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Tom Bolender's fly fishing report for June 25

• Published June 25, 2009

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Rivers – Local hatches have been awesome in the evening. I spent Monday night on the Deschutes River and was amazed at the number of bugs in the air. I took a couple of young anglers from the Northwest Youth Conservation and Fly Fishing Academy and hit the river around 7:00. When we got there, there wasn’t much flying around, but by 8:30, the hatch was in full swing. There were more mayflies than I’ve seen in a long time and the yellow sally stoneflies were everywhere. The fish were hitting dry and sub-surface flies. I was spending my time trying to help out the boys, so I’m not sure what species of mayflies we were looking at. From my experience this time of year, I’d say they were most like pale evening duns. A good bet would have been a Parachute Adams, as they seem to produce just about any time the fish are feeding on mays. We stuck with Stimulators because they’re a little bigger and easy to see.

We seined the river and found good numbers of clinger caddis pupa, yellow sally stone nymphs and several varieties of mayflies, so we opted for a bead head rock worm and a lightning bug for our nymphs. The lightning bug got the most action. Just before we left, I tied on a Conehead Bugger and tossed it into a nice-looking slot. A few casts later, my fly was taken by a fish that hit hard enough to break me off. If you’re fishing upstream from Pioneer Park and catch that fish, I’d like my fly back.

I’ve heard some good reports from the Tilton. The few anglers I’ve spoken with have left the river well before dark, so I don’t know that the hatch has been as good as the Deschutes, but the fishing definitely has. Double Bead Stonefly nymphs have been working very wll. The fish are in the riffles and hitting hard enough that you're not likely to miss the strike. The Yakima would be a great bet for the weekend if you want a little warmer weather and a good chance at some nice rainbows. It’s finally in good enough shape that the fishing has turned on. The lower canyon is the place to be. It's always full of anglers and tubers, but the fishing never ceases to amaze. The same flies we used on the Deschutes are working on the other side of the mountains right now.

Saltwater – I spent Saturday fishing for sea-run cutthroat and resident coho. The fishing was excellent, the catching not so good. I managed to get several bites that I’m sure were cutthroat but never landed a fish. I tried a variety of flies, none of which seemed to produce any more bites than the last. The highlight of my trip was being able to drop my crab pots on the way out and come back with a couple of good size males that I’ll be making crab/shrimp burritos with.

Tom Bolender is a longtime fly fishing enthusiast from Rochester who runs Fishy Business Guide Service. He can be reached at 360-280-5770 or FishyBusinessOly@comcast.net.