So after lurking around here for a year and enjoying the information and personalities on this fine website I’ve decided to try and become a little more active and contribute what I can. Hopefully this also translates into more fishing time which is an early New Years resolution.
I made it out to the Deschutes two days in a row a few weeks back before we got hit with a cold snap out here in Orygun. Cool and rainy, about 40F. Set up for nymphing and this was taken on a bead head cased caddis pattern
Pretty piggish, one of the larger whitefish that I’ve dredged out of the river.
Shortly thereafter I decided to switch up flies. During the changeover a powerful lesson was learned. While tying on the new fly I heard a distinct “plop” nearby. As I looked down I saw my flybox floating at my legs. Hand grab failed, rod retrieve failed, box floating merrily away. In a moment of sheer stupidity I charged after the box in knee high water. Unfortunately, the Deschutes is known for bowling ball sized rocks that are covered in some really slippery stuff. I made it about ten feet before I took a spill and ended up with a soaked left arm and a really sore right kneecap. Better judgement was restored and luckily I retrieved the errant box about 100 yards downstream in a shallow backeddy.
Day two found me with a very sore knee and a vow to wade with care. Despite the extra caution that I was taking I managed to stumble again and in a fateful way ended up with a soaked left arm and hit the same knee. Shortly after that there was some salty liquid coming from the eyes. Not so great of an expedition.
Yesterday found me on the river again, beautiful weather with more sun than cloud cover. This feisty little guy was brought to hand
I find it really amazing how hard these guys fight.
Later in the day nymphing picked up using a bead head cased caddis for weight and a flashback pheasant tail. One fish put on an aerial show that just floored me, four tail walking episodes before shaking me.
A great day, hopefully I get out on Monday and find it as productive!
Great post and pics! That really is a pig of a whitefish. There are many (REE for one :p) who don’t care much for the ‘lowly’ whitefish, but they bring some great winter action and, as far as I’m concerned, their presence in any body of water means that the fishery is healthy and thriving, so I’m glad to hook into one every now and again. Some say they’re really good for smoking, but I’ve had a Dicken’s of a time getting them to light up and stay lit:lol:.
Oh man I would love to have Whitefish down here, they look like a cross between a grayling and a chub! lovely fish, thanks for the report.
All the best.
Mike.
For the evening meal last night the main entree was fried whitefish. For those who don’t know the whitefish is related to the trout and has the same bone structure. Scale the fish, roll in flour & fry. It has nice flavored white meat that is slightly oilier than that of a trout. Becauseof the oil they are good smoked.
Tyro,
Sorry I missed your entry (27 posts ago), but welcome to FAOL. Thanks for the pics and report. This old dog doesn’t get out much in winter so I fish vicariously through the reports and pics of others. If you can, try to schedule yourself in the 2010 Idaho Fish-In. Great bunch of folks with a wealth of free information. Except for DG, but you can pry information out of him with a dozen cookies.
Again, welcome and thanks for the pics.
You summed up the big “D” quite well. Huge whitefish,spectacular trout, great nymphing and treacherious wading.
I don’t think east coasters understand the kind of rivers we have out here. I will put an 18-20 inch Dechutes redside in fast water against an east coast brown of any size.
Had the day off and made the foggy drive over to the river on a cold day. Air temps were low 30’s and the water was clocking in at 40 or just under leading to icicles at the shoreline.
Fished below this riffle.
Landed two using a rubberleg stonefly and red Copper John on point. To me it was interesting that both went for the stonefly. Nice fish, pictures need some help. A good early Christmas present!
Man, I’m dying for some weather and water like that !! Great looking stretch of water.
That first fishy looks kind of stub nosed. But not so much so to not eat the fly, right ?!
You mention a rubber legs stonefly, but the fly in the last picture looks like it has a wound copper body. I find that very interesting, since I’ve been thinking about tying / trying a stonefly nymph with a copper body and chenile thorax, otherwise tied like the all chenile rubber legs stonefly nymph that I’ve been using. Thinking it would have a slimmer profile and more weight to get down a bit better in faster water.
Maybe you could post a pic of that fly and some comments about it ??
Thanks for the report, and some more information on the fly.
John,
Here is a link to pictures of the fly used. I’m sure that the photo’s are of better quality than I can take. With the wire wrap and beadhead it’s got plenty of weight to sink your rig.
Thanks for the link to the WMD stonefly. Somewhat different than I imagined, and I wouldn’t be inclined to tie that particular pattern, although I do like its basic features.
Think I will tie something similar but simpler, “in the round” sans wingcases and using rubber legs material instead of biots for the antennae and tails, with chenile rather dubbing. Also, I notice the fly shop in the link only sells them in size 8. That’s a good size for the smaller stoneflies, but I’m inclined to upsize them to a size 8 or 6 4XL for the waters I fish.
Now, if I could just find some water like that shown in your second pic, I’d be all set …
9 Jan. 2010 was a great day, cold and grey, foggy going over Tygh ridge but with high clouds on the Deschutes. Fishing with two friends I steered them into the area where I had caught several fish pictured earlier on this thread. No fish for anyone after about 1.5 hours of time down. One buddy suggested another site where we went. Two trout and one lethargic steelhead later I had a grin on my face! The steelhead was wild, well colored and smallish, perhaps 24 inches and released himself at my shins. Quite a thrill to pull in that fish on a 6 wt. rod with 4x tippet material. I think the only reason I got him that close was the cold water and long journey he had already made, no real screaming runs, just a solid resistance throughout.
Today was a lousy day of skunking and one LDR. Fishing buddy had a great day even with poor water conditions. Several trout and one whiteyfish.
First trout:
Water was tough again today, about 1,000 cfs above “normal”. Very murky from the recent rains and runoff from the mountains as temperatures have warmed in the last few days. Weather was beautiful. Clear and sunny for the first half of the day, probably upper '40’s to low 50. Second half of the day had high cloud cover. Good hatch of some dark brown colored caddis floating above the grass on shore.
Trout #2:
The whitefish will go undocumented due to poor picture quality.
Gorgeous weather day! High 40’s to low 50’s, blue sky and dropping water flow. The river had cleared up quite nicely since my last trip when visibility was probably less than a foot, flow had dropped from above 7K CFS to just over 6K. A late start led me here:
Wind was a little brisk at times, should have worn the longjohn bottoms and caught more branches than fish, but I wasn’t skunked on this trip.
The goods and the bads, Yin and Yang. The weather has been fantastic while my fishing has been poor…
Early February had some cold and grey days with mixed rain and light snow. Higher water levels and poor visibility. Fishing was good. Had a five fish day (~4hrs) with two of the biggest fish I have landed on the Deschutes. Picked them up right in front of the stump.
Of course the batteries in the camera were drained, another learning experience…
Recently the water level has dropped a bit and the weather has been nothing short of beautiful. Clear and sunny days, temperatures in the low 50’s. The water is clean and clear. Skwala stoneflies have been hatching.
Ants are marching and it looks like more than two by two.
A beautiful looking riffle with a dropoff looks like a promising area but yields me nothing.
At least there is some bit of mother nature to keep me company on such a beautiful day. I’m sure the otter was wondering what my malfunction was, catching fish is easy!
Tradeoffs, compromises, give and take. Perhaps I’m a bit too greedy to want it all.
