Saturday, April 13th at 5:00 pm at Montgomery Park, 2701 NW Vaughn St., Portland, OR

Tickets are $100... click here to register online.

This is a party not to be missed!  Lots of awesome trips, dinners, lodging, and gear.

This year will be the sixth consecutive year River Runner Outfitters will be partnering with Lange Winery, Phillipe Boulot, and Green Valley Farms to provide a unique fly fishing, wine, food, and lodging package on the Deschutes River during the salmonfly hatch (June 2, 2013).  The trip is three days and two nights.  Titled "Drift in to Green Valley" at the auction.

In addition to the Green Valley trip, River Runner will be donating a three day, two night Mack's to the mouth steelhead float trip for four anglers, retail value of $5400.  Dates for the trip are July 24, 25, 26.  Titled "Deschutes Time and the Living's Easy".

If you've read this far I'll mention we hooked two beuatiful wild steelhead on the coast yesterday.  One in the first run of the day, a leaping 20 inch buck in spawning colors.  The second was a large hot fish that came unbuttoned after about 15 seconds.  I love to see good genetic diversity rather than cookie cutter fish.

For more info on the NFS auction visit http://nativefishsociety.org/index.php/home-2/sponsors-partners/homewaters201/

Hope to see you there,

Chris

Here are a few recent photos...

Thanks for checking in,

Chris

Misty river

Steve O'Brien's sassy wild hen

A dreamy tailoutScott Hagen and a beautiful hen caught with his Sweetgrass bamboo rodJust after a downpoorObscene wide angle close up of Scott's 12 lb hen

Thanks for checking in,

Chris

Matthias Richter from Switzerland and Paul Bechtold (MN) admiring a chrome buck.  Matthias says that in Norway they refer to chrome salmon as "blank" and that a male fish is a "cock".  It makes sense because we call the females hens.  A magnificent fish no matter what you call it.

Chris

The trout fishing in NZ is out of sight!  Actually, its all about sight.  We didn't cast to one fish that we didn't spot first.  Stealth and accuracy are paramount.  NZ browns are extremely wily.  The waters we fished were hugely diverse.  Bouldery creeks lined with ferns and brush, tiny crystal clear spring creeks flowing through meadows with snow caped mountains in the background, high gradient coastal streams, meandering lowland rivers, high country rivers, I even fished a lake!

The type of fly fishing changed throughout the trip.  While it was all sight fishing we started out dropping larger sized stonefly nymphs under dries... the nymphs had to be olive colored.  We got a few on dry flies at first, but the best dry fly fishing started a few weeks into our trip.  Then it was almost all dry with the occasional small nymph dropped.  All the flies I tied worked great, although I had to buy a few green stonefly nymphs over there.  Leaders had to be no less than 12 feet most of time, often longer.

The scenery was unreal.  The different regions make this country playground.  it only takes a few hours of driving here and there to get from densely forested coastal mountains to turquoise ocean and beautiful beaches to high desert.  I know, it sounds like Oregon, but there is an even more dramatic diversity of landscapes.

Cairn and I both left New Zealand better trout anglers.  I am looking forward to our spring trout season on the Deschutes!

Thanks for reading,

Chris

I understand that exact fly pattern isn't nearly as improtant as presentation and just having a good buggy fly.  Naturally I tied up a bunch of my favorite Deschutes bugs.  Here is most of what I have been tying...

Purple Haze, sizes 12 and 14

Purple Para Wulff, sizes 12 and 14

Pheasant Tail, tungsten beadhead sizes 12, 14, 16

Inspired by Ken Moorish's Anato May, tungsten beadhead sizes 14, 16

Same fly in olive hare dubbing

I'll post photos while I am there if I can.  If not than for sure when I back.

Thanks for reading,

Chris

I am getting ready for a 37 day trip to New Zealand's South Island.  This is our honeymoon vacation and also a bucket list fishing trip.  We are leaving December 5 and returning January 10.  While this trip will cut a little into my Oregon coast winter steelhead season, we'll be back in time for the best fishing (late January through April).  I am looking forward to sight fishing for big spooky browns in all kinds of back country creeks.  I have never been, so if you have any tips or must do's please send me an email!

After that, time to swing flies for winter steelhead... can you dig it?

Chris

Fishing with Abe Blair February 2012.

