Overall the Metolius is fishing quite well

Metolius River - Metolius Springs, OR (Jefferson County)


by The Fly Fishers Place
9-21-2024
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Overall the Metolius River is fishing quite well but here are a couple of little things to look out for. Yesterday my wife Tina was on the river and found the fish to be way more keyed on Flav’s than on the bigger Drakes. Our friend Phil who fishes the river a whole bunch reported that he was seeing Drakes much earlier in the day than when we most expect to see them. Say 1 PM instead of 3 or 4…. Is this a constant? Who knows, but the advice given is be ready for changing conditions. Have #10 Drakes and #14 Flav’s ready as early as noon. Don’t give up on either hatch until 5 PM. 
PMD’s #16-18, BWO’s #18-20, Mahogany Duns #16 are the other 3 mayflies to count on throughout the day on the met now. You’ll find the Drakes and Flav’s from a little ways above the Canyon down stream to Candle Creek (and likely below there too, I just don’t go below there personally). The other three are on all stretches of the Rio and might hatch as early as as 10 or 11 AM and you can see them up to about 6 or 7 PM still on the water. No, not 9 hours straight of mayflies emerging, that is not what I mean. What I am saying is in different areas of the river, with the different thermal areas the Met has, you’ll likely see them have a hatch cycle that could last 10 minutes to 2 hours and probably also happen more than one time per day. You’ve heard the saying, I was in the right place at the right time. Well, there ya go. 
Caddis continue to impress us and the trout. The Micro Caddis have faded away and the top 2 caddis to fish are #16 Tan and #14-16 Gray Caddis. October Caddis #8-10, especially as Pupa as quite important and mostly I’d drift that pupa as a nymph late afternoon into the evening hours as the light fades over the mountains these big caddis make their way to the surface more and more. 
Stoneflies including Cascade Stones #4-6, Little Olive Stones #16-18 (we had one in our bedroom last night) and Golden Stones #10 which love these last days of hot weather and can continue to trickle out until the kids come Trick or Treating to your front door at the end of October. Besides, a Clark’s Stone has tricked enough trout to think it is eating an October Caddis, so double that fly up as a killer for Fall. 
Nymphing is excellent all over the river. Perdigons, Caddis Pupa, Stonefly Nymphs, TJ Hooker’s, GD Nymphs, Soft Hackle Pt’s and Zebra Midges are all recommended. 
So far there are no Kokanee coming up the river from the Lake. This event is near as the Fall Spawning Run is imminent, and the effect it has on the Bull Trout is great. Plus a lot of eggs in the drift for Rainbows and Whitefish. 
Not to be deterred however, the Bull Trout fishing is quite good and bound to get better soon. Most of the Bull’s are coming on Big Streamers now. 

 







9-9-2024
That doggone Little Lava Fire has moved enough that additional closures are required to keep the public safe. At this time...... Read More