The Crooked River is looking better and better. The Prineville Reservoir is 42% full and filling more. There is almost 1900 cfs coming into it this morning, and earlier in the week we saw around 5000 cfs at times. The Reservoir is going to start the 2023 irrigation season a little higher than it started in 2022, so that might lead to some longer lasting water in the summer months.
Fishing now is good on the Crooked. A nice afternoon BWO hatch, some midges and a few smaller grey caddis mixed in. Dries and nymphs of all of the above, caddis pupa, midge winklers, zebra’s, scuds, purple haze, Furminsky’s BDE Dun(!!!) and Knock Down Duns.
Today (Saturday 4/15/23) the water is 52 cfs out of the dam.
Starting on Monday 4/17/23, it is going to slowly ramp up.
By 4/18 & 4/19 ODFW and BOR are doing a pulse flow up to 450 cfs to disperse and flush juvenile steelhead down river to encourage migration. After 4/20 (dude) the water should be normal summer flows around 200 cfs. We will report on it if it anything weird or crazy. But I would recommend not fishing the Crooked River on 4/18-19-20.