We saw some good days on the water this week, including some really warm days on the Lower Deschutes where eggs and green rock worms were doing quite well on the trout. Our friend Ed gave us a glowing report a couple of days ago. Overall the Metolius has been fishing really well too, and I’ll elaborate more in the Metolius section of the report. The record highs are coming to an end and cooler and wetter weather is coming on the heels of that soon. That’s okay, fill the lakes and fill the groundwater supply because droughts suck.

Our Holiday Spirit is high at the shop and it has been great seeing so many of you in the store, some Christmas shopping and some on the way to go fish! Either way, we love seeing you.

The Metolius was great this week for Sequoia and our friend Megan. They both had some really good nymph action earlier this week and Sequoia had the dream day with catches of a Brown, Rainbow, Bull and Whitefish all in the same day. I am jealous. That is a dream and such a good day to land a super slam on the river. Euro Nymphing is awfully productive on the river, and that’s exactly the approach that Sequoia and Megan took to have such a good day. If you are not applying some time to the Euro techniques on our rivers you need to be.
The Metolius being the Metolius: here is another story that reminds us of the up’s and downs on the river we love (to hate) (**not really, haha). To protect the innocent, names shall not be used, but a really key shop guy who is in his 20’s who a lot of you enjoy talking to got blanked this week. He was focused on the Bull’s but still. It is a hard river and one I expect to get skunked on from time to time too.
There was a really good BWO and Midge hatch going this week on the warm afternoons, and for the most part the fish were looking to eat them in the soft spots in the river.
October Caddis Pupa, Tan Caddis Pupa, Eggs, Perdigons (in Purple, Blue, Olive or Brown) are great, Golden Stonefly Nymphs, Zebra Midges, Red Lightning Bugs, 2 Bit Hookers and Blue Psycho Prince. You can fish these Euro Style, Indicator Style, or with a Drop Shot.
It is going to be a wet Christmas week with on and off heavy showers. Experience shows us that often a rain induced freshet can stir the Bull’s up and make them want to eat more aggressively. I’ve seen it happen on a slightly rising river time after time. Yesterday, our Chief of Security at FFP (Eric) caught a really nice Bull on a Sculpin in quite a shallow spot near the banks. So if the river doesn’t come up with the rains, keep that in mind too that not all the bulls reside in the deep spots.
There is no doubt about the fact the Metolius is such a cool river whether you are catching them or not. Right Mattias? PS- you’re in good company with me (jeff) as I get blanked on the Met 1 or 2 or 3 times a year it seems.

Crooked River is still fishing really well, and with our mild week it seemed to make it even better. Midges around 2 PM and later are the main hatch and fish are eating the dry fly when the hatch is on. Look for softer water to have the best midge hatches.
December and January usually don’t get a very good BWO hatch but that is not to say it never trickles off from time to time, so look for some small mayflies around 1 or 2. BWO Nymphs are never out of style here!
The best fishing has been on the nymphs with Zebra Midges and tiny Perdigons catching the most fish. Also a 2 Bit Hooker and Skinny Nelson would be 2 others to make sure you have in the box if you go this week. You know I like a small Oros or NZ Wool Indicator for the Crooked to maintain depth control in low winter flows and try to have less influence from weeds. Some of the runs are also really good for Euro or Drop Shot fishing.

The Lower Deschutes at Mecca would be a good walk and wade area this week. Like I said in the opening of this message the guys were doing well on Green Rock Worms and Eggs. This time of year you should have Stonefly Nymphs (Black and Golden), Micro Streamers like a Mini Gulp and Soccer Mom, Perdigons in Blue, Olive and Brown, Walts Worms and Zebra Midges.
We have 10 more days of open access on the Warm Springs/Mecca/Trout Creek/ South Jct. areas and on January 1st it closes until 4/22/25. The Maupin areas like Locked Gate, Harpham, and down to Mack’s are year round, just watch the freezing fog and icy roads in the winter but that can really ramp up in February to offer some darn good days that get better and better each week.

The Fall River is still really good, but snow on the roads and banks has changed the ease of accessibility. It’s not too much by any means, but be ready to navigate some snow and ice. Also watch freezing levels Christmas week as that is around 5000 feet there (Sisters is 3170) and there is some high potential for a lot of snow later this week at that elevation. Bring it on, we need it.
Midge hatches continue to be the most important dry fly hatch. Get your 7x tippet out to really do best with small dries in this type of water.
Small Streamers, dead drifted and/or stripped are working the best. Eggs are probably the best nymphs on most days, and add some good euro nymphs to the mix with different beads to not only achieve different sink rates and depths, but also bead colors to add different attraction levels based on depth, light conditions and the fishes mood.

If you missed getting our newsletter (I usually do 2 a year, one in the spring and one around Christmas) you missed the reminder that getting booked on a Deschutes Multi Day Camp Trip for next year is a good idea to pick dates and get them on the calendar with us sooner, rather than later.
We will again do the women’s trip where we can offer a single spot to make up the group. Dates are TBD but the last 2 years we went mid-summer and it was ideal. If you want on the list for that, let me know.
Also, we have some Euro Nymphing Rods that are on a mega sale. Sage discontinued the Sense series, Diamondback is coming out with a new model to replace the Ideal Nymph and Cortland Nymph series are on the way out for us in 2025.
Here’s what we have on Sale:
Sage Sense in 10′ 3 weight and 10 1/2′ 3 weight for $450 (reg $675)
DiamondBack Ideal Nymph 10′ 3 weight, 10′ 10″ 2 weight and 10′ 10″ 3 weight $385 (reg $550), BTW, these rods have been widely regarded as the best rod for Euro Style we sold by several members on our staff and by Ollie Bassett from the NZ Fly Fishing Team when we was here in 2023.
Cortland Nymph 10 1/2′ 2 weight and 10 1/2′ 3 weight $180 (reg $299) These are really nice rods and now under $200 a great buy. I personally love the longer 10 1/2 foot models for a lot of my own nymphing days.

Travel-
I still would love to find 2 to 4 more people to join us in Chile next month. January 18-25.
Also, thanks for the bookings for Argentina! We have filled 2 of the 9 weeks and have a tremendous interest from folks who are checking to see if they can make the deal of the century to fish Patagonia a reality for them too. My guess is we are going to fill 5 or 6 of the weeks and that is great.
Also thank you for the amazing support in Belize! We have filled our 2 weeks of hosted trips and continue to find spots for couples and fishing buddies during other weeks at the lodge. If you want to get to Belize in 2025, let me know and we can try to find a spot for you. Our next hosted trip will be December 2025 after our April dates.
We also filled our May Baja trip, but if you have an interest in that we can offer other weeks in May, June or July to catch Roosterfish and many other species in the Sea of Cortez with an excellent guide.

Thank you to all of you that have signed up for the Phil Rowley Clinics in May so far.
I will get working on confirmations for you ASAP.
Let me know if you want to get on the list for that. If you’ve emailed me or called already, I got you. Hang tight for the confirmation.

I haven’t forgotten about tying classes in the winter. I am shooting for February and early March. One of the things I want to focus on is a class that ties some of the lake flies that were so good on the local waters in 2024. New flies that are a little different, or flies that balance out the new Fulling Mill Bung Indicators which are freaking rad on a calm day. That is the plan, and I need to get the flies photographed and menus written. As soon as I finish the BLM end of the year report, that is next on my to-do list.

I truly appreciate the community support of this Fly Shop, Guide Service and Travel Operation. We are never going to be the big guy. Neither am I. But we are are always going to have a high level of passion for what we do, and the fact that so many of you read this and like it week after week means the world to me!

Merry Christmas,
Jeff