Taylor Made Outfitters Web Story

I have fished the Deschutes since age 14 and was lucky enough to get hired as a guide for The Fly Fishers Place and Jeff Perrin in Sisters Oregon. All and all it worked out well for years and I moved on to guiding different bodies of water including the Crooked, Deschutes, and Rogue Rivers. Subsequently I formed my own guiding business, Taylor Made Outfitters and focused primarily on the lower Deschutes River for the past twelve seasons.

The 08’ season kicked off with a bang, exceptional trout fishing. By June you are into a fairly regular routine and the days just kind of click bye. Guiding can be tough at times, mainly because it is about making people happy. It is not always about the fishing but the experience as a whole. At the end of season I am happy to have had another blessed year working outdoors although the job is often twenty nine of thirty days a month and fourteen to sixteen hours a day.

Clean boats, stacked and ready for business.
Mike Culwell doing his best to stay dry

A particular June the trout season started out well; two guys in the boat were better than average anglers and the weather was fair. About half way down our run I sent the better of the two anglers down stream around the bend and stayed up top helping his partner to land a couple of trout.

We close out the run, hop in the boat and head around the corner in my sixteen foot taxi with oars made by Koffler. As we near the bottom of the dog leg left there is a terrific viewing window at the tail out of the run which stays deep with an abrupt up turn to riffled water. It is mostly sand covered bottom without much structure and rarely holds trout or even whitefish or indigenous mountain suckers; but I always find myself peering into the water half thinking “maybe there’s a fish deep in the tail out”. This time there’s a fish! “Damn…that’s a nice seized steelie, dime bright, ummmmm maybe eight pounds, kind of in a weird spot… cool”!  Once again I am surprised and charged by the appearance and location of the first steelhead of the season.

Here are tips on the timing, techniques and gear I use chasing Deschutes River steelhead throughout the season. Depending on the snow pack, temperature of the Columbia and others factors, the second to third week of July is the time when there are enough steelhead in the lower Deschutes to confidently plan a trip. The early steelheading happens from the mouth of the Deschutes upstream to Maupin, an area considered the lower Deschutes. Water temperatures this time of year can be tricky so pay close attention to that aspect through August. Water temp’s in the high 60’s to mid 70’s can color up or dirty the water and its just plain hard on the fish due to the overly warm water. The terrific part about early season and good water temps is that there may be no better place where you can find better dry line fishing with wet flies and skaters.

Scott Hodson showing a Snap "C" set up

The game in July and August is fishing hard and early in the morning and late in the evenings casting into as much shade on the water as possible. That leaves mid day when you have time to relax, take a nap or go work a sink tip until the afternoon shadows put the fish back in their “happy place”. Size #2, #4, and #6 flies are the mainstay and it never hurts to have a few sparsely tied darker patterns in #10 and even #12’s as comeback patterns. Since the advent of “Switch” rods a couple of years back I primarily send clients out with a 10’6” 7/8 Switch loaded with a Scandinavian style shooting heads called Elixir. Rods that will make great choices this time of the year are the Switch 6/7 on less windy and calm days, the Switch 7/8 an everyday Deschutes rod, Beulah’s 11’6” 6/7 and their new Platinum 12’6” 6 weight spey rod for those who prefer casting longer rods. I can’t believe it took so long for the Switch category of rod to happen as these rods offer the distance like a spey rod, feel in the hand like a single hand rod, almost no back casting room necessary. In addition, hooking into smaller steelhead or fish will still give you the feeling that you have hooked into a lightening bolt. Another reason for Switch rods is I whole heartedly believe the 100’ cast is not needed for successful steelhead fishing. I want my client to consistently turn over 40-50 ft well placed casts and not to overwork the line once the fly is swinging. The majority of fish are within this distance and overcastting is common mistake when fishing for steelhead.

Wild Bob w/ a pretty Deschutes wild buck.
Mike Culwell doing his best to stay dry.

By September everyone has had some success earlier in the summer and thinks shorter days, more consistent water temps and the bulk of the run will lead to more consistent fishing in the river. Yet, I know from years of experience guiding the Deschutes that September can be tricky. There are fish around and the guys that put in their time are going to catch fish. I concentrate my efforts on the second half of the month, still fishing primarily dry lines and wet flies or skaters.

In October you have an awesome opportunity with fish scattered throughout the entire river and fish still entering the mouth in good numbers. Depending on the year you’ll see water temperatures ranging from the mid to high 40’s through 60 degrees. Generally, we see a spike in water volume and a drop in water temperature consistently throughout the month. October is the month where I’ll keep the Switch rods close but start fishing true spey rods from 11’6”-13’6” 6, 7 and 8 weights. We pull out Skagit type line adding sink tips, leeches and other big nasties to the mix of flies we fish. These larger rods are ideal for the water volume and offer more control of the sink tips and Skagit style lines I like during this time of year.

Taylor Geraths w/ a Big 'ole Buck!!!

On an average year you are probably looking at 3,000-4,000 wild Deschutes fish, 15,000-20,000 fin-clipped hatchery fish and more than occasional run-ins with monster B-Run Idaho bound Steelhead poking their noses into the lower 30 or so miles on the Deschutes. Halloween and the end of October usually sees my season coming to an end, however, there are still fish around and people still chasing fins. Deschutes River steelhead enter the system sometime in July and stay in the system for up to eight months spawning right through April.

The Fish:
This is not a cookie cutter system. The Deschutes features a mixed bag of steelhead strains, origin and size ranging from 3-12 pounds with a realistic shot at a 15 pound brute. These fish are hard fighting, beautiful and aggressively take flies in classic and famous runs and riffles. All it takes is one good grab, your line is streaking down and across a run at mach V and a thunderous end-over thrashing leap….

The Scenery:
High Desert with the Deschutes as your oasis. Keep you eyes peeled, along with steelhead there are deer, bighorn sheep, beaver, river otters, indian hieroglyphics, spectacular geology, birds and beautiful wildflowers.

The Gear:
Switch rods: With matching Elixir & Tonic lines to include the Switch 6/7, 7/8 and 8/9
Spey Rods: With matching Elixir & Tonic lines to include the 11’6” 6/7, 12’7” 7/8 Classic, Platinum 12’6” 6 weight and Platinum 13’2” 7 weight.

Technique:
Down and across swung presentation covers a lot of water and is extremely effective on the Deschutes River for Steelhead through all parts of the season with skating flies, wet or damp flies and sunken larger leech type patterns with sink tips and Skagit lines behind them.

The Flies:
The traditional patterns like Green Butt Skunks, Street Walkers, Fly De Jour are always good bets. We use a lot of patterns I have designed over the past several years fishing and guiding the Deschutes to include: Curb Feeler, Deschutes Madness, Cage Fighter, High Voltage, Steelhead Addiction, Uncle Sam and Moal Leeches(Moal is not my pattern).

Timing:
Early August through October for catching the run through its peak.

For more Deschutes River information and or trip availability call or email me or visit our website online at: www.taylormadeoutfitters.com

TMO Taylor Geraths
Phone: 541-420-4997
Email: taylor@taylormadeoutfitters.com