Hello and thanks for reading the newest report, I am writing it on a friday night because I take off for Patagonia early in the morning and I won’t have time to share anything tomorrow with the group travel and getting settled in San Martin de Los Andes.
I know a lot of you are getting ready for the Oregon game, and from down here in Argentina I say “Go Ducks”. I really hope we get a redemption win over Indiana tonight, and that Oregon can make the National Championship game. I’m not a big college football fan, but this is a great moment for Oregon as a whole.

Oregon had a few days of winter which is better news on a lot of fronts, although snow pack in the in the Deschutes and Crooked River basins is a paltry 39% today. That is not good, but we can hope that La Nina delivers some heavy snows as winter and early spring plug along. We’ve had many miracles in March over the years, and it is still early January, with a lot of winter left to experience. The good news is the basin had 163% precipitation in January and we are at 90% for YTD in the Deschutes basin. Our area saw a lot of rain, and that certainly soaks down in the aquifer too, but man oh man that snowpack is important for summer.
Hoodoo Ski Area opened for business this week and that is great for them, and it is great for tourism for all of the business community in Sisters, Black Butte Ranch and Camp Sherman.
I know a lot of families that drop the kids off at Hoodoo and then the parents go fishing on the Metolius for the day. With the next dry spell coming back today, hopefully Hoodoo can hold on to the snow they have, but certainly the fishing weather in the next 5 to 7 day period looks amazing.

My good friend Chester hit the Metolius a couple of days ago, and he shared this with me yesterday:
I got lucky with the weather on the Metolius. It was a cloudy, 38-degree morning, and I felt a hatch was possible. But would the trout show up? I got to the river early to practice casting that new sink-tip line with a big fly. I worked over the Dolly Hole pretty well but no bites. That’s okay, as I hardly ever cast a sink-tip line, and I need to practice before Chile. There was a super-light snowfall and NO WIND. I started seeing bugs at 12:30, and the hatch was full-bore by 1 p.m. I hooked three fish and landed two between 1:15 and 1:30. A size 20 Sparkle Dun got very confident takes. I don’t think these fish have seen many dry flies for the past month. Then the temp dropped like a safe from the sky. It started dumping, and the rises vanished. A pretty perfect little outing.
My favorite dry fly guy knows how to do it, that is for sure. He felt the hatch coming. I love that. I also believe it.
I am confident this BWO hatch will be fairly strong each afternoon this week so make sure you have some good emergers, cripples and duns to match the hatch and a 12′ 6x leader to get a good drift. While Chester saw #20’s on the water this week, you NEED to make sure to have #18’s and 20’s. The difference in size from one hatch to the next on another day, or another stretch of river can be the difference between a fish in the net or not. And my experience says more January and February Baetis are #18’s.
There have been a lot of October Caddis and some smaller Silver Stripe Sedge too. It’s a good idea to have a couple big orange dries, but to really make an effort to fish the Pupa, along with some smaller #14-16 tan pupa like the Fat Ass Caddis and my Improved Fat Ass Caddis with the Rose Pink Bead and the twisted Antron Body for durability.
Golden Stones, Orange Girdle Bugs (why? A good crossover fly for the Oct Caddis and a Stonefly nymph), Eggs, Zebra Midges, 2 Bit Hookers, Blue Perdigons and Blue Prince (why? In winter light blue shows up really well under water), Perdigons in Brown, Olive, Purple, Pearl and Orange and Red Copper John Red Ice Cream Cones and Red Lightning Bugs. Pop in a few Jig Streamers too, and try them under the Indicator and on a Euro rig.
Big Streamers are always a good choice for Bull Trout, with a sink tip and a cone head or tied with lead eyes, articulated streamers get the job done and can be tied long enough and big enough to look like a fish a big bull actually wants to eat. Fish them dead drift to a swing, under a (large) indicator, swing them or strip them. Different water types can require different techniques and different techniques can necessitate a different fly choice. Color, Size, Head Shape, Sink Rate all play a role.
Don’t forget that from the Headwaters to Allingham Bridge is closed until May 22nd to protect spawning fish.
Also, don’t forget to purchase your 2026 ODFW fishing license. The OSP Game Wardens love to do early season checks on anglers out there to “remind” them if they forgot. Sometimes reminders result in a ticket. I applaud the OSP for being out there, and especially for them watching the river for closed areas and watching for people not following the tackle rules. I wish they could have someone there every day.

