September 22, 2011 - The Oregonian - Lower Deschutes River continues an amazing fishing season

Lower Deschutes River continues an amazing fishing season

Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011, 8:43 AM Updated: Thursday, September 22, 2011, 8:57 AM

Biggs — It’s been a big year on the lower Deschutes River, with lots of surprises.

…And summer steelhead!

On a leisurely morning journey Tuesday, upriver a few miles (as far as Colorado Rapids), it seemed as if nearly every rock had an angler standing on or nearby.

Many were fighting fish, mostly steelhead from a whopping run over Bonneville and The Dalles dams.

Catches have included steelhead, chinook, coho and pink salmon (perhaps a sockeye or two, which isn’t unusual) and, of course, numerous smallmouth bass.

…And that’s just in the lower Deschutes. Outside, in the Columbia, trollers with plugs and spinners have run red hot to cool or cold on chinook and coho salmon, both off the mouth of the Deschutes and, farther downriver, off the Klickitat mouth as well.

Bob Toman, a Carver guide, said shifting sands off the Deschutes mouth opened a
pink salmon on the DeschutesBob TomanKevin Kaseberg of Wasco caught a pink salmon on the lower Deschutes River, one of more than 2,200 over Bonneville Dam. It had a mild salmon flavor said one of his dinner guests.
natural channel into the Deschutes for coho salmon turning off to escape the Columbia’s warmer water…more of a steelhead trick in years past.

Whatever the reason, fishing there is far from over and should remain good through October as crowds thin to head for deer and elk hunting trips.

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