Happy Summer! There is a lot of good fishing to talk about this week.

Starting on the Metolius River the warm summer evenings have turned on the late session with good Rusty Spinner falls at dusk, Caddis emergers and adults before that, BWO’s and PMD’s mixed in from late afternoon to maybe 7:30 or 8 PM when it will certainly transition to the caddis at lower light.
We had a good week of Green Drake hatches and I anticipate another good week ahead, trickling off by the 4th of July they will be done until September.
Besides the Green Drake Emergers and Adults at 3 to 5 PM, look for Spinners in the morning from 6 to 11 AM. Earlier worms will get the bird…. or something like that. 🙂
No Golden Stone adults seen quite yet, but I know they will be rolling soon. Nymphs are always good.
Speaking of nymphs, small mayfly nymphs in Brown #14-18 and Olive #16-20, Perdigons, Jigs, Rainbow Warriors and Tan Caddis Pupa are working well day to day.
Bull Trout fishing on streamers is already improving as we are seeing lake runners coming up now. More and more Big Bulls to come in the coming weeks.

The Lower Deschutes is in Summer Mode, with Caddis, Pale Evening Duns and PMD’s making up the hatch cycles, and look for Rusty Spinners and Yellowish Tan Spinners in the evening.
Nymphing has been phenomenal for the most part, with Caddis Pupa, Soft Hackles, Jig Streamers, Perdigons and Brown Micro May’s.
Don’t hesitate to use split shot with the nymphs, especially under the indicator rigging, but even on a Euro Rig. Deep and slow helps in a lot of places when it is a hot, bright summer day.
Here is a fun tip, in the evening when you are fishing a Tan X Caddis, try it with a tiny split shot 12″ above it and swing it in the riffles as an emerger or an egg layer.
Another 2 dry fly tips, in the evening make sure you have Purple Haze and the very visible Fin Fetcher Caddis in your dry fly box. If you can stay to last light these 2 flies will pay big dividends a warm summer night.

The Middle Deschutes is fishing best early to late morning and later in the evening to dusk. Mid day is slowing with the hot bright days.
In the evening Purple Haze, Purple Stimulators, Renegades, Yellow Sparkle Duns, BWO’s and Tan Caddis. In the morning perdigons, Frenchies, soft hackle PT, tan pupa and jig streamers are good.

The Upper Deschutes from the Headwaters at Little Lava to Crane is ok, we’ve seen excellent days with the good hatches, and also days lately where it seems a lot of the bigger fish are hiding out. Full Moon fever?
Right now focus and fish hard with euro nymphs and streamers and be prepared with small Chubby’s, Ants, Beetles, PMD’s, Caddis and tuck a Golden Stone Adult in the box to be safe.

The Crooked River is really good, BUT this week ODFW is conducting the annual electroshocking survey. Here is their press release:
We will be conducting our annual Crooked River sampling this year June 25-28 (Tuesday-Friday).  We conduct the sampling with a raft mounted electrofisher so we can calculate a population estimate using a mark-recapture technique.  We have 3 ODFW staff on the raft and 5-6 volunteers on shore for each day. 
This doesn’t mean you can’t fish the Crooked this week at all. But I wouldn’t go to the area were they are drifting and shocking, at least for several hours after they work that area.
Overall, PMD hatches and PMD nymphs are working incredibly well. We have a few Perdigons that we are having better than average success with, 1) Fire Starter 2) Dick’s PMDeez 3) Yellow Jig Napoleon
PMD Split Case and Micro May’s, Scuds, Zebra’s, Winkers and Soft Hackles.

The Fall River continues to fish well and I heard from a few of you who took the advice and went early in the morning and avoided a lot of the afternoon crowds. Usually the evening hours provide a little serenity as well.
Look for spinners and midges as possible dry fly opportunities early, and add some Hippie Stompers and Ants, and Beetles.
Good action on little streamers any time of the day.
Afternoon action adds PMD and Olive Caddis and some blackish grey midges, with tan caddis in the evening and rusty spinners at dusk.
Remember to spread out, walk and find fresh water. Everyone doesn’t all need to be at the fish hatchery because, well the river is about 10 miles long and fish are in lot’s of places.

The McKenzie River is really picking up and our guide days are getting better each time we go.
Dry Fly fishing has included good caddis hatches, some larger yellow mayflies and Chubby’s, including really large salmon fly sized ones. Steve said the other day there were Green Drakes popping too.
Nymphs and Streamers have been the best throughout the day, but a dry/dropper has been good, or side drift/euro has been great.

