Deschutes River Salmon Fly Hatch

[Clark]

Last weekend I did a three day float trip on the Deschutes in hopes of hitting the fabled salmon fly hatch head-on. It ended up being more like a glancing blow, but is was still an awesome trip.

We put in at the Trout Creek boat launch near Madras, OR on Friday morning. There were very few stoneflies around so that first day was mostly spent nymphing. We caught fish at every stop (no fishing from the boat on this river), and some of them were really healthy! I had a blast fishing the Beulah Platinum 10' 5 weight switch rod.



On Saturday we started to get into the big bugs. They were clinging to the grass and falling into the river in good numbers. We fished huge dries all day and caught a ton of great fish. I was stoked to have all of my fly tying efforts pay off. My flies out fished the guides' 2 to 1!









Speaking of guides, we fished with Deschutes River legend Dan Bastian. He has been guiding this river for 30+ years and is a total class act. I can't recommend his Rising Trout Fly Fishing Guides enough.

We had some rain during the trip, but it didn't seem to effect the fishing much. As we say, "when it's muggy, it's buggy."

We floated a total of 35 miles through some of the most beautiful high desert country. We saw tons of wildlife and caught a bunch of those hot Deschutes River Redsides. If you haven't fished the Deschutes, especially during the salmon fly hatch, I highly recommend it.

Whitehorse Rapids. This 3+ has eaten more than its fair share of drift boats.



Crazy rock formation



More scenery near our first camp.



Good times.

Clark

[Clark]

That's hilarious Dave! Sounds like it's about time you get back up there.

And yes, I tied my own version of the Clark's Stone. That's it in the second and third photos. The guides thought it was going to be too "bright", not "natural" enough. Turned out the fish liked it. Cool fly, easy to cast and has a lot of natural movement built in.

[Scott V]

That looks like an awesome trip Clark, guess I have to add that to my list of must fish trips. I really like the looks of the fly in the 3rd picture, those colors are brilliant.

[walthers]

Nice write up and pics Clark. The fly tieing is getting really good, nice looking fish!

[OregonSalmon]

For all of you that is a wonderful trip. Float, have a beer, camp. Wonderful spot. I love it. The fish can get odd but whom I to speak about that.