Fun Fly Fishing Day In The Oregon Summer Rain - Video From Last Sunday

Willamette Valley Coastal Cutthroat Trout 

Well the weather recently has been a nightmare for a tourist visiting possibly, but heaven for a fly fisher. Rain and clouds always seems to pick up the action when you are out seeking trout and steelhead. This past Sunday was no exception, as we had steady trout action all day, and we had fair action for steelhead too. If we had hooked up with all the steelhead that took our fly, we could have had four. Instead I hooked two brief enough to have the fly line get pulled and both fish boiled up, while Nikki had one swing get yanked tight only to get right off as it happened. She did land her first summer fish (as I mentioned on yesterday's post about the same day). Below is a video of some of the fishing from the day; so you can see more than the steelhead which I posted a video about yesterday. Enjoy the video!

Willamette Valley Hatchery Summer Steelhead

If you would like to go out on a guided trip for fishing like this then email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com or call me at (541)-232-6360.

Summer Steelhead Time! It's Game On!

With good numbers of summer steelhead passing over Willamette Falls, the only issue we have been facing has been the water levels. Recently the water levels have been stabilizing and dropping, and the rivers have been much more approachable for fly fishing for summer steelhead. Recently, on a day off, and a good friend and I decided to pursue some chrome. Luckily for us, we were rewarded with a fresh sea run turbo charged steelhead that my buddy landed, and I lost another one too. Even one of my swings went through, and there were three solid tugs before the fish decided it was not going to commit to my offerings, and it was gone. Close one though, and the one fish day could have easily been a three fish day if the planets lines up slightly differently.

McKenzie River Summer Steelhead

With the higher levels, the fish hold in different spots then they do in the lower summer level conditions, and knowing where to look is the biggest part in achieving success out there. Think like a steelhead, and know that they love water that is walking pace and from approximately 18"-5' deep, and that variable can clear out a lot of water that may seem fishy. If your normal go to spot is faster and deeper than when you slammed the fish last summer, then you may want to fish another spot. Many of my high water spots will not even hold a fish in low water; yet there may be a half of a dozen chromers sitting there waiting for you to show them something. Knowing where the fish hold in the current conditions will create your success. Fishing your standard low water spots will only make you feel bleaked out when you have thrown 1000 casts without even a tug or a sniff.

Stoked Angler with a Fresh Willamette Valley Summer Steelhead

When you are out there and fishing, think about the water levels again. You can get a fish to come up through the depths to check out your classic wet fly patterns or you can sink down to their level and you can grab their attention with a nice and bold large profiled pattern. On the flip side, don't forget that these fish can see some small things, and they will take a subtle fly pattern when the masses are bombarding them with all sorts of hardware. The other thing to think about is how the fish may respond to a dead drifted offering. When I was out with my friend, I hooked a fish on a swung fly presentation with a type II 15' sinking tip that was attached to a Skagit Head with a long "moal leech like" marabou pattern with the color combo being black, purple, and blue in the back. My friend followed me through the spot and his swings went undetected. After rowing the boat out into the pool, and with the sun behind us; we could see several steelhead holding. We tried to sight swing to the fish, but they did not move an inch.  

Super Bright McKenzie River Summer Steelhead

My friend Brian threw a few casts to a fish that I saw, and I coached him into each drift; since he could not see the fish from his vantage point. He threw a cast in, and as soon as it hit the water, I said, "that's the one....". It dead drifted down to the holding lie, and I told him "NOW!" right when the Thingamabobber probed over the sighted fish. Suddenly the Thingamabobber subtly dunked under only about 8" underwater. Brian struck hard, and the result was a surge of chrome that looked like a shiny car bumper in a river. FISH ON!!. We pulled the boat over to the bank, and Brian jumped out to enjoy the battle from the shore. After a sturdy long fight, the fish yielded to the net. We were stoked! Steelhead fly fishing takes persistence and will, but the rewards are huge. A successful day out on the water for summer steelhead makes you feel like you are on top of the world. Get out there so you can enjoy that feeling!

If you are interested in booking a guided trip for steelhead, call me at (541)-232-6360 or email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com .

Carp Flats Fishing Was Happening!

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to go flats fishing for Carp, and I scored it while it was happening. The water looked really good, and the fish were rooting around and cruising around the shallows. The opportunity was looking like a promising one, and after a short while I was tight into a nice golden treasure of a carp.

