All work and no play….
That’s been the story of my life lately as I’ve been writing orders and preparing for, and doing 2 (of 3) presentations. Eugene and Bend are checked off, Portland is tomorrow and I will really look forward to sharing something exciting that will happen Friday morning when the time is right!
Fishing for me has been living vicariously through my guides, the amazing FFP crew and some good friends who always give it their all. And of course reading about fishing, which I do pretty much every day for most of my life. I just got the NEW George Daniels book to start this week. Can’t wait. He’s a legend.
The Metolius is in a period of a lot of change with fall weather and less daylight hours, hatches are less but still some good ones to look forward to. Blue Wing Olives #18-22 are the primary mayfly hatch from now until spring, but mix in some yellow #16 Cinygmula for the month of November and a decent chance of seeing the end of the PMD’s until the end of the month. Keep in mind the hatches that were coming out at 1 in the afternoon will be noon now, so get out there and get fishing earlier.
On the caddis side October Caddis in a #8 will be out and frequent all month and last until spring. There are some grey caddis #12-14 and some tannish/amber caddis #16 hatching, but keep in mind the pupa is probably going to be most effective during the deep fall and winter time caddis hatches.
Midges become quite important in the Fall and Winter and a Zebra Midge in Red or Black is a heck’uva nymph any day of the year, also as I write this I can remember some amazing days on green pupa this time of year. A little green ice cream cone is a good one!
Stonefly nymphs in Golden especially #8-12 will be a top choice for big nymphs! Big Black Stones are great too and offer the angler the most weight options for fishing deep.
Eggs are killer. SO many kokanee just spawned and the fish are all used to seeing eggs in the drift.
Of course the crew have been fishing some killer perdigons and jigs with super success.
Bull Trout fishing is good and this is personally my favorite time of year to swing or strip streamers.
Please remember the River from Allingham Bridge to the Headwaters is now closed until 5/22/24
The Crooked River is really fishing well, with some afternoon hatch of midges #22 and BWO’s #18-20 and still a smattering of PMD’s #18 too.
But the best action by far was coming on nymphs this past week. Skinny Nelson, Zebra Midge, Scuds, Eggs, Split Case PMD, Brown or Olive Micro Mayfly and Brown or Olive Perdigons have been super good. Fish them Euro Style using about 4 feet of 6x fluorocarbon tippet off the sighter, or about 4 to 5 feet behind a Corq or NZ Wool Indicator.
The Fall River is one of my favorite places in November and it is certainly fishing well enough to warrant that accolade.
The afternoon BWO hatch is quite good about noon now. Look for them plus some #22-24 black midges and some amber #14-16 caddis that you’ll want a Silvey’s Edible Emerger and an Orange or Yellow Missing Link to match.
DO not forget your 7x tippet! If that freaks you out, try the Trout Hunter 6.5X. It truly makes a difference in your drift and how the fish decide to rise or not to the fly and results in less refusals. I think refusals are fun, to a point. But not every fish. Eat it.
Eggs, Jigs and Perdigons are all hot as are small Euro Streamers for most of the day, or on days the hatch is slow for whatever reason.
The Middle Deschutes is running high and yet it is still got some good catching going on. Euro Streamers and Euro nymphs are by far the best thing going right now. I would recommend being faster down from Bend where things widen out and are more wadable in the Steelhead Falls area.
The Lower Deschutes is good, and remember the Warm Springs side is closed to all fishing now as of 11/1/23 so keep your fishing on waters east of the main channel to respect their water rights.
Stonefly Nymphs and October Caddis Pupa are working well, and Blue or Olive Perdigons, Frenchies, Blue Psycho Prince and Tan Sparkle Pupa’s for your nymphs. Leeches and Sculpins and other euro streamers are great on the drift or the swing.
I just texted one of my favorite customers (Carolina) Phil who took a guide trip with Steve today. While it was super windy they had a ball when Phil and Austin took advantage of our Fall Guide trip special and caught a bunch of nice fish today. No Steelhead today, but not for lack of trying, and seeing some photos of the large redsides they caught, I know they left happy!
I had a good friend down there a few days ago and they had a session of BWO dry fly action below a bank side weed bed that was just awesome. Don’t forget the BWO’s and even some Midges for dry flies this month.
Our Sunday reopening of the shop was awesome and Sequoia and I want to thank you for coming in and shopping and visiting and supporting our decision to keep the shop open on a day we have been closed in the “winter” for years and years. We will keep it up for sure all month and December too. We’ll play it by ear for January and Feb, but if it keeps staying busy as you all are headed fishing or need tying materials than we will keep it going. Again, Thanks so much.
So Saturday and Sunday we open at 8 am now, and Monday through Friday is 9 to 5:30 as usual
Unless something comes up that is really important to talk about, I won’t write another until just before Thanksgiving because there should not be much in the way of change of hatches of water conditions for the next 2 weeks!
See you on the water or in the shop.
Jeff