Aquatic Moths, Project Healing Waters, Trout School Report, Roosterfish Trip,

Throughout the summer months you will see many tannish colored, delta wing insects perched in the vegetation at the waters edge on the lower Deschutes River.  These are adult aquatic moths. They swarm and regroup as you disturb them while walking or wading along the edge of the river.  They especially like shoreline grasses along splashy riffles.  Here they pass the days in gregarious communities. Gatherings of Aquatic Moths can be very dense, often numbering in the hundreds per cubic meter. Adult Aquatic Moth populations will often be mixed with one or several species of caddisflies.  You can tell the moths from the caddis.  Moths have delta shaped wings while at rest.  Caddis profiles are much narrower.  If you catch a moth, it will leave some of its shiny wing dust on your hand.  Caddis don't do this.  It seems Aquatic Moths are always at play, fluttering to and fro.  They are often more active than caddis through the warmer parts of the day.  Knowing this can extend your dry fly fishing period.  Trout will key on these moths and snuggle right up to the edge of the river and wait for a moth to land on the water.  Strikes are usually authoritative.  Moth underside color can vary from tan to cream.  Sizes vary from #14 to #16.  Early season insects are larger that later ones.  It seems that every location will produce hatches of large, medium and small moths.  Hatches start at the mouth of the river in June and progress to Pelton dam.  There they will trail of in August.  Fish can be very selective to the size and color you are presenting.  Check the adults thoroughly.  The Cream Colored Elk Caddis flies offered here have proven themselves to be convincing Aquatic Moth counterfeits. While the egg laying habits of these insects are not completely understood at this time, it does appear to happen in late morning and early evening when air temperatures are moderate. At least during these periods moths are observed on the water and dry fly fishing can be outstanding. Look for rising fish and place your fly 4' to 5' upstream in the exact center of its feeding lane and success is nearly automatic.
These flies are easy to see and track. This makes drag easier to control.

November 4 - November 11, Timing is for Roosterfish & Yellowtail fishing!

Trip report 2003.

Trip report 2004.

Trip report 2005

Trip Report 2006

Designed to be the best in the world! 
I took a new Sage 6010 reel with me on our November, 2009, Mexico trip. This is one of a new generation of reels specifically designed to fit the widest range of fly fishing situations. The 6010 was chosen because it is comfortable on a mid-size two-hand steelhead rod AND also fits a heavy duty saltwater rod. In other words an entire fishing system can be built around it. This approach has many advantages for the traveling angler. Reels with powerful "sealed" drags and bearing have tremendous advantages over reels that get penetrated by water and dirt. This is especially true in reels that are used for salmon and steelhead, because reels used by wading anglers often get submerged. The Sage 6000 Series has a drag system that will sustain the power and smoothness for saltwater fish that weigh in excess of a hundred pounds AND is still are totally reliable in the steelhead fishing environment. As a matter of fact the gold colored 6010 was taken off my 7126-4 TCX Spey rod, the line was changed and then it was put on my new 1190-4 Xi3. The reel worked equally well in both fresh and saltwater arenas. To me this wasn't surprising. I have owned for several years a Sage 3600D reel that has proven itself for steelhead, Chinooks, dorado and billfish. The guts of both the 3000D Series and 6000 Series are much the same, which incorporates a multi-disc waterproof drag designed by Jack Charelton, an aerospace engineer who for years built the famous Charleton Reels, which are now high-dollar collector items.