The river is currently colored up (not blown out, but very green) from Pelton Dam to the mouth.  Word is that the Whitewater River, tributary of the lower Metolius, blew out and dumped a ton of sediment into Lake Billy Chinook.  When this happens, fine particles of silt slowly settle to the bottom of Lake Billy Chinook.  It can take up to two weeks for the silt to settle.  Last time the Whitewater River blew out (not to be confused with the White River) Round Butte Dam was releasing 100% of the water from the bottom of Lake Billy Chinook where all the silt was concentrated.  The Deschutes was chocolate milk for two weeks.  Fortunately Round Butte Dam is releasing 50% of the water from the top of the lake and 50% from the bottom this month, so we are seeing relatively mild effects in the Lower Deschutes.  Like I said, very green but not blown out.

The steelheading has been tough last week.  We have found a few ass kicking wild bucks, but very tough fishing for the most part.  What has been exceptional is the dry fly fishing for native rainbow trout.  The weather last week was cloudy with showers for the most part, and the Blue Winged Olive hatch has been outstanding each day around 2:00 pm.  It was good when the river was clear, and has improved with the colored water.

I don't often ditch the spey rod to chase trout, but I am not talking about a few rising fish.  I am talking about hands down the best trout fishing I have ever seen around Maupin.  Spots that might hold a rising fish or two on a good trout day have had huge pods of big trout.  The colored water has allowed us to get closer than normal to the fish.  I have never seen so many 15 to 18 inch trout around town.  So each day I have been out for steelhead we have taken a trout break from around 2:00 to 5:00.  I haven't twisted anyone's arm either... all it has taken was to see all the rising trout.  And what do you know, the guide has a five weight rigged with just the right fly in the boat.  Resistance is futile!

Hot flies have been the purple para wulff and purple haze in size 16 and even 14.  Also, x - caddis and EC caddis have worked after the BWO hatch subsides.  All fished with 4X tippet.  Trout have been rising in eddies and slow moving water.  The river is about 52 degrees around Maupin so the fish are hanging in a little softer water.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from steelheading, but if rising trout sound like fun bring a five weight along and a few dry flies and take an afternoon break from spey casting.  Giving up on steelhead to trout fish is one thing I never recommend... its a great way to not catch a steelhead.  However, being an opportunist and taking advantage of a beautiful trout fishing situation for a few hours is no compromise at all.  It's what makes the Deschutes so unique.

Chris

My most recent trip was a four day camp on the lower river.  I fished with a single angler, so it was a self support trip (no bag boat to set up camp for us).  Even though I love my bag boat I was stoked to do a self support float with my new Koffler 18' x 64" drift boat.  It is a lot of boat and easily accommodates two anglers, a dog, and a week's worth of gear.  The river gods did not smile on us, as the Deschutes swelled by nearly 1,000 cfs.  To make conditions even better the White River completely blew out the lower river.  If there was a trip to blow out, this was it.  My angler was also an avid hunter and brought a beautiful Browning side by side 12 gauge.  I brought my English Setter, Dixon.  I wish I had photos of the rooster!  Enough said about that.  Fishing sucked, bird hunting saved the trip!

Before that I had a week of day trips near Maupin.  While we were generally scratching for steelhead, we found a few nice pods of fish.  Fishing was tough overall with a fish here and one there, except for two lucky spots where we encountered 16 fish!!  A few of these were nice grabs, but most of them were line peeling fish on.  One of the spots gave up three fish to a floating line and wet fly, then seven more hook ups with a sink tip.  Un-freakin-real.  Aside from that we had been searching long and hard for our fish-a-day.  In one angler's case we worked very hard on learning to spey cast and swing a fly, and the morning of the third day she caught a gorgeous buck.  Being a part of someone's first steelhead is a huge pleasure of guiding.

While I was guiding day trips near Maupin the crew made a four day camp float from Trout Creek to Maupin.  For them the river was in great shape and pleasantly uncrowded.  I have come to expect modest numbers of fish from the upper river the past two seasons (a theory for another day), and this trip was no exception.  Each angler caught fish, including some stunning wild ones.

Here are som photos form the past few weeks.  We're in the thick of fall, get your fish on!  - Chris

Photos courtesy of Guido Rahr

Photos courtesy of Nate Koenigsknecht

Photos courtesy of Dan LeMoine and Tim Soderquist