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June 11th, 2021
June is an excellent dry fly month on the Metolius. The lead player is the famous Green Drake hatch. Drakes like to hatch best on cloudy or rainy days but sunny days will still have respectable hatches. Drakes most often hatch from 3 to 5pm on the Metolius but occasionally you will see some pop a little early. Our most popular drake is the Nealley's Green Drake which is tied comparadun style. You should also carry an assortment of Paradrakes, cripples and emerger styles. Not every fish will eat your first choice.
Other key hatches to be ready for include the PMD's, Caddis of various sizes and colors and Blue Wing Olives. Just like the drakes, you should have different stages of such as emergers and spinners.
Nymphing will always produce. Carry some Lex's Improved Golden Stones, Guide's Choice Hare's ears and Pheasant Tails. Modern jig style flies are gaining in popularity. We like the HDA Fav, Pearl & Orange and Thread Frenchies on the Metolius.
May 29th, 2021
Memorial Weekend typically kicks off one of the more popular and productive hatches on the Metolius: The Green Drake Hatch.
This hatch started a couple weeks ago on the lower river and has been building momentum. The peak is over the next 3 to 4 weeks and is usually done by the end of June. Midday around 3 to 5pm is usually best and its a pretty popular time to fish on the river so find a good spot and be ready at the right time. When picking out Drakes make sure to have several different bugs as they can get quite picky. Once they have refused your fly either clean up your presentation (aka bring your A-game) or change flies.
Of course there are several other big hatches going on namely PMD's and caddis so don't put all your marbles in the Drake basket.
Nymphing is good. Soft Hackle Jig Pheasant Tails, Duracells, Perdigons and tradtional indicator rigs with small stoneflies can find some willing participants.
There are some bull trout being caught. Mostly nymphing the larger October Caddis or stonefly nymphs but some streamer-eating fish too. Low light is a much more effective time to get a bull to eat a streamer especially in summer.
April 17th, 2021
April is a real up and down month on the Metolius for the bulls and the bows. The higher sun angle seems to move the fish around and out of their winter lies.
Hatches also are inconsistent but be ready for almost anything. Dry fly fishing is also inconsistent. But like all rewarding fishing, you must put the time in on this river for you to reap its rewards. Enjoy the process, move around and fish waters you may not have had success in before. The famous hatches of summer are coming but now is a good time to find some new pieces of water that hold promise for later. Use a Chubby Dropper program to search and cover water efficiently. Use a small chubby (it will get a few eats here and there) and use a size 14 or 16 Jig Fly below it. 3 feet of 5x fluorocarbon is a good depth. Obviously adjust as needed. Which color and model of fly you use is less important than how you fish it. If pressed, we'd say a Thread Frenchie, Walt's Worm (tied by Fulling Mill its called the SOB-Czech) and a Pearl & Orange are as good as any. All of these are tied on jig hooks and have tungsten slotted beads. Remember, its better to take 1 cast in 100 different spots than 100 casts in 1 spot when searching.
If chasing bulls right now there are some large ones lingering. Most have seen it all and seen it all many times. But the big fellas gotta eat. Try fishing early and late when the light is low if you know where they live. If hunting for the first time or haven't spotted them before it might be good to fish when its bright so that you can gain confidence in their location. If they aren't willing to eat at that moment hit 'em when its lower light. Streamers are working but your'e gonna need to put the time in. Nymphing is a little more consistent. October Caddis Pupa get it done. Egg patterns and stoneflies also find paydirt.
March 6th, 2021
Everyday is a new day on our area's most famous spring creek. One day will find you in the middle of rising fish slurping blue wing olives, the next day it will warm up and you will have emerging caddis being hunted down subsurface by trout craving the larger meal. And if you aren't too lucky you will hit one of those days when nothing seems to be happening. That's the Metolius and you have to be prepared to lose a few battles to succeed out there.
Overall its been a good winter of fishing with a definite spike in angling traffic from previous years. Many different angling tactics are being employed while some are looking for dry fly only opportunity while others are hucking the big stuff for the resident bulls. Whatever floats your boat just try to leave the place better than you found it and pass on proper etiquette to all you come in contact with. Its a special place and we will need to be special stewards for it to remain so.
January 19th, 2021
Awfully nice weather for January has us fishing the Metolius quite a bit this winter. Of course we could join others to fish for the behemoth bulls but its refreshing to target the native bows also. Hatches are consistent around 1pm on most days and will last for about 30 minutes to an hour. Expect blue-wing olives to be the main bug but some yellow maylfies are making appearances also. Its really a treat to be able to throw dries in January but with the short window of opportunity you need to be in the right position and ready. Whether you use 5x or 6x is up to you but try to get nice short drifts over the fish. If the fish you are targeting will not eat your fly reassess your angle of approach or change the fly. Emerger patterns are often the ticket on this river and a Film Critic or Gould's Shuckoff are two good ones.
When not confronted by rising fish its typically nymphing time and we remain committed to the Chubby Dropper system even out here. You probably won't catch any fish on the Chubby in January but its right angle drop to the Jig fly is super effective. Use 5x fluoro to the tungsten jig fly. For flies we are using Firestarters, Roza's Pink Tag Jig and the SOB-Czech (Walt's Worm) with good success. You would also do well with a New Zealand Indicator. Euro Nymphing also continues to grow in popularity out here, and for good reason; you will catch more fish. Best fishing will be from 11am to 3pm most days on the nymph stick.
November 28th, 2020
Short days and colder nights are here but brief windows of good dry fly fishing on the Metolius exist. Small blue-wings are going to get gobbled up for an hour or so most days. Use a #18 and #20's and have a few different stages, with emergers being very important. The Quigley's Film Critic is one of our "go-to" patterns on that river.