Common Carp Taken on Carrot Fly

After admiring that hard bodied carp, I let it swim off, and was ready for another one. Too bad some guys speaking foreign tongues wanted in on my action too. They literally came up to me blabbing about my carp. They asked what kind of bait I was using, and when I explained a fly; they gave me a dumbfounded look. When I showed them what I was throwing, they got all excited, and literally parked too close to me to fish also. After a little bit of loosing my patience, I bailed in search of more flats and fish.

The "Carrot Fly" Stuck in the Carp's Mouth

Before I knew it, I was back into a hot pack of fish, and they were looking promising to catch. I threw a nice shot at a fish that was cruising toward me, and it inhaled the offering and was off to the races. The fish was hooked at about 15', and it sprinted off and cleaned my clock all the way into the backing. What a bee lined run that was! I managed the wrangle that fish from the grass, and it submitted itself onto the shallow grassy ledge where I admired it.

Carp landed after a serious sprint into the backing....

I popped the "carrot fly" out of the fish's mouth and then I let it swim off, and I was one stoked fisherman. When the fish were given the right presentation, they would slam the fly, and you would see it. It was a really great way to spend a few hours in the afternoon. Obviously, I am going to have to try that again today; so we'll see how it goes again. Should be even better today.....

Fly choice is a funny one with carp, and it seems like the confidence in your fly is the most important thing. I know some people who love the San Juan Worm, and others like crawdad imitations. Buggy nymphs also are used a lot, and then hybrids of all of the above seem to work too. The more I fish for the carp, the more I realize it is about the presentation, and the fly has to be in the ball park of what they want. Every fly in this pic will work, and it seems that finding fish that are willing, and fishing in shallower water will help you get into carp on the fly.

Some of the Carp Flie I have been tying and using

McKenzie River Trout Report

On Tight - McKenzie River Redside

The McKenzie River is fishing well despite the high flows we have had this spring. As of late, the river is fishing well from up high all the way down to the mouth. This is the time frame where the entire river will fish well, and with the higher cold flows, the lower river should span its productive fishing window later into the season. Normally it shuts down sometime in early June when we get the first heat spell. This year may be another story, where the fishing may stay strong down on the lower McKenzie well into June. Only time will tell....

Lower McKenzie River Trout Fishing

The interesting thing about this season is how long the March Browns have been going for. They have still been coming off with significant hatches, along with pale morning duns, and the occasional green caddis. The green caddis hatch has not really gone full throttle yet; although the fish are eating the green caddis wet flies with regularity. When it gets going, fishing will really get good, and this is the latest it has been without the green caddis hatching in full effect since I have been fishing the river. While we are waiting for the green caddis hatch to come on harder, the fishing has been strong most of the days with solid nymphing and fair to good wet fly action. The higher flows are keeping the average anglers off the river, but fish live in water and have to eat. They do well with higher flows, and the trick is getting to them. Having a drift boat is clutch when the river has a year like this, but when you get out there; you'll find plenty of probable water to find large trophy rainbows holding in.

McKenzie Rainbow Taken on Royal Coachman Wet

McKenzie River Trout Fishing Is Hot - Get Yourself Out There!!

The McKenzie River is in peak condition right now, and fishing will remain strong until the first heat wave of the summer, or if we get an unfortunate large dosage of water. As long as we do not get a heat wave, or the water levels stay steady, the fishing will be very good. The green caddis has not been reported yet, nor have I seen any when I am out there. It is the time though, and they are seemingly late as of now. Although, this year seems to be late for many things though; so lets hope those big green bugs start hatching soon. 

Fish On!!

 Recently, I tool out a regular client for a day on the lower McKenzie, and our trip was focused on improving techniques and skills. Shortly after we started, Gail was really getting dialed in on her nymphing skills, and she was casting the heavy flies upstream with a nice D-loop water loaded roll cast motion, and then mending the strike indicator just upstream from the flies. I was impressed by the improvements I was seeing, and I knew that a trophy fish was in the making to reward those skills.

Lower McKenzie River Sunshine....

