Hello from HQ, it has been quite a week with the weather, the fishing (both good and bad), and my best April Fools Day prank ever. More on that and another story at the end.
For now, let’s wade in and talk about all the fishing options we have in Central Oregon this week. The lost is growing and I believe there is a lot of good stuff to be found within an hour or two of the Sisters and Bend areas.

The Metolius River is in great shape and over the course of the week there were a lot of good days and moments reported to me. I was unable to enjoy it for myself as planned and hoped for. Business and mom stuff took away from a free afternoon, but that is okay. Both are very worth it.
I live vicariously through so many wonderful friends and anglers some of these weeks.
Mattias, Gavin, Joey, Chester, Eric and Phil were all kind to share with all of us their experiences this week which was a whole lot of nymph action and very little dry fly catches but there were some.
Remember the river is open below Allingham Bridge and closed up to the headwaters until 5/22/26 and there is plenty of good water to find and spread out in now.
So far the hatches have been Blue Wing Olives #18, Cinygmula #16, March Browns #14, October Caddis #8-10 (they are tapering down but usually keep going well enough until May in most years), Tan Caddis #16 and Grey Caddis #14-16 and Midges #20-22. This weather today sprouted a few flying Carpenter Ants along the river. If it holds for another day or two, on Tuesday and Wednesday carry a #12 Flying Ant to the river for sure. We are all still expecting Pale Morning Duns to pop soon. I thought it might happen early with the warmth we had, then of course last week was quite cool for several days. Who knows for sure, but it could have delayed the PMD’s a bit, but in any case it is pretty normal for them to be hatching well in April. As always, fish the cycle of every hatch, nymph, emergers (pupa as a caddis or midge), cripples, adults and spent egg layers.
The very best flies this past week were Eggs, Stonefly Nymphs, Green Drake Nymphs (the Peacock/Olive TJ Hooker and the Jig 20 Incher), Perdigons and Caddis Pupa.
There were some super good Bull Trout caught over the week, mostly on streamers. Some good kid in an orange jacket scored this one

The Lower Deschutes near Maupin is quite good both upstream to the Locked Gate and hiking up for more access, or down river towards Mack’s Canyon. Stonefly Nymphs and Perdigons, plus Soft Hackle PT or Soft Hackle Hares Ears in a 12-14 to suggest to a nice redside that another March Brown Emerger is in the drift.
During the day, usually around 1 the March Brown hatch will happen and that should be a good option to switch from the nymph rod over the dry fly set up.
What do you like to fish on the D for a Nymph Rod and what is your favorite Dry Fly Rod? Mine for the Lower River are my Sage 10′ 5 weight for indicators, my Sage 10 1/2′ 3 weight for Euro and my Winston 9′ 5 weight for dry flies. When the salmon flies come out I have an old Winston IM6 (remember these?) 8 1/2′ 6 weight that is so good around the brush and under the branches. Speaking of Salmonflies, I would guess they will be 2 weeks early this year. Time will tell.

The Middle Deschutes is back up this week to 453 cfs. This is a bit high for my taste and I only recommend it to people who know the river and take the safety of the river into consideration while fishing. In a week or so, the canals will open and the river will again draw back down. It appears last week was a temporary canal run which diverted water for a few days, but not a permanent seasonal withdrawal yet.
March Browns are the most important afternoon hatch, Pale Evening Duns and Tan Caddis later afternoon and evening.
Wading the edges or fishing the rocky areas from shore can offer good nymph or streamer fishing.

The Crooked River has some slower days this week compared to how it’s been, but I think it was due to water lever adjustments as the irrigation is ramping up there too.
It is always one of the best streams in the region and the BWO hatches, along with midges and the upcoming Mothers Day Caddis EXPLOSION give us all a lot to be thankful for.
Scuds, Zebra Midges, Soft Hackles, Fire Starters, Jig Napoleon, Split Case PMD and Micro May’s.

The Fall River is worth the trip and is good up at the Head Waters, through the Camp Ground , the Hatchery and the Tubes.
A myriad of hatches could prove successful to get fish on Dries, but a lot of the fish lately are coming on small Jig Streamers, and heavy Jig Nymphs. If the fish are looking up to eat dries a BWO Cripple, Emerger and Dun #18, March Brown Emerger and Dun #14, Beetles #12-16, Ants #10-16, Midges #22 and Olive Caddis #16 will be the hatches you will most likely run into this week.

The McKenzie River is very fishable now and I saw on social media my golf pro friend Kennedy (yeah Tokatee) and her husband Logan were out in the Drift Boat on a warm spring day over there catching fish.
I truly believe April, May, June and at least part of July are going to be our best float opportunities for the McKenzie this season due to such low snowpack. Get over there early and enjoy. I wonder if the flying ants will be hatching there this week? If they do, the rainbows love that when it happens. Otherwise, look for Olive Caddis and Orange Caddis to work well, Chubby’s with a nymph dropper, Perdigons, and larger Parachute Adams and March Browns.

