The Smoke has a Silver Lining

Fly pictured in my hand: Drain’s 20 (by Wes Drain) Tied by Marty Howard

OPEN HOURS ARE CHANGING SEPTEMBER 1 - WE WILL BE OPEN 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

As someone who has lived in the dry side of Oregon for over 25 years can tell you, we are on pins and needles every summer with fingers crossed that visitors to our area will abide by the fire/smoking/burning rules, that the railroad cars will have lubricated wheels that run true and don’t throw sparks, and that the lightning storms are accompanied by heavy rain. From June through September we have a constant worry of fire. Last year, what we feared came true and fire licked at our door - thankfully our home was saved. The people of Sisters and the surrounding area have been dealing with a huge and very scary fire and they are in our thoughts as over 1000 fire fighters are on the scene battling the flames. Several of our friends live or have houses right in the thick of that fire, and so far their houses have been saved but they have lost outbuildings. Hang in there, Sisters folks.

The silver lining of all the smoke in the air is that we are essentially experiencing a cloud cover from the smoke - depending on the direction of the breeze. Yesterday was the sunniest day of the week so far, but the smoke did roll in later in the day and made conditions for early afternoon steelhead fishing absolutely ideal. 

Fishing with friends is the BEST!

I drove down the horrible access road to Mack’s Canyon yesterday morning to meet up with a few friends who are visiting from Utah. They come every year and tow their jet boat up here, so we did a bit of steelhead fishing yesterday morning. The season is better than any we have had in the past few years, so every cast and every swing felt promising. The guys have had pretty consistent fishing since their trip began on Monday, with fish being hooked every day by at least one or two if the anglers. They are using Scandi lines and floating leaders in the morning and switching to light sink tips for the few hours of the morning when the sun was on the water. I think all of their fish were caught on floating lines due to the great cloud cover that we had all week and the smoke cover too. 

Before we pulled off the river, we had a riverside breakfast of bacon, sausages, pancakes, and eggs - probably drove the anglers fishing across from us wild with those delicious smells wafting down river. Marty Howard cooks a mean jet boat breakfast on the Blackstone Griddle.  We have fished and dined in the jet boat from Smithers BC to Maupin.

Marty is a master at the vise tying flies and an equal master of the most amazing breakfasts!

Traffic on the river below Macks Canyon was busy - there were several jet boats (I think I counted 7 buzzing up and down in the 3 mile stretch below Macks). Drift boat traffic along the dirt access road seemed pretty light, and the number of anglers fishing from the road was very small. That will all change with the holiday weekend rolling in .  We usually see the campsites really fill up for the last big hurrah of summer.

Derek chasing the last bit of shade whilst Mark doctors up his pancakes.

If you are fishing for steelhead, you should come prepared with a Scandi line for the mornings and evenings (and you can fish that all day long when the smoke/clouds cover the sun). Bring a Skagit style line to switch it up when the sun is right on the water from about 10AM-1PM. After 1:00 PM the sun intensity and the angle of the sun at this time of year is really harsh. It will deter steelhead from seeing your fly, even on a sink tip. 1:00 PM to about 4:00 PM is a good time to nap/rest/chill out on the bank. Then get back to fishing in the evening, as long as our water temps stay below 67-68 degrees. Steelhead are really impacted by the intensity of the sun as well as by the warmth of the water - both things will really turn off the bite. 

Small flies are working best - size three hairwing patterns have helped my buddies hook all of their fish this week. The ER fly, Drain’s 20, the Steelhead Coachman, and other steelhead patterns similar to these have hooked dozens of fish this week for anglers I know. But, as I wrote in the last report, all the hairwing patterns will work as long as you pick one out of your fly box that YOU have faith in. Steelhead aren’t that picky - they can be difficult to encounter. Once your hairwing swings past a happy steelhead, you will get that handshake that you have been waiting for. 

While steelhead fishing yesterday, I was wading down the deep grass line and was entertained by the trout sipping on bugs as they floated downstream. I watched caddis after caddis get eaten, but the smaller mayflies passed by in total safety. Maybe the trout were in the mood for caddis - but that completely blew my theory that the trout always prefer mayflies over any other insect. I did not see anyone fishing for trout, but I was having fun watching the action whilst waiting for a steelhead encounter. No dice. Zero handshakes for me.

Trout fishing will be getting better and better as things finally enter the cooling zone. Trout and steelhead both prefer the water to be as cold as possible, so cooler days and nights are welcome through September and October. Dry fly action is good all morning and deep streamer fishing has been really good during the daytime hours. 

I am going to wrap this up and get it posted. Have a great holiday weekend. Fish with some good friends or spend time with family.  We are open every day.