This pattern was one of the bugs that I was messing around with on the Deschutes River in the middle of a some serious golden stone and salmonfly hatches. I tied them up in orange and yellow and had success with  both. The poor fly did not really have a name, but after Eric landed a really nice fish, I yelled over to him and asked him what he caught it on. His response, “That big splashy-thing…” Fun to tie and when the big insects our out, a ton of fun to fish. Enjoy…

If you would like to purchase this pattern, head on over to the Arizona Wanderings Shop and check out the Splashything Stonefly.

(Material List at the bottom)

Pierce a 1/4″ wide piece of 2mm thick foam onto the hook.

With the foam rotating freely at the front of the shank, tie in two goose biots for the tail of the fly.

When the biots are thoroughly tied down slide the foam back over the tied down portion of the biots.

Secure the foam with several wraps.

Tie forward about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way up the hook creating segmented sections of foam. Clip back section of foam.

Wrap thread back to roughly the center of the hook.

Tie in back legs.

Clip front portion of legs off.

Dab of superglue.

Tie in front section of foam.

Tie in hair. (I prefer deer, but elk will work fine.)

Dub all the way forward but work your way back to roughly where you tied in the hair. Tie in legs. Add a drop of glue on top of all the dubbing .

Secure foam.

Secure top indicator foam if desired. Whip finish.

I tied up several variations with different colored foam and dubbing and found that all seemed to do the trick. I think the fish on the Deschutes were more interested in the splash and silhouette of the fly rather than the actual colors.

Materials:

– #4 Terrestrial Hook (but any size will do)

– 2mm foam in yellow (or orange) and brown

– 6/0 Brown Uni Thread

– Dubbing (I used the Haretron Golden Stone, but many colors will work…)

– Sili Legs

– Deer Hair (but elk will work)

– Goose Biots

– Superglue

The post Fly Tying: Splashything Stonefly Pattern appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Our final day on the river found us cooking the last of our eggs and diving into some instant oatmeal. The black coffee as always helped to prop our eyelids open. Knowing that some of the best fishing was behind us and that most everyone was all stacked up on this section of river, we decided to take our time, enjoy the river, and not push ourselves too hard.

Just downriver of our camp, Eric anchored the boat mid-river in a gravel bar, which gave us an opportunity to fish a great looking riffle section. We pulled a couple of decent fish from the riffle and then pointed the boat down river.

As we continued to work water, less and less fish were coming out to play which we had planned on. Most of the guides were ahead of us and we figured we were fishing water that was already stressed. So we (and when I say “we” I mean Eric) put the oars to work and pushed on ahead.

At the beginning of our trip, Eric imparted some wisdom on me. He said, “Two things can kill you on this trip. Whitehorse rapids and rattlesnakes.” He went on to warn me that he does not ever go a trip without seeing at least one rattler. So the whole trip in the back of my mind, I am conscious about watching where I am stepping and overall just being careful. By day 4 though the last thing on my mind is snakes.  After securing the boat, Eric and I made our way through some tall grass to fish one of the fishy looking spots in a riffle when Eric stops dead in his tracks. He points out a coiled rattler sunning himself in the tall grass. Warily we move around him to encounter another snake coiled and rattling at us in a menacing tone.  We did not have much choice and fished the water that was in front of us, but getting out was going to be a trick. The eddy was too deep to walk through back to the boat and the entire bank was covered in this tall grass and large woodpile, where presumably the snakes were living. These snakes held two grown men at bay while we planned (read “worked up courage) to walk through the snakey habitat.  After arming ourselves with a couple of stout sticks we beat the grass and hopped, skipped, and jumped our way though and joyfully climbed back into the boat.

We started to eat up river miles and joined a train of boats headed for the take out. As we drifted, we rounded a corner and saw a couple of boats leaving the bank a couple of hundred yards ahead. We figured they had just fished the bank but has we floated towards the bank where they left, we could see and hear fish rising to the surface and sucking down on some sort of bug.  Deciding that it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, we backed ourselves in and started working the bank. There were midges on the water and some other small bugs, but the fish would not come up for anything small we offered. I worked through several other flies and then opted for some foamy stonefly patterns. Bingo.

