by John Kruse, October 10, 2006

The Lower Deschutes River in autumn is truly a must fish destination. Located in North Central Oregon, anglers enjoy a setting of rolling hills, basalt rock formations and sagebrush as they cast spinners, spoons or flies towards Redside Rainbow Trout and summer steelhead. And in the fall, there are a lot of fish to cast to. There’s not only the steelhead of the Deschutes to fish for, but also steelhead bound for other waters like the Snake that enter this river and stay awhile. While the average Deschutes summer run weighs between six and eight pounds, the misdirected Snake River B-runs that show up here can reach 20 pounds. These are some of the reasons why the Deschutes is listed as one of America’s 100 Best Trout Streams by Trout Unlimited. It also helps explain why the parking areas, state park and boat launch at the mouth of the river are so crowded.

Despite the crowds, there is plenty of room for anglers to spread out on the water here and several special regulations help maintain a quality experience for everybody. I recently had the opportunity to fish the Lower Deschutes with Marty Sherman, the Marketing Representative for ClackaCraft Boats out of Clackamas, Oregon. Sherman has fished the Deschutes for 30 years and is the former editor of "Fly Fishing Magazine". Also with us was Don Roberts. Roberts is a long time outdoors writer and the founding editor of "Fly Fishing the West Magazine".

The two explained that different parts of this river demand different tactics. At the mouth in the Columbia River itself boaters troll plugs for their steelhead. Bait is not allowed on the Deschutes, so around the bridges at the mouth of the river, anglers drift corkies or cast Heddon Tadpolly plugs to draw strikes. Further upstream past the Moody Rapids, spin-fishermen toss #3 to #5 size spinners or Steelie spoons into the river for steelhead and trout. Silver, brass, orange, black and green are all colors by themselves, or in combination, worth trying here. According to Don Roberts, the "Go to" fly for anglers on the Deschutes is the Green Butt Skunk. Other flies worth trying would include beaded nymphs, purple wooly buggers, a Freight Train fly, or a Gold-n-Cock spey fly. If you want to catch a hard fighting and high jumping Redside Rainbow to 18 inches, blue wing olive dry flies are known to be a hot offering in mid-October.

Another person who knows the Deschutes River is guide Jack LaFond from Youngs Fishing Service in The Dalles (Tel. 1-800-270-7962). In a late September phone call Jack told me,"The run started late this year, but is now very good." He went on to say, "I think we’ll have some incredible fishing in October and November (for steelhead)".

LaFond uses plugs every day to catch fish. On the Columbia, near the mouth of the Deschutes, he’ll use Storm Wiggle Warts. On the Deschutes itself, he’ll take clients upstream on his jet boat and allow them to cast plugs from shore. He favors the Wiggle Wart here too, but uses a Tadpolly in rocky or shallow areas. Some of the hot color schemes include black with glitter, firetiger, and on overcast days, metallic purple. He tells clients to cast these lures straight out or slightly downstream and immediately lock up the reel. The plug then slowly works downstream; staying in the fish’s strike zone longer than it would if the angler was reeling. LaFond only has his clients slowly bring the plug back when it hits slack water at the end of the drift.

LaFond also uses spinners and flies with good success for steelhead. He prefers a #4 or #5 Blue Fox spinner and says a wide variety of colors will work on this river. As for flies, he also likes the Green Butt Skunk and Freight Train fly, as well as a Purple Peril and other patterns that run in darker purple or black colors.

When it comes to rules, there are plenty for visitors to the Deschutes. Boaters launch at the Heritage Landing at the mouth of the river. A $1 to $2 a day pass is required to use this busy site. Powerboats will take off from here into the Columbia River while Jet Boats will rapidly make their way upstream above the two mile marker where they are allowed to disembark their anglers so they can fish. In addition to these boats coming back at the end of the day, the launch also receives drift boats and rafts that started their day further upstream. Finally, the occasional float tuber makes an appearance here too.

A seemingly strange sight, some anglers have taken to hiking upstream and then slowly working their way down river in a float tube to cover water. This is the one exception to the rule that anglers cannot fish from a boat. However, these float-tubers are supposed to have their feet firmly planted on the bottom when they are actually fishing.

The no boat angler rule for the first two miles of river, along with a good trail system on either side of the stream, makes this a great destination for the fisherman willing to hike to a good fishing hole. On the west side of the river there is a pull out parking lot just south of Heritage Landing. On the east side of the river is a trail from the Deschutes River State Park that stays close to the waters edge. Another wide trail leading from here is on an old railroad bed that is ideal for hikers, mountain bikes, and horses as it heads 17 miles upstream. This makes for another strange thing commonly seen on the Lower Deschutes; the sight of mountain biking anglers who travel upriver dressed in chest waders. It’s an efficient way to get from one hot spot to another, but a little uncomfortable on a warm day. Some spots on the lower river where you will likely find anglers include the area around Moody and Rattlesnake Rapids, as well as the outhouse and cable crossing holes about a ¾ to one mile from the mouth of the river. A wading staff comes in handy on this river where the footing is decidedly uneven.

If you are looking to hook a trout or steelhead on a classic western river, the Deschutes is one fall destination that is hard to beat. You’ll find the mouth of the Deschutes some two hours east of Portland on Interstate 84. The State Park here offers plenty of sites for RV’s and tent campers and there are motels at nearby Biggs Junction. Both the park and Heritage Landing can be accessed off the frontage road from I-84 at Celilo Park or Biggs Junction.

This article and the accompanying photo were originally published in October 2004 editions of Fishing and Hunting News. However, the steelhead season in 2006 has been great and the information in this article remains timely!

Eighteen-year old Kenny Binder from Oregon City caught this bright steelhead while fishing on the Deschutes River this fall. Fishing should remain very good through November.


SIDEBAR: AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Summer steelhead and Redside Rainbow Trout

WHERE: The Lower Deschutes River from the mouth to Rattlesnake Rapids

WHEN: Now through November

SPECIAL
REGS: Artificial flies and lures only (no bait)
Anglers cannot use boats to fish the lower two miles of the river.
Anglers in boats beyond this point must get out of the boat to fish.
A daily limit of two (10 "to 13") rainbow trout
Two adipose clipped steelhead may be kept each day
Wild steelhead must be released