Fly Fishing the Deschutes River

Central Oregon's Deschutes is a powerful high-desert river that flows north to the Columbia, with its Lower section below Pelton Round Butte Dam regarded as a world-class fishery for hard-fighting native 'redside' rainbow trout and summer-run steelhead. Fishing from a floating device is prohibited on the lower river, so anglers float to access points and then wade the bank, casting to fish holding along basalt ledges and riffles. The river is defined by its enormous late-spring salmonfly and golden stonefly hatch, when big dries draw redsides to the surface. Summer caddis and steelhead season then carry the fishing through fall.

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When to fish

May–June for trout

Best months: May–June

Best
Off-peak

Blue-winged Olive: Mar–Apr, Oct. Salmonfly: mid-May–Jun.

Today's conditions

Where to fish

Along the Deschutes River

The Lower Deschutes is fished by wading from the bank (fishing from a floating device is prohibited); access along the access road from Maupin and via the Deschutes River State Recreation Area.

The water

Tailwater

Key hatches

Western March Brown
Brown Drake
Grannom
Pale Evening Dun
Pale Morning Dun

Hatch calendar

Conditions

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6-day forecast

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Forecast from the National Weather Service ↗

Hatch calendar

Months each hatch is active on the Deschutes River, with hook sizes and local timing notes.
Hatch · hook	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O
Western March Brown(mayflies)hook #12–14	March	April	May
Brown Drake(mayflies)hook #10–12			May	June	July
Grannom(caddis)hook #14			May
Pale Evening Dun(mayflies)hook #14			May	June	July
Pale Morning Dun(mayflies)hook #16–18Jun–Aug			May	June	July
Salmonfly(stoneflies)hook #6mid-May–Jun			May	June	July
Tan Caddis(caddis)hook #14–16			May	June	July
Western Green Drake(mayflies)hook #10–12			May	June	July
Trico(mayflies)hook #20–24					July	August	September	October
October Caddis(caddis)hook #8–10Sep–Oct							September	October