Flows Are Dropping

Flows have drastically improved over the last couple days here on the Lower Deschutes. Clarity of the Deschutes above the confluence of the White river is great. Flows and turbidity below the Confluence of the white are still a bit off. The White River is pumping at around 1800 cfs which is about 5 times the average flow for this time of year. For those of you looking to get out and fish the Deschutes I would recommend staying above the White and focusing your efforts on the clean water through town. This is the zone in which I’ll be operating my day trips until we see a big improvement in the White River flows.

Current flows out of the dam are sitting at 5010 cfs meaning this is the flow you can expect to be fishing if you are floating the Warm Spring to Trout Creek stretch for a day trip. If you are on a multi day trip below Trout Creek, you will fish that flow for a while until you meet up with the confluence of the Warm Springs river which is bringing in around 1000 cfs. This is still a very fishable level below the confluence of the Warm Springs river just a bit larger. The flows of the river stay pretty much the same until you reach the confluence of the White River where you see another 1800 cfs enter the main stem. This will bring the total up to around 8000 cfs. It takes a little while for the adjustment in flows from the dam to register on the Moody gauge. If you look at the gauge right now you will see 9080 cfs. I expect to see the moody gauge drop to around 8000 cfs by this time tomorrow.

If you are heading out to fish the river don’t forget to fish the edges, higher water means fish will be in closer to the banks and dry dropper can be a great way to present your flies to these displaced fish. Remember to stay safe when wading in higher flows and good luck to everyone getting out this week.