I pulled five fish from the pocket water and lost a monster. Once I hollered down to Eric what the scoop was, he started bringing fish in as well. I inevitably filled my waders again when I stepped on what I thought was a rock, which turned out to be a four foot drop. There is nothing like slopping around with a couple gallons of water in your waders, while happily pulling big rainbow trout out of the river. It truly was a great ending to the fishing and we both felt this was a the best way to end our float.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and as we broke down our rods and stowed away gear, I could not help but smile, thinking back over the previous four days. It was a remarkable trip filled with good fish and great memories. The river will not be forgotten and I look forward to the next time I can get back out in the drift boat. We opted for a greasy burger, fries, and extra thick milkshakes at a local joint in town before heading back to bend for a shower, a real bed, and more fishing.

The post Fly Fishing Oregon – The Deschutes River (Final) appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Breakfast was made and coffee perked while we broke camp and repacked the boat. We again were an hour or two ahead of most other anglers and had our pick of prime water. The morning was spent picking through the riffle water and pulling redsides to the net.

The big river fishing took some getting used to and although I can pick up fish from my small streams, the fast moving water of the Deschutes proved I had a lot to learn. I spent the trip working on perfecting long drag free drifts which were necessary to fool these big shouldered bows. When drifting nymphs through the popcorn water, it was imperative to mend and allow the fish all the time they needed to take the fly. Most takes were about 3/4s of the way through the drift and once the hook was set, the aerial acrobatics were impressive.

Eric’s goal of the day was to prove that the mini-hopper would produce on the Big D, and within the first couple of pools, he was proven right. After fishing a foamy eddy, this nice rainbow splashed the surface and took off running with an Arizona tied mini-hopper stuck squarely in its jaw. The mini-hopper continued to pick up fish throughout the trip goes to show that this bug will fish just about anywhere.

Good fish continued to rise to our flies all day long and we were truly blessed to have had such great fishing throughout our entire trip. We figured that we each wrestled in about 20-30 fish each day and lost the same amount. The standard fish was between 14 and 18 inches with big shoulders. Their football shaped bodies were built for speed and power and gave our fly rods some serious workouts. Eric sported the new Arizona Wanderings t-shirt which brought good mojo all day long.

Around this time, we encountered a midge hatch that rivaled a biblical plague.  Maybe I am being dramatic, but we do not get bug hatches like this in Arizona

Our fish numbers continued to rise even through the heat of the day. I could not have been happier with the conditions. I had braced myself for rain and cold and it was sunny and pleasant the whole time we were on the water.

It being our third day on the water, the river was full of other drift boats and rafts which made finding campsites difficult. We found another angler who was willing to share camp with us and after setting up our outfit, we combed the banks, looking for rising fish. By this point in the river, the salmonflies had all but disappeared and were replaced with golden stones of equally impressive size.

I picked up several good-looking fish and was pleased to take all of them on the top of the water. Upon returning back to camp, Eric filled me on a monster bow he had fooled with one of my stonefly imitations. The fish pushed 23 or 24 inches and was definitely the fish of the trip. I am pretty sure it was the Arizona Wanderings t-shirt mojo that sealed the deal on this fish, although I am sure my stonefly pattern helped a bit.

The evening was cooler and the updraft from the canyon kept the wind blowing steadily, like it did every night on the river. The beef stew warmed our bellies and the conversation with our fellow angler brought stories about waters from all over the U.S. It is truly amazing how fly fishing brings out the best in others and the camaraderie that the river creates. We talked well past dark until our aching bodies forced us to get some sleep before our final day on the river.

The post Fly Fishing Oregon – The Deschutes River (Day 3) appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

We woke with the sun and decided to hit the same banks and eddies that had produced so well the night before. We picked up a couple of small fish before heading back to camp for scrambled eggs, sausage, and leftover potatoes. All mixed together with a pot of black coffee, we were fueled up and on the river heading to untouched water. It was nice to nod and wave to other campers who were still rolling out of bed or sipping coffee in camp. We were able to fish undisturbed water for a few hours before we started seeing other boats.

Throughout the trip we each had two rods rigged up, one with a big dry and a dropper with the other rod strung up with a double nymph rig. We quickly found the top producer on top was a big stone or salmonfly imitation and under the surface the fish seemed to prefer a beadhead hare’s ear. The most productive water were inside seams on the riffle water although the occasional bank fishing could produce a rise to the dry.

We fished one of Eric’s favorite runs and both pulled three or four fish out of the “popcorn” water, Eric called it. We quickly found that the rainbows were holding in the slightly faster and choppy water, were the whitefish were holding in the slower water at the end of the run. After a dozen whitefish, I quickly learned why many fisherman are slightly disappointed in the native fish. When the indicator dips and you set the hook expecting a big jumping redsided rainbow and all you get is a whitefish that rolls over and comes to the net, it gets old real quick.

