Plenty of hatches and lot’s of good nymphing now, and of course the freezing cold spring water is a welcome relief on hot summer days…for us and the trout! There is nothing better than the Metolius in the Summer.
Here’s a rundown of the hatches:
PMD #16 Keep an eye out from 11 AM to as late as 8 PM but expect the peak about noon to 3.
Rusty Spinners #16 could be out in the eddies and slow runs very early in the morning but your peak will be the last 20 to 30 minutes before dark.
Blue Wing Olives #18 are out again and we see them in the early evening as soon as the shadows hit the water and the humidity comes up.
Caddis. There are a bunch of caddis hatching but seems like Olive #16, Tan #16, Yellow #18 and Black #20. Caddis are going to be mostly evening but I wouldn’t hesitate to use a Siddac or Parachute caddis mid day.
Yellow Sally #16-18 are gorgeous little yellow stones that love the mid day heat. Fish them close to the banks anywhere on the river but especially in the upper river.
Golden Stones #8-12 are coming off so so in the upper river but the fish want to eat them and we continue to fish a Clarks Stone with good success. The stones are also coming off below Bridge 99 and we’ve had some reports of good fishing on the big bugs down there.

Nymph fishing is good with McGee’s Girdles as the point, and PMD nymphs, Micro May’s, Frenchies, Sparkle Pupa’s, Zebra’s and Lightning Bugs.
It’s been the most consistent fishing and is working on all stretches of the river.

Happy 4th of July. We are giving the trout no independence from our flies. Although one of our favorite flies is a Frenchie, but for this day we’ve names it the Freedom Fly.

This week we’ve seen better nymphing action than dry fly fishing. Maybe the heat? PMD hatches were a bit off, and evening caddis hatches were light. The one shining light was plenty more golden stones in the upper river bringing the fish up to the surface.

This is the time of year we get good afternoon PMD hatches usually sometime in the noon to 4 range, some BWO’s usually from about 6 PM to 8 PM and great Caddis hatches in the evening followed by Rusty Spinners at dusk. Let’s hope it all gets back on schedule this coming week.

By the way, a few nice Bull Trout are being caught on big streamers. Best results will come in the early morning hours.

Green Drakes are still on, most days coming about 3 PM now, but could be as late as 5.
PMD’s are picking up steam and there are more evening caddis hatches with this warm weather and more golden stone adults showing up now too. We’ve seen golden stones all over the river but where they become most important this time of year is up in the Lake Creek area and up thru the Tract C area.

The Green Drake hatch is impressive this year. I fished Sunday and had a really nice afternoon and Ben and Adam have been practically living out there for the Drakes!

We are also seeing a good number of PMD’s and smaller Caddis.
It’s been cold for several days so our evening spinner falls are not as intense but with warmer weather coming back this weekend I anticipate better rusty spinner action and better Iris caddis action too as the evening shadows hit the water.

Upper river fishing is also good with mostly just PMD’s so far, and a few caddis here and there. I’d focus on a heavy Rubber Legged Possie Bugger and run a Zebra Midge dropper or a PMD Split Case Emerger.

The Green Drakes are picking up some steam and are hatching more consistently about 4 PM from the Canyon Down to Bridge 99 and below.

There have been good afternoon emergences of PMD’s as well and then some Caddis in the late afternoon and Rusty Spinners at dusk.

The first of the Green Drakes have been showing up this week! We’ve heard of Drakes from Below 99 up to the Hatchery. Hatch times have been 2 ish, but could be as late as 5 PM.

Plenty of PMD’s, Rusty Spinners and Caddis. Fish have been taking some caddis adults but the Pupa’s have been producing more fish.

The Upper River is now open, so access from Allingham up thru Camp Sherman, Lake Creek and Tract C is all good.

We still believe a lot of fish are spawning in the tributaries. Fishing is not as good as it can be, but it’s fair to good. In a week or so it should be even better.

The PMD hatches have been spotty but showing up more frequently. We also had a friend below Bridge 99 who reported a great afternoon hatch of March Browns.
Most interesting is the early Salmonfly’s seen from Bridge 99 upstream, especially thru the hatchery area and up to Canyon Creek.

Caddis hatches have been fair, but when it warms again they will surely improve late afternoons and evenings. Right now we’ve had some success swinging Soft Hackles and Tan #14-16 Pupa from Allingham to Gorge. Seems strange but it can work well enough to try it.

Golden Stone nymphs and a Frenchie or Black Zebra Midge continue to produce a lot of fish underneath the surface.

The water remains a bit high for this time of year but fish are in most of the usual spots, especially eddies and pools. We’ve caught most of our fish on Golden Stone nymphs this week so there must be a biological drift of stones in progress as they search “greener pastures” downstream a bit.
Fish also seem keen on Frenchies which makes sense as we also see PMD’s hatches beginning for Spring.

Speaking of dries, PMD’s and BWO’s and a lot of small Caddis are hatching daily throughout the evening, and add some rusty spinners to the list for evening.
We are not far off from the early Drakes. The real hatch gets going in late May and June, but it is common to see a pre-hatch scenario earlier as the species protects itself by spreading the hatch out.

I think it’s going to be a great season on the Met! Redd counts by biologists this spring were really strong and I’ve heard rumblings of record numbers. That means there are more adult fish in the river than there has been in a very long time. I think the USFS Woody Debris project has created so much new and good habitat that it is increasing our fish population.

Deep Nymph presentations have been producing the most trout. We’ve been using Golden Stone Nymphs and 2 Bit Hookers, Zebra Midges, Soft Hackles and Small Jig Flies.

Dry Fly action happens, but maybe not everyday. We are seeing BWO’s and Cinygmulas. maybe because the water is still a little high, but a lot of the days the hatches get ignored.
There are still quite a few October Caddis around. Pupa patterns are good for sure. Sometimes a big Orange Elk Hair Caddis or a smaller Clarks Stone will bring a curious Rainbow up with a good smack to these dries.
There are some smaller spring caddis too. Ideally fish a Sparkle Pupa. In fact, late afternoon on a dead drift or swing is good this time of year, but look for fish on top with an Iris Caddis or CDC Caddis. You usually can tell its a caddis rise when it is sporadic and a little more splashy (compared to a mayfly).

We had a couple of guys in yesterday that ran into what sounds like a super hatch of BWO’s and Cinygmula’s (mixed) and the fish went nuts at the surface!

Golden Stone Nymphs and Eggs, Zebra Midges, Soft Hackles, Oct Caddis Pupa, Caddis Pupa and 2 Bit Hookers have all been strong producers.

Bull Trout have been more scarce. There are always resident fish, but the Lake Fish have gone home and will back in the early Fall. I still recommend fishing for BT’s and using big white streamers.