Last week I wrote about the summer work schedule, and it reminded me of a special conversation I had with our long time (legendary) guide Steve Erickson in the parking lot beside the shop, after we both got off the water for the day. He had just come off the water from a marathon of days, and I had come off the lake. We were both happy. 
The conversation took a cool turn when we both agreed that we felt that the good guides that end up having longevity with continued passion for the job, actually feel that we are fishing through another person’s body. We are making fly choices, rod and line decisions, choosing the spots to cast the fly, and netting and handling the fish for a safe release. The only thing missing is the wiggling sensation when holding the rod, but it is uniquely fulfilling, and I believe it is what allows guides who share the passion with their clients the ability to work so hard and so often. 
Steve, Troy, Tonn and Michael are a hard-working crew who all go over a 100+ days a season. Sometimes much more. Sequoia, Matthias, Gavin, Eric and Shad also put in the days and the passion. This is what it’s all about. I can’t speak for them all, but what Steve and I shared is that we love all the elements of guiding so much that we are okay not holding our own fly rod as often as we’d maybe like to be. The love for the trout and the process to catch them means a lot. 

This time of year on the Metolius River it is a great time of the season to fish from the Headwaters to Gorge Campground throughout the morning, afternoon and evening. You will run into hatches of Golden Stones, Yellow Sally’s, PMD’s (who took my advice from last week and got some Yellow Missing Link’s) Beetles, Ants and even a few Grasshoppers up here (more to come in August and September). In the evening add Tan Caddis and Rusty Spinners. Also, use your new Micro Thin Euro Leaders you learned about from the report a few weeks back, and fish Perdigons and Jigs with that set up, and bump up the butt section for the Euro Streamers to an 8# to 12# butt section with 4x or 4.5x for the streamers. 
The Middle River is still a little off on the evening hatch, but this seems to be a normal trend in July. Not every evening is the same, and you might find a glorious BWO hatch at 5 PM followed by Caddis or Yellow Sally’s after dinner, and a dusk Rusty Spinner Fall. Afternoons are seeing some good PMD hatches through the middle river too, and they extend below Bridge 99 and to Candle Creek. Caddis Pupa along with Mayfly Nymphs (try the new Split Case PMD Perdigon and a Yellow Jig Napolean), Jigged 20”, Olive Perdigon with an Orange Hot Spot, Red or Brown 2 Bit Hooker and Micro Mayfly for both PMD’s and BWO’s. 
Bull Trout fishing is improving and it’s good, with more lake run fish in the system than last week. 

The Lower Deschutes continues to be the spot for really strong evening caddis hatches. Tan #14-16 caddis mixed with smaller black micro caddis are the 2 most important emergent and dry fly opportunities you’ll encounter. Most days after 7 PM you will also get fishable hatches of Pale Evening Duns so add a #12-15 Purple Haze, Parachute Adams, Cut Wing Extended Body Dun and Parachute PED. 
PMD’s are also in the mix, although maybe not as consistent now as the PED and Caddis hatches are. 
Nymph action during the day is often excellent, and while all the usual euro nymphs and caddis pupa are thought of by you and me, I really recommend also considering leeches, sculpins, euro streamers and crayfish. 

The Middle Deschutes will be a fun morning, or after dinner spot for you this week. Why not just head out to focus on simple dry fly times and bring a Tan X Cadds, Purple Haze, Sulphur Comparadun, Renegade, BWO Sparkle Dun and Pale Evening Dun.
Or go in the morning with a Brown or Yellow Jig Napolean, and PT Soft Hackle. Travel light and catch a bunch of smaller wild trout. That is heaven to me in the summer. 

The Upper Deschutes in the Headwaters area from Little Lava Lake to Crane Prairie is worth the time, mostly with your euro nymphing rod and some Walt’s Worms and olive Perdigons. Ants and Beetles are a great idea fishing in forested areas! Smaller Purple Chubby’s are fish catchers and a great strike indicator to run a Rainbow Warrior Jig off the bend of the hook if the bigger dry fly. I never shy away from a Renegade here too. 

The Fall River is fishing well, but it is busy most days from 9 to 3 or 4, of course it is mostly stocked trout but they are happily feeding on hatches of midges, BWO’s, PMD’s, Caddis, plus terrestrials like Ants and Beetles and even Grasshoppers. 
Eggs, Rainbow Warrior Jig, Yellow Napolean’s, Mini Gulp, Micro Leeches and Squirrel Jig’s will create plenty of opportunity for you from sunup to sun down. At sundown add an Orange Soft Hackle and Rusty Spinners. Consider an early morning or after dinner trip too. And a reminder that access to the hatchery closes after 7 PM. I believe it opens at 7 AM but it might be 8. Double check the sign at entry.

The Crooked River is also a top choice for fishing this week. The morning and afternoon times you won’t see a lot of hatches until afternoon shadows from the tall trees fall over parts of the river, but when the shadows occur an Upright Rusty Spinner, PMD Film Critic and PMD Comparadun, BWO Flag Dun and Tan Caddis including Weiss’s Caddis, Fin Fetcher, X Caddis and Elk Hair Caddis. (did you know our Elk Hair Caddis at FFP are tied with a foam body for more floatation?) As evening progresses the dry fly action will be more consistent. 
Zebra Midges, Scuds, Perdigons, Rainbow Warriors and Micro Mayflies are nymphs you will tighline with or use under a NZ Wool Indicator or Small Oros. 