Nymphing is good and the windows of success are a little longer than fishing dries. Small pheasant tails are always good and its a good idea to have beadhead and tradtional non-beadhead for different water types.
Bull trout fishing is good but it did seem that the kokanee run was smaller this year so maybe some of the lake run fish will head back sooner than the last few years. Large streamers are going to get smashed if you can find fish that are not being pressured every day.
November 4th, 2020
Getting towards the end of the annual kokanee run on the Metolius with Bull Trout looking for the last Kokanee McNuggets of the year. Bulls will hunt down kokanee that are dead or dying this time of year so pull out the 7 or 8 wt. rod and chuck some meat. Of course, you can fish an egg pattern or nymph but getting a big ol' bull to eat a large streamer is awesome. Fish heavy leader, 15 pound is about right and look for runs below where kokanee spawned. They often eat on one of the first casts and usually don't eat if something looks wrong.
Rainbow trout fishing is decent on dries and good on nymphs. Blue wing olives will be the dominant hatch If you are headhunting look for midday to be best with very limited activity before 11am. Nymphing with jig flies, small stonefly nymphs (we like the Lex's Improved Stone) and pheasant tails will get some fish below the surface.
October 22nd, 2020
Guest report writer: Ron Romeis
The last 2 weeks has been unusually productive on our favorite waters. Everyone knows that the Metolius River is tough. According to one well known blogger, there’s no need to fish there, because there are no fish in the river. Right!. Well ,on one day recently, there was a good reason to fish there. A former guide and friend, who happens to also be a single digit handicap golfer, suggested we try the Metolius River. This time of year can produce prolific hatches and often really good dry fly fishing. We decided to try the afternoon hatch and hit the river a little before noon. As we approached a well known spot on the river, there were some trout rising in the middle of the river. As that spot has been described as a frustrating venue, we gave them a few casts, but soon decided to move on to another spot, hoping it would be available this late in the day. Luckily, our spot was open so we each took a position on opposite sides of a big eddy in the river.
It didn’t take long to realize this day was certainly going to be different. My friend only made a couple casts before connecting with a very healthy 16 inch redside. Encouraged, I searched my side of the big eddy and soon connected with a very nice fish on a Deveaux style dry. It was only the beginning. Before our afternoon session was complete, we had landed 12 fish between us and had several drive-by misses and refusals. The fish had eaten dry flies, emergers, and soft hackles. By far, our best day ever in that spot on that river.
Well, a few days later we had one of those warm wet fronts move in. It was mid-week so I was certain If I arrived early, I could hit my spot and the weather would be ideal for the afternoon hatches. As expected, I arrived at the parking area in a steady drizzle. I was able wader up and headed up the trail without another fisherman in sight. As soon as I arrived at the spot, a steady rain began to fall, so I hunkered down and planned to wait it out. The rain did ease up and everything was working as I had planned, except there were no fish rising in the pool. I waited patiently for a hatch to begin, and I waited longer. Finally, I spotted a feeding fish, but the hatch just never materialized. Several other guys eventually came by and saw that someone had beaten them to the well known spot. I did finally connect with what appeared to be a very strong fish. Playing the fish carefully with my size 18 fly and 5x tippet, the fish made several strong runs in the heavy current. But, to my chagrin, when the fish was finally close at hand, I discovered he had been foul hooked and the fly pulled loose.
Despite my well planned approach to the day, things just didn’t come close to the last time in the spot. The Metolius had apparently returned to its normal behavior. Every now and then you can have one of those days you’ll long remember. But, it was a different day, and it was certainly a different outcome. But, I’ll be back, those fish are still there and maybe next time they’ll be looking up.
September 7th, 2020
The Lionshead Fire is growing rapidly and has forced the closure of all the campgrounds along the Metolius River. Now is not a good time to fish or access the river.
September 2nd, 2020
September is a great time to try your hand on the Metolius. With a myriad of hatches brought upon by the coming Fall, now is a good time to put some time in out there. Of course, you will have quite a few other anglers, as well as hikers and campers around, but the chance of finding rising fish for much of the day exists. Hatches include the end of the Golden Stone hatches on the upper river, the unique Willow Fly ( a large bodied short-wing stone) found on the middle and lower river, hoppers in the canyon, Little Olive Stones in size 16 or 18, Caddis, and an assortment of mayflies from Drakes to PMD's. Bring all your flies because they won't do you any good at home or the car. It will be pretty hot there this week but with the lower sun angle now the fishing can still be pretty good even midday.
Nymphing is good for the native rainbows and whitefish especially before the hatches and streamer fishing for the migrating bulls can be good if you pick the right spots. Kokanee will start showing up in about 3 weeks and the streamer fishing can be outstanding after that.
August 13th, 2020
Evenings are best on the Metolius right now. Quite a few different things are on the menu with some caddis, assorted mayfly hatches and evening mayfly spinner falls. Just like most rivers in Central Oregon, the hatches are fairly sparse and trout feeding activity light in the heat of the day. However, as shade starts to form when the sun dips to the west over the pines, bugs start to make an appearance and the trout notice. It's a great place to be when the feeding activity concentrates in just a few hours each evening. Some flies to bring to the Metolius in the next 2 weeks include: Purple Haze #16-18, Quigley's Film Critic #16-18, Clark's Stone #10, Tan Sparkle Pupa #18, Rusty Spinner #16-18, and X2 Caddis #16. A small fly box with these flies, your favorite 4 or 5wt, some 5x and a good attitude are what you need for a great Central Oregon night out on the Metolius.