Sophisticated Simplicity

Fly fishing is a paradox. We pay lip-service to simplicity while wallowing in sophistication. Who among us owns just one or two rods? Our fly boxes house galleries of feathered, fuzzed, and hooked art. We ponder fly sizes like they're life-changing decisions. Our casting techniques evolve from the basic to advanced, each promising to be the answer to angling bliss. But that's part of the charm, isn't it? We're not just here for the fish. We're here to unlock the secrets of the stream, and each lock requires the proper key. We just don't know which sophisticated key will open the simple pleasure of a fish on the line from day to day and stream to stream.

In this week’s edition:

i

Image by Dan Favato

IN THE RIFFLES

MIDCURRENT CLASSICS

Sometime around the first week of October, after the first solid rains of autumn, sunny afternoons on Oregon’s Deschutes River conjure up a little magic.


The sun rides a little closer to the horizon, and the rays flow down into the deep, desert canyon and light up the clear, slightly greenish water.  During the scorching days of August and September, sunlight sears directly into the water and pushes the wild redsides rainbow trout into the depths or the deep shade of bankside trees. Bugs, usually clouds of caddis, rarely hatch until the sun is off the water.


In October, the air is much cooler. Gentle, sideways rays of sunlight warm up the water and spark massive afternoon hatches of tiny Blue Wing Olive mayflies even on sunny days. These bugs are a tiny size 22 most of the time, and it’s hard to see these mayflies on the bouncing water of the runs and riffles.  But find a backeddy, especially on a still, windless day, and rafts of the tiny bugs float around in the swirling currents. The trout move into the eddies and tip and sip all afternoon long…


Keep reading here

GEAR GUIDE