The September madness is over but with the good weather the trend is still great on the Metolius.
I’d guess we will see Drakes for another few days. Boy oh Boy, was the September Drake hatch phenomenal this year.
PMD’s, BWO’s and Mahogany Duns will continue to be important for the rest of October.
This time of year Tan CDC Caddis and either a Missing Link or Iris Caddis will also be a great bet at the surface.
We are still getting some fish on Clarks Stones. This time of year they imitate the straggler Golden Stones BUT ALSO October Caddis adults.
Speaking of Oct Caddis the Pupa is important from now, all fall, all winter and into the Spring. The Metolius is an October Caddis factory!

We’ve been having good luck on small mayfly nymphs, Zebra Midges and Golden Stones. Also lightning bugs, Jigs, and Red Copper Johns.
With all the Kokanee spawning, EGG’S are quite good as a dropper.

Bull Trout Fishing is excellent on big streamers.

We love October on our river!

I got on the river a couple of times this week and it was awesome. Early in the week it was a dry fly day on the middle river and yesterday on the upper river all I carried was my Euro Nymph rod and a box of nymphs. Both days were fun and very productive in there own right.
The Drakes continue to pound. Mostly size 10’s with some 12 and 14 mixed in. PMDs and BWOs and Mahogany Duns round out the mayflies.
Caddis are abundant including October Caddis now. We prefer pupa’s for the Octobers but a Clarks Stone or Orange Stimulator occasionally gets whacked. This time of year I love the little CDC patterns in a size 16 mostly.
I recently learned putting a little Aquel floatant on CDC is really effective. I used to think not, but I was wrong on that. It is killer. And then once the fly needs dried out or has caught a fish use powder to maintain it.

Kokanee are showing up. This means 2 things to me. It’s egg time for Rainbows and the Bull Trout are going to be eating better!

Bull Trout fishing has been very strong this fall. It’s worth it, but don’t bring a 5 weight and think you can cast the streamers with a light rod.

I love writing September reports for the Metolius. So many hatches to talk about.

Mayflies: 
Green Drakes #8-10 2 pm to 5 pm especially from the Canyon down to Bridge 99 and below.
Flavs #12-14 2 pm to 5 pm. A smaller Drake that overlaps the big guys. Important in September especially for the next 2 weeks.
PMD’s #16 mostly but a few #18’s mixed in. You can see PMD’s in all areas of the river from the Headwater stretch down to the Candle Creek area. Could hatch at different times of the day but look for them mostly noon to 5.
Blue Wing Olives #18-20. These smaller mayflies get over shadowed when the Drakes are out, but can be equally important to the trout. Usually they emerge later in the afternoon to the early evening this time of year.
Mahogany Duns #16 are another important Fall hatch. Not a ton out quite yet but any day now there will be. They are all over the river.

Caddis:
There are so many different caddis out in September. Later in the month we’ll begin the first October Caddis Emergences, but for now it’s Yellow and Black Micro Caddis #18-20, Tan Caddis (spotted sedge) #16 and Olive Caddis #16-18.
We rely on flies like the Missing Link, Iris, X Caddis and CDC Caddis to fool selective Metolius feeders.

Stoneflies:
September is the time we see the Golden Stones in more areas of the river besides from the Headwaters to the Gorge. It’s common to see Goldens in the Canyon and near the hatchery and even by Bridge 99. A Clarks Stone is still our #1 pattern.
The real deal on stones in September is the Little Olive Stones. They hatch in huge numbers for the first 2 1/2 to 3 weeks of the month and the fish love them. It can be hard to match but we’ve got some great flies to do just that.
There are still some Yellow Sally’s out.
It’s common to see a BIG stonefly near the Wizard Falls area called a Willow Fly this time of year and a few Salmonflies believe it or not mixed in as well. It’s certainly worth having a pattern or 2 to match these for the next 2 weeks.

Bull Trout fishing remains strong with streamers.

Euro Nymphing and Western Style Nymphing with indicators is also a great bet especially early in the day before the hatches get started when the sun warms the water.

