Good afternoon from a cloudy and cool Sisters, Oregon. 49 degrees and grey. No wind though so that is a plus.
Despite being a little cooler than average ice is coming off the lakes and it looks like soon we will see openings at Lava and Little Lava.
USFS reports they are going to start working on dock installations early next week, so I am hopeful to see docks at Crane Prairie Boating Site and Rock Creek, as well as an official opening of the Quinn River Ramp. (some folks have said they used Quinn….Can any of you confirm that?)
There are some good things to talk about this week so I am going to start the reports on the Lower and Middle Deschutes as they see to be the best fishing in the region at this time.

The Lower Deschutes in the Day stretch Warm Springs to Trout Creek and from Trout Creek to Harpham is dang good. It has been best on Brown Perdigons, Eggs, Girdle Bugs, Golden Stone nymphs, Prairie Dog Pupa and Soft Hackle PT’s. Certainly seeing an afternoon March Brown hatch on most days and mix in some BWO’s and the 1st PMD’s of the season and a few Caddis (think Tan X Caddis and Missing Link’s) and you can have brief moments of dry fly action here too.
Stonefly Nymphs are on the shore lines and will crawl out as soon as the water temp’s hit 55 degrees. I am guessing that is going to be between May 4th and 8th in the Trout Creek area. A warming trend occurs May 2nd, and then we get several warm days in a row if that forecast holds.
Will peak Salmonfly week be May 19-25th? Hard to say for sure, but I think so…

The Middle Deschutes from Bend to Lake Billy Chinook is fishing great. A lot of March Brown activity most afternoons and mix them with BWO’s, PMD’s and the first Pale Evening Duns of 2024 and there are a lot of mayflies to match the hatch. And Caddis, with mostly Tan #14-16 caddis in the hatch cycle through here right now you’ll want Pupa (both deep sunk versions and emerging pupa at the surface versions) and Adults to match the Caddis now.
There are some Salmonflies on the grasses near Steelhead Falls. We need warmth to get them going and really get the hatch off to a good start.
The bummer is tomorrow night is going to be in the mid-20’s and many of those early hatchers are going to freeze. But more will come soon!

The Metolius River has some very interesting news. There are confirmed 61 steelhead that have come up through Lake Billy Chinook and are spread out through the Metolius now. These fish are all tagged, some with Radio Transmitters and other types of tagging. I have seen 4 caught in the last month.
One thing I want to say is, if you do catch one of these special unicorns, keep it wet, don’t pose endlessly with this fish of a lifetime making yourself a hero on social media, but rather slip that hook out, gently hold it over the water if a photo is necessary or just snap a pic in the net and let it swim out of the net under it’s own power when it is revived. IF these fish get their footing in the Metolius which is why hundreds of millions of dollars were spent at the Pelton Dam, we could have a viable steelhead run up the Metolius every year. But if people mishandle the fish and they don’t spawn, well then shame on you for not knowing how to catch to release fish properly. http://www.keepfishwet.org is a good source to learn.
So there’s Jeff’s soapbox rant of the season (so far).
On to fishing shall we? It’s good throughout the Fly Only stretch and below Bridge 99 down to about Candle Creek. March Brown mayflies are hatching below Bridge 99 (with some up to the hatchery too) and a good dose of BWO’s and a smaller mix of Cinygmula and Pale Morning Duns (both Yellow #16 mayflies), plus a number of Grey Caddis #12-16 and Tan Caddis #14-16 to fish the Pupa mostly but possibly enough hatch to get fish keyed on the adult dries too.
The nymph fishing has been very strong with Euro Jigs and Perdigons, Zebra Midges, Rainbow Warriors, Eggs and Stonefly Nymphs. You can fish these under an indicator or with a Euro Nymphing Leader.
If you do the indicator rig add some Loon Deep Soft Weight or Loon Non Lead Shot, and that will put your flies in the zone way longer and you’ll get a slower drift too. It makes a difference that adds fish to the net at the end of the day, where the Euro Rig and a heavy beaded fly (or 2) on a long thin tippet gets down and stays down better than anything which is the advantage in many cases.
Also, bull trout streamer fishing continues to be good, and swinging big stuff on a sink tip is your best chance at a nice Bull now.

