Bend Area Recommendations

[JackB]

Hello,

Setting off on an inaugural RV retirement trip later in a few weeks which will place us in Bend, OR for longer than initially planned so I was hoping to fish for a few days. I have read about the area but if anyone has a guide recommendation (pretty short notice), small stream gem or a walk-in section of the Deschutes or Crooked River knowledge I would greatly appreciate the input.

Thank You

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

One of my fishing buddies likes "The Patient Angler" Fly Shop in Bend.

https://www.patientangler.com/

Give them a call.

[JackB]

Thank you Bill, hope all is well in FL...

[blarson]

I would highly recommend stopping by Fin and Fire in Redmond (one of my favorite fly shops, including a bonus fantastic selection of beers on tap) and checking out the Metolius River. Try to talk with Paul Snowbeck if he is around. Nice guy, and he really knows his stuff. The Metolius can be challenging, but it is in a beautiful area with miles of walk-in access around Camp Sherman. You can fish for native redband rainbow trout as well as bull trout, which can be especially fun (and large) if you're around in the fall during the fall run of kokanee salmon that come out of Lake Billy Chinook. August tends to be when the big bulls start to show up from the lake. No commercial guides on the river, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?). For the Deschutes, fishing in the town of Bend can be surprisingly good. Quite a bit of access from city parks and day use areas. The warm springs reservation area is quite popular (~1hr outside bend), with decent access around Mecca Flat and Trout Creek area.
I don't have a ton of experience with these fisheries, so there are probably folks with better info than me. But I am a huge fan of that area...some of my favorite landscapes and rivers.

[Rich Morrison]

Tumalo Creek is great. Not big fish but a great creek. Both in Shevlin Park and up Skyliners where it turns into Tumalo Falls Rd - where the road crosses the creek. The creek follows the road all along there up to the falls. It’s all great fishing and you rarely see another fisherman. Above the falls is also very good. Again, no big fish, but lots of pretty little ones.

[JackB]

Thanks to all for the information. As it turns out, we only had a few days to actually fish, too much to do. Metolius was a great stop, second cast I hooked into what looked like a 14" rainbow and almost had it in the net when a bull trout grabbed it and ran, that was a short fight on 5X but memorable. Caught a few more rainbows, nothing big but plenty of larger whitefish.

Crooked River was great fun as it provided lots of action on dry flies, but nothing over 12".

The Deschutes outing was punctuated with a biblical hail and lightning storm, according to the locals it was an oddity but provided some excitement.

We will be returning next year so I will have an opportunity to follow up on the info provided, thanks again.

[blarson]

Good to hear (except for the hail and lightning, of course)! A big bull trout stealing a rainbow is a quintessential Metolius experience. Also, the trout on that river tend to not come so easily. Thanks for the report.