Hello from a smokey Sisters, Oregon. Many of you know that a fire started about 3 days ago towards Lake Billy Chinook and yesterday things got a little hairy around here. The City of Sisters is not currently in the path of the fire, but the areas to the NE of the city just about 4 or 5 miles away are indeed in danger and continue to be so for the time being. I got home last night to the news of a level 3 evacuation and immediately loaded up the big boat and brought it to my friends farm closer to Redmond, then snuck back in for the drift boat after dark last night.
A house across the road from where I am living burned down, less than a quarter mile away, along with other outbuildings near us that were sadly lost last night.

We have plenty of good fishing to talk about now, and as I report on the areas I will also give a smoke forecast and talk about current smoke conditions. It is not all bad, so don’t hide in bed under the covers and miss out on some of the good stuff we have coming.

There have been some really good dry fly hatches all over the Metolius River this past week, and if history repeats itself (it will) the fishing is poised to be better and better on the Metolius over the next 6 to 8 weeks, probably a little longer.
We are seeing the following hatches:
Upper River (Headwaters to Gorge)– Golden Stones #8-10, Tan Caddis #16, PMD’s #16, Rusty Spinners #16, Little Olive Stones #16-18.
Middle River (Gorge to Bridge 99) PMD’s #16, BWO #20, Rusty Spinners #16, Ameletus #14, Yellow Caddis #18-20, Tan Caddis #16, Olive Caddis #18, Grey Caddis #14-16, Olive Stone #16-18, Midges #22-24, Golden Stone #8-10, Salmonfly #6 (very isolated but look for explosive takes and big bugs from Wizard Falls down river).
Lower River (Bridge 99 to Candle Creek is the water I prefer)- All the above flies and now we need to start looking for Green Drakes #10 and 12, maybe even a few #8’s too. They will be gaining traction as we get to the 1st week of September.
Euro Nymphing and Indicator Nymphing are good when we get times (or a day) when the hatch is weird, or when the hatch is good but the damn trout won’t rise… Hey this is the life of a Metolius angler.
Perdigons, Walts, Zebras, 2 Bits, Micro May’s, Jig Drake, Jig 20″, Golden Stones, Tan Caddis Pupa and Small Gray Pupa’s for the Micro Caddis. You should also look at a traditional swing on soft hackles, especially in the upper river.
Bull Trout fishing is quite good and some darn good fish have been caught in the last few days on Big Streamers. You really need an 8 weight to do this right.
*Smoke from the Flat Fire is in the yellow zone at the time of this writing. AQI 60 near Wizard Falls and 67 near Camp Sherman.

The Lower Deschutes is also fishing well for trout in the Warm Springs to Trout Creek zone, and for Steelhead from the Pine Tree to Mack’s zone and Mack’s to the Mouth areas.
Caddis and Pale Evening Duns are the 2 main hatches, but keep an eye on PMD’s and Midges and especially add some spent caddis and spent mayflies to the box for the Lower D this week.
We’ve seen a lot of nice nymph fishing with Caddis Pupa, Soft Hackle PT’s, and Perdigons, and 2 Bit Hookers. Add some Girdle Bugs and Little Golden Stone Nymphs to the box too.
For Steelhead most of the fish I’ve heard of are coming on floating lines a swung fly. Andersons Euphoria, Green Butt Skunk, Freight Train, Muddlers and for Nymphs the Peacock Girdle Bug and a Lightning Bug (known locally as the Cheeseburger dropper) and our new Purple Girdle with a Hot Pink Bead.
AQI at the time of this writing is also in the Yellow at 46.

I have mixed feelings about the Middle Deschutes. The Steelhead Falls area is close to the origin of the Flat Fire and while the fire moved away from the area and the current East Winds seem to be keeping the area safe, but man it is close to the area of all my favorite Middle D spots.
I am going to say wait a week on the Middle D because if the wind shifts that area will be screwed quickly. Crooked River Ranch AQI right now is 63.

The Crooked River has been super good fishing, and not just with a perdigon! HAHA. Drew-Who was camping there this week and had magnificent success swinging soft hackles.
PMD hatches are good, with some Tan Caddis in the evening and Rusty Spinners on the flats and soft seams.
Micro Mayflies, Skinny Nelson, Scuds, Zebra Midges, Perdigons, Walts Worms, Soft Hackles, Caddis Pupa, Rainbow Warrior and Psycho Prince.
AQI in the mid 70’s.

The Upper Deschutes is not a great bet, the waters came up as the springs are really flowing hard. This is normal for the time of year, and with 2 good snowpacks back to back winters we are seeing high water from Little Lava to Crane. I would skip it.

The Fall River has been good with a lot of fish up to the headwaters and also a good number near the tubes and falls.
There have been good hatches through the day and evening with PMD’s being the #1 to count on, but don’t stop with that because other important hatches will include BWO’s, Tan Caddis, Midges, Little Olive Stone and Yellow Sally’s and Rusty Spinners are dusk.
Our guides have been continuing their successes with small Euro Jig Streamers like Soccer Moms, Squirrel Jigs & Mini Gulps. Nymphing with Eggs, Zebra Midges, Micro May to match PMD and BWO and Perdigons has been good. Try a Spanish Bullet with the little Red Tag and Black Body and let me know how you like it.
AQI is yellow zone at 65 near the hatchery.

