Trout fishing the past week has been "fair to good" on the Deschutes. Success depends on the time of day you chose to fish. With a 10 day forecast calling for mid to high 80's and bright sun, expect fishing midday to be slow.

A good way to maximize your outing would be to head over the mountain after work and fish the evening caddis hatch, pitch a tent for the night, then fish the early am before the sun hit's the water.

Between the hours of 7:30 ~ 9:30 pm we are in favor of swinging Soft hackles in Yellow, Green or Orange in size 14-16 and Emergent Sparkle Pupa's in Green, Tan or Gray. These flies can be fished upstream with a traditional dry fly presentation, and then swung "down and across" to finish out the drift. Try fishing these in tandem. (Remember, it takes two to tango!) If you spot any mayflies during this time a day, they will either be PED's or Slate-Winged Olive's (resembles a smaller Green Drake) A size 12 Parachute Green Drake and a size 12-14 PED Dun will be needed.?? Keep in mind that Deschutes Pale Evening Dun's are generally of the larger end of the spectrum.??

The early morning game can be fished on top with Elk Hair Caddis size 14-16 in brown or olive, E/Z Caddis in 16 and Spent Caddis. If you decide to go subsurface seek the shallower buckets beneath riffles. For your offering, a size 14 BH Brass Soft hackle is an excellent choice. Trout will tend to move into deeper water as soon as the sun hits the water. The afternoon should be spent fishing deeper seams with long (10-15 feet) leaders, and heavy split shot.

PATTERNS:

Caddis:?? Morrish's Hotwire Caddis Amber, Olive #14; Silvey's Edible Emerger Tan, Olive #14; King Prince #14-#16; Quigley Micro Caddis Emerger #20-#22 (dropper candidate!); X2 Caddis Tan, Olive #14-#16; Hi Viz Caddis #14; Parachute Caddis #14-#18; Hemingway Caddis #18; CDC Caddis Tan #16; Last Call Caddis #14-#16; Dead Caddis #16-#18; Soft Hackles Natural, Yellow, Orange #12-#16, BH Brass Soft Hackles #14-#16.

PMD's:?? Tungstud Nymph Amber #14-#16; BH Flash Back Pheasant Tail, Brown #16-#18; Brook's Sproat PMD #16; Almost Dun PMD #16-#18; Sparkle Dun PMD #16-#18; CDC Comparadun PMD #16-#18

PED's:?? PED Dun #14

Slate-Winged Olive:???? CDC Thorax Green Dun Size #10-#12

Steelhead = Fair (Forecast: Good)

It's time to start dusting off your Deschutes Steelhead box as the fishing has improved over the last week.?? Fish passage over Bonneville and The Dalles Dam has been good. 23,437 Steelhead have been accounted for passing The Dalles Dam, with another 30,000 having passed Bonneville Dam.??

The ODFW tells us that no problems have been noted in regards to thermo block in The Dalles Dam fish ladder. That's excellent news for Deschutes Steelhead anglers. If thermo block occurs, steelhead will not pass over The Dalles Dam until later in the year, and fewer strays enter the Deschutes (studies show that 60-90% of Steelhead entering the Deschutes are strays!). So far so good!

Fishing has been best in the morning and right at dusk (what's new!) Most fish has been caught below Wagon Blast, although one angler reported a 2 fish day around Max Canyon. August spells floating lines and traditional Steelhead flies in purple ala, Freight Trains size 4-6, Krystal Flash Freight Trains 4-6, Royal Treatment, and Joe Gerts in size 4. On days with little or no wind (not often I know!), skating dries is another good option. Should you dare to beef up the size and profile, a Steelhead Mojo size 1?? on an intermediate tip will take fish all day. ??