Just a few days left to use your 2024 fishing license and it’s time to renew for 2025. You can stop in the shop and get your new fishing license or you can download the ODFW app on Apple Store or Google App’s and do yours through the app’s. You can also go to the https://odfw.huntfishoregon.com/login and get it down online. Just don’t forget to do it.

We woke up to a heavy, wet snow here in Sisters with 2-3 inches of slush. The roads are S-L-I-C-K!!! so if you are headed fishing down the Metolius or Crooked this morning, drive extra cautiously. It looks like we are in for some dry weather for the rest of year starting this afternoon. It’ll be a good time to get on the river and my guess is the roads will be much better, even a few hours from now.

The Metolius is always are favorite so it gets the top spot in the report 99% of the time. I was out there yesterday and the river is in great shape, with a little runoff coming out of Lake Creek but that “absorbs” in the Met nicely. Not much for dry fly fishing, but I am always hopeful and I never recommend not having #18 and #20 BWO emergers, cripples and duns for a possible encounter mid afternoon. Often our winter hatch is around 1:30, but I admit that is a huge generalized statement. Be on the lookout from non to 3:30 and if you want to catch a fish or 2 on a dry fly in the winter it is wise to be in a soft pool or eddy and have a 12′ 6x leader tied up.
What has really been working is eggs, golden stone nymphs, october caddis pupa, tan caddis pupa, BWO color 2 bit hookers, frenchie’s, olive or brown jig Napoleon’s and red lighting bugs. If you had that nymph set up for the next 9 or 10 weeks you will have good days on the river. Also, you see the mention of both October caddis pupa and golden stones, we have a fly that splits the difference beautifully called a McGee’s Girdle and its an orange variegated rubber leg tied on a scud hook, so it is short shanked to imitate a curled up and drifting stone, or matches the size nicely for Oct Caddis.
I know of several good bulls this past week that came to a big streamer. I will also say that as we get into mid-winter a lot of bulls are caught on a nymph and a larger red ice cream cone is one they often eat under an indicator.

The Crooked River is more often than not starting to really slow down in late December and January do to icing and really cold water. Not this winter…. So far so good on that and fishing conditions remain solid with generally mild weather in the region.
Midges are the top food item this time of year, but baetis nymphs like a micro mayfly or 2 bit hooker or skinny nelson are great year round nymphs on the Crooked. Scud populations have made a good comeback with the good water levels and an olive or orange scud is a great nymph to use too. Sometimes it is awesome to find a pool and strip your scuds. They swim well and trout are used to ambushing that food source as the scuds travel around the river.
As long as we stay mild look for black midges to hatch late afternoon and fish should respond to the hatch by rising to the emergers or adults.

The Fall River got at least a foot of snow last night. Maybe give it a day or so to settle, and for the road crews to catch up on the plowing. Access to the Tubes and Falls is likely going to be tricky if not possible for some vehicles (and most drivers). Through the New years week things should be good for access and for fishing.
We’ve seen the best action on streamers like a Mini Gulp, Sir Sticks A Lot and Soccer Mom.
Eggs and Perdigons are super important to add to the selection and I always like a Rainbow Warrior. It’s a shiny little nymph that can attract attention, or look like an emerging mayfly or caddis.
By the way, on the streamers fish them dead drift, strip them or jig them in the logs and undercut banks.

I have no reports from the Lower Deschutes but please remember that Warm Springs, Mecca, Trout Creek and South Junction will close on January 1st and stay closed until opening day April 22, 2025.
Maupin area runs like Locked Gate, Nena, Harpham, Wapinitia and down to Mack’s Canyon are open all year and can be nice places to fish in the winter when the weather and road conditions are good. Personally I don’t get overly excited for that in january, but by February things are happening with instars of nymphs being bigger and more mature, biological drifts occurring more as the more mature nymphs need new spaces to feed and get ready for spring and summer hatches.

Shop Announcements

We have sold about half of the Euro Nymph Rods we put on sale for Christmas but still have a good supply of the Sage Sense 10′ 3 weight and 10 1/2′ 3 weights (Final Markdown @ $399) , and a few Diamondback Ideal Nymph 10′ 10″ 2 and 3 weights (On sale for $385) and Cortland Nymph 10 1/2′ 2 weight and 3 weights (Final Markdown $149). These are all in the sale box at 30% to 40% to 50% off with final markdown prices starting today.

Sign Up’s for the Phil Rowley clinics are going great. Thank you for all of you who have emailed or stopped in the shop to get on the list. We are about half way full for the tying class on May 31st, and about a 1/4 full for the presentation at the library on May 30th. Leave me a message on email or at the shop on a sticky note if I am out, and be sure to indicate which day (or days) you will participate in, and your name, phone number and email. I’ll start getting money collected after the new year, but now is a good time to sign up and be on the list.

I had A LOT of really good conversations with many folks regarding the sale priced Argentina trip and hope to hear back from some of you that were very serious about getting booked.
THIS IS REALLY THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY FOR FISHING IN PATAGONIA.
$2500 per person for the week, but you need to be in pairs.
A lot of you have asked what else will it take? Figure on $250 p/p for tips for the guide for 5 days, $50 each for the shuttle driver is nice, $30 for the private drivers in Buenos Aires, $140 for the 1 night hotel in Buenos Aires, under $400 for the round trip domestic airfare on Aerolineas Argentinas from Buenos Aires to San Martin de los Andes, probably way less than $200 for food on the times you’re not being fed by the guide.
You will never get this kind of a deal to fish in one of the greatest places on earth, on some of the prettiest rivers and lakes you’ve ever seen and YOU ARE GOING TO PATAGONIA. Wow! Seriously WOW. There is a reason I have been 22 times and headed back for trip #23 in 2 weeks. It’s the best.
Dates available as of today:
January 18 to the 24th
February 1 to the 7th
February 8 to the 14th
February 15 to the 21st
February 22 to the 28th
March 1 to the 7th, 8 to 14th, 15 to 21st, 22 to 28th.

Please follow The Fly Fisher’s Place on Facebook and Instagram and Oregon_Stillwater_Jeff on Instagram. This is often the places you’ll get inside info on classes and events and announcements before the blogs hit over the weekend. Oregon Stillwater Jeff is all my lake stuff. I found an old lake fishing book at a cabin in Camp Sherman yesterday and this time of year with the lakes being closed and iced over it is fun to wax about the old days and for me, be so thankful for the innovations that have come to all aspects of fly fishing and how that is such a benefit to us on the days we get to go fishing.

Keep loving the sport! I will too.

Jeff