The Deschutes, She Giveth and She Taketh

Like Bay de Quinte Walleye, Vermillion Muskies, or Kenai Kings, the Deschutes River is the center of the steelhead fisherman's universe.  With unmatched vistas and some of the most exciting rapids, the river has a little bit extra allure that makes it just all the more exciting as a fishing experience.  The early morning light giving you your first peeks at the beautiful surrounding gorge is sure to have you staring in awe; jaw hanging, wide eyed and grinning at the natural beauty all around you, and thats all before you ever even wet a line.

 September, 12, 2011


With the full moon shining high above in the clear warm night sky, we hopped into the rental car and made our way to the mouth of the Deschutes River near The Dalles in Oregon.  The Lower Deschutes has come to be known as an outstanding fly fishing destination for red sided trout, a native strain to the "D" sought out for its strength and vibrant red striped flanks.  But among steelhead fisherman the Deschutes is an oasis for eastern traveling steelhead who find their biological compass pulling them away from further and further from the salt.  The Dalles, OR marks the first few miles of the eastern side of the Cascade mountains, and is home to some of the most beautiful high desert flora and fauna; Big horn, mule deer, spot the hill tops, and desert sage scents the air.  These things alone are enough to attract fisherman and non believers alike to the spectacular steelhead fishery.


The cool water pumping out of the Deschutes is often cooler than the Columbia that it dumps into and acts as a big wet welcome mat for cold water species making their migration to spawn.   Drawn like moth to a flame, the oxygen enriched water pumping from Pelton dam gives the fish a place to duck down into the cooler water to reenergize, steal a peek at the beautiful surrounding scenery, and get ready for the long trip ahead to return again to their place of birth.  

The columbia is a fish byway, the likes of which is unparalleled in the region.  Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven U.S. states and a Canadian province.  It is truly the Columbia which makes the Deschutes so special.  Because of the volume of water that eventually finds its way into the Columbia it is essentially the adipose fin super highway.  It is the chance at catching a huge Clearwater or Snake R. fish that has fisherman stumbling around the river's slick basalt rock bottom just to swing a fly or cast a bait at bucket list destination.  Fly fisherman and gear fisherman alike, line the banks for miles in the best fishing pools for a shot at hanging their hook in front of some of the biggest and hardest fighting steelhead from near and far.

We fired up the jet motor and headed up through seemingly impassable rapids, dodging giant boulders and shallow water areas in near darkness.  In the early morning light we passed through the gorge, and made our way down the lines of envious fisherman lining the banks before we finally came to our first stop at the head of good looking pool just above a good set of rapids.  

Still marveling at views, not at all done justice with the narrow lens of the camera, we hopped out of the boat, and starting working the water.  It's like women, Grant said, "Its a just a numbers game, the more ground you cover and more times you can drop your lure in front of them, the better chance you have of catching one."  He explained his best method for success on the River: casting two or three times straight out into the heavy current and letting current pull the line and bring the lure, swinging, drawing the wobbling plug down and through the stike zone.  Casting again, and peeling an extra hand full of line off to put the lure just another foot or two down stream for its next arching pass by the fish, and then taking a step or two further.  We went on repeating on and on, with the mind caught between focus on catching fish and soaking up the view.  After finishing the first hundred yard stretch we came up empty.  A trip back to the sled and a change of colors had us back out in the same stretch.  Again, no takers.  

Thankfully our guide, Grant Putnam of Grant's Outdoor Adventures, had another trick up his sleeve.  We jumped into our seats and grant pulled out the side planer rods and we headed up stream to try a different piece of water.  We switched up colors and fed out line to get the plugs wobbling in the strike zone in front of the holding fish, heads held up stream.

"Planer board fishing is when you can really tell what colors and what plugs are hot that day", Grant said.  It wasn't longer than 4 or 5 steps into the new stretch and I had hooked into my very first Deschutes R. native.  He explained that "planer boards are key on days like the days such as this when the fish just don't seem to be aggressively snapping at spinners or plugs being casted and retrieved through the current seam".  Planer boards cut out the need to cast and retrieve, by using the current to to work against the angle of planer to hold the plug steady at a desired point in the stream.  Grant says that "the reason that the reason plugs have been so popular on the Deschutes is because you can run them down in the rocks and not worry about getting hung up.  They just bounce off those rocks and keep on thumping.  A lot of the time knocking off a rock will flip that switch and make the fish take the bait."

I haven't caught a ton of steelhead but even someone with my limited steelhead background, could tell right away that this fish had some good shoulders to it.  After a few really strong runs up stream and a jump, the fish made its way over to Grant.  He gave the hatchery hen a good "wood shampooing" , and tossed her into the box.

After finishing up that stretch I had hooked two fish  on the same "coward" pattern River Rocker. we headed back down stream and tied up at one of his favorite spots and eased the boat in to shore.

After spending the whole day struggling to keep my footing the inevitable finally happened.  I took a swim.  Into the water with a full on "lawn chair": feet flying out from underneath me and folding up over my head.  Like everyone with a shiny new pair of shades, I was certain I couldn't possibly lose them in waist high water. Sadly...I found out that my prized new pair of sun glasses are anything but buoyant.

I'll admit it, the moment got to me.  Clutching at the water for the glasses, doing the cold water gasp, dilated pupils squinting in the bright mid day sun, and the wader boots that were just a half size too small for me all hit me at that moment and got me feeling real sorry for myself.  I slipped and slided my way back to the bank cursing the waders and the water and my lack of coordination.  I plopped down on the bank and kicked my feet up on the tree to let the water drain out of the waders.  In that moment I had one of those realizations.

Grant Putnam holding a nice hatchery hen, one of two fish caught on the LRR523

Why in the world was I feeling sorry for myself, because I lost my glasses and my feet hurt, and-.  I caught my string of thoughts right there and mentally gave myself a big kick in the pants. "Get a grip dude.  Who cares about a pair of stinkin' sunglasses anyway.  You're on the Deschutes!"  Maybe I drank a little too much river water, but I went from feeling great about catching my first Deschutes Steelhead to feeling like folding up shop and eating chips in the boat for the rest of the day, and then back on top of the world despite being short my spendy brand name fishing glasses and being long on water in the wader.

So I trudged back out, slipping and sliding my way to the current seam.  I filled my waders up to the knees on the way out falling two or three more times, but I was owning it, and I was going to catch just one more fish.

Make sure if you ever get a chance to fish the Deschutes to do so.  Just make sure don't use your the waders that you borrow from your hypothetical friend who lives in Washington, use Grant's waders.  Or your hypothetical friend in Washington will likely give you hard rubber bottom soles and think its absolutely hilarious to watch you slip and slide your way through the day... not that a real friend from Washington did that to me.

Got any good fishin' stories? Share them below in the comments section, or if you want to be featured in the next post, or just want to talk fishing... Email me!




-mc