Brian Marz's Fly Fishing Oregon Blog: Spring Trout Pics with Report

This past Friday the 29th was the perfect example of a spring trout fishing day on the McKenzie River. If you were to go fishing over there seeking out the March Brown hatch; you would probably come home saying the fishing was slow and the March Brown hatch was weak. With that being said, the fishing was fast action at times, and steady throughout the day, but we never once caught a fish on a March Brown dry fly.

Typical cookie cutter on this sunny bright day

We did catch fish nymphing, swinging wets, and I think we maybe had a fish look at a dry fly. We did not fish a dry more than five minutes or so though, and it was because the fish never got going on anything in a consistent manner. There were grannom caddis hatching hard for the first day in numbers and March Browns peppered in the mix. Maybe a Pale Morning Dun flew by, but no official confirmation; since we could not grab one from the air.

Lots of bent rods this time of the year....

Fishing was slower until about 11am, and then it picked up to a fair to consistent level till about 1pm. After that it was lights out till about 4pm, and we were drilling fish all over the place on many different fly patterns. Swinging softhackles wets and a March Brown wet proved to be most effective out there, and the fishing was really good in pulses, and then it would slow down to fair. Just when you would think it was going to slow down and turn off, it would pulse on out 20 minutes of hot action again. After 4pm, it slowed back down to getting a fish here and there on wets; so we tried nymphing again in a probable slot. We had several good take downs on the Thingamabobber, and had on a couple a nice fish to head into the boat ramp. Dave hooked something really big, but it got off in that slot. I never got to see it, but Rose showed some excitement when she saw the big mysterious fish. We swung up a last couple of fish, and then mosied on down to the take out boat ramp.


Well fed little McKenzie Rainbow Trout

Another great day on the water getting into lots of nice rainbows and cutts with many little ones in the mix to keep the action hot and heavy. The weather was the nicest day of the 2013 calendar year so far, and the fishing will stay strong throughout the spring if the current weather trends stick around. Ironically speaking we can use some weather to raise the water levels up a bit, and to make the March Brown surface fishing more what the stereotype says it should be. My key words regarding the March Brown hatch and trout fishing the upper Willamette and McKenzie Rivers would be to go fishing and don't worry about the March Brown hatch. Don't fish a bug hatch; fish the river's offered conditions. Use the given conditions and decipher what to do with them. This past Friday, I knew the night before there was going to be the first big grannom caddis hatch of the year. The weather was supposed to be over 70 degrees and that is the bug that will hatch in early April when it is warm and sunny. The March Brown likes cloudy, cool, and drizzle the most, but when you have time to go fishing you should go.

Scrappy rainbows like this make your reel hum nicely

Fishing during the spring can be totally awesome on the McKenzie and upper Willamette Rivers, and many people have no idea how much fun can be had in the southern Willamette Valley from March through early June with the spring bug hatches. There will be hatches of March Browns, grannom caddis (in clouds literally), pale morning duns, blue winged olives, some skawalas, a random salmonfly, and the McKenzie Green caddis (end of April). The fishing will be awesome this spring with the given water conditions; so get yourself out there.

Tight lines resulted from swinging softhackled wet flies in the surface film

If you are interested in going on a guided trip for the Lower McKenzie or Upper Willamette Rivers then email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com or call me at (541)-232-6360.