Ana River

      The Ana River offers a unique fly fishing experience in an honest-to-God desert river. It flows through a sand-and-sagebrush open landscape that is genuine Oregon high desert. The river flows from Ana Reservoir and discharges into Summer Lake. The river’s true origins are springs that are now covered by the Ana Reservoir.

      The Ana is only about seven miles long, doesn’t get much pressure, and holds some nice-sized rainbow trout, being stocked with 20,000 fingerling trout each year. The reservoir is stocked annually with catchable trout and every other year with bass fingerlings.

      If you like fly fishing challenges, you’ll like the Ana’s clear water and the need to make good fly presentations. You’ll work for what you get, and at times fishing can be frustrating because you can’t get a fish to rise. I suggest you take the time to walk a quarter mile or so along the banks and determine if you want to wade. Look for insects while you are walking. You’ll find an abundance of midges, mayflies, and terrestrials around the river.

      The Ana River lies east of Highway 31 in the Great Basin near Summer Lake. If you are visiting central Oregon, the Ana is about a two-hour drive from Bend and is a good alternative to some of the area’s more crowded waters.