We had a serious dunk on the strike indicator not to far from the ramp, but the connection with hook and mouth didn't exist when Gail struck; so it was time to attempt to get another presentation intercepted. We probed the flies into the depths; since nothing was looking up, and I told Gail nymph fishing would be most productive until the fish showed interest towards the surface around "hatch time". A little ways down, the strike indicator went down, and Gail struck the line tight. The line swam off, and it was FISH ON!! The rod had a deep bend in it; so I assured her that the fish on the other end was a serious one to contend with. I managed to get the boat to a safe landing spot, and the fish ceased to the landing net after a sturdy battle. 

Picture Perfect McKenzie Native Rainbow Trout

We fished on throughout the day, and caught a lot of fish, but none were larger than that gorgeous rainbow. A short windowed March Brown hatch occurred, but they only came off for literally about 10 minutes, and just as the fish started to respond with surface feeding; it was over. Luckily, the wet fly swinging had really picked up after that short hatch happened; so it at least made the fishing more surface oriented. A gorgeous weather day it ended up becoming, and I would say that the McKenzie fished much better when there is some intermittent showers in the mix. High pressure and bright sunshine are not the most productive of conditions for the river, but being in the nice weather is always a plus.

Lower McKenzie Trout - Grannom Caddis Blizzard

(Fishing Report From 4/12/2011)

I apologize for the dated report, but I wanted to document some days from the recent past. Since I have been transitioning for a former Kaufmann Streamborn employee to a full time fly fishing guide, I have been really busy, and posting entries has been conflicting with my life's schedule, but now I am more or less all caught up and ready to roll on this blog style website. 

Recently I had a trip with two of my regular clients, and we had a fun day out on the river as usual. At first, the fishing was good, but the catching was rather slow. It was sunny, bright, and high pressure filled the sky, but I always have the attitude that it is better to be out in the sunshine with slower fishing; than to be out in a nasty weather day getting cold and catching fish while being wet. At least sometimes...

Beautiful Rainbow Trout Taken on a Golden Stone Nymph

The hatch came off at about 2pm, and it was rather gruesome. There was a grannom caddis hatch of epic proportions, and it was literally all about "bug mass" out there. It was basically snowing out of the water, and the bugs were matting up over a couple of inches thick on some of the current seams. If you took a seining net; you could gather pounds of insects in no time (LITERALLY!). 

I have seen this hatch come off year after year, and it is funny because the fishing is literally never that good while they are coming off. It seems like there is simply too much bug life out there when this phenomena occurs, and the fish either get full, overstimulated, or something we do not know. People may try and be "know it all" and say, "we should put an emerger on, or a subsurface pupa pattern." My rebuttal to that one is other anglers, guides, and I have already tried all of those tricks, and not one of them has worked yet. I have seen the hatch bring all of the nice fish up, but that is literally only on a few occasions over all of the years. On the flip side, when the March Brown mayflies hatch while the grannoms are hatching; it creates a feeding frenzy that brings the hefty trout up to the surface. During that time the larger native trout become vulnerable to swung wet flies and dead drifted dries.

 Rainbow Trout Appreciation

After a while, the hatch tapered down to a level where the fishing got better, and you could start to target specific fish rising to flies. Wet fly swinging and dead drifting dries was consistent, but the larger fish were hard to come by. Many times, the caddis hatch like this will bring the interests of the "little guys" but the big ones seem to want something different. We were going to go back to nymphing again; as we wanted to get a trophy rainbow trout.

Lower McKenzie 20.5" Rainbow Trout

We got into a good spot and the day was really winding down. The fishing had slowed down to a level, where the surface action was more or less shut off, and we nymphed around some probable bed rock slots and boulders. The indicator plunged down, Bruce struck the line tight, and life was on the other end. The line went out of control for a few seconds as Bruce gained the line back onto the reel. His Rio Indicator Line peeled off of his reel as the large trout surged downstream. It was the trout we had been looking for, and now landing it was the quest. I pulled the boat over to the bank and Bruce hopped out to battle the fish from the beach. After a few runs and surges, the fish was in the net, and it measured out for a reading 20.5". Sweet!! We let that nice male native redside back off into the river to continue on with its bug feeding; so it could maybe be seen again at 21+". A couple more fish after that, and we called it a day. A wonderful day it was!!!

The McKenzie River really shines hard for the next several weeks, and there is a large Green Caddis that will be hatching from about here on out until summer really heats up. It is more or less the best time of the year to experience the lower McKenzie for its large wild trout. If you are interested in booking a guided trip for trout, call me at (541)-232-6360 or email me at fish@mckenzieangler.com