[JesseC]

I'm taking off Friday from work - grabbing the Watermasters from the gear program (Thanks Chris!), then hitting the road to spend three days with a good buddy fishing around Sunriver/Bend OR. I've been there once before and only got a couple hours of fishing in, so I've been jonesing to go back ever since. Lucky enough for us, we have a buddy who is going to let us camp out at his place in Sunriver for the weekend, so we're going to target some areas within driving distance.

Here's my plan thus far - If you see where I'm going wrong, just let me know.

Getting into Bend around 6PM friday. So, I hope to stop at a couple shops in the area for some flies, leaders and intel. I'll be headed to the Patient Angler first, then the Fly and Field Outfitters. We'll pull into Sunriver a bit late, but the next morning I'm planning on talking to the guys at "The Hook". They were kind enough to give us a general report of what was hatching the last time we were there. I'm expecting a mess of caddis, maybe some BWO, but am hoping that the salmonflies are starting to get active. We'll see!

The first day we have to scope out the Fall river. I've heard nothing but amazing things about this river and my buddy swears its the most gorgeous river he's fished. I'm really looking forward to wading it and exploring. We'll grab a late evening dinner and then try to get on a local lake to test out the watermasters and get a good feel for the boats.

The second day I'd like to float the deschutes. have no idea on what section yet. I've been trying to figure out what boating permits are necessary but haven't been able to dig up much useful information. I figure I'll just ask the guys at the shop for the details. But, if you know of a solid put in take out spot, I'd appreciate it.

The third day I'm thinking Mecca Flats. But, hell... we might just make it a toss up of heading back to the Fall river or cruising on the Deschutes. Part of the problem with hopping around rivers (even sections) is that it always takes me at least a couple days to figure out what's going on with the trout. I'm a slow learner.

Questions I've got
-Good places to grab a beer, steak, or cigars
-Your favJesseorite fly shops
-Good sections on the Deschutes or Fall river you'd recommend for a float
-Your secret fly and favorite rock to stand on and also the phone number of your girlfriend down there kidding!

Thanks as always guys. I'm hoping to make the most out of this short trip. So be sure to drop me a PM if you see that I might be wasting my time.

 

[Mumbles]

Can't help with any Oregon intel Jesse but I do hope your trip is awesome. I know you are excited. Best of luck.

 

[Fishful Thinking]

From my limited experience fishing the Fall, it is very clear and the fish are very wary, like you'd expect in a spring creek. So, long, light leaders are a good idea. There's decent fishing at the fish hatchery. If you go just upstream from the hatchery there are some good fish under the cut bank, but again, they're spooky, so tread very lightly. At the hatchery itself you can do well drifting flies in the outflows. The fish treat them like riffles. Good luck!

 

[Gone’r]

BBC (bend brewing company) for beer and food. fish the meadows section on the fall. mile marker 10 if i remember right? just ask at the riffle fly shop. throw streeamers. the D is all accessible. buy a boaters guide at the fly shop, there is a million floats to choose from, access is super easy. enjoy!

 

[Bob Jones]

Since you're goiing to the upper river stay there, Don't messs with Mecca Flats this time. There's lots of water up above. Next time try the drift from Warm Srings to Trout Creek, It's easy and you shoouldent have any trouble. From Trout Creek own you have Class 3& 4 rapidsto deal with so you need to be very elperienced. then you can camp at Mecca flats or Trout Creek. Salmon flies usuallly work their way upstream hatching and reach Trout creek about memorial day at the peak of the hatch or a little after. So you're a little early. the water is totally different from the upper river to the lower so you won't have to equip for both types on the same trip. Finesse and skill up top and strength and big fish in big water down below. good luck and enjoy The Riffle fly shop is gone as of recently so try the Deshutes river anglers.

 

[gt]

easy day drifts on the deschutes are a bit of a drive from sun river. are the cascade lakes open yet?? seems a bit early if memory serves me so you might consider a royal skunking on the metelious as an option. tough fishing for fussy fish but a beautiful setting, read the regs some closures if i remember correctly.

if you don't mid driving, nena->dutchman flats or wapinitia campground, don't miss it otherwise you are in class IV. drive to maupin and go up river. you can also bank fish above the locked gate.

another easy day drift is beavertail->rattlesnake campground(no ramp, over the bank only) take plenty of time and fish the river right of cedar island. some of the biggest deschutes trout call this home. tough to anchor, tough to wade, be careful.

warm springs to trout creek is the 'traditional' day drift. this time of year probably not too many folks but the 2 short drifts, above, will produce way more fish in lots shorter time periods. have fun, a great river from top to bottom.

 

[codswallower]

The Patient Angler at 822 Southeast 3rd Street in Bend is a great fly shop. Very friendly and helpful when I was fishing OR for the first time.

Last time there I found a good wading access point where the Lower Bridge Market road west from Terrebonne crosses the Deschutes. Great hatches in the afternoon and plenty of hungry browns. Rainbows too. This stretch of river is downstream of the irrigation diversion so there's not really enough water for a float.

Great food and beer at the Deschutes brew pub on Bond St in downtown Bend.

This part of Oregon is gorgeous, have fun.

 

[robbbos]

Wow. Sounds like quite a trip. I have no advice or experience to contribute, but I'm looking forward to learning from your report!

Rob

 

[Ephrata Fly Guy]

Dont know if its open yet or not, you can do the research, but I'd say if the Metolius is rockin, its worth the effort. As for a cool place in Bend for beer, food,whisky, and cigars...check out the St. Francis school downtown, and they have a great Dead bar...if you're down with that sort of thing...

 

[Don Barton]

I can recommend Jeff Perin at the Fly Fisher's Place in Sisters. 151 W. Main, 541 549 3474. I double the recommendation if you decide to fish the Metolius. Have a great time!

