Oregon's fly fishing divides at the Cascade crest the same way Washington's does, but the state's most famous rivers are on the dry side: the Deschutes, the Metolius and the Crooked all rise in or near the central Oregon high desert, and the Deschutes is one of the few rivers anywhere that is a first-rank trout river and a first-rank summer steelhead river in the same water. West of the crest, the North Umpqua's fly-only water and the Rogue's half-pounders give the state two of the West's classic steelhead fisheries. Rainbow trout lead the GBIF records for Oregon by a wide margin, then coho, cutthroat and Chinook, which is roughly the order in which an Oregon angler's season unfolds.
The Deschutes: redsides and summer steelhead
The Deschutes River from Warm Springs through Maupin to the Columbia is a big, fast canyon river with native redside rainbows and a summer steelhead run that begins arriving in July. The Salmonfly hatch in late April, May and early June on the reach above and below Maupin is the largest event of the year; Golden Stones follow through July, caddis run all summer with the evening hatches that make the river's reputation, Pale Morning Duns show in June and July, and the October Caddis brings the fall. Steelhead are swung on floating lines and traditional wet flies from August into November. Ideal flows are 1,000 to 8,000 cfs on gauge 14092500. The Deschutes has long had a rule against fishing from a boat, so boats are transport and every fish is caught with your feet on the bank or in the river; confirm the current version with ODFW. The Crooked River below Bowman Dam, gauged with temperature, is central Oregon's small winter tailwater and lacks a page here.
The Metolius
The Metolius River emerges full-size from springs at the base of Black Butte near Camp Sherman, runs cold and clear at nearly constant flow, and holds wild rainbows, browns and bull trout that are as selective as any in the state. Pale Morning Duns from May into August, Green Drakes in spring, Callibaetis from the slow water, and the October Caddis are the hatches; the fishing is Harrop PMDs, CDC Baetis emergers and Griffith's Gnats in #16 to #22 on long leaders in water so clear the fish see everything. Bull trout are the exception: they eat a big white streamer swung deep below the Wizard Falls hatchery. It has been managed as fly-only, catch-and-release water for a long time; check ODFW for the current rules.
The North Umpqua and the Rogue
The North Umpqua River from Steamboat down to Glide is the most storied fly-only steelhead water in the country, a run of ledge-rock pools where summer steelhead are fished on the swing, sometimes on a skated dry, from July through September. It is hard wading and technical casting; the reward is a wild fish taken on the surface. The Rogue River from Gold Hill down through the Wild and Scenic canyon below Galice to Agness has a summer steelhead run and the famous half-pounders, immature steelhead that return after a few months at sea and provide fast light-tackle fishing from August into October, along with fall Chinook. The South Umpqua and main Umpqua, gauged with temperature, share the system.
The McKenzie, the Sandy and the west side
The McKenzie River east of Eugene is the river the drift boat was designed for, a green, fast, wild-trout stream with redside rainbows and cutthroat, a spring Salmonfly hatch and steady caddis all summer, fished from Leaburg Dam up toward Clear Lake. The Sandy River off Mount Hood is Portland's home steelhead river, with winter fish in February and March at Dodge Park and Oxbow and summer fish in June and July, plus cutthroat. The Clackamas, the North and South Santiam and the Nehalem, Wilson, Trask, Siletz and Nestucca on the coast are all gauged steelhead and salmon rivers without pages yet; the coast rivers fish for winter steelhead and sea-run cutthroat and depend entirely on rain.
The John Day and the east
The John Day River is the longest undammed river in Oregon, a remote canyon through the Fossil Beds country with a redband rainbow and steelhead fishery in its upper reaches and cold months, and one of the best smallmouth bass rivers in the West from Service Creek to Clarno once the water warms in June. The float from Service Creek to Clarno with poppers and crawfish patterns is the summer trip. The Grande Ronde, gauged with temperature in the northeast corner, is a fall steelhead river worth a page; the Owyhee below Owyhee Dam is a desert brown trout tailwater the site has not covered; the Williamson and Wood rivers near Klamath Falls hold the big Klamath-basin redbands that run up from Upper Klamath Lake in summer.
Cascade lakes: Crane Prairie, Odell and Diamond
Crane Prairie Reservoir in the Deschutes National Forest is a shallow, drowned-timber lake with large rainbows on Callibaetis and damsels and a serious largemouth bass fishery on the same water. Odell Lake at Willamette Pass is deep and cold with kokanee and lake trout. Diamond Lake near Crater Lake was rehabilitated after a tui chub invasion and returned to a productive rainbow lake fished from float tubes with chironomids and leeches.
Before you go
The Deschutes, Metolius and North Umpqua all carry gear and boat rules specific to them, and steelhead and salmon seasons statewide are set and adjusted in-season by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; check before you go. The Deschutes runs through the Warm Springs Reservation on its west bank for much of the upper river, where a tribal permit is required. See the Oregon fishing hub for every gauged water in the state and the Oregon trout page for trout detail.