I spent last weekend on Oregon's Deschutes River chasing native Redside trout. These trout are a subspecies 
Rainbow trout and are known for their vigor and strength. The Redside (or also known as Redband) trout is a much stronger fish (for it's size) and some attribute that to having to survive in a large, powerful river. The Deschutes also holds Steelhead, which we were hoping to maybe run into, however the trip was focused on pursuing the Redside.

We started out the weekend with a late start and hooked into a few good sized fish on Saturday afternoon, all within the 12-15 inch range. The techniques we used were jostly subsurface, there was a short Blue Wing Olive hatch that only lasted for two hours. We employed the High-Stick technique and Czech nymph rig using jostly attractor nymphs and stoneflies. jost fish were taken with size 12-16 Prince Nymphs, Black Hairs Ears or some form of WD-40 in size 18. Both rigs use similar techniques, one to three flies with the heaviest on the bottom, no indicator and a fairly short leader - 6 to 8 feet. You can substitute the heavy bottom fly with shot if preferred. Fish the rig in medium to fairly fast water during the times of the day the fish are actively feeding with a short cast upstream keeping the line taught to detect strikes, letting it drift past you then setting the hook at the end of the drift with a quick flick of the wrist. The strike at the end of the drift is done because more often than not, a fish will take the fly at the end of the drift and you'll find a set at the end will produce more hookups.

The scenery on the Deschutes is much like the Yakima. In fact, it runs through pretty much the same type of country - high desert plains with minimal trees and low hills. However, during sunrise and sunset one would be remise to not appreciate the landscape. It makes for good fishing as well.

Throughout the weekend, we brought in some good sized fish, in the 20"+ range, a few more of the same size were long distance released. If planning a trip to the Deschutes any time soon, be sure to check out the River Run Lodge. I've stayed there every time I've been on the Deschutes, they have great prices, clean rooms and are open year round. Perfect for winter steelheading.

We shot a short video, included below: