Interesting weather this week

Pictured above: A steelhead muddler ready to swim.

Calm weather has dominated the last few weeks - which is pretty unusual for this time of year. The days have been practically windless, until the evening thunderstorms roll in and things get chaotic. We have had several nights of intense thunderstorms with thousands of lightning strikes and heavy rain - which is fortunate because the hundreds of fires started by the lightning were snuffed out by the rain. Here is a screenshot from a lightning strike App I have on my phone showing what the evening of September 6 was like for us. The red and yellow dots are lightning strikes - red ones were in a 15 minute window and yellow ones were between 15 and 25 minutes prior:

Gabor is a great photographer, and was able to capture some fantastic images from the storms over the past few nights. When he isn’t behind the counter in the fly shop, he is either fishing, chasing storms, or creating some epic tie-dye shirts. Do not leave your tequila unattended if Gabor is in the region!

Cooler weather over the past 3-4 days has helped the fishing a bit by cooling the river down a few degrees. Despite the rain, the color of the river remains in great shape with no cause for concern coming out of any tributary. The White River has been behaving all year, but that still could change at any time. As I have said many times before, we are not able to control what the White River does, nor is a blow out in the White River predictable in any way. If we hear of the White River causing visibility issues, we will always report that. 

It it going to be hot again over the next two days (85-87 degrees) followed by a big drop in temps on Sunday (likely more big storms). We still have a smoky haze in the air from a few fires that are still burning. This smoky haze has actually made for great fishing by muting the intensity of the sun. Whether we have clouds or smoke blotting out the sun, it really doesn’t matter to the fish, they are more active all-around when they aren’t blinded by the sun. 

Trout fishing has been quite good for the anglers who are targeting them. The best plan of attack for trout would be to hunt for rising fish in the early morning. You can expect to find trout eating caddis as the sun comes up. They will be tight to the bank sipping dead bugs quietly and casually. Later in the day, if we are fortunate enough to have clouds, the trout will sip tiny mayflies (mostly Baetis right now) and will also be eager to grab a sculpin or crayfish pattern stripped streamer-style through the deep pools. 

Steelhead are now spread out throughout the system, though the majority of steelhead will still be found in the waters below Sherar’s Falls. The lower river has been quite busy with jet boats and walk-in bike in anglers, as well as with people doing camp floats to the mouth. The road fishing traffic seems to be lighter than in past years. 

We lost a great steelhead angler this week - a man who spent as much time swinging a fly for Deschutes steelhead than just about anyone else I can remember over the years. Mike “Shakey” Owens used to spend over 100 days a year camping on the lower Deschutes - he was a fixture at Beavertail campground for decades. If you fished the access road in the late 1990’s, 2000 - 2020, you just may remember his teal green Chevy truck with the personalized license plate that read “MYH2O.” In time, Shakey regretted that vanity plate because it really helped a lot of inexperienced steelhead anglers learn the good spots along the river. If Shakey was parked there and fishing, it was probably a productive steelhead spot! 

What I will always remember Shakey for was the way he tailored his fishing program to respectfully stay out of the way of the guides working on the river. In the mornings, Shakey would fish the water near the end of our day float sections and would then move up into our morning water for his evening fishing. He wasn’t out to mess with the guides, and he earned a lot of respect for this courtesy. Shakey loved his family and was always bragging about his children’s accomplishments. He will be missed by those who knew him but he certainly will not be missed by the steelhead in the Deschutes or the Clearwater. 

John and Mike “Shakey” Owen’s with a nice steelhead in 2021. RIP, Shakey