Starting close to home on the Metolius, there have still been some PMD’s hatching. I simply don’t know of another river in the world that prolongs hatches like the Metolius does. That spring fed water does some strange but amazing things to life cycles of aquatic insects and keeps it interesting and us on our toes. PMD’s do not fit in the “official hatch chart” for a December hatch, but it’s still trickling most days. Blue Wing Olives are the primary mayfly in the winter months and there is no doubt about how important these little #18-22 mayfly is on all the Metolius. Fish the complete cycle with a Micro Mayfly or 2 Bit Hooker, emergers, cripples and duns and keep a spinner or 2 in the fly box because if you are lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and egg layers are gliding back to the water and floating spent in the film, the fish will more than likely really take notice on that! That said, if they are rising, I’d be on a Knock Down Down, a K Fly, Sparkle Dun or Comparadun, Film Critic and a Parachute and have a 12-15′ 6x leader on.
October Caddis #8-10 and some smaller Grey Caddis #14-16 have been prevalent, and caddis pupa nymphs are good now for sure.
Midges are also important in the winter months as diversity of hatches is less this time of year. A Zebra Midge in black or red is always a solid nymph on the Met any time of the year, but midges become even more of an important food source in winter as there is less of other things to eat. *Think about all the hatches that will occur next spring, summer and fall. Most of those nymphs and larva are in early stages of development and growth. But Midges are massively abundant making them really important despite their size.
About a month ago I was one of 4 panelists at the Deschutes River Alliance Trout Whisperer’s event and sat with Tye Krueger of Confluence, Rick Haefle (famous oregon entomologist and author) and Paul Snowbeck of Fin and Fire. Paul made a point that I loved and that was the orientation of the stream flow in certain areas where the river got more sun would create better conditions for midge larva, in turn that would attract more whitefish to the area and in turn bring in more bull trout to prey on the whitefish. I loved that description of the cycle of life and appreciated Paul’s description of all of that.
Also, never forget about how important Stoneflies are in the cycle of life on the Metolius. Golden Stones and Salmonflies are year long food sources to the trout and in the winter I’d venture to say if you used a Golden Stone nymph and an Egg dropper every day you went to the Met, you’d rarely get skunked.
Friends are catching Bull Trout on all kinds of streamers, and we just got our big Purple articulated streamers back in stock that so many of you know well. Also, we got a new fly going that we call The Milkshake and the Milkshake brings all the Bulls to the Yard, damn right it’s bigger than yours! Try it