The Metolius is improving every day as we quickly slide in to September which is the month I’ve always considered to be the very best time to fish the river.
Right now there are a ton of Bull Trout coming up from the lake and lower river to spawn in the creeks. (remember the creeks are closed/off limits to any fishing to protect these special fish)
There are a good number of Golden Stones in pockets around the river all the way from the Headwaters to below Bridge 99.
The Upper River is where you’ll currently do best on Golden Stones. Also, in the upper river there are good PMD’s and Caddis.
In the Middle and Lower River you’ll find PMD’s, Ameletus (I like a #14 Purple Comparadun or Olive Haze), lots of caddis including massive hatches of yellow micro caddis, Blue Wing Olives in the evening, Rusty Spinners at dusk and the first of a massive  emergence of little olive stones that will really hit heavy the 1st two weeks of September.

The beautiful Metolius is of course holding up very well in the heat too. Spring fed water is a gift in temperature extremes and we have had some awfully hot weather this week.

Plenty of hatches. PMD’s, early evening BWO’s, Ameletus (Purple Comparadun #12-14), Rusty Spinners, Caddis (mostly #16-18….waiting for the massive summer Micro Caddis, should be soon!), Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, reports of Tricos early in the morning and a few early Mahogany Duns already (these really hit in September).

Bull Trout migration is in full swing and plenty of big BT’s in the system.

We love the Metolius on these hot summer days. It is so pleasant down along the river and the fishing is still good.
Golden Stones, PMD’s, Caddis, Rusty Spinners, BWO’s and keep an eye out for a larger Olive Mayfly which ought to show up in early August (ameletus sp.) .

Euro Nymphing has been particularly effective over the strike indicator approach.

More and more big Bull Trout are entering the river from the lake and headed up to spawn soon enough. This is a good time for BT’s.

Afternoon PMD hatches all throughout the river, Golden Stones in the Upper River from the Gorge CG to Riverside CG. Caddis are abundant most days with the best hatches in the evening. Rusty Spinners at dusk finish out your day.
Nymphing is also good with McGee’s Girdle, Golden Stone Nymphs, Micro Mayfly, Perdigons, CDC PT, Euro Jigs, Zebra Midges, Rainbow Warrior, Lightning Bug and Hares Ears.

Hearing reports of big bull trout showing up for the migration up from the lake.

Golden Stone hatches are increasing with the hotter weather and the time of year, so from Gorge up to Riverside CG expect better and better days with the adults and the nymphs.
PMD hatches are all over the river and can happen from 11 am to 7 or 8 PM on any given day. This is followed up by Rusty Spinners at Dusk, although we’ve also found in the hot weather Rusty Spinners can be back in the early morning too.
Speaking of early morning, it is your best bet to catch a Bull Trout on a Streamer. Fish Big flies.
Caddis Hatches have been light. Kind of surprisingly poor really. We see this from time to time in July. They will hit with a vengeance soon enough.
We are getting some BWO’s around 6 or 7 PM when it begins to cool for the evening. Trout are sipping emergers, cripples and duns. I love a small Purple Comparadun or Film Critic with these are on.

Nymphing is great. The better your drift the more you’ll catch. We are pumped on euro nymphing and having very good success doing it everywhere, including the Metolius. Of course drifting a Golden Stone nymph under an indicator with a small dropper is a good method too.

Tina and I and some friends fished the upper river yesterday and got quite a few fish on a Clarks Stone, despite seeing very few Golden Stones so far.
Plus, most of the fish I saw that looked but didn’t eat the stonefly would come up and eat a PMD.
Also, Euro Nymphing was very good with PT’s and Perdigon’s in the Camp Sherman area.

I’d say the Green Drakes are officially done until September.
PMD’s, BWO’s, Caddis, Rusty Spinners and Yellow Sally’s all over the river and Golden Stones in the Upper River from the Headwaters to the Gorge.

Looks like the Green Drakes are about done until September. If I was was to give a little advice for the next several days though, I’d still carry the big bugs and hope for the best. Usually by the fourth of July they are done until fall.
This week there have been some good afternoon of #10 Grey Drakes. We don’t see a lot of Grey Drakes on the metolius but there are some, and this week they’ve been out.
A #10 Purple Comparadun or Parachute Adams will do the trick for the Grey’s.
PMD hatches have been good to strong depending on the day and the stretch of the river you might be on.

The best news is the GOLDEN STONE hatch has really got off to the good start on the Upper River above the Camp Sherman Store.

Evening Caddis fishing is good. Keep an eye peeled for Baetis in the evening from 5 to 8 or so, and at Dusk expect a good Rusty Spinner Fall to hit the water.

We’ve had great nymph fishing lately, especially using the Euro Style flies (jigs and perdigons) on long light leaders.

Bull Trout fishing is ok to good. Not a lot of lake run fish yet. Should be soon.