 

[Steffan Brown]

Jesse, I'm so glad you posted this thread... I'm heading down there myself in a few weeks and have been researching the same thing. I am curious about the Little Deschutes as well. Anybody have any info on this piece of water? My cabin will be right on the Little Deschutes and although I am prepared to drive to other locals mentioned above, it would be awefully sweet to be able to walk out the back door and respond when a hatch is going off. Thanks...

 

[Gary Thompson]

I might be all wet here, but if I remember right the Deschutes rivers, Little and big south of Bend do not open for fishing until May 29th.
So you should better check the regs before putting a fly on the water.
Fall river is way cool and I believe it stays open year round.
So many lakes and so little time, have a safe and great trip.
I can hardly wait to see the pics and trip report.

 

[Gary Thompson]

Steffan,
The Little Deschutes is an awesome piece of water.
You can fish a mile of water in a few hundred yards, ox bows and cut banks.
Big streamers fished deep under the cut banks will = big browns.
You have a safe and great trip also.

 

[Steffan Brown]

That's what I'm talking about Gary! Thanks for the tip and encouragement...and don't worry, I'll be there after the May 22nd opener for most of the rivers in that area. It looks like the Fall is open year round above the falls, but Deschutes, Little Deschutes, Metolius and Fall below the falls, opens May 22nd.

 

[gt]

check again. i believe the metelious, just like fall r. is open year around. there may be closure from the allingham bridge upstream but that leaves you miles of water to explore. big deschutes below warm springs is also open 12 months.

 

[JesseC]

Hey Guys - I just wanted to send a big thank you for all the recommendations and advice. This forum is a great resource; gear program, good advice, and tons of old posts to pour over using the search function.

I'm going to go stock up on some flies and hope that the big hatches are peeling off early in OR like they are in WA.

One thing is for sure, I won't be able to fit the Deschutes, Crooked, Fall, Metolious, or the myriad of lake options into a 3 day weekend. There's always next time!

 

[JesseC]

Hey guys - just wanted to post a quick recap of the trip. Overall we had a great time and I really appreciated everyone's advice.

Here's a ton of pictures.

Day 1 - Fall River - Took a tour of the Fall River. We stopped by the hatchery first and saw the big pens of 5lbish trout that they had boxed up. If you have kids, this is a must stop. You can get food from a vending machine and the trout-droids go nuts for it. I quickly decided that I didn't want to fish anywhere near the hatchery, so I started doing some hiking towards the falls. Now, I knew that the river was closed below the falls, but that didn't stop me from hiking all the way down the river just to scout it out. I didn't wet a line. I made my why back up the river to the falls and started fishing with a nice march brown soft hackle. The Fall River seems really tricky to me. It is gin clear and gives off the impression that there isn't a fish in the whole system. That's when I started remembering all the advice about having to really sneak up on fish. So, what the hell. I snuck behind some bushes and let my rug float downstream into a log. Fish on!

Day 2 - Crooked River - The crooked river was a great place. It reminded me honestly a lot of the Yakima. It's a desert river and there's a lot of great looking rock formations that seem right out of star trek. We got there around noon right in time to see an immense hatch of caddis peeling off the water. It didn't matter what elk hair or caddis emerger we dropped - the trout were not taking it. I still can't figure that one out. Anyhow, damn near the end of the day the fish started slamming my red thingamabobber. This was just insult to injury. I damn near cannon balled in after the little bastards. I gained some momentary composure and tied on the biggest red spider attractor pattern I had in the box. 15 minutes later I had a nice 14 inch rainbow on the end my line. Skunk averted!

Day 3- Lower Deschutes - Mecca Flats - This is the river that I'll be going back to given the next available opportunity. What an amazing looking place. My friend forgot his waders. Can you frikkin believe that? So, we didn't even get a chance to use the watermasters on the LDeschutes. I was bummed. The crafts would have surely provided an amazing advantage. You can't fish while you're floating, but it would still be nice to have them to cruise to the good spots. There were massive stonefly nymphs in the water. I tied on the biggest Kaufman's I had in the box and it still barely fit the size. I made a couple casts and on the third one hooked up with what felt like a pretty nice fish. No luck getting him to hand and as soon as I knew it, it was time to pack up and hit the road at 1130 am. How is that for torture? It's never fun to walk away from a river.

All in all - what an amazing state. Yeah, the license costs a hundred bucks. But seriously, pack your F*(#*G lunch for a week and spend the savings on something you'll seriously enjoy. I can't wait to get back down there - that's for sure.

It was a little frustrating in terms of fishing. There were so many bugs in the water that I had a hard time selecting my flies. But, that's what I get for being a newbie. This is only my second season fly fishing and half the fun of it for me is learning.

Till next time.

 

[Mumbles]

Wow, I went through your slide show twice Jesse. Looks like a very fun trip and very nice weather. Too much bright and sunshine for the fish? Looks to me like you found a way to pick the right types of bugs too. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bob Jones]

Great rundown of your trip Jesse and the pictures were really good to see. That's why I hated to get so far away from Oregons fishing. The Deschutes is a great river and never ceases to amaze me. I never had a year where I had gotten enough of it's fishing and scenery. The other rivers are all different and yet great too the Metolious and the Mckenzie andCrooked therre in the Bend area and then the Williamson and Klamath and Rogue and Umpqua down South and others too. I never got the chance to fish all of them but they are worth the effort. Keep on fishing and reporting good things.

 

[Gary Thompson]

Great report Jesse
You caught fish in new water, you are the master of your fly.
If I only had one river to fish for the rest of my life, the big Deschutes would be fine with me.