There was a plethora of salmonflies on the banks and more often than not I would have a couple crawling on me at one time. Fish were looking up and splashy takes were the norm.

Golden stones started to show up more often the farther we moved down river but the fish were not too picky on patterns.

We stopped to fish some great looking water along the way down the river. One particular spot produced two beautiful fish for me. One nice hen took a nymph about a third of the way through my drift and immediately made a run towards me, slackening my line. After lifting the rod and stripping line as fast as I could, I took a step back and stumbled and felt the cold Oregon water fill my waders. Regaining my footing, my luck held and the fish was still on. Bringing the colorful bow to the net was well worth the soggy feet for the rest of the day.

We started looking for a campsite after the sun had reached its zenith and had begun its journey back towards the horizon. The river had begun to fill up with other watercraft and fishermen, which forced us to continue farther than we had planned and put us into one of the more precarious rapids on the river. The middle and lower portion of the Deschutes that we covered has a variety of class 2 and 3 rapids that to an experienced riverman like Eric, is no problem. Whitehorse Rapids is a class 4 rapids that if not given the proper respect can put a serious hurting on your trip. There are stories every year of lost boats and worse of rafters and boaters who made small mistakes and paid heavily for it.

We pulled off the river above Whitehorse and made our way to the scouting location above the whitewater. Looking at the raging water pouring over jagged rocks put my stomach in my throat and quickened my heart rate more than a little. Eric put in sometime looking at rocks and picking his entry and exit point from the rapids.

Donning life jackets and saying a quick prayer Eric pointed the boat downriver and without so much as breaking a sweat brought us through safely. Most of the river travels at about 3 miles an hour but in this section we covered a mile in a matter of seconds.

With the difficult rapids behind us we found a great campsite, quickly threw up the tent and beat the waters for a couple of hours before coming back for a dinner of marinated chicken.

I was amazed at how well the river fished from sunup to sundown. As long as I could get a fly on the water in likely looking spots and have a long clean drift, success was inevitable. The evening winds coming up the canyon made casting difficult.

The sun went down and as usual we were asleep when our heads hit the pillow. Trying to give our bodies time to recover and do it all over again the next day.

The post Fly Fishing Oregon – The Deschutes River (Day 2) appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Deschutes River – Day 1

Anticipation has been running high for the past two or three months as I made gear lists, tied flies, and waited impatiently for June to arrive.  My good friend Eric of Hooked Up Films lives in Bend, Oregon where the Deschutes River runs cold and boasts large redsides and miles of fishable water.

I checked reports daily and watched the hatch charts in order to know what to expect. I filled my fly boxes with big bushy foam patterns just in case the salmonflies and stoneflies were still on the banks, but tied a plethora of caddis and mayfly imitations that are staples along this famous river.

Kissing the wife goodbye and giving the pups a pat on their heads, I boarded my flight and read John Gierach essays as the plane climbed into the clouds. Before too long, snowcapped mountains started to appear along with juniper trees and big blue lines. Touching down, I met Eric at baggage claim, tossed my gear into the Titan Expedition Vehicle, and cruised our way straight to the River.

We parked in the access area and as we transferred clothing and gear to dry bags and rigged up fly rods, I could not help but notice the huge bugs that clung to the tall grass next to the water. I had not missed it. The cold weather the previous weeks had bumped the big salmonflies schedule back and the river was still full of them.

The drift boat was in the water and pointed down river by 4:00 and we fished our way down to a great campsite. As the sun started to dip down behind the canyon walls, the river came alive with fish coming to the surface and eating big bugs with splashy takes. I tied one of my salmonfly creations and cast to rising fish in some of the slower water. Within a couple of minutes, I hooked into my first Deschutes redside, which after taking me for a ride, obliged and came quietly to the net.

After setting up camp, Eric and I continued to work the banks and eddies near camp and brought some nice fish to hand. Thick ribeyes sizzled in the pan and mashed potatoes and Caesar salad complimented the rub. (Eric treated me well on the river.) With a beginning like this, hopes were high as we turned in for the night to the sound of the river lulling us into a coma like sleep.

The post Fly Fishing Oregon: The Deschutes River (Day 1) appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Just landed back in the smoldering Arizona desert after a little over two weeks in the Northwest of the United States. I was in Bend Oregon fishing the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers for a week and then bumped up to Anchorage to meet up with my wife and in-laws for a land/sea cruise through Alaska with a day of grayling fishing in Denali. Prepare yourself for a barrage of photos, stories, and subsequent gear reviews. It is nice to sleep in my own bed and see the pups again…

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