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more photosAn angler makes a cast while fishing the Lower Deschutes near Warm Springs last year.
Mark Morical / Bulletin file
Hatch on the way
Salmon flies — and anglers — will soon be swarming on the Lower Deschutes
By Mark Morical / The Bulletin
Published: May 29. 2008 4:00AM PSTAs it does almost every year about this time, Paul Hansen’s phone won’t stop ringing.
Anglers want to know if the big bugs have arrived.
Hansen, owner of the Riffle Fly Shop in Warm Springs and Bend, knows the peak of the salmon fly hatch on the Lower Deschutes is coming soon.
“I think everybody’s waiting for the signal,” Hansen said Tuesday from his Warm Springs shop. “I’m getting 30 or 40 calls per day. The prime (presence of salmon flies) is the next two to two and a half weeks, and it should extend later. Last year (the hatch) tapered off around June 17-18, we may see it into June 23 or 24. That’s weather dependent.”
The 2- to 3-inch-long black-and-orange salmon flies usually appear in mid-May on the Deschutes River north of Maupin and move upstream all the way to Pelton Dam through mid- to late June.
Flying female salmon flies land on the surface of the water to lay their eggs, and hungry rainbow trout home in on those females.
The nine-mile stretch of the river from Mecca Flat near Warm Springs downstream to Trout Creek is extremely popular among fly anglers in June. Hansen said that salmon fly adults have now arrived as far downstream as Warm Springs but are not yet out in full numbers.
“They’ll come in full force over the next couple weeks,” Hansen said. “We’re right at the cusp of the really good stuff.”
Hansen noted that quite a few anglers lined the river over Memorial Day weekend, but not as many as typically come out for the holiday. The rainy weather kept some anglers away, and cooler water temperatures will delay the arrival of the hatch, Hansen said.
“Which is good, because we’ll get a prolonged hatch,” he observed. “Three weeks of good dry-fly fishing coming up.”
Salmon fly nymphs spend three to four years in the river. When the water temperature warms in the spring, they migrate along the river bottom to shore. Eventually they crawl out of the river onto rocks, trees or plants, where they metamorphose into adult flies and grow a set of wings.
Because salmon flies do not hatch up through the water column — like caddis, mayflies and midges — anglers should fish close to the banks during the early part of the hatch.
“Same as every year, the first fish to look for (salmon fly) adults is in the big grass-lined banks and overlaying tree banks,” Hansen said. “The riffles don’t fish as well early on. That’s the main mistake people make. Salmon flies crawl out and turn into adults, and fish don’t see them until their emergence. The fish out in the middle aren’t seeing any of them. The (salmon flies) are crawling in, falling in, or blowing in (the water).”
The water flows are currently higher than normal on the Lower Deschutes, which should help with the dry-fly fishing by pinning the water closer to the banks, Hansen said.
Anglers should cast upstream, close to the bank, and move their way quickly upstream as they fish, according to Hansen. Wading knee deep to clear the back cast is also a good idea, the fly-shop owner explained.
“Move fast,” Hansen advised. “The people that catch the most fish are the ones that move quickly up the bank.”
One of the most popular salmon fly imitations is the Roque Foam Stone Orange Fly, but golden stone fly patterns are also effective late in the hatch, Hansen said. Golden stone flies are the same family of insect as the salmon fly, but a different species.
“By the end of (the hatch), my guides are using 80 percent golden stone flies,” Hansen said.
Most rainbow trout in the Lower Deschutes measure in the 13- to 15-inch range, but plenty are bigger than that, according to Hansen. An angler just needs to pick the right bank at the right time.
“Some banks have bigger fish,” Hansen said. “A lot of people know them — they’re the deeper, bigger, faster banks.”
Mark Morical can be reached at 383-0318 or at mmorical@bendbulletin.com.
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