What are your thoughts on having a spey rod to fish the Deschutes? Seems as if a 9' 6wt would be a suitable rod for most all applications but perhaps somewhat limiting in targeting steelhead specifically (distance casting and line management). Just curious, as it seems there are some spey user that commit swinging flies for steelhead is highly effective on this water
@jbreezyfishing Spey fishing the Deschutes is iconic! I actually do think it's pretty effective there. It's definitely less effective for trout than nymphing or even dry flies during a hatch. But for steelhead, it's one of relatively few places where spey casting is probably comparably effective to nymphing (i.e. really good). I think nymphing you're going to catch a higher percentage of the steelhead you get your flies in front of. But it's such a big river, that spey casting probably gets your flies in front of more fish. Plus Deschutes Steelhead tend to be aggressive. You don't need a perfect presentation like you might for winter steelhead. So yeah, I do think it works well! That said, I still think I catch more fish nymphing than swinging, and I find nymphing more engaging so that's mostly what I do.
Hey great to see you making a video on my favorite water. I'll be looking forward to more. Pretty steelhead!
Looks like a good day on the river there! Tight lines!
The Deshutes is a tough river to fish until you figure it out. Pretty hard to wade too lol. I’m impressed by how well y’all did
Oh thank you very much! I've put uncountable hours into this river!
QT 😎
What are your thoughts on having a spey rod to fish the Deschutes? Seems as if a 9' 6wt would be a suitable rod for most all applications but perhaps somewhat limiting in targeting steelhead specifically (distance casting and line management). Just curious, as it seems there are some spey user that commit swinging flies for steelhead is highly effective on this water
@jbreezyfishing Spey fishing the Deschutes is iconic! I actually do think it's pretty effective there. It's definitely less effective for trout than nymphing or even dry flies during a hatch.
But for steelhead, it's one of relatively few places where spey casting is probably comparably effective to nymphing (i.e. really good). I think nymphing you're going to catch a higher percentage of the steelhead you get your flies in front of. But it's such a big river, that spey casting probably gets your flies in front of more fish. Plus Deschutes Steelhead tend to be aggressive. You don't need a perfect presentation like you might for winter steelhead. So yeah, I do think it works well! That said, I still think I catch more fish nymphing than swinging, and I find nymphing more engaging so that's mostly what I do.
Great Video, What flys were you using?
Jig leech, stone fly nymph, and sometimes an orange perdigon!