Today marks my 34th year since I took over ownership of the Fly Fisher’s Place in 1991. What a ride, in business, in life, in fishing, in learning, in friendships and in losses.
I take nothing for granted, and I can tell you that in the early and mid-years of this journey that some of the struggles with making it through the winter were terrifying. How we scraped through it is still beyond me.
I always tell people I am too dumb to do anything else, and while there is humor in that statement, it also has a hint of truth in that being tenacious, and stubborn and a college drop out, where in the Hell else was I going to go? If you know me, you know I am not a “salesman” in the sense of the word, I am a guide on the water, and in the shop. I am not really a business guy either. I run this business with a passion for people mostly, a passion for fish and the pretty places they live, a continuous curiosity to learn more about fishing and I love of fishing tackle both old and new. This is what defines my career after all these years.
Thank you so much for being a part of it, whether we connect here or on the water or in the shop. It means a lot to me to share the ride with you. In 2 months FFP celebrates its 40 year anniversary. Start looking for 40 year anniversary swag with our special logo and the story that will go along with it. I am so excited to celebrate throughout 2026 for achieving something so many small businesses don’t.

A reminder the November Guide Trip Specials are running and I want to thank so many people for your interest in this, and those of you that have booked a trip already it is so appreciated by our guides.
$450 Lower Deschutes Full Day Float Trips, and $375 Full Day Walk & Wade Trips. Bring Your Own Lunch.

This week on the Metolius River saw some changes that define a true autumn shift. Notably the BWO’s now seem to be the best and most prolific mayfly hatch and they have shifted to being quite small. Don’t be surprised when we grab you #20 (shhhhh or even 22’s) instead of the 18’s that so often get put in your selection. PMD’s are going away fast, but there are still yellow mayflies around, they just happen to be a completely different species with a completely different life cycle from a habitat and emergence standpoint, and these Cinygmula mayflies will mix in with PMD’s for a bit, and then be the only yellow mayflies we will see later in November. Make sure you are carrying both #16 and 18 yellow duns and emergers now. Pop a Rusty Spinner in the dry fly box too. Warm evenings are over, so the at dusk spider fall is less likely than seeing them late afternoon and if fish are rising gently and you can’t tell to what, tie on the rusty spinner to your 6x tippet and my guess is they will eat it.
Caddis hatches have been good with tan #16, grey #14, orange #8-10 with Pupa and Adults being important at different times of the day. Flies to choose are tan and orange pupa in the appropriate sizes, Olive Missing Link Caddis, Weiss’s Caddis in both grey and tan with the hi viz top wing (so cool), Iris caddis, Orange Stimulator and a #10 or 12 Clarks Stone (my #1 pick).
Nymphing is exceptional, and of course eggs are important but the kokanee spawning has turned over to a dull roar. The salmon orgy is done for the year, but the aftermath with eggs and flesh are important to the health of the river, and to the trout. The Kokanee eggs will hatch in about 100 days and that will be a good time to nymph with a little silvery jig streamer. Put it on your calendar for early to mid February.
Streamer fishing for Bull’s is so much fun and this is the time of year it really feels like it is primed up. If you have a 7 or 8 weight rod, we have some good sized (long and heavy) articulated streamers. If you have a 6 weight, we also have some smaller articulated streamers like the Milk Shake (it brings all the bulls to the yard) and others. Also Jig stuff like the Sir Mix a Lot is a good one, especially now with the little egg head bead that weights the fly just right to get down under an indicator, or Euro jigged, or even swung on a floating line.
One misconception about Bull Trout fishing is every fly has to be on the bottom. Or I need a sink tip. Not usually. Some of the best Bull Trout anglers I know use a floating line and adjust leader length and fly weight to match where they need the fly to be on the drift. And remember, a predatory Bull Trout will chase the whitefish you have hooked all around the pool, and that fish is not only looking for a meal off the bottom.
FINALLY, it is November 1st. I mention this to remind you that the upper river from the Allingham Bridge to the Headwaters is now closed to protect spawning habitat until May 22nd.

