Crazy Weather and Great Fishing!

Before I dive into this report, I want to clear up one thing that can be confusing for anglers who are new to the phenomenon that takes place on the Deschutes every May - the SALMONFLY HATCH. Salmonfly is just a common name for a dark-orangish bug in the STONEFLY family. During the “salmonfly hatch” there are actually 3 main types of stoneflies that are present on the river in big numbers during May and into June. We have the Salmonfly (pteronarcys California) the Golden Stone (hesperoperla Pacifica) - both are several inches long and both emerge at the same time. Their much smaller stonefly cousin, the Little Yellow Sally (isoperla) usually arrives a bit later to the party and will continue to be present after the older cousins have literally flown the coop. All of these flat-winged insects are in the stonefly family and are called STONEFLIES. They are all part of the “SALMONFLY HATCH” even though the vast majority are not salmonflies. 

Pteronarcys californica AKA Salmonflies hatching out of their schucks on the Deschutes

HATCH is another word that throws anglers for a loop because all the books we read or media we watch relating to a hatch usually describe or depict swarms of insects rising off the water or landing on the water creating a feeding frenzy for the trout. People think “HATCH” and they think that the water will be boiling with rising trout and all one needs to do is flip a fly out there into the feeding frenzy and, voila! you will have a giant trout on the end of your line! This may be true of mayfly and caddis hatches on the Deschutes, but it is not the case with this particular SALMONFLY HATCH. 

Hesperoperla pacifica - AKA Golden Stoneflies on the edge of the Deschutes

The stoneflies are available to trout during the month of May in three stages. The first stage of the hatch is when the stoneflies are nymphs - when they are actively crawling or drift migrating near the bottom of the river. When water temperatures are just right, armies of stoneflies crawl to the river’s edge and crawl out of the river before breaking free of the nymphal shuck to become adult flying stoneflies. Trout key in on the nymphs in early May, which is why nymphs fishing with a stonefly works well.

The next time that the stoneflies are available to trout is during their mating when they couple up on the grasses and leaves and branches near the river. During the mating they crawl all over and sometimes take to the wing to fly from one tree to another in search of true love. They are clumsy and they fall into the river and right into the waiting mouths of the rainbows below. Or, as happened this week, they get caught off guard by a strong burst of wind and find themselves swimming for their lives to get out of the river and back into the grasses before the trout grab them. When the weather gets hot during the mating phase, they are more active, crawling and flying and generally much more likely to fall to the trout. When the weather is colder, they tend to stay put, crawling very little, and they play the waiting game in hopes of 80-90 degree days. That is what is happening at the moment.

The final hurrah for the stoneflies and the final stage of this hatch is the stage that we have not yet reached as of my writing of this report on the 16th of May. The final stage is the egg-laying (ovipositon) stage. This stage cannot take place until the air temperatures rise into the 80s or 90s. When we get the hot weather, the bugs will take to the sky and practically blot out the sun with their density. Golden Stones will lock their wings and drop down onto the water to oviposit the little black clump of eggs that they carry on their back end. The salmonflies will drop their eggs from the sky - thus they are far less available to the trout during the final stage of the hatch. It is important, as we go into the final stage, to have golden stones to fish - preferably ones with black egg pouches on their rear.

Now that we have cleared up the confusion of the term “SALMONFLY HATCH” let me get on with the fishing report and where we are in the development of this hatch and others.

After a week of pretty nasty weather, another weekend is upon us. Friday (Today) looks to be the nicest day of the next three with light to variable winds and a chance of a sprinkle. 

Everyone is rolling into town like they roll a set of dice across the craps table - hopeful and looking to hit a jackpot. Unfortunately, hitting the salmon fly hatch at exactly the right time  is tricky, because it requires so many different variables in order to create magic. For the absolute perfect salmon fly hatch experience, you would need to be here on a day when there are already lots and lots of bugs in the bushes, the wind is relatively calm, the water levels are at a normal median flow for May, the water clarity is good, the weather is hot - above 80 degrees, and (for total perfection) there is a high cloud cover with humidity in the air.

Last weekend, we came close to hitting that perfection in Maupin - we had all the elements except the stoneflies were just a little too newly hatched to be ready to fly and lay eggs. It was good - there were bugs actively falling into the river, and trout began to get into position for the feast, and many anglers had an amazing day with salmon flies and golden stones, but Monday slammed the window on that hot and muggy weather. Since Monday, we have had heavy winds nearly every day, cool weather with lows in the 40s and highs barely hitting 62 degrees, and rain here and there. 

