Leftovers, good football and family time are most likely the program for most of us this weekend, but of course we need to circle through all the places you dream about fishing this coming week and discuss hatches, trends, weather and tactics that will put you ahead of the game when you venture out in pursuit of trout.
If you are coming out to Sisters today there is a Christmas Parade at 3:30 and the Tree Lighting is at 5 PM. Free Hot Chocolate in the Park on Fir and Main (just a block and half down from FFP) thanks to the good people in the Sisters Rotary Club and many fun things to begin the Holiday/Christmas season.
I love the decorations, the lights and the music of the holidays and here we go. Blast off to Santa songs and twinkling lights.
At the shop, we are decorating for Christmas today. Mind you, it is 2 dudes in their early 20’s, but I love that Mattias and Gavin are going to get in the spirit and get things ready to welcome the season at FFP.
mattias already put up the outside lights and I love seeing them each night at closing time. Last evening I left the shop and went to Bi Mart and had a few other quick errands and driving the streets of Sisters is a picture of seasonal beauty all lit up with lights for the holidays. Town will get that big tree lit up tonight to complete the sentiments of the season we all need.

If you live in Oregon, or came to visit for the Thanksgiving week you know so far that we are way below normal for Snow this fall and early winter. So many people I talked to at the shop who drove over the passes were stunned by the utter lack of the white stuff up there. Looking at the forecast it looks like another week is in store for us without much snow. Of course we want the ski areas to thrive, and the tourism that follows with Hoodoo and Bachelor opening up to increase December visits, and we really want to see the snow pile up so we have another good water year for next fishing season.
But for now, access to the rivers and even a few lakes remains easy.

The Metolius River is always our #1 report and the fact that every single FFP staff member loves the river and fishes there often is why we can offer good reports there week after week.
Hatches are slowing down a little but keep looking for BWO’s and Caddis every day it is above freezing for the winter months. CInygmula hatches are sporadic and probably going to end their consistent daily emergences quite soon. But in a spring creek like the Metolius a warm December day can put them back on the menu for an hour or so, and the same applies to PMD’s mixed with the more ubiquitous Blue Wing Olives. I have fished a PMD at the Idiot Hole above Wizard Falls on December 4th and took fish on a PMD Film Critic while it happened. Spring Creeks are strange, but the Metolius is downright mysterious.
October Caddis will be important every day from now to April, and soon the 2 smaller cousins of the big Orange caddis #8 will emerge as another couple of options to match. The Silver Stripe Sedge and Snow Sedge (Sedge is synonymous term for Caddis and commonly used in the UK). These smaller Orange/Amber caddis ar #12 commonly, and are important throughout the winter in the Pupa stage and in the Adult stage as a searching dry. Orange Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulator, Clarks, Goddard and the Orange Missing Link are patterns to add to the list. For smaller caddis this week grab some Weiss’s in both the grey and tan, tan Iris and Corn Fed Caddis and make sure you have tan pupa to present as a nymph on a dead drift or a swing.
In the winter there are always some eggs in the drift, kokanee are done, but whitefish are getting going on the winter spawn, brown trout and bull trout are fall spawners and rainbows will begin to propagate over the winter. Eggs are important protein and a good nymph to have day to day now.
Stonefly nymphs are also really important, especially #8-12 Golden Stones. #6 Black stones have their day to shine too, and the fish are used to seeing them, but if you fish the Met in the Summer and Fall you are aware the Salmonfly population is way way way smaller than the Golden Stone population and that makes the Golden Stone nymphs the top choice 365, and especially so in December and January when a lot of the mayfly nymphs are in tiny, early instar phases and not as available in the drift.
I overheard part of a conversation on the phone at work the other day about Green Rock Worms, the free living caddis larva that ranges in color from bright green to olive. Species of caddis that do not build cases and specifically fall in to the Green Rock Worm name are Rhyacophila. Also look at Free Living larva that build a feeding “net” in front of their habitat on the rocks and add Hydropsyche and Chematopsyche. No cases either, so “free living” (who doesn’t desire that, man!) and it is not a bad idea to put them in the box as they become part of the biological drift throughout the winter months as they graze the bottom of the river until they need to move/drift downstream for greener pastures. Rhyacophila rappel down river and use a silken string to move, but I imagine that fails often enough and they really go adrift. It is easy to get more excited about the Pupa, because on a day to day basis there are Pupa in the drift, and with the larva, in terms of biological drift that only happens every so often. But if you are on the river on the right day with a Green Rock Worm and that drift is occurring, you’ll be happy you knew another arrow was available in your quiver.
All the standard Euro Nymphs like Walts, Perdigon’s of many colors and bead sizes plus PT’s, Blue Prince, 20 Incher, Zebra Midges in both Black and Red and Rainbow Warriors will be good this week (and next).
Some amazing Bull Trout have been landed recently and are being found on Euro Jig streamers in the pools and logs, and with big articulated streamers stripping or swinging them, usually on a sink tip.

