Happy Winter. We are in a gorgeous stretch of calm and sunny weather in Sisters, with cold nights and nippy mornings, but it certainly warms up enough to get on the rivers for some fishing time by later morning and throughout the afternoon.
While I am still recovering from surgery (more on that later) I am relying on my staff and some good fishing friends to get me the info we need to share again this week.
Speaking of this week, it looks like a warming trend is coming on Tuesday with temps in the low 50’s for the rest of the week. It’ll be a great week to be on the water.

The Metolius River is seeing some hatch activity with mostly Blue Wing Olives #18-20 floating in the eddies and pools. Will fish respond well each and every hatch? No, but moving from the Alliingham pool to the Water Wheels (just as one of many many examples) could get a totally different hatch acceptance so if dry fly catching is your goal, don’t hesitate to move around and look at more than one place from noon to 2:30’ish. Besides BWO’s I hear my friends are seeing a small mix of Cinygmula’s and possibly some straggler PMD’s so it won’t hurt to throw in a Yellow Sparkle Dun, Yellow Knock Down Dun or Film Critic #16’s in the box this week. I would certainly keep some Purple Comparaduns #16-18 handy too.
Access to Bridge 99 is no problem and there is also a lot of good fishing down stream of Lower Bridge CG on both sides of the river. Look for important caddis hatches too, I never hesitate to fish a searchi8gn dry of an October Caddis all winter long. #10 Orange Elk Hair Caddis and a #8 Orange Rubber Leg Stimulator are 2 I trust. Keep some Corn Fed Caddis and Weiss’s H/T Caddis in both Tan and Grey as dry flies. As we learn more about winter caddis and their importance I also think it is worth thinking about the dries to compliment what we already know, and that the caddis pupa in 3 colors and sizes has become a super staple for Metolius anglers in December, January and February. Orange #8-12, Tan #14-16 and Grey #12-14 will cover the spread with a high percentage of hatch accuracy.
Golden Stone Nymphs, Eggs, Soft Hackle PT, Blue Prince, Red Copper John or Red Lightning Bug, 2 Bit Hookers (especially to imitate BWO nymphs), Perdigons, Walts Worms and Zebra Midges will all be good to work through on the nymph rod. Whether you’re euro nymphing, drop shotting or indicator method, any of these flies will be good to add to the tippet.
Also, I know a lot of fish are coming to Olive, Black or Minnow colored Euro Jig Streamers. You could catch anything on these, Bull’s, Bow Bow, Browns and even Whitefish all succumb to the seductive little streamers.
And big streamers continue to be a good way to target our bigger bull trout in the runs and pools.

The Crooked River is still fishing well, from Mile Post 12 up to the Dam at MP 20. There is a short window of fish coming to the top for BWO’s mid day, and on warmer afternoons look for midge hatches to get fish rising late afternoon to almost dusk in the slow pools. This is a good time to make sure to add 6x (maybe even 7x) to the pack for the #22-24 black midge emergers and dries the fish focus on.
Eggs, Scuds, Zebra Midges, Skinny Nelson, 2 Bit’s and Perdigons are key nymphs to fish as a single Euro Nymph, or under a Tiny Oros or NZ Wool strike indicator.

The Fall River is a little slower from what I heard, but by no means is it someplace I would skip. It was red hot for so long, now it seems to have got to be a bit more normal.
I wonder if the warmer weather coming this week will pop some hatches and get the fish more active again. My guess is yes!
I did talk to a customer yesterday who was asking for some advice on Fall River, and he was seeing a lot of fish up to an afternoon BWO #20 hatch but not getting the fish to eat his fly. He wanted a “magic fly” (don’t we all) but I had a feeling it was not the fly that was the problem, but rather the tippet. So I asked him what tippet he was using and he said 5x. I would be at 7x, and I understand that is not comfortable for many, so at least try 6x. 6.5x (both Trout Hunter and Rio make it) is a great size option too. Trust that you can make it work and use it. You will catch more fish.
Orange Missing Link Caddis, Corn Fed Caddis, Midge Emergers and Adults, Purple Comparadun, would be some other dries for now, and Euro Jig Streamers, Orange Rufus, Eggs, Zebra Midges and Perdigons will be awesome nymphs this week.

The Lower Deschutes from Warm Springs to Trout Creek is still quite good for trout and steelhead. Trout seem to be very keyed on midge nymphs, but eggs and stonefly nymphs and perdigons (try the blue now!) and small euro streamers and baby got bead will be an awesome selection for you. Certainly expect to hook a few steelhead on any of those too!
Swinging for steelhead is a good idea for those that want to be more traditional and simply focused on catching a steelhead in a more traditional way. It’s a good time for weighted flies and sink tips, although a floating line this week is still in the cards. Fish are coming to smaller traditional wets like Freight Trains and Green Butt Skunks and Euphoria’s, and also to bigger leeches and intruders.
Don’t forget the seasonal closures on the reservation side of the main channel and their bank lines.

With Hoodoo and Mt Bachelor both open for ski season, December will be a fun time to do a combo ski/fish trip! I occasionally hit Hoodoo from opening chair to lunch and head to the Metolius for a noon to 3 session and at the end of the day feel like a king.

Thank you to so many good friends and customers who wrote me, called, texted, checked in and even visited in the hospital when I was there for 4 days after my surgery.
It meant a lot to me to feel that support and love.
I am doing amazing. Much better than I would have imagined less than 2 weeks after losing 25% of my colon. I am walking up to 2 miles, eating daily normal, only sleeping from my normal bed time to morning with no fatigue during the day to need a nap. My biggest thing is I can’t lift more than 10 pounds for a while. I go back to the doctor for the 2 week follow up on Friday, and hope to get the green light for some light fishing duty, and a date for clicking on the skis and enjoying this winter.

With the success of the surgery I will be planning some good winter classes. I know fly tying is on the agenda. Sequoia was going to work with me to get an entomology class going.
I have some speaking engagements at some fly clubs planned, including the COF in Bend in February where I will talk about lakes.
Travel upcoming is now secured, with a group going to Chile in January, 2 weeks in Belize in April as we fill the Blue Bonefish on consecutive weeks for what should be some prime times for permit fishing. Then in mid May we head to Baja with a small group to fish for Roosterfish which Tina and I have never done and really look forward to spending my birthday trying for the 1st time.
After that, Phil Rowley comes back in early June for a 3 day Chironomid course which is bound to be very worthwhile for many people wanting to be better lake anglers, and once Phil leaves I will start up my 2025 guide season although like last season, I plan to do a little less guiding and a little more of a mix of shop time and fishing on my own time which was really great for me in 2024.
There is a lot to look forward to in the fishing world in 2025. I will spend some time this week with calendars and set dates and get info out on the classes and sign up sheets will be opening up soon.

Happy Holidays,

Jeff Perin