Deschutes steelhead

[Aervax]

Two of us fished the Deschutes for 5 hours this morning. We had 3 takedowns with 1 landed, mostly on vibrax. The fish are starting to show in better numbers. I will be hitting it multiple times over the next 3 weeks. There are not many secrets there. Fishing partners are welcome. Drop me a note to join in.

 

[madasahab]

have yet to fish it, but want too. think i will try it this
august

 

[Socaaron]

I'll be hitting it in september for my annual "man camp" weekend

 

[azbohunter]

I will be spending 2 weeks in the Deschutes campground starting August 11 and another 12 days starting Sept 2. Last year was my first attempt at Steelhead in the Deschutes and I landed 3 in 4 mornings. I know so little and have so much to learn. I have found several people staying in the campground to be very helpful in sharing technique etc: Being retired and from out of state I find fishing Oregon a real blessing and am excited to see what fall brings. Will be following up on this post to see how the fishing progresses into fall.

 

[Aervax]

Deschutes was steady today, but is not on fire yet. 6 hours yielded 1 wild steelhead for me. The guys next to me averaged 1 fish each as well. One was a really nice Chinook, which just opened yesterday on the D.

 

[Aervax]

I was on the Deschutes yesterday. Arrived at 0430. My pardner was a no show. Wuss. The skunk is smelling stronger than usual. Thousands of fish are crossing the dam, so numbers on the D should be high and climbing. Not even a bite for me. I did not see any caught. Most of the few people I talked were skunky like me. Air temp was hot, 70F when I parked and 100F when I pulled out at 1300. The temperature could have effected things. Steelhead is one of my lower profficiency games. This is my first season chasing steelies, so it may have been me as much as anything. Feedback from some of you veteran steel-fishers would be much appreciated.

 

[Aervax]

Question for long time steelheaders. At what point does high water temp stymie the steelhead bite? Fri and Sat fishing on the Deschutes was pretty good. Water temp was Friday 62.5 -66 and Sat 62.5-68.5. On Wed when fishing for me was slow water temp was 64.5-69.5. In your experience what effect has a couple degrees F had on the bite?

 

[steelhead_slayer]

When temps get close to 70° it can be deadly for a fish played too long. I've noticed the fishing to be not as good at those temps. also

 

[Aervax]

This Thursday and Friday the Deschutes temp is holding in that same range of 64.5-69.5. For learning purposes, and to maybe catch a fish if I got lucky, I hit it again this morning for 2 hours before work. Similar outcome. I went 0/1 with an orange and white jig. Nothing happening at all with the spinners. Other anglers were trying hard to scratch out a bite. I did not see or hear of any fish caught. I am sure there were, but the lack of chatter confirmed the bite was probably slow for most. Conversely, one of my buddies headed down your direction hunting for cooler water. He went 3/4 with the big one being a 20 pound nook. Doing my best to file the data in my head to make higher outcome decisions in the when and where to fish for steelhead. Figuring them out is my main objective for fishing in 2013!

 

[Aervax]

Embarrassing post. I hiked 4 miles up the lower Deschutes to fish Zeke's drift from 0600 - 1100 on Saturday. Little Cleo, nada. Vibrax, nada. Jigs, nada. 0/0, nada nada nada nada, #@%#$! I saw 1 fish hooked and it went 20-ish inches. I ran into one of my fishing partners on the way out. He was in a prime spot on the cable crossing on the east side and was also 0/0. Thousands of fish are going over bonneville dam, but not all that many over the dalles dam. Maybe they are thermal blocked in between. The Columbia at The Dalles has been running close to 72F most days. Anyway, no excuses. I should still be catching some steelies here and there. Anyone else who has been on the D in the last week please add your 2 cents. Hopefully, you are nailing them!

 

[Aervax]

Azbohunter. Are you on the D, yet?

 

[RyanHill127]

I've never fished the Deschutes but I was planning on going for the first time this week. Planning on fly fishing and throwing hardware. Any direction a newbie to the river might want to head? I'd love to meet up with someone too if they liked. I just moved up to the area from Reno and the steelhead game is way different than the big cutthroats I'm used to!

 

[steelhead_slayer]

If you go to the mouth. There is a long trail on the east side of the river. Fishing should be good there unless water temperature is high. In that case you may want to try higher up river

 

[Aervax]

Air temp on the D is going to pop another 5 degrees on Wednesday. It has been a few degrees cooler for the past week, which has kept lower river temps below 70F. I am going to hit the river further up stream on Wed in the direction of Sherar Falls where the water is cooler. Road access there is good, but I am driving to the road's end and hiking in. For flies one of the better known streamers for the D is the Purple Peril. Essentially a black and purple fly. For hardware everyone seems to have their confidence lures and all seem to work to some degree. Silver, copper, purple and black are the color choices I have been focused on. However, my rod is fishing cold at the moment, and I am a novice steelheader. You can do better than my methods for sure. My Wednesday trip is going to be a half day outing. If you want to meet up and ride together I am open to that.

 

[Chromatose]

Looks like the learning curve is at work..................Keep up the work. It will pay dividends.

 

[RyanHill127]

Fished this morning for a couple hours, thought I'd share my first steel. I got there a little late so I decided to just start throwing gear right away. Picked him up fairly quick in the second hole I fished. I wonder what hit him in the gill plate. Looking forward to getting back out there though and hiking further up the river than I did today!