Deschutes River Fish: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

Jake,

We catch fish on any number of lures, however bait is not legal in The Deschutes. Some of the more popular lures include tadpollys, a skunk fly or purple peril fished below a water-filled casting bubble, Steeles, and Spinners.

The tadpolly is probably the easiest to learn to fish in this river. The bottom of the river in a lot of places is basalt flow shelves and channels rather than loose rock. Most of the guys I know remove the treble hooks from their tadpollys and replace them with a small swivel and a single siwash hook. This helps reduce the amount of gear lost to snags and may actually increase the hookups on fish. As to color, bring at least one fluorescent orange and a Michael Jackson black rattle tad. A firetiger and a silver with flourescent head also will take fish.

I normally take two poles when I walk up the Deschutes from the mouth. The first is rigged with a casting bubble about 6 ft ahead of a green butt skunk fly, and the second is rigged with tadpolly on a snap swivel so that I can change to steelies or spinners as frustration dictates. Before the sunlight gets on the water, I use the fly, after that I go to lures and spinners.

There is more fishable water near the mouth on the East side of the river. If you start at the park on the Sherman County side the first productive hole is down stream and near the bank where the river passes under the first highway bridge. If you have a means of floating the river such as a small raft or tube, you can go out to the island at the mouth and fish the west side-full length of the island, or the east side lower end of the island. (You must have a life vest if you float in any type of craft. You also must be standing on the bottom and not in the floating devise. A friend was ticketed for standing on the bottom but still in his float tube a couple of years back)

As you walk up the trail along the east side of the river you will come to a cable crossing. There is a long gravel bar in the river about 50 ft out. To fish it you need to wade out or float out and stand on the submerged bar and fish the west side. Spinners seem to work well here as do the tadpollys.

Up river another 1/4 mile and a bend to the right, you will come to Ferry Springs Canyon. There is a huge blackberry tangle just down stream from the small picnic area. Most wad out near the picnic area and fish out and below as they work their way down through this hole.

Above the blackberry hole, there are many small grass clumps in the river, and fish hold in and around those. The water is not very deep, and the bottom glistens from the lost lures...be careful.

A half a mile above the blackberry hole, the river bends back to the south. The rapids here is Rattlesnake or Fense Hole. The water below the rapids is deep and swift. Above the rapids there are numerous fishable pockets all the way up to the next corner to the right.

By the time you have fished this far you will either have your limit, or be out of equipment. Don't give up on a hole with a few passes. Numerous times I have changed from fly to steelie, or steelie to tadpolly and nailed a fish.

Good luck...Corb24