LAKES

I had slower reports this week from Haystack and from North Twin. Full Moon? Weather?
Still worth going to and tomorrow is always a new day.
At Haystack fish Balanced Leehces, Chironomids and Callibaetis Cate under the indicator near the drop off going toward the dam and along the shoal near the CG. Will the mayflies hatch this week to offer the 1st dry fly fishing of the season there? I think it is a very good possibility.

Matt who was at North Twin yesterday had some pull downs on a Black-n-Purple Balanced Leech and got one to the net. That’s always a good leech color on our lakes, especially with the hot orange bead.
Chironomids and other colors of leeches, Damsel Nymphs and Callibaetis Nymphs will be smart choices regardless of you final destination to North or South Twin Lakes this week.

Chickahominy is 99 miles east of Bend and is a 2 hour drive to what is usually quite good for chunky stillwater rainbows. Damsel Nymphs, Chironomids and Balanced Leeches have been the best flies, but think of Scuds and Blobs too.

I know Davis Lake is open and heard of some Bass being caught. Any trout stories from any of you? How were water levels and launch conditions?

Diamond Lake continues to be the all star. Gavin was down there and had really good fishing on Platinum Soccer Moms. Balanced Leech and Chironomids have been stealing the show most days.

A guy came to the store today and busted his way in to Little Cultus. I was surprised he said there was 2 feet of snow on the road. That certainly means there will still be snow past the gate at Lava Lake and up to the Hosmer cutoff. With this weather it will melt soon enough and the gate is still closed to get to those lakes at this time.

Ochocco Reservoir is a darn good bet for this time of year. Fish the edge lines with Leeches and an Ice Cream Cone or Balanced Minnow.

Young Gavin went to Lake Billy Chinook yesterday and rowed his drift boat to the Metolius Arm from Perry South. Ambitious. But he caught 8 bulls and several Smallmouth on a Jig Minnow stripping on a sinking line.
All the arms are producing Bulls and this ought to be a super week to be there.

Justesen Ranch Lakes are all very good now and this week is going to be a special time to be back out there, or visit for your first time. It’s about an hour north of Madras and $150 per day access fees to really quality private lakes.

Soon we will add Paulina, then East Lake and then Crane to this report. Not this week, and Crane Prairie is tied to the seasonal Trout Opener for the state of Oregon which is April 22nd. I am hopeful the new owners at Paulina Lake Lodge open the ramp and dock as soon as possible. I am so excited to be back in the volcano. It’s my happiest place.

Travel

Patagonia Baker Lodge is half full for February 2027.
Magic Water so far 2 of 12.
Argentina December and January (x2 weeks)
Belize April 2027 but trying to adjust to May of 2027 so I can stay in Argentina longer.
Who’s coming with me?

Esteban and Erika from Southern Loops Flyfishing in San Martin de Los Andes will be in Sisters May 12-18 and we will do an informational day about fishing in Argentina with a formal presentation open to anyone wanting to learn about this super great fly fishing destination, most likely on May 15th, and another event by invitation the evening of the 16th.
Let me know if you have an interest so I can get a head count going.

Story Time…

Proudly and then with a tinge of guilt, I pulled off the ultimate April Fools Joke this week. The Morning of 4/1/26 I posted that I had been hired as the Director of North American Fly Fishing Tourism to work for the province of Neuquen in the city of San Martin de Los Andes. I let the joke go for most of the day until I thought I had created enough excitement, worry, hate, and pissed off friends and family that I better come clean.
2 of my favorite interactions were from Skip and Lynda Paznokas who texted me after seeing the post on Facebook and I texted a reply “you do realize what day this is?” and the phone lit up immediately with a call from Skip that started with the greatest booming laugh ever.
My own sister was totally duped too and was so mad at me for not telling her this news outside of social media. I did my best to come clean to the hundreds of people this went out to and that replied to the post. I have so many supportive and sweet friends. I am not quite ready to hang the towel in Sisters, and I am 90% sure the province of Neuquen has no such position and never will, but I may end up retiring there someday as it is really quite the place and I believe it to be a lot more affordable than Oregon.

Two days later, I was still in the mood for some pranks, and I’ll back up to the 2nd when I dropped off the boat at Sculpin Marine for the work on the cleats. When I got there Miles came in late for me and had his 2 year old daughter with him. As we were going through the work I hoped he could do, the little girl was content playing in my boat.
The next day Miles got to work on the boat and I wanted to add a cleat to the port side bow area to connect the rope for my big drogue for really windy days. He texted a video of his hand showing that he could not get under that spot to connect the nuts under the gunnel. I texted back a sarcastic reply that the 2 years olds hands are smaller and maybe she should try.
The next thing he sent was an AI image of my boat in his shop engulfed in flames with Bend FD on scene. It was hilarious, and I made a fake Yelp Review with the photos and posited on Oregon_Stillwater_Jeff which is the social media I use for my lake guiding and passions.
Well, it was misunderstood to say the least. I had people calling and texting how sorry they were my nice boat was on fire. Oh my! I decided after April Fools that one big joke was enough, I may be cut off for the rest of the year,.
Here is the joke

A priceless memory. I love the ability of being light and having fun, and this week with so much bad news around the world and with peoples health that I really care about, thank god for laughter. Man does this world need more of that.

Be good, be kind and go fish.

Jeff