We made it through an awfully cold week! No one that I know really fished for a few days that I am aware of from Tuesday through Thursday because it was simply too cold to enjoy. Monday Mattias was out on the Metolius and had a wonderful day of nymph and streamer fishing. He slayed. Super Bowl Sunday was a good to very good dry fly session day with a lunch time BWO hatch really bringing the fish up to the surface.
From here on for the 7 to 10 day forecast we are out of the Arctic Air Mass and just have more normal winter weather with days in the mid 30’s to high 40’s, and nighttime lows in the 20’s. Really pretty nice for transitioning past Mid-February and bodes well for being out on the water.

On the Metolius River you are going to want to bring a nymph rod and a dry fly rod set up for the foreseeable future. I like a 10 1/2′ 3 weight for the nymphing (usually Euro Style, but can pump out some indicator work with it if needed) and a 9′ 4 weight for dries. Having that 2nd rod set up to be ready as soon as the moment hits is very important. On the dry fly rod, set it up with a 12′ Rio Suppleflex 5x and add 2-3 feet of 6x. Add some 7x if they get picky, which can happen.
Quite a few caddis trickling off, and occasionally the fish will be on the dries, but no doubt about it the fish are hot for a pupa and you’re going to want a Tan #14-16, and Orange #8-10 and Amber #12-14.
Zebra Midges #18-22 and Mayfly nymphs #16-20 for BWO and PMD stuff, and #10-12 for Drakes, which are a long ways away from hatching, but getting mature now and moving around.
Golden Stones, Eggs, Balanced Leeches and Euro Streamers will round out the nymphing rigging for sure.
Someone on Sunday told me they saw PMD’s. I doubt it in February, but there is a chance they saw an early emergence of Cinygmula. Usually these yellow dudes are more of a March and April hatch, but on a spring creek almost anything is possible.
Bull Trout have been eating a lot of the nymphs and leeches and small streamers mentioned above. But a big articulated streamer always has game.

Fall River will also have good water conditions, but way more snow to contend with than any of the other local rivers at this time. Hatchery access will be the only easy place to drive to and park. So it will be crowded.
Getting to the Falls is unknown to me after this cold and snowy week. If you try, have chains, a shovel for each person in the vehicle to use and some extra water and food in case you are stuck and digging out. It’s an actual concern there. I also carry a Garmin Inreach with Iridium Satellite capability. Just in case.
There is likely no good parking for a while at the Camp Ground, and limited parking at the Headwaters Station.
BWO and Midges are the 2 main hatches, so fish the cycle from bottom to top for both.
Eggs & Small Streamers will be great too.

Crooked River will need a little time to recover from very iced up and cold cold water conditions. Maybe mid next week give it a whirl and if you go, I’d love to hear from you.

We are excited to bring you our 2nd night of the Fulling Mill (Flies) Movie Series again on Monday 2/17/25 at 6 PM at the shop. We will be screening episodes 4-5-6 and have room for about 5 more people to sign up if you want to join us. Please let us know by stopping in, or calling the shop to be on the list.
This week we also have some really good door prizes thanks to Fulling Mill.

And I will be in Eugene on Wednesday 2/19 at the McKenzie Fly Fisher’s Club talking about fishing the Metolius. If you are in the Eugene area, drop in there meeting and say hello.
I was delighted to have such a great turnout over in Portland this week for the Fly Fisher’s Club of Oregon meeting. I spoke about lakes there and it was very fun to be there and share info with so many good folks.

Happy Valentines Day to all you Trout Lovers! And Happy Birthday to our great state of Oregon too.

Jeff