Speaking of closures, don’t forget the Warm Springs Reservation side of the Lower Deschutes River is also closed as of today until April 22, 2026. Still there is lot’s of good fishing and access this month and in December, but make sure to stay off the reservation waters (and their land) and that includes all islands and gravel bars west of the main channel now.
Jig Streamers have been especially hot, along with Eggs, October Caddis Pupa, Girdle Bugs, Golden and Black Stones, Brown and Olive Perdigons and Prince Nymphs.
Swinging for steelhead is good now, and we are also getting a lot of steelhead on the nymphing rigs and catching trout with the exact same flies. Do you love the tug on a swing? Or do you want to get numbers? Do you want to use a spey rod? Or a nymph stick? The beauty of life on the river now is any of that will be good. You choose.
Don’t forget our November Special for $475 float trips this month! That’s an all day trip from WS to TC, it includes flies, boaters pass and the use of the boat rods. Bring your own lunch.

The Crooked River is fishing well, water levels are nice at 100 cfs and steady. The water is pretty clear now too. Most days will see enough of a BWO hatch to get the fish eating on the surface to an emerger or dun. I had my best luck this week on a Purple Comparadun, and my fishing partner Chester was using a #20 parachute with good success. We both treat dry fly fishing as a ritual, if not a religious experience and picking off rising trout to a mayfly hatch is a wonderful time, especially when done with a good friend who I have shared that river with for 40 seasons now.
Nymph fishing is good, and either a single nymph on a euro rig, or a single nymph under a NZ Wool indicator or off a Dry Fly as a Dry/Dropper rig. Small mayfly nymphs like a 2 Bit Hooker, Micro May and even a small Flashback Pheasant Tail are great to match BWO nymphs before the hatch or really anytime, add zebra midges, midge winkers, scuds, Ray Charles, and orange psycho princes are good nymphs. In the low water make sure you have some nymphs that are not tungsten beads. A brass bead or glass bead won’t get caught up on the bottom or in the weed beds like a tungsten bead will in some of the places. Tungsten is great in the deeper areas, but at 102 cfs there are a lot of shallow spots. Also, Soft Hackles! Swing them or dead drift them, they really work.
November Special Guide Trips $375 for 2 people.

The Fall River is one of my favorite places to go this time of year. I always joked they don’t call it the Fall River for nothing (in October and November….get it?). There are beautiful afternoons of dry fly fishing with BWO hatches, and Amber Caddis and Midges. Bring your light tippet for the best results. 7x will fool more fish than 6x. If you don’t feel confident with 7x pick up a spool of the Trout Hunter 6.5x and ease your way to learning to handle the lightest tippets. It makes a difference, and it takes practice to feel it, to tie a knot with it, and to land a fish with it. The 3rd part is the easiest, although I think a lot of people think that is the hardest.
That light tippet also plays well with the nymphs in sink rate, less drag, less visible to the fish and more fish to the net. Just don’t set like you’re in a bass tournament.
Nymphing is always a good bet on the Fall River, and no the fish do not always feed or bite well but can be enticed by a well drifted nymph or jig streamer. A couple of things to add to your FR box are Tungsten Eggs in Brown (yep) and MOP Flies. I was fishing a run between the Tubes and the Falls with a myriad of flies and there were 3 fish sitting mid river that were in a spot due to trees and deep water to get a dead drift over. I went upstream and swung a MOP in front of them and immediately hooked up. What was really cool was the hooked fish not only stirred up the other 2 that were laying mid-river, but swam quickly to the undercut bank below me and spooked well over a dozen trout out of the hidden undercut and the entire pool was chaotic for a moment. It goes to show you that those undercuts are important places for the fish too. An old friend of mine Tom Brasier used to quietly walk those cut banks with a Lead Eye Wooly Bugger and hit along the cuts with good success. That was in the 80’s and 90’s and he was tightline fishing long before all the modern techniques took hold. Pretty cool! These days we would probably use a Slum Lord or Sir Mix a Lot to do the same thing. If you tie flies, tie up some black lead eye buggers with a small or medium eye. Tom usually tied his with the natural *dull* eyes, although sometimes I saw him use silver ones.
I have a special place in my heart for this river as it is where I truly learned to fly fish. Not my 1st place to go fly fishing, but where I kept going back to week after week, sometimes day after day to practice skills I learned from the Doug Swisher Scientific Anglers videos called Strategies for Selective Trout and Advanced Strategies for Selective Trout. Find them on You Tube or Vimeo and watch them this winter. The more you know….

