The problem with August is . . . it's hot and dry. In June, hot and dry is a welcome relief after a cool, damp spring. Even in July, the high-summer weather is tolerable. By August, though, I'm tired of hot and dry. It's time for mild September days, and--dare I say it?--a little rainfall to refresh the earth.

The problem with August is . . . it's manic. People realize that summer will end, and they panic. They flit from one outdoor activity to the next like hummingbirds on espresso. Gardening, house painting, patio projects; camping, golf, tennis; vacations, bicycling, even fishing. Folks go nuts trying to cram it all into the last weeks of summer. And God help anyone who gets in their way.

And that brings up the biggest problem with August . . . steelheaders.

August on the Deschutes

The problem with August on the Deschutes is that most of the steelhead are packed into the lower 30 miles. Road-bound anglers flock to the nine-mile stretch from Beavertail to Macks Canyon. Lots of good runs, but lots of anglers. You've got to get there early if you want a prime fishing spot.

Another problem with August is that there's a plethora of guide boats on that section of river. Twenty years ago, I could float from Beavertail to Macks on a weekday and maybe see one guide on the west side of the river. What a pleasant, relaxing day I could look forward to! What a wonderful world it once was.

By September fish and anglers will be more spread out. But in August, competition for good runs is fierce. Frustration seethes just below the surface. Sometimes it boils over into outright anger.

A Fishing Trip from Quentin Tarantino

Last week I was fishing on the Deschutes with a friend who has a house in Maupin. We were in my truck at 4:00 a.m. Monday morning, headed downstream on the access road. Well before first light, anglers were parking their cars at turnouts, staking out their favorite runs. You could see the glow of their headlamps as they sat in fold-up chairs waiting for enough light to see their way to the river. Arms across the chest, stiff shoulders, firm jaw line--the body language said it all: "This run is mine. Move on down the road, buster."

We weren't concerned. One of the goals of this trip was for my friend to learn more about his inflatable boat. He has a frameless Waterstrider like mine. It's a very handy watercraft because it's lightweight and can be easily carried up and down the bank and launched in odd places. This is a competitive advantage because you can cross to other side of the river and get away from the roadies.

My friend is still learning to use his Waterstrider, so I was along to give him a few tips. After our second run, he misunderstood my directions about how to get back to the launching point. He drifted downstream faster than he expected, and ended up floating over a prime lie that another angler was about to cast to.

The other angler went ballistic. I heard the "f" word so much that I thought I was at a Quentin Tarantino movie.

The heck of it was, my friend and the other angler were well acquainted and had fished together at different times. Two hours before we'd had a pleasant conversation on a different run. But this was August, a month when tempers are on a hair trigger. People are not patient of other people's mistakes in August, even if they're friends. It's the heat, the manic pace, the competition for steelhead.

Jekyll and Hyde

August is the only month when I don't like to fly fish for steelhead. Partly, I don't like how other people act. But mostly I don't like who I can become. I can join the competitive hunt for good water, cursing those who get to a favorite spot before me. I've flipped an angry bird to jet boats that went out of their way to blast over the run I was fishing. I've been known to speak curtly to etiquette-ignorant people who stepped into a run below me.

I'm not sure any steelhead is worth that kind of Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation.

So for the rest of this month I'm chasing carp on the Columbia and Willamette. It's cool, quiet, and devoid of edgy steelheaders. It's so peaceful that I almost forget that it's August.

Pulp Fishing?

You know, I have a Ray Troll T Shirt with that written on it. Travolta is shooting a salmon, Jackson is rowing a boat, and there's a pulp mill in the background surrounded by tree stumps.

You could've have written that same story about Drano the other day when I was there. I love to catch big fish, but not that bad.

You reminded me, I've wanted to get his "Spawn till you die" shirt. It is his classic.

Scott, there's at least one other problem plaguing the Deschutes that wasn't mentioned ... authors (some of whom are friends), guides (ditto) and internet authorities (ditto) spending too much time popularizing the place. Would it be less crowded if there were fewer books and magazine articles written about it, less internet hype and reports, and fewer guides plying the waters? Most definitely yes.

and for these points, this blog post has "ahem" and a raised eyebrow written all over it. Let's hope that we can all be fair, informed, and civil on the water. I got engaged to my wife on the D, but rarely go there anymore because of all the yahoos. Sad state of affairs, but most of these people didn't discover the place on their own, in a vaccuum ... myself included

"we have seen the enemy, and they are us ... but we heard about it from someone else"

Yeah,
like SSPey said,and quit telling everybody about the carp!!!!!!!!!!
Only joking.

With less and less quality places to pursue Summer steelhead the trend is only going to continue. I usually give in a try it once each August or September, then head to other rivers to find more native fish and less people. I've actually found the quality of the fish I've hooked on the lower Deschutes the last few years to be even more of a deterrent than the crowds.

Scott,
The Waterstrider looks like an interesting option, but don't you have to launch and take out from established ramps on the lower Deschutes?

Trailered boats must be launched at established ramps, but non-trailered boats can be launched anywhere unless it says otherwise. There is confusion on this point, and even the BLM people have stated the rules wrong to some boaters. A lawyer friend of mine checked this out with BLM.

However, you need to be very careful about the riparian areas. One reason I use the Waterstrider is that it's light enough to carry--NOT DRAG--to the water.

The D is a great steelhead fishery all though quite over-rated. The 5 to 1 hatchery to wild ratio that now exists is tragic. There was a point in time not to long ago that catching hatchery fish for dinner was a nearly impossible task. Add the crowds and the horribly unethical behavior displayed frequently by a certain shops guides I go elsewhere. Whats the point its hardly enjoyable, I'd rather get skunked elsewhere than deal with that kind of grief.