Dryflyin13... fished the Deschutes for years, used to catch lots of big Cutthroat in many spots, especially good in October and November for Searun Cutthroat... favorite stretch of the river is around Vale... report didn't state what you did with the "nice guy" you landed last week... the river is now "catch and release" only for all trout. Barbless hooks, and/or selective gear rules. Not many Rainbow in the river... any caught would probably be juvenile Steelhead. The "really small fish" are probably salmon smolts or young Searun Cutthroat.