The last few days were dry and warm and a lot of anglers got out on the water to enjoy it.
Last night the rains come in and certainly is melting some snow. So this report will have some good news and some no so good news, but we will take the gain in precipitation for sure.

ONE IMPORTANT INVITATION before the report…. 2 spots opened for our week at the Blue Bonefish in Belize on April 12 through the 18th. Some friends were not able to go in April due to some family health circumstances and we would love to fill these spots so they don’t lose any of their deposits and can go when we go back in December. Would YOU be interested in going? It is an absolute prime week for Permit, as well as great bonefish numbers and a bunch of Tarpon around then too.
Email or call Jeff and I can offer you more details.

The afternoon mayfly hatch on the Metolius River has been strong for 3 or 4 days in a row.
Besides BWO’s in about a #18, there have been good hatches of Cinygmula’s in a #16 and fish want to eat both when either hatch is prevalent. It is always great to see a good dry hatch any time of the year, and it has certainly been going off now.
Besides the 2 mayflies, there have been 3 or 4 caddis out, and some black midges and a few stragglers of the little black stones. Caddis seem to be preferred by the trout in the Pupa stage and fished as a nymph near the bottom, however I would try orange stimulators #8-10, orange elk hair caddis #10-14, corn fed caddis #14-16 and missing link caddis #14-16 on the dry fly side.
Nymph action has been very good on several different patterns, some are the usual suspects and some are new discoveries. Mattias has some really good fishing on big hares ears (#10) and walt’s worms this week. Zebra Midges, 2 Bit Hookers, Caddis Pupa, Balanced Leeches, 20 Incher (green drake nymph!) Perdigons, Yellow Soft Hackles, CDC PT’s, Orange Eggs and Golden Stones.
Most of the Bull Trout being caught in the last week have come on smaller streamers, and often under an indicator. Not saying that is what you must do, that was just the trend I was hearing in the shop. Never hesitate to power through a day with a big boy streamer. Or big girl streamer if you prefer.
Water flows have not jumped much at the Allingham gauge today. About a 20 cfs increase from yesterday. However, the gauge above Lake Billy Chinook bumped about FIVE HUNDRED cfs this morning and still rising. Canyon Creek and Candle Creek are going to be significant contributors to the run-off, so watch that for the next few days. I think today and tomorrow continue to be wet weather and then it dries out and get really warm and nice for a bunch of days to follow and you can fish the drop like a pro from mid-week on.

The Crooked River didn’t bump much and has a 400+ cfs inflow to Prineville Reservoir, and 750(ish) coming out of Bowman Dam.
I’d skip it until it is dropping below 400 and I would hope to see that by next weekend with the dry period in the forecast.
We are getting to the time some of the very very best BWO hatches of the year happen on the Crooked River, so it is dropping, watch that and get out there.

The warm rains have made a dent in the snow pack on the Fall River and we should see improved parking and walking and access coming this week.
It was good fishing this weekend for a few of our friends and customers.
Some hatches of BWO’s and Midges, and you need 6.5x or 7x to really capture that moment to fool fish in that clear water on a dry.
Eggs, Perdigons and small Euro Streamers (soccer mom is a favorite) have been great.

The Middle Deschutes is roaring from Tumalo Creek Run-Off so I’d skip that for now. I’m looking at the graph now and it was 850(ish) yesterday and it at 1000 and still rising steeply on the curve.

I know the Maupin area of the Lower Deschutes was picking up on the fishing front from last weekend (even in the cold days). But water is up there too. Let’s watch it this week and see. On the drop, in March it’ll be good.

Haystack was frozen last weekend but not entirely, and with the warm rain and windy days today and tomorrow that might be ice free soon. Have you been tying balanced leeches this winter? Fish will be close to the shorelines and you can wade it or tube it as soon as it opens up.
It also makes me wonder about Chickahominy??? That’s higher elevation than Haystack, but same weather is coming through Burns as it is here. So it will be open in March I have no doubt.

I just talked to Amanda at Justesen Ranch and the lakes are open, ice free and on the + trend for really good days ahead. It is a 2.5 hour drive from Bend or Sisters +/-, so it is a day trip, or she has 3 lodging options on the ranch to stay a night or 2 if you want to .$150 per person for the private access and they do an outstanding job at respecting the privacy you paid for by not putting other people of groups on the same lake.

Events tyers and anglers will be interested in soon include the Sisters Movie House showing of the Fly Fishing Film Tour on Wednesday March 12th. Tix are $17
That is the day I come home from Argentina so I don’t know if I’ll have the energy to make it, but I hope Sisters has a strong turnout for what is always a super event.
On March 7 & 8, at the Albany Expo Center is the Fly Tyers Expo which has become a premier event for fly tyers and fly anglers to get together, learn, see new things and collaborate on the latest and greatest. Don’t miss it. (ps- I am 90% sure there will be a record snowfall on the passes on the days you want to drive over hahahahaha. I’m kidding, but it sure does seem to be a time when that happened a lot of the years)

That is it for now. I’ll be in the shop Monday and most of Tuesday and then off early Tuesday AM for Patagonia (trip #24…so when it comes to expertise on info and booking the right places I hope you’ll always consider and trust in me to be the one you reach out to). On the way home I get one day of Golden Dorado fishing on the Rio del Plata in Buenos Aires. I am developing a relationship with a guide there to give our frequent Patagonia travelers another option for some cool fishing and to take some time to enjoy Buenos Aires with my amazing team of travel consultants and tour guides at Travel Dreamers. Trini has become a very good friend we have so many cool ideas for you to do either before or after the Patagonia trip.

Happy Fishing,
Jeff