BEND, Ore. — To find success on the Fall River, fly anglers might be wise to fish where they don’t see the trout lingering in the crystal-clear stream.
Chances are, those visible fish have already seen their share of flies and will be wary.
“A lot of people park and immediately see a pod of five or six fish,” says Josh White, co-owner and fishing guide for The Hook Fly Shop in Sunriver. “It takes a lot to walk away from those fish, but it’s better to fish the structure. Just cast at logs and undercuts, and try to get something that way.”
Fishing season never really stops in Central Oregon, and the Fall River, southwest of Bend, remains a reliable trout fishery throughout the winter months each year, even when the river gets heavy pressure from crowds of anglers.
“I almost want to say the crowds have doubled since COVID,” White says. “The Fall has got (crowds) because a lot of people have hunkered down at their vacation houses, or new locals have found out about it. It’s just a 15-minute drive from Sunriver. The Fall and the Metolius get a little more pressure in the winter because of the lack of water to fish during the winter.”
The Fall River Hatchery, about a 45-minute drive southwest from Bend, is a popular spot to fish, offering easy access to the river and many places to catch rainbow or brown trout in the 12- to 14-inch range. Meandering serenely through meadows and pine trees southwest of Sunriver, Fall River is open to fishing all year. Because it is a spring-fed stream, its flows and temperatures do not fluctuate, and fishing remains consistent throughout the winter.
Restricted to fly angling with barbless hooks, the Fall River flows east for 8 miles from its headwaters before emptying into the Deschutes River near La Pine State Park.
Trout are visible in the calmer, clearer sections of the Fall River — including the stretch that runs past the hatchery — and often anglers will sight trout in the river and then cast to those fish. Fall River is home to rainbow trout as big as 4 to 6 pounds and brown trout up to 8 pounds.
White explains that trout feel safer around areas of logs and rocks in the stream. Such areas are abundant on the Fall River, including many downed pine trees and undercuts that offer cover for the browns and rainbows.
Fall River anglers seem to land more fish in the wintertime when nymphing (fishing with small, sinking flies) because trout will be more lethargic in cold water and less inclined to swim to the surface to bite a dry fly. But anglers can land fish on dry flies on the Fall River in the winter, usually during a short time frame in the afternoon.
“If you put your effort in, walk a little ways, get away from the crowds, you can catch fish,” White says.
“Wintertime, you’ll want more of the small midge patterns. The No. 1 thing is the pressure and how many people have been there before you. A pod of fish together all mimic each other. If one turns away from it, they all turn away from it.”
White adds that midge patterns in sizes from No. 16 to No. 20 tend to work best during winter on the Fall River. He also recommends light fishing line and fluorocarbon leader.
Catch limits on the Fall River are two trout per day with an 8-inch minimum length and no more than one trout of more than 20 inches.
Fishing the clear water of the Fall River is not always easy, but those who fish it often — and find the fish they can’t see — are usually rewarded.
