Paul Snowbeck and his Fin & Fire Fly Shop staff, Chris Peichel, Jessie Dodd and Dante Daniells along with my buddy Scott Robertson had one more beautiful part of Central Oregon to share with me today, their “Homewaters” section of the Lower Deschutes River. The stretch is referred to as the Day Stretch from Warm Spring to Trout Creek. Today our target species were big redband rainbows, bull trout and mountain whitefish.
Floating the Deschutes is unique compared to the western rivers I cut my teeth on in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Here you aren’t allowed to fish from the boat. So no hard back rowing and drifting close to shore so anglers can cast in and drive the fly down the bank. The boat is only a vehicle to get from spot to spot. So our two boat party leapfrogged all day from wade spot to wade spot. Photo by Chris Peichel
Its early season here on the Deschutes. This means higher water and slightly off color conditions. The renowned waterway is less than two weeks from seeing the famous salmon fly hatch but because it hasn’t happened yet, the fish aren’t looking up too much so far. We’d pick off a few on dries with the dry dropper technique but most of our fish came on nymphs and by swinging streamers with trout Spey rods. Photo by Chris Peichel
The fishing was pretty darn good. Everyone racked up good numbers of redbands and whitefish. Dante swung up the only bull trout. The pretty char was a small one but a bull nonetheless. The technique that worked best in our boat was Euro nymphing. While I stuck to dry dropper, Scott and Jessie Euro nymphed and caught not only a lot but also some nice redbands.
Though there were some substantial redbands landed, “The Fish” of the day has to be this whitefish landed by Paul. This is what I refer to as a “Mighty Whitey”. They get an inch or two bigger and fatter as well on rare occasions but this is a brute. Keep in mind, quality mountain whitefish are a sign of a healthy water system. Photo by Chris Peichel
Today was an outstanding treat for me. While I’ve dabbled on the Deschutes over the years, to get to float this fabled river with anglers that know it was unbelievable. The river is stunning and our weather to go with was a match made in heaven. It’s been no less than an incredible week here in Central Oregon. Photo by Chris Peichel
A special thanks goes out to my amazing hosts Scott and Sarah Robertson. They had me as their guest at their house all week and Scott took the time to fish with me every day. And let’s not forget Meeks. Then of course, Paul and the Fin & Fire Fly Shop and staff. Having me here to do a full day of seminars is how I got to Oregon in the first place. While I’m very excited to be heading home for almost three weeks for the first time since August, I’ll look forward to my return to fish with all these fun folks again in the near future.