Rolling the clocks back tonight to standard time means a hatch that has been occurring at 1 PM for the last few weeks will be at noon tomorrow. Don’t be late. I don’t mind if you are late to church or work, but jeez, don’t miss the hatch.

LAKES REPORT

Here we are on November 1st and some of the lakes are still producing. Remember that Crane Prairie and Wickiup are on the regulations of Oregon General Trout Season and closed yesterday (10/31) and open again April 22, 2026.
Hosmer Lake is still open and my freind Jesse has a nice morning there yesterday. A lot of streamer fishing happening there, but also Balanced Leeches and Ice Cream Cones with an indicator. Takes are S-O-F-T, so Wool or a Bung indicators will pay huge dividends more than ever. Why so soft? Water temps are getting cold and that’s the result.
Little Lava Lake is still open and my freind Rob had good days there this past week, especially on Beetles. He told me at dinner the other night that Callibaetis were still hatching in the afternoon. That blows me away. Ice Cream Cones and Pink Bead Spicy Squirrel under the indi would be on my line for sure if there was no dry fly activity.
Paulina Lake is open, the road is mostly clear but watch for ice on a few of the shady corners on the way up. You really need a boat to access Paulina best. Streamers and Scuds stripped, Balanced Leech under the indicator, and Purple Chubby’s with a Rainbow Warrior dropper would be good to start out with.
East Lake is a great bet for wading anglers until the snow gate is locked. When will that be you ask? This is from the Deschutes County Road Dept
UPDATE: SEASONAL ROAD CLOSURES, 2025

The Deschutes County Road Department will be closing Cascade Lakes Highway and Paulina Lake Road for the winter season on Tuesday, November 18^th at approximately 8AM. 

Cascade Lakes Highway and Paulina Lake Road are currently open.

At East Lake I would certainly have a high focus on egg sucking leech and streamers. But scuds and damsel nymphs are active in the shallows now and ought to be in mix for you either on a floating line or a 3 to 5 foot clear midge tip. Out in the little deeper water try balanced leeches and chironomids, especially red ice cream cones and if I was to guess a size de jour, I’d guess I would start with a #16 or 18.
North Twin has some vert shore accessible areas and is a good spot to cast a Balanced Leech under a strike indicator, or strip a leech on a Hover or Intermediate Line. Boating access is good and opens up some good areas along the reed lines too.
South Twin is the same, with some wade access around a lot of the lake, although I prefer a boat. Leeches and Ice Cream Cones, and try that pink beaded spicy squirrel.

Don’t think that (private) Justesen Ranch Lakes are only a spring thing. Now is a super good time to enjoy the lakes. $150 per day. Call me to book or tell Amanda that Jeff sent you. Leeches and Chironomids there too. Some of the lakes you can access by wading or on the shore, and others you want a boat for sure.

Travel
I would sure like to recruit 2 more people to the Baker River Lodge February 20 to the 28th, 2026. $7500. It is a trip of a lifetime. I have truly never been on a more interesting river than the Rio Baker, the lodge is the best of the best, scenery spectacular and the staff and guides very friendly.
Starting in December of 2026 we will go back to Argentina and offer groups in December and January and early February. I just secured dates with Eduardo in Chile for Baker Lodge February 20-27 and Magic Waters Lodge Feb 27 to March 6, 2027.

Shop Hours changed today on weekends only. Saturday is 9-4, Sunday 9-3. Monday through Friday is the same 9-5:30.

I am in the shop today and will be around a lot of next week. Looking forward to giving a presentation on lakes to the Sunriver Angers on Wednesday, and going to the Fly Fishing Movie at the Tower Theater in Bend with Milt on Thursday. Tonight is baseball and if all goes well tomorrow will offer a bit of water time too.
See you in the shop or on the water.

Jeff