Aaahhh... The Crooked

[Trout-tacular!]

Hit the Crooked midday today with wife and son in tow. They hiked around while I fished for a few before heading into Prineville to meet some friends from the Portland area.

Few PMD's still coming off midday. Had good activity with emergers, but a lot more activity and fun with dries. Mostly 10"ers and a couple 12"s with one 14" landed and what I think was a nice fat 14" or maybe 16" roll my fly a bunch but could't hook up with him. Tried different size PMD, different color, different emerger size and color...but.... I had to reel in and head out. I would like to think I would eventual out smart the nerve ending brain of that Rainbow, but I'll never know now.

 

[GDBrown]

Sounds like you had a good time while it lasted and that is the most any of us can ask for on a regular basis.

 

[troutbane]

Hi, I'm new to the list - a visitor from BC who wants to fish the crooked river tomorrow, with my wife. Are there any reasonably productive spots on the river where we can fish it without having waders? We're staying in Redmond but are willing to drive for 45min or an hour to get to a good spot.
Thanks,
Troutbane

 

[Trout-tacular!]

Hi, I'm new to the list - a visitor from BC who wants to fish the crooked river tomorrow, with my wife. Are there any reasonably productive spots on the river where we can fish it without having waders? We're staying in Redmond but are willing to drive for 45min or an hour to get to a good spot.
Thanks,
Troutbane

Welcome to the Forum. Here's a link with a map for the Wild and Scenic area below Bowman dam: http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/new%20crooked.pdf

Highway 27 follows the Crooked. Mile post 12 to Bowman dam is all easy access and productive. Below mile post 12 is private land.

 

[Trout-tacular!]

Troutbane - if your tossing flies try some size 14 or 16 renegade, 16 or 18 griffins gnat, 16 or 18 Tan Caddis in the later afternoon to evening. Earlier in the day throw a PMD or BWO.

If you're using hardware I'm not much help, sorry.

 

[troutbane]

Thanks, Trout-acular, for both your postings. We're looking forward to a good day on the Crooked. (My wife will be using hardware, but I'll be tossing flies.)
Tomorrow we want to try the Deschutes - somewhere not more than an hour's drive from Redmond. Any suggestions about where and what flies to use?

 

[fishtales]

Sounds like a good day. I have only fished the Crooked once and got skunked. I would definatly like to try it again.

 

[Trout-tacular!]

Thanks, Trout-acular, for both your postings. We're looking forward to a good day on the Crooked. (My wife will be using hardware, but I'll be tossing flies.)
Tomorrow we want to try the Deschutes - somewhere not more than an hour's drive from Redmond. Any suggestions about where and what flies to use?

No worries.

I haven't been on the Deschutes for trout lately, but this time of year you could huck some streamers around Benham Falls for some browns or get dinks all day around Bend, small dries (maybe PMD or BWO) and a nymph dropper; try the pocket water above Farewell to Bend Park or just below the spillway by the Colorado bridge. The Upper Deschutes between Little Lava and Crane is closed right now. You could also try around Warm Springs and Mecca Flat, that's about a hour drive from Redmond, couldn't tell you how the trout fishing is right now though. I've only been steelheading the lower Deschutes lately and I've been down by Maupin, sorry.

Hope this is of help

 

[troutbane]

Fishing the Crooked

Fishing the Crooked

Sounds like a good day. I have only fished the Crooked once and got skunked. I would definatly like to try it again.

We were so impressed with how beautiful the river is. Lots of fish were rising, some of decent size. We each caught one trout and found people on the river very helpful about what flies to use. All in all it was a fine day. (It's a river I would love to get to know better.)
-Troutbane

 

[troutbane]

No worries.

I haven't been on the Deschutes for trout lately, but this time of year you could huck some streamers around Benham Falls for some browns or get dinks all day around Bend, small dries (maybe PMD or BWO) and a nymph dropper; try the pocket water above Farewell to Bend Park or just below the spillway by the Colorado bridge. The Upper Deschutes between Little Lava and Crane is closed right now. You could also try around Warm Springs and Mecca Flat, that's about a hour drive from Redmond, couldn't tell you how the trout fishing is right now though. I've only been steelheading the lower Deschutes lately and I've been down by Maupin, sorry.

Hope this is of help

Thanks for the reply. As it happened I discovered, when I got home, that I had lost one of my flyboxes somewhere in the Chimney Rock campground. So, instead of the Deschutes, we went back to Chimney Rock to look for the missing box. No luck, nor did we have any luck (other than a couple of strikes) fishing.
We went on and tried Big Bend. Much better places for fly fishing for people like me who did not have waders than at Chimney Rock. Again, people were very helpful, but I just didn't have small tan caddis, which is what the fish seemed to be targeting.
That's my fishing in Oregon this year, but I hope I can come back next year and apply some of the things I've learned.
All the best,
Troutbane

 

[Irishrover]

Troutbane, if you come back to the Crooked or the Deschutes, bring a size 14 green softhackle. That fly has been very productive for me in both places. On the Crooked I've also found a dry fly in an adams pattern but all black is a great trout catching fly. My lucky spot Mile post 18!

 

[troutbane]

Troutbane, if you come back to the Crooked or the Deschutes, bring a size 14 green softhackle. That fly has been very productive for me in both places. On the Crooked I've also found a dry fly in an adams pattern but all black is a great trout catching fly. My lucky spot Mile post 18!

Thanks for the info, Irishrover. A fellow who was having much more luck than I was at MP 18 also suggested an Adams (though he did not mention the color). Unfortunately, as I said in an earlier post, I had lost the fly box that contained most of my dries at Chimney Rock the previous day. Ah well, there's always next year - and lots of time between now and then to tie the flies you mention in various sizes.