Designated a wild and scenic river, the Deschutes offers one of the most enjoyable boat rides in the Northwest and is regarded as one of the best rainbow trout and summer steelhead fisheries in the nation.

Flowing from Pelton Dam in Central Oregon, the river carves it’s way through a spectacular high desert basalt canyon for nearly 100 miles before emptying into the Columbia River. The Deschutes is a big powerful river with an average flow of 4500+ C.F.S., an average drop of 13 feet per mile, and some legendary class three white water rapids.

Every year thousands of wild chinook salmon and steelhead return to spawn in the river and it’s tributaries. Fishing from a floating device is prohibited on the Deschutes so the boat is strictly used for transportation. Most local fisherman agree that this rule does a great deal in preserving the quality of the fishery.

During a drift boat ride it is common to see Eagles, Herons, Osprey, Big Horn Sheep, Mule Deer, and River Otters, we have even spotted the occasional Black Bear, Bob Cat, and Mountain Lions while floating the river. 

MAUPIN

Population 450, this small town sits on the banks of the Deschutes River and is centrally located on river mile 50 ( out of 100). Maupin has some great lodging options and restaurants, a grocery store, a riverside R.V. park, and many river front campgrounds to choose from. Maupin provides anglers with 30+ miles of prime public river access and is located 90 miles from Portland or Bend.

TROUT March – November

Deschutes River Rainbow’s referred to as “REDSIDES” are 100% native to the lower Deschutes and the healthy populations are safely protected with catch and release regulations. Redsides are famous for their long acrobatic runs, and are some of the hottest rainbow trout around. Spanning 12 – 18 inches, these wild fish feed heavily on stoneflies, caddis, midges, and may flies.

The Deschutes is a tail water so naturally the highest populations of trout and insects are in the upper half of the river closer to the dam. For this reason we highly recommend our single day float trips on the upper river, or our multi-day overnight trips from Trout Creek down to Maupin.

The 35 mile stretch between Trout Creek and Maupin is possibly the best wild rainbow trout fishery in the state. The intense hatches and overall quality of the fish in this section rivals trout fishing streams in Montana or anywhere else in the west. Challenging rapids, no power boats, limited access, and a thirty plus mile gap between boat ramps keeps the fishing and camping experience through here world class.

STEELHEAD August – December

Deschutes River steelhead are famous for their aggressiveness towards fly’s fished on or just inches below the surface. Many of the strikes are often seen by the fisherman.

Low light periods during the morning and evening hours are prime time floating line, and fishing conditions, and a fly fished deep on a sink tip can produce fish anytime during the day.

August through October are the peak fly fishing months, but the fishing will remain good right through December. Deschutes summer steelhead consist of wild, and hatchery fish that average 4 – 10 lbs.

On our day floats we fish the Deschutes out of Maupin which provides us access to the lower and upper river, and gives us more steelhead water to choose from than any other day trip available. Another highly productive trip is to take an overnighter ranging between two and four days on the more remote reaches of the river. On these trips we fish up to 40 miles of river where chances are good that your going to run into steelhead somewhere along the way.