A little rain, some clouds, no smoke and a cool day here in Central Oregon. It is simply glorious!
And the fishing is hot all over the area.
The Metolius fall Green Drake hatch has just begun and along with the small Flav’s we are looking at about 5 weeks of big bug action that is just starting now!
Along with the Drakes and Flav’s, Pale Morning Duns, Mahogany Duns and Blue Wing Olives are September hatches you can count on.
Caddis are numerous with #16 Tan, #16-18 Olive, #14 Gray, #8-10 Orange (yep, it’s the beginning of October Caddis time!) and there are still some small yellow Micro Caddis #18 around in the lower river in the warm evenings.
Golden Stones #10-12 and some Salmonflies #4-6 and not yet, but soon the Cascade Stone (formerly known as Willowflies, but correctly renamed Cascade Stone) which are the biggest stonefly’s found in Oregon. What’s this mean on the Cascade’s and Salmonflies? Big Nymphs! Fish ’em.
And don’t forget your spinner falls in the evening towards dusk.
AND… The Little Olive Stones #16-18 are ready to explode. This is one of the most important hatches of the month.
Bull Trout fishing is quite good and fish are coming to big and small streamers. The next 2 to 3 months are probably the best Bull Trout fishing of the year.
The Lower Deschutes is also amazing now, mostly for trout where we are headed on the day stretch, but the good news is ODFW has opened Steelhead season for the entire year because the run is coming in well.
We are running in to Caddis hatches and some PMD and PED hatches remaining in late summer. With Fall knocking on the door we will soon see Mahogany Duns and BWO’s and October Caddis coming into the mix.
Big Stonefly Nymphs, Leeches and a whole bunch of Perdigons and PT Soft Hackles, Micro May’s, Prince and Rainbow Warriors will do the trick most of the time.
Here’s a lesson, the other day Drew and Aaron were down the WS to TC stretch, and were absolutely hammering fish euro nymping a Yellow Perdigon, then as it got brighter out with the sun higher on the horizon the fish were not eating that fly as well. A fly change to a darker brown perdigon brought the bite right back. The fish didn’t stop, just the fly color needed to be changed in the different light conditions or due to something different in the drift.
Change your fly.
The Middle Deschutes is responding well to cooler days, longer nights and we love the stretch from Tumalo to Lake Billy Chinook now.
Purple Haze, Yellow Sparkle Duns, Missing Link and X Caddis and Jigs and Perdigons are going to serve you well through here.
The Crooked is good, This is the time of year BWO hatches ramp up and can hatch side by side with the PMD’s. Be ready for both. We have a Cut Wing Extended Body PMD that the fish seem to eat when it’s an overlapping situation just great. And the Furminsky’s BWO is also one you can’t be w/o on the Crooked for the next 2+ months.
Of course nymph action is awesome, I like a one fly rig on a euro leader or with a NZ wool indicator and the one fly is mostly to minimize the cleaning of moss of the fly and get it done quick for another drift.
If you fish 2 flies, great. No worries.
Fall River is good. There are good hatches happening on this little spring creek including PMD, BWO, Mahogany Dun, Caddis, Yellow Sally. Plus Ants, Beetles and Grasshoppers.
Streamer fishing has been a blast for the guides, and getting an Egg or Perdigon down to the fish is always a great bet on this stream and the fact it’s so site fishing orientated is a lot of fun.
The Lakes are all good now, with East and Paulina seeing good Beetle, Hopper and Ant fishing, and still a fair number of Callibaetis on East. This week at East the fish loved the Glitter Flag Ant, Pink Hoppers and THESE 2 Callibaetis: The Extended Body Callibaetis (its the white one with the Adams style wings) and Harrop’s Captive Dun. Early in the hatch watch if the rise forms leave bubbles. NO? Use the emerger. Yes. Use the Adult. Purple Haze #16 has also been a strong fish catcher.
Paulina Callibaetis are not as strong as East, But there are some so keep an eye out. Beetles and Hoppers have been awesome. Balanced Leeches and 2 Bit Hookers and Black Double Down’s under the Indicator are working super well. Fish seem to really be attracted to Hot Orange beads on the leeches.
Hosmer is a safer bet now with the rains. I was worried this week even though it was only a level 1 evacuation, the winds made it a bit scary for the push of potential fire getting too close for comfort.
It is fishing well though. Double Down (Black) stripped on a Hover has been killing it. Callibaetis nymphs, damsel nymphs, leeches, scuds, water boatman, red ice cream cone, black zebra midges and Ants, beetles, Pink Hoppers and small Purple Chubbies.
Three Creeks is great and not many folks are up there fishing. You should go!
Summer hatches are waning at 6500 feet, but some black caddis and callibaetis remain. Ants, Beetles, Hoppers, Purple Haze, plus Chironomids and Balanced Leeches are great.
Crane Prairie is fishing well and is a must for the rest of the season now. I am so impressed with the quality of the fish now.
Chironomids, Holo Point Jig, Balanced Leeches (Black w/ Orange bead was good for us the other day) and Red 2 Bit Hookers.
Finally, we are hopeful about the weather and McKenzie fires. The Look Out Mountain Fire and Horse Creek Fire both have impacted trips last week and the week before and while that is a bummer, it pales for what the communities near the McKenzie are going through with the smoke, and fear and disruptions of their lives and our team at FFP care about that more than anything right now. When its the right time (and we hope/think that will be soon) we will be back there with our Golden Chubby’s, Jig Leeches and Perdigons netting a whole bunch of fish for our smiling clients.
We are off to the Metolius for the next few days. Maybe I’ll see you on the river. I plan to only fish dry flies on this trip! Wish me luck.
Jeff