LAKES Report

Hosmer Lake was good for us this week, with a lot of fish responding to a lot changing hatches and opportunities throughout the day. Callibaetis seem to be later in the afternoon with so many spinners showing up after 2 PM but not seeing a ton of duns….Begging the question, when did they hatch?
A lot of Damsel’s hatching, so nymphs are going to rock for the next 60 days or so, and Adults are going to be something the trout will key on more and more. last season a Blue Chubby was my go to Damsel when they were eating adults. Will it work as well this year? I hope so but time will tell, but you tell me why in the world they would eat a blue cubby over a perfectly tied damsel adult?
Alder flies were out again 2 days ago. Black Elk Hair Caddis #14. These are not caddis, but are similar.
Traveling Sedge #8 Tan Caddis that run on the surface of the lake after emerging from the pupal shuck are hatching mid afternoon and if you are there in the evening to dark, my guess is you’ll see more in the dusky skies than mid-day but we’ve had several trips up there with good mid-day traveling caddis hatches.
Chironomids under an indicator are catching the most fish for me and my customers.
Ant’s are awesome. Check out this “ant eater” from 2 days ago

Paulina Lake has been another sweet spot, with very good fishing on Chironomids this week. Many days have also included good periods of ant and beetle action, but yesterday we barely got any fish to the dry.
We did do well with scuds under an indicator and also talked to my friend Phil who reported black balanced leeches as a good companion to his Black Chironomids.
I think in another week the algae bloom that meanders around the lake margins will disappear and the beetle fishing will improve. Highest water temp recorded yesterday was 59, so the lake is still cool. Fish are happy and strong.

East Lake is a wild card, it’s been about 2 weeks since I have heard a solid report. Oh sure, there are some decent accounts coming here and there, but it seems a little off to me.
Nice to see ODFW has 4 Tui Chub Traps in the lake and are trying hard to manage that invasive little turd of a fish. We need Tiger Trout (my opinion not the ODFW biologist, so ultimately we leave these choices to the experts) to handle the Chubs along with seasonal trapping.
Bank anglers still seem to be doing better than boat anglers. Weird.
You need to be able to spot cruisers to do best. Damsel nymphs, Callibaetis, Scuds, Ants, Beetles and Leeches (especially stripped and not under the indicator).
I have heard a few whispers of good evening fishing, so if you -like me- are only going 8 to 4, we are missing a golden summer time opportunity.
Callibaetis hatches have started in earnest too, and often the evening rise is the best of the day.

Crane Prairie is fishing well. I hope to go tomorrow but watching the frontal system passing us tonight and tomorrow for wind.
Cultus and Deschutes are best. Damsels, Leeches, Chironomids and Callibaetis hatches are all important.
Don’t forget to bring your hover and intermediate lines and strip some of the leeches, damsel nymphs and callibaetis nymphs and remember that some days it’s not all about the indicator. And some days it is ALL about the indicator. Be ready for both.

Lava Lake had some good fishing this week. Gary is one of my readers who shares his reports (I love when people do that) and he had good leech action and callibaetis, especially the nymphs for Gary.
It was recently stocked and has a lot of good holdovers that are in the 17-18″ range and full of fight.

Three Creek Lake was absolutely stunning this week with great catches coming on all sorts of things, including Blobs, Beetles, Callibaetis, Leeches and the little Black Caddis are getting a foothold too which is an evening dry fly bonanza on a warm summer night.
I always think about Chironomids on any of the lakes, and a Red or Black Ice Cream Cone on this little lake will be no exception. Don’t forget some damsel nymphs in your collection too.
There is clear access to the lake but snow on the south and west shoreline and camp sites are covered in snow still. Should be a great year to fish this lake and it’s just 16 miles form the shop.
Don’t forget we offer half day guide trips and a morning or afternoon or even an evening session up there is a great time to fish with one of our guides like Gavin who grew up fishing there and knows the lake and fish really well.

Don’t forget about our Fly Fishing Schools this summer taught by Doug Pendleton. He has a youth fly fishing academy, all day at Black Butte Ranch and will make your kid ready for the water! $250 per student.
Also an adults class called the Legacy Class. Again, all day and designed to cover all aspects of fly fishing. $295 per student.
Doug is an excellent teacher and every customer we’ve set him up with has raved about his teaching style and methods.

Get out there!

Jeff