Steelhead Update
The color purple: flies that steelhead seem to love on the lower Deschutes.
This Year by the Numbers
Steelhead fishers on the Deschutes gage the annual progress of each year’s run a couple of ways. First is to monitor the count of adult fish at The Dalles Dam, accessed at The Fish Passage Center. Not all fish that make it up the ladder at The Dalles are headed into the Deschutes. Anglers with longer memories will recall that when the Deschutes ran clearer and colder, behemoth Idaho B-run steelhead would duck into the lower reaches of the river to cool off. With warmer water, this is a less seldom seen phenomenon. Even so, this year is better than any of the last five, at least. The ten-year average over The Dalles Dam as of Tuesday is 57,542 fish. Last year on this date: 52,003. Drum roll please: today’s count: 78,270. That’s reason for some qualified optimism.
Sherars Falls Count
Another way to get a quick snapshot of how the run is shaping up is the count at Sherar’s Falls. The counts here this year so far will let a little air out of your steelhead optimist’s balloon. The trap, run by ODFW, is currently out of service due to a pump malfunction. Numbers prior to these techical difficulties were not holding much promise. The only double-digit count day was 12 fish on August 27th. But as any seasoned chaser of chrome on the lower Deschutes will tell you, Sherar’s numbers don’t neatly correlate to angling success. The most obvious reason is the 49 miles of river, nearly all of it good steelie water, between the Sherar’s trap and the mouth of the Deschutes.
Most Fun Way to Measure this Year’s Run
Of course the best way to figure out what’s happening with steelhead is to go find one on your own, or with a guide. Reports from those who have done so describe not only more fish than in the past few years, but bigger fish as well. Another angler’s memory from season to season may not be as reliable as your own experience. So go make that experience happen. Here at the DRA, we need your voice to speak for the river. One sure way to cultivate the passion to speak up is to spend time on the water. A durable love for the lower Deschutes, we are confident, will blossom with every hour you spend there. In spite of the challenges the river faces, it is still a beautiful place.
Photo Contest: Win a DRA Hat
Send us your best steelhead photos! DRA staff will pick the 5 best, and then we’ll turn it back to you, our supporters, here on this blog page, for a popular vote. The winner will get a DRA Trucker’s hat. Send your pics to: steven@deschutesriveralliance.org
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