Fishing the Deschutes River for Steelhead
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Best Fishing Time Destination Cost Travel Fishing Limit Weather Forecast

Steelhead fishing on the lower Deschutes River is a fishing adventure you will long remember. The scenery here is spectacular and the fishing can be outstanding. Deschutes steelhead are very aggressive and this behavior leads to some of the best fly fishing you will ever experience.

Best fishing time -  Steelhead first enter the Deschutes in July and by August the run is strong enough for some excellent fishing. The fishing last all fall with August through early October being the prime time to float the river. Steelhead fishing is still excellent the rest of the fall, but the combination of cold and windy weather, along with the shorter days make a Deschutes trip more of adventure than a fishing trip.

Where will I fishing?  Our steelhead trips are run on the lower 30 miles of the Deschutes. We will take you out where the Deschutes flows into the Columbia River. This section of the Deschutes usually has the highest number of steelhead and the biggest steelhead as the cooler Deschutes River attract many of the steelhead heading up the Columbia River to rivers in Eastern Washington, Oregon and Idaho. This section of the Deschutes has been prone to glacier runoff from Mt. Hood in recent years, if this happens we then switch (with the client consent) the trip to the Deschutes above Maupin.

Cost: - Like our trout trips, the cost is $275 a day per person. This includes your meals, camping equipment, Deschutes River permit and any fishing equipment you will need for your enjoyable and safe trip. Our steelhead trips usually run either 3 or 4 days.

How do I get to this section of the Deschutes?  If you drive here, we will met in the town of The Dalles. We will arrangement so that your vehicle will be the boat ramp when we complete the trip. The other option is to fly to Portland and we will pick you up at the airport.

 Can I keep steelhead on the Deschutes? The limit is two hatchery steelhead a day per person. All native steelhead have to be released unharmed back into the river. Often we retain a fresh hatchery steelhead for dinner.

Fishing forecast for 2001 - The low snow pack means the Deschutes River will probably be a little lower than normal this fall. The number of returning steelhead should be high this year because there were excellent conditions in the Columbia River and in Pacific when the steelhead migrated to the Pacific two years ago.

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