It’s just been 4 days since the last report, but I wanted to get some information out today before I am out on the water again everyday next week.

My Saturday’s usually start with a casting lesson I have taught at Black butte Ranch for 34 years, then I come to the shop and catch up on the mail and loose ends from guiding all week.

I want you to know I pour a lot of energy, heart and effort to these reports. They can take a couple of hours to write, and if I don’t have a current report for somewhere I like to write about I call or text a friend or colleague to get the beta.

For the numerous people who say how much they appreciate them, I do it for you.

When I get someone who writes and says I am full am full of shit, or that I always say fishing is good everyplace (I don’t), I don’t know what to say? Maybe stop following the report if you don’t believe in it or if you don’t like me.

In the mean time I will use my abilities to suss out the best information I can, and share it with our readers. That info comes from my own experiences, or fishing reports from our Fly Fisher’s Place guide team, who are on various Central Oregon waters every single day. Also, we rely on our friends who are out fishing to report back and tell us how fishing was, what time of the day was best for them, what hatches they saw and what flies matched them. It’s a job to keep up with all the waters and share the info.
Fishing conditions change daily. Just because something worked yesterday doesn’t guarantee it will be the same today. But there are trends that are repeatable season after season. The other question we have to ask, we wonder what the skill level of the naysayer might be? If you can’t keep up with our reports, maybe you can’t get a good drift or don’t know how to match the hatch. Does your cast suck as much as your manners to write an unsigned letter that is directed to me? More than likely.

So here is the weekly fishing report for August 1st, 2020. Enjoy, use it as a tool and go catch fish.

The Metolius is fair to good. Afternoon fishing is tough, with better evening bite on BWO, PMD, Yellow Sally’s, Golden Stones, Caddis emergers and Rusty Spinners.
Bull Trout fishing on streamers is good and will be even better in 4 to 6 weeks. A lot of the BT are getting ready to run the creeks to spawn. Remember there is no fishing in the tributary creeks.
Euro nymping the river has proven to be the very best in the afternoon as the hatches have been slow to get going until evening.
The Upper River has been better in the afternoon from the Gorge to the Riverside CG and fish are hitting Clark’s Stones, Norm Woods, Sally’s, PMD’s and Terrestrials (esp. grasshoppers).

Fall River was excellent this week for our guides. Mostly nymping during the day, but some dry action with PMD, Ants, Hoppers and Henryville or CDC Caddis. That cold water is a gift on such hot summer days.
Perdigons, Jigs, Micro Mayflies, 2 Bit Hookers and Bead Head Eggs have been productive most days, with some hatch action in the evening and mayfly spinners at dusk.

Crooked River was also good this week, with better hatches of mayflies in the afternoon and early evening and caddis after the sun hides behind the canyon walls. Even in the full sun, a PMD emerger (dry) with a PMD Nymph as a dropper was incredible for some of our guides this week.
It is so fun, even on a hot afternoon to see the shadows come across the water from tall Ponderosas or junipers and watch the fish nose into those little dark areas to feed on hatches that appear to be spurred on by the shadows themselves. Perdigons, Jigs, Micro Mayflies, 2 Bit Hookers, Skinny Nelson, Soft Hackles, X Caddis, BWO, PMD, X Caddis, Iris Caddis, Adams, Renegades and Hoppers are good.

The McKenzie is good. We are using a lot of big foam Chubbies for a dry dropper system and the fish are eating them! Love it.
Our guide team is picking up a lot of fish on euro nymphs.

The Warm Springs to Trout Creek drift on the Lower Deschutes is good. Fish are beginning to inhabit and stay in the eddies for the duration of the day. they sip on spent caddis and mayflies and hatches of PMD, BWO, Caddis and Midges. Stonefly nymphs are working well again. This is normal after the May hatch to have a lull on the stone action. My guess for this is all the biggest and mature nymphs had migrated out, leaving just immature nymphs right after the hatch. Then, summer conditions create good growth for the nymphs that are on year 2 or 3 cycle.
Besides stonefly nymphs, Caddis Pupa and Larval patterns and Mayflies nymphs are important. Zebra Midges, occasionally San Juan Worms, Crayfish Jig and Sculpins are productive.
Steelhead are coming in better than we’ve seen in a few years! Most of the fish are below Mack’s. One of the great young guys that works in the shop during the summer went down and landed one 2 days ago near the mouth. They hooked 8 but most were so hot they couldn’t corral them. Gavin got his on a skater which is even more cool.

Middle D from Bend to Lake Billy Chinook is a good early morning to noon’ish bet or evening bet. Nymphing in the morning and dry fly fishing in the evening is a typical jam. Watch for sipping fish to BWO’s just as the sun comes off the water, PMD and PED hatches and some caddis.

East Lake was slower yesterday. We did get fish on Red Tarantula, Beetles, Damsel Adults, Foam Ants from right on the shoreline out to about 15 feet of depth 30 to 100 yards off the shore.
Water temps in the AM at launch were 67, but did hit that scary 70 degree mark in the shallows during the afternoon.
Fishing deeper water with an indicator down at 16 to 20 feet is good. Little Zebra Midges (red or black) and Olive Ice Cream Cones are good. Somedays a Chromie is a good bet too.
If you have a fish finder and can find the schools that are seeking deeper and cool water a type 7 line is great in the morning with a deep fished chromie and a bead head prince. It’s called the dangle and it works.

I recommend against Crane Prairie until water temps come down after we get some cool nights or cooler days. Water temps are staying above 60 and going to 76 during the day.

Paulina was good thursday for us. We got most fish on an olive balanced leech. Red 2 Bit Hooker was good too, and Chironomids. We sucked out Blood Worms and bright green Pupa (olive Zebra Midge) and matched that hatch. Fish were rising well in the morning and we did well on Red Tarantulas with explosive takes on that big dry fly.

Hosmer Lake is getting a good damsel hatch and good callibaetis hatch. Go early or late. In the evening you’ll see some Callibaetis, Traveling Sedge and Caenis mayfly (you need a trico spinner to match this).

3 Creeks Lake is not as busy on the lake with anglers. Still tons of people up there. Callibaetis hatches remain strong and can be important twice a day, with the afternoon hatch and a second evening emergence if the wind doesn’t howl. Black Caddis and Midges are good too.
Trolling Wooly Buggers with a Red Chironomid or Griffiths Gnat trailed is good. We recommend an intermediate or type 3 line for that.
Callibaetis nymphs are also great trolled, stripped or under an indicator as a dropper above a chironomid.