Sunday afternoon is a little later than I usually post my weekly report, but yesterday I was getting back to Buenos Aires and needed to get some grocery shopping done, get some exercise and start getting ready to leave to Chile later this week.
I was in Uruguay at a Rancho (in this case a farm that grows a lot of soybeans) and was fishing for Golden Dorado. Golden Dorado are a fish that continue to have my number. I first tried for them in 2020 for a week at a lodge in northern Argentina on the border with Paraguay and not terribly far from Brazil. Our group caught some, but it was an off week with the river dropping due to a drought in the Amazon.
Then about a year ago I tried again, just for one day with a well known outfitter in the Buenos Aires area. Nada. 3 days of fishing this week gave me the grand total of 3 Golden Dorado, all small ones. Some fish remain elusive, and Golden Dorado is that fish for me. It sounds like Carlos and I are going to give it one more try though, after I return from Chile in March I have one more week here to enjoy.
Do you have a fish that eludes you?
What is your dream fish? Mine are Brown Trout and Permit. I love every trout though, like really truly love them. I dream of them in far off lands, and when I am in far off lands I dream of the ones near home in Oregon. A Deschutes basin redband trout is a gem, a brook trout from Hosmer, a brown sipping a beetle on the shore line at East Lake. Speaking of browns at East Lake, I want to pay a tribute to my long time friend Don who passed away this week at his home in Sisters. Don was a fabulous guy to share time with in the boat, or to visit with in the shop or the aisle at Bi Mart. Don holds an extra special place in my memory in that he caught the biggest brown I’ve ever landed with a client in the boat, and it was on a red jig Pheasant Tail hung under a white Corq strike indicator near the Cinder Hill ramp. I remember it so vividly, a cold summer day, the place I wanted him to cast was in a series of small white marl bottom amongst the vast weed beds found in that zone. Today, I think of Don and his/our special fish and remember that moment with more love than ever.

On the Metolius River this week the fishing was good again, which is not a surprise due to the time of year and the biological/entomological reasons that occur as we race in to the spring season. It is just 2 weeks from the beginning of March! And with BWO hatches coming off well most afternoons you should find ample opportunity fish the cycle of that hatch from pre-hatching nymphs, to emergers and cripples, duns popping about 1 or 2, and spinners are something to keep an eye on from 9 am to dusk as these late winter days the spinners do their thing when the weather is right, and not necessarily at dusk or dawn when the summer weather is consistent and we are so used to fishing the Rusty Spinners. Anyway, put 2 or 3 BWO Spinners in the box in both #18 and #20’s and keep an open mind to put your face close to the water and look for them gently floating by.
I’ll tell you that if the fish are sipping something that you can’t figure out what it is on the Metolius, start putting your face close to the water to look for any sign of spent mayflies. If not that, if the rise form is gentle it could be a mayfly emerger or a midge, if the rise form is a little more aggressive it is likely a caddis emerger.
It won’t be a surprise to me if one of you writes me or texts me (thank you for those that do this with your reports for the week) and says you saw Cinygmula’s hatching. Yes, it is a tad early but it is time to get some #14-16 yellow comparaduns, sparkle duns, knock down duns and soft hackles in the box for the Metolius.
BWO’s for sure, midges highly likely, Cinygmula’s are coming so be ready. Caddis absolutely too. October Caddis and their smaller cousins the Silver Stipe Sedge and Snow Sedge offer some dry fly options, but super good deep pupa options throughout the day. Gavin from the shop was telling me he did well on the tan Fat Ass Caddis Pupa this week too.
Adding some nymphs to the list, don’t forget how well Red and Orange nymphs are on the Metolius. Here are 3 to have: Red Lightning Bug, Red Copper John and Fire Starter Jigs. Speaking of jigs, a PCP, Jig Napoleon and Olive Perdigon too. Golden Stones, Eggs, 2 Bit Hookers and Micro Mays in the BWO size. Also, a lot of Metolius regulars swear by a bead head soft hackle PT. I personally love that fly too and prefer it on the jig hook with the copper bead. With the Kokanee fry hatch just happening, small silvery streamers like the Crostons Minnow are a good one too. (the fact I have been killing it in Patagonia over the past 2 months with that fly has me really extra excited about it)

The Crooked River is a solid choice now for you and unless something really extraordinary happens with snow pack we are not going to have a big dam release this winter or spring so plan on good water conditions for now.
Our old friend Drew-Who came back to Central Oregon and spent some days on the Crooked last week with his son and they had a lot of luck on Eggs and Zebra Midges.
Olive Perdigons, 2 Bit Hookers, Skinny Nelson, Fire Starter, Scuds, Midge Winker, Olive Mini Gulp and Slum Lords will get you through on the nymph side whether that is tight lining or with a NZ Wool indicator. Someone said that they caught fish on BWO’s on the Crooked, and I think with the mild winter that is certainly possible already. But midges in February are usually more prolific so keep that late afternoon hatch open for your best opportunity to dry fly fish now.

The Fall River might see some snowy roads this week due to the elevation, but not enough to change access to the tubes or the headwaters and campground areas. Just some slicker roads again to drive more carefully on. Fishing is really good on the Fall now and just like the others rivers, Blue Wing Olives are one of the key hatches and being prepared in the all the stages is super important. I find the KD Dun (I call it a one wing wonder) to be hard to beat and is often knotted 1st to my tippet before anything else on this river. Sparkle Duns, Film Critic, RS2, Parachutes and Spinners too.
Eggs, Mops (Pink), Slum Lords, Perdigons, Walts Worms and other heavy Tungsten creations are the best choices.
Try stripping small streamers, even articulated streamers on a sink tip in the pools and on the “pond”. Elicit a chase response.

The Lower Deschutes in the Maupin area is another place to put on your fishing radar now. Stonefly Nymphs, Green Rock Worms, Perdigons, Berry’s PCP, PT’s, Walts Worms and Hares Ears nymphs are the ones to really use now.
I would also suggest casting some small streamers on the drop off’s and the weed bed edges.

Keep in the mind the water is high and a challenge to wader and be safe on a lot of the Middle Deschutes access areas. Irrigation draw downs are about 60 days away, and you need to know where you are going and what you are doing to fish the Middle D safely. That said, this is the time for the Little Black Stoneflies and a #14-16 Black Elk Hair Caddis and Float-n-Fool are the flies of choice for that. It’s an option to consider now.

I didn’t have any other reports from Haystack other that the one I shared from Skip and Dave. It was open and ice free and I assume it still is. Worth a shot with a balanced leech. I would do a double leech set up and tie one on with a chartreuse bead and the other with an orange bead and see what bead color the fish prefer. For a quick trip and just a relatively easy wade from the handicapped access dock towards the dam there is a good reason for a stillwater junkie to go try.

It looks like Central Oregon is going to build some snowpack this week, with more maybe the week after. Keep hoping.

By the way, thank you to those who wrote and offered encouragement, advice, insight, friendship and support to me after my worries for the future post last week.
It is certain I will be okay.
But thank you for supporting me with your kindness to reassure me of that.

It is now dark in Buenos Aires, I am going to practice spanish on Duo Lingo, make a sandwich and go see a movie.
Until next week….

Jeff