The Lower Deschutes from Warm Springs to Trout Creek and at South Jct have been mostly good, with nice steelhead showing up on a deep drifted nymph or swinging a Leech.
Trout action for the most part is very good on nymphs. Eggs, Black Leeches, Red Copper John, Black Stonefly’s, Golden Stones, Peacock Stones including Girdle Bugs for the aforementioned 3 colors.
Whether you float or walk in, the next week is going to offer another exciting chance of finding steelhead and fat resides.
We are about to wrap up the November special but with the lack of a ski season so far, let’s go ahead and extend it to December 15th. A bunch of our staff had really good days this past week down there.
It looks like we have a bit of a cold, Columbia Basin Fog pattern that can really make the Lower Deschutes cold and colorless when it sinks in. I think it is going to sit here for a few more days too. Wear your thick puffy and bring your mittens and a wool hat.

The Crooked River is running at a perfect water level for the start of Winter, and so far water temps remain nice for the fish to keep happily feeding. I say this because sometimes as we start December the river is starting to freeze up on the edges and water temps get in the 30’s and except for a short window of time the fishing can turn off. Not yet, it is really a good place to take yourself this week and enjoy some good nymphing and a possibility of a short afternoon hatch too.
Some friends of mine were out the other day and said a small Frenchie was the ticket. I don’t doubt that for a second, Frenchie is a tremendous Crooked River fly for sure.
Add some Yellow Jig Napoleon’s with an orange hot spot, Scud, Zebra, Winkers, Eggs, Brown or Olive Mini-Gulp and add a Prince Nymph to your nymph box.
I would fish a Purple Comparadun and Purple Haze #16-20, Griffiths Gnats #20-22, Emerging Midge #22 and an Olive BDE #18 for matching any possible hatches you’ll encounter this week.

The Fall River from the Headwaters to the Campground to the Hatchery and the Tubes to the Falls (remember the Falls to the Deschutes are closed until 5/22/26) are all great access spots along with a few “little gems” in-between the more popular spots. We are getting to a nice time of the year when mid-week anglers are not seeing the pressure on the water as much and have more room to spread out enjoy it. Afternoon BWO and Midge hatches are your best hatches, but still do not overlook the Amber Caddis that are pretty consistent on the Fall in the Fall and early Winter.
Crippled BWO and Emergent BWO’s along with a EP or traditional Sparkle Dun will be your best mayflies on 6x, 6 1/2x or better yet 7x tippet. Midges are really small and you need #22 and 24 black or grey emergers and adults and I’ll remind you that a red emerger is often really good too. The Red Century Drive or Red Herter’s Midge are 2 to go with.
Streamers and Eggs and Pink Mops are great here, and of course heavy tungsten flies, especially Micro Mayfly Olive or Black #20, Purple Perdigon #16-18 and Olive or Pearl Perdigon’s #16-20.
Streamers can be stripped or drifted as a Nymph with some action imparted to it during the drift.