The Fall River got some snow this week, but access is still good all through the open areas. Headwaters, Campground, Horseshoe, Hatchery, Tubes and down to the top of the Falls will offer fishing access with some snow on your boots.
Midges #22-24 and BWO’s #18-20 are the 2 main hatches for January, and it won’t be a bad choice to add a few #14 Purple Hippie Stompers to your dry fly box. The Hippie Stomper is also a good indicator with an Egg, Perdigon or Zebra Midge.
Jig Streamers and Balanced Leeches have been working well I hear. With 50 degree days coming back soon that snow will be gone and access is going to be super good as will the fishing.

The Crooked River is in perfect winter flows at 100 cfs. Water is cold but not crazy with the icing on the edges and the fish hunkered down to the bottom like some winters. (yet).
Look for dry fly activity down river closer to the MP 12 area later in the afternoon, and possible right up to dusk. This is technical dry fly action, a 6x or even 7x tippet will serve you well coupled with a long light butted leader. With the month of January adding 50 minutes of daylight in Central Oregon you can enjoy some nice dry fly fishing on the Crooked in weather like this from 2 to 4:00 and later in the month maybe to 4:30 or so.
Have you been trying any drop shot nymphing out here? In the slow runs it is a very good way to put a small nymph where it needs to be.
Euro techniques and NZ Wool or tiny Oros indicators are all good methods and set ups too.
A tiny Black or Purple Perdigon, Zebra in Black or Red, Frenchie, 2 Bit, Skinny Nelson and some little Slum Lords and Squirrel Jigs will be good for you this week.

I haven’t heard anything from the Maupin area (Lower Deschutes) but certainly check in on Amy Hazel’s report or call them in Maupin for the latest. I know the water levels and clarity are good now and it is quite certainly a good bet for the coming week to go get a Lower D fix.
Warm Springs, Mecca, Dry Creek, Trout Creek, South Junction are all closed until 4/22/26

I am very excited to get back to Patagonia to begin another week of fishing this weekend. I have another good group of friends going me this week, with Skip and Sean, Tom and Jeannette and Van and Kari. I know we are going to hit the Willow Worm hatch on 2 of the rivers and we should see some caddis and mayflies including rusty spinners just like we’d see on Oregon rivers in the Mid-Summer.
Last month I absolutely slaughtered fish on a jig streamer from Fulling Mill called the Crostons Minnow. The guides had never seen that before so I brought 5 dozen down from them to use. Who knows if it will be as effective as it was in December, but my hunch is it will be more effective as more minnows should be hatching now than last month. The Crostons Jig Minnow is just a fishy nymph/streamer that can be used under an indicator or stripped with a bit of action. I look forward to using it in Oregon this summer too. A lot of flies I have used in Oregon I used here first and fell in love.

Here in Buenos Aires it is a good life, with a lot of walking, good food that is mostly cooked at home, long sleeps, and I began writing a lake hatches book I have been wanting to write for quite some time. If the Book sucks and no one wants to publish it, I believe it will make a good series of Magazine articles and one heck of an addition to the FFP website. But I hope to make it a book, it would be a proud thing to accomplish that at this time in my life.
The weather has been really nice, it was low 70’s today and when I went out to walk to the grocery store it was just starting to sprinkle a little. Now I hear it raining harder as the rain is bouncing of my BBQ and Balcony at the moment.
In the city I go to the grocery store almost every day, carrying my bag(s) from the apartment about 2 blocks to the bigger of the 2 neighborhood options to buy groceries. By this time I am figuring out the layout of the store, and how to buy fruits and vegetables (not veggies Mrs P) and getting them weighed and priced for checkout. Checkout lines can be very long, on some visits 10 to 20 minutes in line to pay for groceries. Tonight all I needed was big bag of rice and a 6.4 liter bottle of water as I don’t drink the tap here in the city. I use it for coffee and bruising my teeth and have zero troubles, but I prefer the bottled water to stay hydrated.
Most evenings I arrive to the store there are people who are not as fortunate that are asking (sometimes really pleading) for some food. I usually try to buy them some chicken and an apple and bag of chips or cookies. Tonight, I had some left over Chorizo and Hot Dog Buns and apples and banana that will go to waste with the departure tomorrow, so I used one of the Zip Lock bags I had Skip bring down from Oregon and brought a care package to a couple of guys that needed it. On some visits I see a mother and her son needing food, or men going through dumpsters. It is not an easy thing to see, and while I am not a religious man, I do believe that there was a great guy who helped people out a long time ago and the world needs a little more of that in far too many places as the rich get too rich and the poor so poor that they need to dig through garbage to eat today.
Remember how lucky most of us are.
And if you can, remember to help others in ways you can.
Even helping the environment is helping others and many other living creatures.
I want to do good and I aim to do so here, and at home.

With a lot of love and respect, See you next week!
Go fish. Do good. Go Ducks.
Jeff