Another Beautiful Weekend is Upon Us!
Friday, November 7. I know that you guys over on the West side of the mountains have been getting hammered with rain this week......it is not happening out here! Our fall weather has been amazing - very mild. Today is is a bit windy, but the forecast for the weekend looks lovely. Today it is 60 degrees! This weekend the winds are forecast to be "light and variable" which basically means no wind, and the sun is supposed to be shining most of the day. It is going to be so nice out here!
I want to give a huge shout out to the White River. That river can be such a menace - putting tons of mud into the Deschutes and basically rendering a full fifty miles of the lower river absolutely unfishable. However, this year was different. In the 2025 season the White River was on its very best behavior. I don't think it muddied the lower Deschutes one time - or if it did blow out it was only for one full day back in August, and that was due to some really heavy rain on the mountain. This was a far cry from some other years we have had out here when the White River blows out for a full month, causing anglers to scramble to find fishable water. Thank you, White River!
The Confluence of the White River and the Deschutes (photo taken Nov 7, 2025)
The mild weather we have experienced so far this autumn has been great for the steelhead anglers because water temperatures have stayed perfect for swinging flies on floating lines with floating leaders. At this time of year it is often freezing cold and snowy, so we are really loving the extension of our steelhead season. Most of the guides have packed it up for the year and are off to fish other rivers or they are enjoying some well-deserved time off.
Steelhead are swimming in all segments of the Deschutes, from the mouth of the Deschutes to the very upper reaches where the river pours out of the dam. No matter where you decide to go this weekend, you have a good chance of hooking a steelhead if you keep your fly in the water. If you choose to fish a sink tip - try a muddler on it, this fly is like crack to a steelhead.
Trout fishing is also really good at this time because the hungry little guys are packing on as many calories as they possibly can before winter sets in. There have been good dry fly opportunities with the cloudy days bringing waves of BWOs - a tiny olive-colored mayfly with slate-blue wings. You will see few to none of these bugs on sunny days, but you will still see them. The October caddis hatch is coming to an end now but you may see a few stragglers. Using a large stonefly dry with an orange body is a great choice of a dry for your dry-dropper set-up.
Euro nymphing in the strong winds today was difficult for even the most experienced anglers - though the reports from the river were that the trout are happy and feeding if you can manage to give them a good presentation. The winds will taper off tonight and will lead us into a couple of nice, calm, days. Streamer fishing for trout is also a fun option using a trout Spey rod or a single-handed rod, a sink tip, and a streamer/sculpin pattern.
In the fly shop we currently are running some really good sales - stuff that we are offering to our walk-in customers only. We have a tower of fly tying materials at 50% off, as well as a good number of very high-end rods marked down significantly. Come on in and get your goodies for the long fly tying season ahead.