The Upper North Fork of the Santiam River near Marion Forks and down to Pamelia Creek and even towards Idanha before it goes to the Reservoir has some good fishing prospects this week. One thing these fish like is a big dry fly like a Chubby and Stimulator or larger Orange Elk Hair Caddis. This is a good water and those are good dry flies to run a dropper nymph off the back of the dry.

LAKES REPORT-

East Lake was good for us this week, with good callibaetis hatches and spinner falls bringing good (but interesting and challenging) dry fly opportunities. The 2 flies that were best for us this week were the Gallops Spinner, the Extended Body Dun and a Comparadun. I will tell you that isn’t enough day to day, it was just enough for the 2 days I was there. You also need emergers like an Almost Dun and Captive Dun, and add Sparkle Duns, Harrops CDC Spinner and Collaboration Callibaetis for choppy days. This is the 2nd brood so these callibaetis are smaller now.
Ants, and Beetles and Grass Hoppers are fun, and there a lot of Damsel Adults left and you’ll see fish leaping in the air to try to grab one.
Deep nymphing will pay dividends with Red Chironomids and Balanced Leeches and Blobs near the bottom from 15 to 35 feet deep. For me, anything over 18 feet deep gets a Type 7 line and a deep dangle. This has been my #1 way to fish this summer. Shallower nymph action may be done with a Midge Tip, Ghost Tip, Hover or Intermediate and strip your callibaetis nymphs over the weed beds before and during the start the of the hatch. Head toward the bank with that rig and change over to a Damsel nymph in the afternoon. Try some scuds there too.
2 Important details- (1) watch water temps on the shore line for the next several afternoons. 68f and above please stop fishing there. (2) you need 2 anchors to get your boat stopped and to keep it from swinging. A lake angler without 2 anchors is not going to do well.
The closest AQI I can get is at Paulina and it’s 43.

Paulina Lake was not that good to us the last few trips. Some Beetle and Hopper action and an interesting Flying Ant experience this week. The ants were black bodied with a reddish brown head, and having nothing in the fly box to match it I found a gold triple double and colored one section black with a sharpie and we caught a couple of fish with it.
Usually the ledge nymph action is red hot now with a Red 2 Bit and a Brown or Watermelon Balanced Leech. This week….not so much.
We did find some fish on the deep dangle with chironomids. But not as good as at East Lake.

Little Lava Lake also has a good callibaetis hatch now and it is important to fish the cycle from Nymphs, Emergers, Duns and Spinners. Nymphs can be under the indicator and a Callibaetis Cate is my #1 choice. The other fun option is stripping the nymphs on a Ghost Tip, Midge Tip, Hover or Intermediate.
Beetles, Ants and Chubbies are also good dries and Chironomids with an indicator is great. Little Lave is about 16 feet deep at max, so most of this indicator fishing is set from 8 to 14 feet.

Hosmer Lake is good in the upper lake and starting to see more fish coming in the channel. Watermelon Leeches, Red Ice Cream Cones, OIive Chironomids, Zebra Midges, CB Cate, Red Jig PT, Soft Hackles and Damsel Nymphs. Since I was there last I have not seen any good dry fly action with anything other than an occasional ant or beetle or maybe a damsel adult. Callibaetis have been oddly scarce.
I think after next week the water in the lower lake will stay cool enough for the rest of the season.
AQI is 55/Yellow

Three Creek Lake is a good option but is not fishing as good as would hope. Some friends were up this week and said there was a super good callibaetis hatch and that is a change for the positive side. Balanced Leeches have been the best all season. Red Jig PT and CB Cate, Chromie, Ice Cream Cones and Sheep Creek Specials are good throughout the day.
Black Butte Callibaetis, Cut Wing Extended Body CB, Beetles, Ants, Red Hippie Stompers, Lady McConnell and Black X Caddis are good dries to use from late morning through afternoon and in to the evening.

I personally am opposed to fishing Crane Prairie and Diamond Lake now with the water temps hitting 70 during the day. I think this may be the last week we see that though so put them in the queue.

A few trip and travel announcements:

#1) I have 2 spots open for our Lower Deschutes Women’s Only Trip September 23-24-25. It is a great 2 night /3 day trip and we expect to see some steelhead in there at that time too, and a whole bunch of trout on caddis, including the start of the October Caddis Pupa action. $1500 for 3 days.

#2) 4 spots open for Baker River Lodge in Chile. This is the finest fly fishing lodge in the world that I have been to. February 21-28 $7500 for 7 nights and 6 days of fishing. Double occupancy. I will be there. Heck, even Chester will be there. A can’t miss to hear 2 old curmudgeons going on about dry fly fishing for big brown trout. Not to mention the fishing for brown trout. With dry flies.

#3) 3 spots open for January 24-31 in San Martin de Los Andes. Come with me to see what may be the best value in patagonia fly fishing travel. A 2 day camp trip and 4 day trips to famous and awesome rivers in a glorious setting. I love SMDLA so much (I might retire there some day). $4950

#4) 4 spots to the Blue Bonefish in Belize in April. 4/11-17. Prices range in the mid $4000’s but let me talk you about how to maximize the trip to fit your needs and catch some killer fish at the best Belize Lodge I know of.

If there is one thing we are lucky for today here in Sisters it is a lack of wind. Now we need a little rain and a lot of luck. May mother nature bring us all of that.

Until next week, see you in the shop or on the water.

Bugs
8/23/25