The Fall River is a great spot this time of year no worries for high water and freshly stocked fish and a better than average chance of multiple hatches occurring on most days. The 1st PMD’s of the year are just beginning to show up here. The 2 other likely mayflies to see will be the ever present Blue Wing Olives and March Browns plus some so-so hatch action of Grey Caddis about #14 and at times #22 Black Midges. As days get longer and sun warms the earth the Ants and Beetles become more active and I have always been a fan of Ants and Beetles for fishing the Fall River. A Hippie Stomper is a fun Beetle to use here and don’t hesitate to give that fly a skitter on the Fall River. Hint, try a purple one.
Euro Streamers have been working so well out here we seriously upped our supply with a lot of new patterns and deeper inventory levels. Turns out fish like a lot of movement in front of them with a juicy meal to decide quickly “yes” or “no”.
Of course the standard heavily beaded Euro Jigs and Perdigons are working great, along with Eggs, Zebra Midges and 2 Bit Hookers.

The Crooked River has been a Yo Yo on the water this week. Back up to nearly 800 cfs it was down for a couple of days under 400 cfs. When it’s under 350 it is go time again and we will be keeping an eye on it with you. A good site I like to use is here https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/destea.html

Crane Prairie saw a good 1st week of catches from what I saw following some folks on Facebook and Instagram. I was hopeful to go for the opening day but 2 important family things came up and I needed to be present for that.
I think Crane is going to be great for a bit and look forward to Chironomid and Leech action and hopefully a good June Callibaetis emergence like we saw the last few years.
Rock Creek Dock and Crane Prairie Boating Site Docks are going in next week, possibly Monday.

While South Twin Lake fish still have the copepod issue, ODFW did go ahead and stock both South and North Twin last week, including a number of Trophy Trout at North.
Both lakes are non-motorized so they are great for tubes and drift boats and a lot of fun to fish. And due to their size and some protection from the wind great to fish on a cycle like this with cold fronts pushing through day after day.

Haystack is fishing really good, lots of strong Rainbows and yesterday say a tremendous Callibaetis Hatch.
Along with these lovely mayflies make sure you have a selection of Balanced Leeches and Chironomid Pupa.

Ochocco Reservoir has been good for trout too. A lot of leech fishing from what I hear. Lake Levels are awesome and launching any boat is a breeze. Docks appear to be installed. With winter weather hitting the cascade lakes the next several days, Ochocco is a good back up to snow on Crane.

Chickahominy Reservoir is still fishing super good. Watch the wind over the next few days though, 4+ hours of round trip drive time for what might be a blow out until Tuesday or Wednesday. Leeches, Blobs, Chironomids. Good weather is coming and this reservoir should be on your list to visit before Memorial Day.

Justesen Ranch Lakes are fishing excellent. Callibaetis Hatches are rolling, damsels are beginning, Leeches, Chironomids and Water Boatman. https://flyfishersplace.com/our-waters/private-lakes/ give Amanda a call and tell her Jeff sent you.

Lava Lake will be opening soon. Hopefully by this time next week it will be open. Gate is still closed going in but I know it is ice free as is Little Lava.

Hosmer is closed and still snowed in a mostly iced over.

East Lake and Paulina Lake should have an open gate by May 12th. I know East is still iced over. Road clearing process has begun.

Three Creeks Lake is never open in April. Never. We usually expect the first access of the season to be the 2nd week of June. In my 37 years of being in the fly shop business here I can really only remember one year it was earlier. We will keep this posted as things open up.

Lake Billy Chinook was crappy for me again this week. Some small Bulls and some decent Smallmouth, but just not finding any large fish. Water temp on the Metolius above the last house was 43, found some high 40’s and low 50’s. Brown Balanced Leech with an orange bead was our best fly. If you follow Oregon_Stillwater_Jeff on Instagram you can see what had been in the gullet/belly from one of the fish we landed Thursday.

If you’ve been thinking about signing up for the August 6th Phil Rowley clinic, now is the time, as there are 2 spots left.

What I want more than anything in the world right now is more time to fish. It’s been a terrible work/life/free time balance for me and I need more water time. I hope your work/life/play balance is good and you are indeed finding time to enjoy the rivers and lakes.
Be well everyone and we will check in together in about a week.

JP

all work and no play make Jeff a very sad boy