Hello from Sisters, Oregon. While I do appreciate being back in Sisters man I miss being in Patagonia.
I had a great trip you guys, and I really encourage you to reach out to me about getting you down there in the future.
I am looking at adding a December trip to Argentina and doing a 3 day camp trip with Esteban and his crew, and then another few days of day trips with him. And of course we have 2 weeks in Chile in February and March with just 4 spots left to fill.
Locally, things are pretty good. Standouts are the Fall River, Metolius, Justesen Ranch. But hang tight because we are going on the full tour of what is possible over the next week, and with our spring vacation visitors I think it will be a good week ahead to be on the water.
Today (saturday 3/15) and tomorrow, the weather is crap. As I write this it is snowing lightly, 36 degrees and tomorrow will be about the same. Certainly you can find refuge on the Met and the Fall from wind, and if you’re dressed for it the fishing is good. Looking out to Tuesday 3/18 and beyond it looks to be more comfortable to expand the fishing horizons to more places. So here we go…..

The Metolius River continues to be best with nymphs by a wide margin. Hatches have been light and fish response to hatches has been concurrent with the hatch. Not great. When will that change? Hard to know, usually late March gets some incredible days with Cinygmula’s #14-16, and some March Browns #14, BWO’s #18 and a fairly expansive list of Caddis. A friend of mine (sorry I can’t remember which one said this, but I think it was yesterday since I have only been home 3 days) said he saw a trout eat 3 October Caddis dries in row in the spot he was nymphing. I love that.
Add Tan Caddis #14-16, Grey #12-14 and Amber #12-14 besides the big October’s which are #6-8.
Golden Stone Nymphs, Jig Peacock Girdle Bug (friggen awesome fly for weight and catching fish), Green Drake Nymphs, all sorts of Caddis Pupa, Pink Bead Walts, Perdigons, Fire Starters, Zebra Midges and 2 Bit Hookers.
Bull Trout fishing is good and how you want to approach them is varied as the water they hold in and the fish themselves. Do you want to use the Spey? Cool. Your Single Hand 8 weight? Cool. Euro Rod? Cool. Change it up. It has all been productive and will continue to be.
We are teaming up with the House on the Metolius from Now until May 1st to run a spring special on Lodging, pay for 2 nights and get a 3rd night for FREE and we are offering guide trips for $350 for our spring special. How to Redeem: 

1. Book your stay at House on Metolius.

2. Show your booking confirmation to The Fly Fisher’s Place to schedule your lesson using the special rate.

3. Cast away on the beautiful Metolius River!

The Fall River is fishing great, and while most of the snow had gone away, it is starting to pile up again but not to the levels that were from earlier this winter and likely not going back to that at this point. Spring has arrived but it is still snowing some.
One of our customers Mat was telling me how well he did on Walts Worms and Ray Charles. Such a cool report, and thanks to mat for sharing that.
Zebra Midges, 2 Bits, Micro May’s, Perdigons, Eggs, Micro Streamers and look for some BWO #18 hatches, March Browns #14, Black Midges #20-24, and possibly some little Amber Caddis #14 mixed in for another few weeks. These look like the Snow Sedge that hatch on the Metolius, but maybe a little tiny bit smaller. Remember the fishing is open from the Top of the Falls to the Headwaters, but below the Falls is closed until 5/22/25.
Also, remember that there is some riparian habitat restoration going on near the tubes and it is cool of all of us to not walk on what they are trying to restore at any time of the year, but especially in the spring as that stuff is trying it’s hardest to sprout.
We are offering our spring special guide trips for 1 to 3 people for $350 from now until 4/22/25 on the Fall River.
Also, Gavin Christian is offering a Euro Clinic on the Fall River on March 23rd for up to 3 people for $350. Whether you go by yourself and get one on one coaching, or you split this up with a friend or 2, this is a good opportunity to learn from one of our really good instructors how to be a better Euro Style angler.

The Crooked River went the wrong direction today and shot up to 1300+ cfs. Remember that 100 cfs is normal from Mid October to Mid April, 250 cfs is the normal flow in the summer during irrigation season.
Anything aver 400 or 500 cfs is pretty rough for fishing.

The Lower Deschutes near Maupin is fishable. Water levels are high’ish down there, but for sure it is doable. Stonefly nymphs and Green Rock Worms, Soft Hackle PT’s, Hares Ears, Perdigons, Sir Mix a Lot, Mini Gulp and Soccer Mom’s are all good under the indicator or Euro style.
Look for some March Browns #14, BWO #18, Tan Caddis #14 and Grey Caddis #12 to be possible dry fly opportunities soon.

The McKenize River is a good option as long as the Vida gauge is 6000 cfs or lower. Both Troy and Tonn love this time of year on that water and say it is not uncommon to see thick March Brown hatches through there. They are offering our Spring Special here for $500 until 4/22/25 and that is $150 off the normal regular season price. This is good for 1 or 2 people to share.

As of a few days ago Chickahominy was still pretty ice covered, although there was some open water. I would guess in a week it’ll be opened up? Cross your fingers.

From the last report I had a lot of you write me about Haystack which is cool so I can share more info this week. Community.
The overall word is it is getting started. For the most part fish are being caught, and some really big fish are in the mix. So far, numbers during a day are not red hot but that also seemed to vary by the days people were there.
Balanced Leeches have been by far the pattern that seems to be the fishiest.

I saw some friends on Lake Billy Chinook getting some smaller Bull Trout on flies in the Metolius Arm this past week. I would recommend the Crooked Arm and the Deschutes Arm more so than the colder Metolius Arm at this time. Fish Balanced Leeches and Minnows under an indicator or bigger Desceiver style streamers on a sinking line. Remember to buy a Tribal Pass if you go to the Metolius Arm.

Justesen Ranch (Private) Lakes are fishing super good. Lots of customers getting lots of fish. $150 per person per day. It’s a 2.5 hour drive from Sisters or Bend. Overnight accommodations are available at an extra fee. You can call us at the shop or call Amanda J at (541)980-4084 and please tell her Jeff at FFP sent you their way. From now until June this is a home run. Do it.

Please take advantage of the Spring Special Guide Trips from now until 4/22/25 on the Fall, Crooked and House on the Metolius (until 5/1) for Walk and Wade trips at $350, and $500 McKenzie River float trips with Troy and Tonn from now until 4/22/25. This is such a good opportunity to save some money, get an early beginning to the fishing season and learn some new techniques from our excellent guide team.
Troy, Tonn, Gavin, Mattias, Sequoia are all ready to roll! Let’s get busy.

I appreciate all of the interactions and messages from those of you that take the time to respond or share info with me. It is all wonderful.

Finally, we have a bunch of SALE flies in a special rack for 50 CENTS each. Seriously cheap, and they are just things that we moved out for new patterns. Come check them out and stock up on some for the spring or summer.
We also have some Rental Float Tubes going on sale soon, so watch for that deal. And starting to close out winter jackets at 40% off and Beanies for 50% off now.

See you in the shop or on the water.
Jeff
3/15/25
All original fishing report not copied or pasted or plagiarized in any way. HA.