Big flies create plenty of buzz in Central Oregon

Published 5:00 am Thursday, May 24, 2007

For one month each year, two flies create a lot of buzz in Central Oregon. As the water warms in late May and early June, salmonfly and golden stonefly nymphs crawl toward shore. These two-inch monsters struggle up out of the water to dry their wings, perching in trees or in the tall grass. Sometimes hanging out over the water, they will fall in.

The migration also creates a stir in the taste buds of Deschutes River rainbows. And over the course of the next few weeks, trout that key on these golden mouthfuls can grow as fat as footballs.

Big rainbows move out of their river channel haunts and pull in tight to the bank to snatch the unfortunate insects that are swept into the stream. At the peak of the hatch, for a few hours, big rainbows feed with reckless abandon.

If it’s dry fly action you crave, timing is everything. You want to be there when the clouds of flies are black against the sky. There’s no way to guarantee you’ll hit it right, except to pitch your tent and stay for three weeks.

The hatches are water temperature-dependent. Since Pelton Dam controls Deschutes River levels from above Warm Springs, all the way to the mouth, the water below the dam is consistently colder. Drift Macks Canyon to the Mouth and you’ll find the golden stones and salmonflies in fishable numbers weeks earlier than you’ll see them in the section from Warm Springs to Trout Creek.

If you’ve fished the Deschutes, you know that this stretch of river gets loved a little too much in the spring time. Want to fish the salmonfly hatch with a little less competition? Head south. The Klamath River and the Rogue River are also home to the big bugs and the big rainbows that eat them.

”There are actually golden stones and salmonflies at the same time on both systems,” Darren Roe of Roe Outfitters (www.roeoutfitters.com) told me last week. ”Predominately, people look at the salmonflies because they’re bigger and they’re orange, but we catch a lot of fish on golden stones as well. You can start out fishing the salmonflies and go back through the same run with a golden stone pattern and catch fish again.”

Toward the end of May, head to the Rogue. ”The hatch starts earlier on the Rogue than it does on the Klamath,” Roe said. ”From the Gold Ray Dam up to the Holy Water (a three-quarter mile stretch of water below Lost Creek Dam) can be very good for the salmonfly and golden stone hatches.”

Here, trout run up to 16 inches, with the occasional bigger rainbow lured up from the depths by the promise of protein on top.

The Klamath usually comes into play a week later. ”Typically I do better the first week of June on the Klamath in the Wild and Scenic stretch or the Keno Reach,” Roe said.

Keno Reach fish are bigger on average. Last time I fished it, I lost a six-pounder that spit the hook six feet from the bank. The Keno section closes on June 15.

”The Wild and Scenic stretch, from John C. Boyle Dam down into California, is phenomenal until about the third week of June,” Roe said. ”It’s pretty easy to get 50 grabs on top a day.”

If you want the water to yourself, this is the spot. The long, dirt road (and rattlesnakes) keep most other anglers out.

”It’s hard on the equipment but the fishing is worth it,” Roe said.

The Keno Reach fishes best when the flows are 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) or less. Downstream from J.C. Boyle, the best flows are 1,500 cfs or below. Call 800-547-1501 for up-to-date information.

On the Rogue or Klamath, some of Roe’s favorite patterns are the Madame Xs, sized 4 and 6, in orange and red. He also likes the Rogue Foam golden stones in size 8 and 10.

”Best of all, I like a Bob Quigley Golden Stone in size 8 and 10,” he said. ”It’s my favorite lipstick.”

Whether the salmonfly hatch draws you to the Deschutes or south to the Rogue or Klamath, plan a trip sometime between the last week of May and the third week of June.

Pray for warm weather and stock your fly box with Orange Stimulators, Clark’s Stones, Sofa Pillows and other favorites. And tie your tippets stout enough to turn the fly over and stand up to the battle.