It’s a gorgeous winters day in Sisters, Oregon and a dry period of weather coming up which should see the rivers that have been high, drop quickly. Will it put the Crooked back in play? I think so. But not quite yet. The Metolius has even been a little colored up, so that will clear up as Lake Creek and Canyon Creek begin to drop now.

The Metolius has been fishing quite well on nymphs, especially Tan Caddis Pupa, October Caddis Pupa and small 2 Bit Hookers to grab the attention of baetis nymph feeders pre hatch.
Of course eggs, golden stones and a myriad of Perdigons, Jigs and PT Soft Hackles are great too. It has been awesome on those caddis pupa lately though. Just saying.
Some days the afternoon BWO hatch has really been good and these are very tall wing duns that hatch in the winter, and people often mistake the dun for a bigger size than the actual body to hook size ratio. Stick with a #18. Emergers, Cripples and Duns will all play in the moment, so be prepared for that moment with 4 or 5 different profiles to match the hatch.
Little Black Stones are imitated with a #16 or 18 Black Elk Hair Caddis and at times can be a hatch that will get the fish sipping on what might seem unknown. Here’s a hint, look for evidence of the little stones on the banks, especially in areas where there is snow on the bank. You’ll see them crawling around on the snow. BTW, the snow is going away so not sure how long that will allow you to use your Sherlock skills.
Midges can be awfully important in January and February. Sometimes an adult dry, but more often a Zebra or Midge Winker and don’t hesitate to fish that Winker down deep with another weighted fly.
A frequent question that comes up is if there are Bull Trout in the river, or have they all gone to the lake. The answer is there are always Bull Trout in the river. More of them in the summer from July until October or even November when Lake Run Bull’s come up for spawning in the trib’s. But yes, there are a good number of Bulls to find now and they are chasing after streamers and eating eggs, perdigons and caddis nymphs just like the other trout.

The Fall River is going to be a great bet this week with BWO’s and Midges, some little Black Stones and possibly a few Amber Caddis this week.
The Dry Fly fishing window will be mid-day and ought to provide decent to good action this week, Remember that a 7x tippet will far and away out fish a 6x tippet which far and away out fishes a 5x tippet on a spring creek like the Fall. But as always on the Fall River, you can get ’em on little streamers and nymphs and certainly 4x and 5x plays that game perfectly.
Eggs, 2 Bits, Micro May, Skinny Nelson, that little Brown Ostrich Callibaetis nymph we have in our lake selection**, San Juan Worms, Zebra Midges and Scuds. Soccer Mom and Mini Gulp streamers are 2 of the patterns we’ve had good success with recently.

The Crooked River is still way higher below Bowman Dam than you’d want to try any fishing yet. 1845 cfs as of this writing on 1/13/25. Above the reservoir is 600 cfs and dropping.
My guess is by the weekend or sometime next week the Crooked is going to be back in shape.
We will watch it.

The Lower Deschutes in the Maupin area is seeing the water drop too. Is it fishable now? yes….but….
I would give it a bit and try after the upcoming weekend after the few days of really cold weather predicted next weekend.

I wonder with the warm days if anyone tried Ochocco Reservoir, Haystack or the Deschutes Arm of Billy Chinook. Ochocco and Haystack have good levels and I can’t imagine either to be iced over at this point. However, that could change this coming weekend so watch that. Seems like hanging a balanced leech under an indicator from 11 AM to 2 PM might be OK???

Essentially the Phil Rowley seminars are full. I drew a line on the sign up sheet that has 4 open spots left and anything that comes after that I need to look over when I am back from Chile in 2 weeks. If you want to be one of the 4 we have room for, give us a call ASAP at the shop and sign up. Phil’s tying seminar has more openings but space is also limited there too.

In the early morning I am headed to Chile to go on a new Adventure to the Baker River Lodge. While I have been to Patagonia many times, this will be the farthest south on the planet I’ve ever been. Seeing new waters, new mountains, and meeting new people will be a lot of fun and I will be sharing more about the trip when I return.
I just got over the (or I am getting over) the dreaded crud that has been going around. 2 days ago I couldn’t imagine travel. But I am back to work today, trying to wrap up a lot of details to keep the shop smooth for Aaron, Mattias and Sequoia and for your visits, calls or fishing trips.

Until then….

Jeff