Casting For Recovery

A Week of Firsts, that was last week as I camped on the Deschutes.

Guiding beginners offers emotional rewards that are often unobtainable in the hunt for big numbers or even trophies with more experienced anglers.  If you have never caught a fish, you just want to catch one, any one, any size, any specie.  You want to see what it feels like, through the rod, into your hand.  You just want to touch one.  If you are Alex Corrillo, you want to experience what your fly angler father has described to you in such glowing terms.  Alex is a man who is used to challenging experiences such as working on the cutting edge with AOL.com, and such as running marathons against the Russians on their own turf across Siberia.  Sharp minded and physically fit, Alex had never caught a fish of any kind, or waded in a big river until we fished together last week.  His fly fishing experience had been a one hour casting lesson about a year ago.  He had recently moved from New Hampshire to Portland, Oregon.  His dad, Angel Carrillo, had taken up fly fishing about five years ago, right after retiring as chief bio-scientist for the Gillette Corporation.  They had booked three nights on Oregon's world

famous Deschutes River for a combined trout/steelhead trip.  July 20-24 is usually just before the summer's hottest weather...prime time for blizzard caddis hatches.  This year the heat wave came

early, putting the hatches on hold.  The trout fishing got really tough.  To complicate matters, the wind blew gale force every afternoon.  There were few rising trout.  The few trout that came to the surface, were hard to see and even harder to put the fly in front of.  The wind was so fierce that nymph fishing was totally out of the question. On the second day, we found some good water  sheltered by trees from the wind. Still only a very few fish were rising.  In the interest of keeping the story short and subscribing to the code that "what is done on the river, stays on the river", it is suffice to say that pin points casts were made, epic battles won, and beautiful native trouts released unharmed.  Alex got his first trout ever; his second fish ever.  Angel caught his first Deschutes Redsides.  The next day each man made contact with a couple of Deschutes steelhead. Both the anglers and the fish enjoyed the encounters. 
Michael and Max Walker arrived a day after Angel and Alex left.  That afternoon we fished for steelhead. The wind howled. Presenting the fly properly was next to impossible. The next

morning was calm.  However, a big water release at Pelton Dam brought the river up 2000 cfs and every fish went on the move.  Mike and Max got plucks and pulls, but no solid hook-ups. That afternoon and evening the wind blew hard enough to break a 150-pound limb that came down while we were away from camp. When we landed the boat back in camp at the end of the day, the limb was around two sides of my brand new cook tent.  It never touched anything and nothing was damaged.   The wind had blown so hard that evening, we were unable to fish one honey-hole even though there were steelhead rolling in it.  We moved across the river where it was calmer, but no steelhead came to the fly.  The next morning was calm and the water was at normal level.  We went upstream with the boat a couple miles. After we landed,  Mike walked downstream, and I watched Max's 

white wing fly from a high bank.  Suddenly, a ghosty grey steelhead appeared behind the fly and took it on the turn and headed to the middle of the river.  Max was tight to his first spey rod steelhead.  Unfortunately, the fish snagged the dropper fly on an under water obstruction and after a while broke free.  Meanwhile, Mike came packing his first ever steelhead; a small hatchery fish.  He had landed it all by himself.  He and Max had had a double hook-up.  Shortly after that Max got pulled on by another steelhead.  Repeated presentations failed to bring it back.  We took the boat and moved to another run.  Both men  moved steelhead in the new water.  Max had one take line into the backing and then it went free. The fish won the final rounds, but it was still exciting.  Knowing that wild steelhead still chase flies in wild rivers, sometimes is enough.
Thanks to all you guys for a great camp-out on the river.
Looking forward to see each one of you again,
Mark

Deschutes Super Stix

Deschutes River steelhead like flies that are small and easy to cast (most of the time).  The majority of the fish are small to medium size.  But, the river is more than 150' wide in many places and can literally hold fish bank to bank.  Long casts can give a strong advantage.  During much of the season, the wind blows (nearly every afternoon).  Fishing the Deschutes for

steelhead offers a fair amount of distinctive challenges.  Starting in 1965, I have caught Deschutes steelhead with many different sizes, actions, and brands of fly rods.  In that period of time, both the fishery and fly rod technology have changed immensely.  Livestock being removed from the lower Deschutes riparian zone about 20-years ago has resulted in more densely vegetated banks and less back cast room for the fly fisher.  However, even in the old days a long roll cast was a powerful weapon.  Today the two-handed fly rod is the most popular tool for coping with this river and it's anadromous fish.  Some two-handers fit this river and its fish better than others and at the risk of stirring controversy, I am offering to you my top six picks in the current order of choice.  I have fished extensively with every one of these rods and have caught at least a half dozen steelhead with each of them. 

Length: 13' 3"       Line: #7/8     Pieces: 4   

Sage 8139-4 VT2

The new Sage VT2 Series is nearly as fast actioned as their TCR Series.  It should be a big hit with the Shop-Rats.  It should also become popular with Europeans anglers who generally prefer faster action rods.  Because of its ability to man-handle sinking tip lines the 8139-4 VT2 will appeal to many winter-steelheaders as well as summer-steelheaders.  With its high performance, beautiful finish and moderate price, it is bound to be a financial success for Sage and their supporting shops.  I used this rod a full six months before it was available to any other fly shops.  That doesn't mean that I exerted any influence on its design.  I merely caught 13 steelhead with it during the two months it was in my possession.  It is an effective tool; maybe even labeled a deadly-weapon.  Possibly one of the reasons I never fell in love with it, was that it was always forcing me to be a better caster than I am.  This rod could take you to the next level.
Rod weight: 8 5/8 Ounces.