Deschutes Angler Fly Shop employee, Taylor, with a day-off trout caught yesterday

Ironically, the sudden onset of cold, windy, rainy weather has not been the worst thing in the world for anglers. What has happened to all the salmon flies and golden stones that were thick in the bushes and grasses last weekend? They have hunkered down in little buggy clumps - using each other to survive these cold nights. The big bugs have been too cold to crawl around like maniacs and, therefore, they are no longer mating precariously on the branches of riverside alders or in the tall sedge grasses along the river’s edge. While the stoneflies wait out this cold weather, the trout are lined up in the foam lines all along the river’s edge still looking up and waiting for the big bugs to drop. 

With the cold weather, the only big bugs hitting the water this week were the ones that were tied out of fur and feathers. People who went fishing and targeted good salmon fly water this week were rewarded by hungry trout. Normally, at this stage of the hatch - two weeks after the emergence of the first waves of stoneflies - the trout are STUFFED. They eat 5-6 big bugs and they push away from the dinner table exclaiming, “I couldn’t eat another bite!” The middle of the hatch can be the toughest time to catch trout on the big bugs because they have already eaten too many of the real thing.

Here we are in the middle of the hatch and we have thousands of hungry trout per mile of river staring hopefully upwards waiting for a morsel to splash down.

The really windy days of this week managed to blow some stones off the trees and into the water. The guides coming off the Trout Creek to Maupin float reported that the fishing stayed good because the super strong winds flattened the grasses and shook the trees so hard that the stoneflies that had not holed up down at the base of the grasses and bushes were blown onto the water and smashed by trout. In addition to the wind-induced hatch of stones on the water, the cloud cover and rain brought out rafts of mayflies.

I don’t think any seasoned guide on the Deschutes would argue this - when mayflies are a menu option, trout will always select a meal of mayflies over a meal of salmonflies/stones. 

Mayflies on the Deschutes used to occur in huge numbers and the different mayfly hatches were spread out throughout the year - BWOs in the winter, March Browns in the spring, and then May and June brought Pale Morning Duns, Pale Evening Duns, Pink Alberts, and the biggest and baddest and most wished-for mayfly of the Deschutes - the Green Drake.  The numbers of bugs are not what they used to be due to declining water quality in our river. However, there are still the remnants of these huge hatches and anglers will still have epic, memorable, mayfly encounters on the D. 

A small mayfly dun - epeorus albertus AKA Pink Albert (possibly)

This past week, with the cooler weather and the cloud cover/rain, anglers and fellow guides reported seeing some heavy hatches of Pale Morning Duns and decent hatches of Pale Evening Duns, and there were also reports of one or two Green Drakes in the air. We would expect the Green Drakes to be a better possibility near the end of May, but the first few sightings are always a cause for celebration.

A Green Drake is a giant chunk of deliciousness

There is a LOT going on right now on the Deschutes in terms of potential bug encounters, so it is important that you hit the river with the correct ammo. Where can you find that ammo? No better place than Deschutes Angler Fly Shop. With John’s 47 years of experience as a guide on the Deschutes, my 27 years of experience as a guide, Gabor’s decades of fishing the Deschutes, and Taylor’s daily fishing adventures, the staff of DAFS knows a lot about how to fish this river with the best chance for success. In addition to our own personal experience - we are lucky to get to interact daily in the shop with the guides and outfitters who are coming off of three day floats and those who are guiding the day trips in the Maupin area, as well as our hundred daily chats with anglers fresh off the water. No other fly shop in the state has a finger on the pulse of the Deschutes like we do - they couldn’t even come close if they tried. Things on the river change from hour to hour and anglers looking to be successful need to be ready to pivot from a stonefly to a mayfly when the clouds roll in. 

WE HAVE BUGS!

I encourage anglers who are planning to come to the Deschutes for this hatch to hold off on buying a bunch of flies until they arrive in Maupin. We know which exact patterns anglers are coming back into the shop to resupply on - after losing them to big fish minutes ago. We will put you on the right bug patterns every time and we will help explain  to you how and where to fish them. We won’t draw you a map to spots - but we will describe the productive water types and how to approach fishing them. 

Why won’t we draw you a map to help you get to a spot? Because there might be another angler in that spot and then you have nothing. We want you to learn what to look for and to make your own discoveries on the river. This is how you grow as a fly angler. Instant gratification isn’t really a part of this sport - you have to develop and learn as an angler over many years, and nobody ever fully masters the sport. 

You have about two more solid weeks to catch this hatch - so get off your keister and get to the river!