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Deschutes River June 1

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Coy 
#1 ·
The big bugs are still out.

I fished the Maupin area yesterday and it was pretty damn good. Predominantly Goldens at this point but that's good by me! Fish were on them mid-river. I also saw loads of Caddis (different sizes), and some big mayflies (drakes?).

Many folks were claiming fishing was tough but I found it to be solid. The issue was that people were working the banks like it was peak Salmonfly/Golden hatch time and those fish have already been caught several times since the hatch began. They weren't playing! Mid-river fish on the other hand were rising constantly. I nabbed several fish on a double nymph rig (surprisingly enough, most fish came on a size 12 Hogan's Clinger nymph with a few on a Caddis Pupae) and then switched to the dry rod when the rises became frequent. CDC Caddis, EHC, Tent Caddis and Stonefly dries were the ticket. I caught fish on all of them.

It was really fun and at times frustrating targeting rising fish mid-river. LONG casts and tough drifts made it an interesting game. I missed so many strikes at distance due to slack line (and poor angling ability ;)) but the ones that I hooked up with were worth it.

Fat healthy fish, all day long.

Fish Water Fish products Salmon-like fish Electric blue


Plant Terrestrial plant Insect Grass Grass family


Fish Salmon-like fish Marine biology Fish products Ray-finned fish


Water Crocodile Crocodilia Fluid Underwater


The crappiest part of the day was stopping back at my most productive spot of the day (8 fish landed earlier at the spot) and seeing some college kids walking out with spinning rods (not illegal... and they had spinners on) with a nice trout in hand. The fish looked to be about 15" and was freshly killed. I knew there was a slot limit (didn't know the size) and so I figured that it sucked they killed one and fished what had been my honey hole, but it's their legal right.

When I got down to the hole I found a discarded bottle of Power Bait GARLIC trout dipping scent. They left pretty quickly before I could get back to them to let them know scent is not allowed in bait free waters. I also checked my regs and realized they kept an oversized fish (10"-13" slot limit). Bummer. It was free fishing weekend in Oregon so I sure as heck hope they were just ignorant kids and not knowing law breakers.

That said, I still got 3 more fish at the spot before I packed up and headed back home.
 
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#3 ·
Yeah Matt,

That thing was legit. When it jumped the first time I thought it was much bigger than it actually was. Get down there soon though. Weekdays are always best. The warm weather the next few days should really get the caddis and goldens going.
 
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