FFP Guides are really enjoying the days on the McKenzie River now. Summer days on this river are always special and this summer is no exception with good catches of stocked and wild trout on nymphs and small streamers, with some fish on dries like a Chubby, Lt Cahill, Elk Hair Caddis and Purple Haze. 

Lakes Report

The Channel and Upper Lake at Hosmer Lake are worth the trip, with a lot of cool things happening here, especially damsel nymphs and adults, callibaetis, small scuds, leeches, chironomids and blood worms. 
Watch water temperatures on the lower lake (above 67 don’t fish there and go to the upper lake to find much cooler water) 
The Caenis mayfly hatch at dusk is still going. Travelling Caddis (Get a big Goddard Caddis and skitter it) and callibaetis are all things you will see from 5 pm to dark. 

Little Lava Lake is also a top choice this week, and don’t forget the Jiggy Twist Beetle and Crowe Beetles over the weed beds and along the banks here. Callibaetis hatches have been firing, and a Parachute Callibaetis with the stack of partridge for the wing is a dynamite fly up here now. Make sure you have an emerger like a Brooks Sprout or Almost Dun on a curved hook to mimic the movement of the nymphs pressing through the film to hatch. 
Callibaetis Cate, Poxyback Callibaetis, Red Holographic Jig, Spicy Squirrel, Balanced Leeches and small Jig Leeches. 

East Lake is good but watch afternoon water temps along the shoreline. Also, revive your fish carefully by holding and supporting them in the water and let them swim away on their own power. Don’t just toss them back over the side of the boat, but take a little time to get them reivived. This is true for all waters, any time of the year, but is extra important in the summer when water temps border unsafe zones, which for trout is about 67 F or more. Seeking deeper water and fishing nymphs from 15 to 30 feet is safe here. 
A Type 7 Full Sink is how you can dangle nymphs in up to 40 feet of depth, although usually the thermocline doesn’t run that deep. A couple of days ago with Sean and Skip in the boat, and a strong east wind keeping the hatch at bay and making for terrible indicator conditions, the deep dangle type 7 was our savior, bringing the best fish of the day to the net.
Damsels are important in nymph and adult stages and try the double dry rig with the blue chubby and the extended body damsel trailing off the chubby. Fish the nymphs off the shoreline, ideally by wading. You can do this with a Hover or Midge Tip, and often with a floating line too. This can be as exciting as Bonefishing, and it is very visual along the shore from the resort to the end of Cinder Hill CG. 
Callibaetis hatches are doing pretty well and as we move closer to August the 2^nd Brood will be going and I usually feel that is the best callibaetis hatches of the year at East.
Look for midges in the morning too, and try Griffiths Gnats and McKittricks Moment Midges. This is also the same time a lot of Callibaetis spinners are on the water, so the fish may be choosing one over another on given morning. 
Hippie Stompers, Beetles, Ants (RP and Sparkle Flag) and Grasshoppers are essential.

Paulina Lake is fishing good now and is getting a better callibaetis hatch most mornings before the wind comes up. In the morning look for spinners and duns, midge emergers and you have to have a bunch of terrestrials like Hippie Stompers, Beetles (Jiggy Twist and Crowe), Flag Ant, Rp Ant, and Hoppers. 
Red PT, Cate’s, Water Melon Leech, Oange Bead Olive Leech, Orange Bead Brown Balanced Leech and Chironomids. I also like to use a Rainbow Warrior and a Double Down Nymph with a Black Body and Red Rib are good along the ledges with a strike indicator if you want to get down 6 to 9 feet, or under a Purple Chubby off the bend of the hook if you want to fish it more shallow. 

Three Creeks Lake is always a favorite being so close to the shop. Callibaetis hatches have been pretty good, and you should see most of the hatch after lunch and again in the evening, but you could see some in the late morning. The Black Caddis in the evening remains one of the best dry fly opportunities for the day, but the randomness of fishing a Red Hippie Stomper, a Jiggy Twist Beetle and a Sparkle Flag Ant is always exciting. 
Balanced Leeches (Vampire and Bruised with the hot beads) and Red PT’s, Cates, Ice Cream Cones and Squirmy Worms are good under the indicator, and trolling a Sheep Creek and a PT with a Flashback is a good way to catch some too. 

You all are amazing, and thank you for the positive feedback and support of FFP. 

Jeff

Finally, help a dad find a special fly rod: (This was in my email inbox this morning and I thought I would share it with you in hopes someone knows the whereabouts of a special fly rod.)
I’m trying to reach out to the fly fishing community to see if somebody has found a Sage XLT 0710-3 fly rod.  Mine has literally vanished in the past couple of weeks and I am beside myself trying to figure out what happened to it.  The last time I know I had it with me was when I took it up to Davis Lake on June 29 to go camping with my 2 sons.  I thought I might stop on the Upper Deschutes and let them use it to catch a few trout on our way up or back from Bend. We stayed at Lava Flow campground and it’s possible it was taken out of the vehicle and left there.  We also went over to East Davis Lake Campground and parked at the right angle turn so my 6 year old could shoot some arrows and it’s conceivable it was taken out there because we considered going down to Odell Creek to check it out.  It’s also possible somebody simply stole it out of the truck.  My older son isn’t great about locking the vehicle and I transported that rod behind the headrests in the back seat of my pickup where it may have been visible from outside.  

I’m hoping it got left somewhere and somebody finds it and makes an effort to check in with fly shops to see if it was reported as lost.  As you know, it’s a very nice rod and it was a Father’s Day gift many years ago.  It was arguably my favorite rod.

Marty Brueggemann
(509) 594-1127