Deschutes Steelhead

With our winter steelhead rivers low, clear and cold on the west side, I decided to grab the four weight and head out to the Deschutes for the blue wing olive hatch. Ironically, while trying to fool a few trout, I landed this beautiful four pound native buck on a size #22 pheasant tail!

I will say, fishing for Deschutes steelhead after mid-December is mega lame... The fish need their strength for spawning. If you do hook one while trout fishing, please fight em hard and land them quick!

There's something special about waking up in the desert, stepping into camp water and starting your day with a steelhead.

I'm often surprised how few anglers I fish with have landed a steelhead on a dry fly. Yet, when I tie a skater on a client's line, their intensity level always goes up a couple notches. The needle moves because the visual dimension during the swing... There's nothing like watching your skater hunt. -The anticipation of a big surface eat is simply incredible.

My good friend Jeff Mishler (New Water Media) just launched the trailer for his newest addition to the Skagit Master video library. Skagit Master 3 focuses on steelhead fly design from some of the best anglers and tiers in the Northwest... Wether you tie flies or not, you will learn a ton about steelhead fishing. Each tier talks in detail about their design philosophy, how they fish the fly and the conditions it was made for.