Zebra Midge Pupa Size 20
Sculpzilla in Natural and Olive Size 4 and 6
Olive Bugger Size 10
Mayers Mini Leech Size 12
Egg Sucking Leech Size 10
Hot Bead Mayers Mini Leech Size 12
Turkey Wing Orange Muddler Size 6 and 8
Steelhead Bee Size 8
Tied Down Steelhead Caddis Size 8
Rusty Bomber Size 6
Hoh-Bo Spey in Purple, Black, Claret, Blue
Brett’s Klamath Intruder in Pink and Red
Your confidence Steelhead patterns, because let’s be honest they will eat a myriad of patterns when swung in the right place.
Thanks for tuning in to my fishing report again! As winter sets in I will be doing fishing reports less frequently. If you ever have questions in between fishing reports feel free to shoot me an email or text and I will be more than happy to give you a more real time update. Tight lines and happy fishing to all who get out this late fall to chase our finned friends. I’ll see you on the water!