Lakes Report

It’s been about a week since any of my fishing friends have been to North or South Twin Lakes. Both guys (Rob and Bob) reported good fishing when they were there. Beetles and Balanced Leeches. Add some Ice Cream Cones to the box and keep it pretty simple as winter comes up on us, and realize it won’t be long until the lakes freeze and snow blocks the access.

Ochocco Reservoir is a good lake to fish if you have a motor boat and can access shorelines with a balanced leech or get up on the shoals closer to the creek confluence. Wind Drift a leech on a Camo Line too. Leech aficionados know the Simi-Seal color Black-n Red. Black Marabou or Suede Tail and a Gunmetal Bead on a #8 or 10 is a good one!
This reminds me of a gorgeous leech I saw online made from an old black fleece jacket. Do any of you have an old (worn out) Columbia jacket we can cut up to make flies? If so, I would love a 6″x6″ square of Black Fleece to tie that fly I saw. It looked alive when it was wet! Baby baby baby, Leeches are so juicy.

Travel-

I might have 2 spots open to Baja in early June. Put your name on the list if the spots open up I will let you know. I fished with Angling Baja in La Ventana last May and the accommodations, food and fishing were great. We decided to go again in June to get more opportunities for Dorado as well as Roosterfish.

I am heading to Argentina in the morning on the 5:55 AM flight to SLC to ATL to EZE in Buenos Aires. Next week I meet a lot of good people from Sisters and Bend for the 1st of 5 trips to Patagonia this “winter”. Tom and Carol left early and are already near where I will meet them in San Martin de Los Andes a week from Today. They have been catching big “Fontinalis” on a lake with our mutual friend Jon in Bariloche. The Latin name of brook trout is Salvelinus Fontinalis and in South America the guides and anglers who love them and pursue them call them Fontinalis.

My friend Bart Bonime made a fly fishing movie in Argentina called “Finding Fontinalis”. You can watch the trailer on You Tube for 4 minutes of exciting footage if you’d like to see more of that!
Also this week Scott and Lyn from Bend, who are no strangers to travel to South America but will fish there with us for the 1st time, and Rick F, Rod B and Jeff W round out the crew for the week. I am so excited to share boat days with the 3 guys (the couples all have their boat partners) and watch them experience this land I love so deeply for the 1st time. Jeff W went hiking there last year with his daughter and was excited to go back to try his hand at some Trout too. Rick is a new friend and someone I really look forward to spending time with to get to know more. Rod is an old freind, and he & I have been dreaming of this moment for decades, and he is making it happen this year. I am probably most stoked about this and I hope he does mind my farts and snoring when we share a tent and room together.
I’ll be home for Christmas and hope to see a lot of friends in the shop over the holidays. I leave again for South America December 27th and stay in Argentina and Chile until I return to Sisters March 16th.
While I am there I am planning to continue the reports, they will offer the same local reports as always, and will have some stories and reports from down south too.
Beside trout fishing I am planning to do some Golden Dorado fishing in Uruguay with my friend Carlos and I can’t wait to share what we find there.
In my 40th year of fly shop work this is a big adventure, a part of the the life changes that have occurred recently and in a way a sabbatical from the day to day at the shop and a chance to grow, learn to speak spanish and see how life is away from “home” for a while.
To my friends and customers, I want to assure you I am always available. If you have my phone number call or text or WhatsApp call me. Email me from my personal email, or the one that connects through the FFP website goes to me too. I love to hear from you, and I love seeing you in the shop and I promise we will see each other there many times again in the spring. Next summer in late June we will party and enjoy the celebrations for the shops 40 year anniversary. There is much to look forward to.

Best fishes my friends ! You mean the world to me in so many of the ways we connect.

Jeff

Me with Ciro and Esteban wearing the gift of an authentic Argentine Gaucho Hat on the Rio Alumine in March of 2025. Watching Ciro develop as an angler has been really cool for me, and building a friendship and a business relationship with Esteban is world class.