Ahh, first light and first casts back!
While temperatures heat up here in the Gorge, so does my anticipation for my first summer steelhead of the season. There has been some talk about a few fish being caught already along the Deschutes, so Cody and I used one of our days off to check it out first hand. My 2:30 am wake-up came quickly as I left our home in White Salmon to meet up with him at Mack's Canyon, where he'd spent the night sleeping under the stars riverside. I prepared with a couple extra scoops of coffee for the morning brew, and the bumpy access road kept me alert while I navigated the dark canyon road. I wasn't able to see the extent of the recent fires while driving down the road, but was interested to see what the blanket of darkness would reveal once lifted off the canyon in the morning light.
Rigged with my 7130 Sage X loaded with a scandi line, and a couple of favorite summer steelhead flies, Cody and I were pleased to find only one other boat at the launch. We didn't expect the river to have too much pressure, as it's still early in the run, which meant we wouldn't need to compete as much for prime water. As we made our way down to the first run, I had a difficult time choosing which fly to put on the other end of my line- Do I start with a dry fly or a wet? Fly anxiety can be a real thing, but man it sure would be sweet to get on on a skater! Nothing beats seeing those fish come up and boil on your fly and even better when they commit!
A little bit of the charred hillsides from recent fires.
Its been roughly about a year since I last chased anadromous fish on this desert river, and it only took a few steps to bring back memories of difficult wading as I tried to find my footing. I'm usually stubborn when it comes to using a wading staff, but I had to give up my ego and allow myself to be humbled. The Deschutes has always intimidated me with its large size, powerful current, and slightly makes me feel like I am on another planet while down in the deep canon walls. The smell of sagebrush will hit you like a ton of bricks after a light rain, and sometimes it's hard not to focus on the landscape with seemingly endless hillsides that are filled with so much beauty all around.
It didn't take long after the sun penetrated the canyon for air temperature to rise, and also my concern of rising water temps as we crept into the later hours of the morning. Don't get me wrong, I love to chase steelhead, but when water temps start getting into the upper 60's, Id rather go grab my inner tube, a cold beer, and work on my tan rather than put a steelhead through the stress of running a marathon in those conditions. With that said, Cody and I were off the river around 11:30 am and headed up to the Rainbow Tavern in Maupin to grab a little lunch before heading home.
About the time you start to think of wet wading...
Though we didn't find any steel on this particular trip, I've still got high hopes of shaking hands with a summer-run coming up here soon! With some early fish already in the system and more on their way, I imagine we will be hearing some more fish stories as they migrate back home. On one of my next days off will likely be spent back down in the canyon- casting, stepping, and repeating. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have made my thousandth cast...
Chelsey Betterley
Gorge Fly Shop | Product Specialist
541.386.6977
