Trout Fishing Report - McKenzie and Willamette Rivers

The trout action over the last several weeks was very consistent, with fish being taken regularly on a dry fly and dropper nymph along with swung softhackled wet flies. Fishing a double wet fly set up is always a good way to go about it, because you can give the fish two options, and often you can crack the code easier in what the fish are keying into that particular day. You even get two fish on one cast occasionally, and that makes for a great angling story. No one will believe you when you tell them that you caught two fish in one cast.

Swinging softhackled wet flies can be extremely productive on the McKenzie River

The same occasionally occurs when fishing the dry and dropper, where a fish attacks the dry fly, and then another feisty fish decides to clobber the nymph offering. Dry and dropper is a great tactic for summertime; since often there is not much of a hatch during the heat of the day, but fish still are seeking out food. A large buoyant dry fly imitating something large like a golden stonefly or a grass hopper (ambiguously covering both - attractor style) with a Possie Bugger nymph has been the ticket for me over the last several years. It catches fish on just about every day out on the water in the summertime, and often you learn how productive the subsurface offering is. Sometimes you can catch 10 fish, and 9 are on the nymph and 1 is on the dry fly. For those of you who only fish dries, think about how many fish are not climbing on it, but are eating the nymph. A dry and dropper is a summertime must set up for trout fishing.

This McKenzie Rainbow took a swung yellow softhackle

It always blows me away how strong McKenzie and upper Willamette wild trout are. I hear things from clients all of the time how impressed they are by the shear power and fight the fish offer on these rivers. I heard someone say on a trip that the fish were picked on as little kids, and now they have attitude for it. I think it is simple as the high flows the fish deal with in the winter months only lets the strongest fish survive. The fish are the ones that make it through the swollen flooded flows that persist in the winter, and when they are hooked the 12" makes them feel like they are 16". The little rainbow above ripped me so silly, and it was maybe 13" if that. It literally made my reel scream hard with two nice runs, and when I saw the size, it was almost humorous. What powerhouse fish we have that exist in the southern Willamette Valley. They hit another level of fight once they breach the 15" mark, and the ones that top the 18" mark really implant serious memories.

Fish on ! McKenzie River - Oregon

Chubby Chernobyl dry fly took this cutthroat

This side channel was loaded with cutthroats when water levels were higher

McKenzie Trout Eat Flies Even When the Water is High for Humans

This spring can go down with the last few seasons as "high water" springs, and this one seems to win the prize for having the most consistent high water conditions. Right when John and Lauren showed up at Oregon, the rains hammered the river levels back up to bloated from the few days of low water we briefly had. Water clarity was really good though; since the McKenzie can really take a lot of abuse before its color gets affected. Luckily at this time of the year, the fish are looking up, and the famous McKenzie Green Caddis have been coming off in good enough numbers to become the target of many "hit and runs" for the river's trout. They really love eating those big green awkward bugs that bounce and skitter on the water. The wet fly swing really gets some serious tight line grabs this time of the year, and the fish are well fed and fight with serious attitude lately. 

This turbo charged powerful McKenzie River Rainbow really hit a green caddis wet hard!

With the water rising up on Thursday night, it seemed to really damper the "human hatch" where we luckily only saw a few boats out there all day. The fishing was fare to good at times yesterday, and we got into some nice powerful feisty fish. Most of the fish were taking swung wets, and a few took the nymph on a dry fly and dropper rig. The weather was wonderful, and it started out cloudy and calm and slowly dissipated off into "sunny with a cloud here and there" type of a day. The winds stayed calm to light, and that seemed to be a key factor in our success out there. Any time the sun shined bright and the wind would blow slightly; causing the fishing to slow down, and when the sun was hidden behind clouds we got hits from all of the spot that they should have came from.

Two Species caught on one cast - Cutthroat and Rainbow trout on each wet fly

If you have not fished the McKenzie River when the green caddis are coming off; you need to get out there and experience it. Normally these large green bugs start to come off hard in early May, but this season they have literally just gotten going. They should come off for the next few weeks, and it is a time when you can really get into some of the nicest fish the McKenzie has to offer. The fish have just finished spawning, and now they are fattening back up on these big green bugs. Get yourself out there to experience it!

McKenzie Green Caddis started to hatch later this year (Late May 2012)

McKenzie River Trout Fishing Was Thumbs Up!

FISHING REPORT 

 McKENZIE RIVER - GUIDED FLY FISHING TROUT TRIP 

5/22/2011

It was one of those days where the vibes were chill and the fishing was fun. Good consistent trout fishing is a blast, and yesterday was one of those afternoons when the fishing was the way it is supposed to be. The only factor we lacked was a day of catching trophy rainbow trout after trophy rainbow, but you can't ask for everything. The day was calm and stable more or less; with a consistent cloud cover that wouldn't yield. When fly fishing for trout on the McKenzie river, I prefer cloud cover, and even a spritz or two throughout the day. When it is sunny with high pressure the confidence factor as a guide drops; due to statistical evidence that shows the lesser weather days shine out there.

Yesterday, I took a regular client and she brought an awesome fishing partner named Clark along. Clark was "new" to fly fishing, but did it years ago; so refreshing his casting and "what to do" was what he needed. He picked it up really quickly, and was into fish before too long. It is really awesome to see when your clients shine, as Gail torched fish after fish at a certain point in the day. Once the "bite" got going, the fish were being taken on every few casts in certain spots, and as a guide I was able to "call" the fish. I love when you can say, "you are going to get one.......now!" and then a fish pounces the flies. It was like that on swung wet flies from about 2-5pm with the fishing being moderate before that time, but there was no major hatch of any kind, and the nymph fishing was slow. Not that I mind when the trout are coming up to the surface and yanking on swung wet flies in the surface film.

A really great aspect of the trip was how quick Clark picked up the techniques for McKenzie River trout. He claimed he was new to fly fishing, and did it years ago. Well it seemed like he did not miss a day, but he was also an awesome learner and listener. Lots of fish resulted, and it was a pleasure to have met him. Gail really fly fished like an accomplished angler. Over the time of taking her out, I have seen her angling skills soar, and now she fished the McKenzie like a veteran fly fisher. When you take someone out for the first time on a river, you can see them learning the little nuances of the techniques that get the job done, and how they are different from destinations that they already have experience from. It is really a great feeling when you see the someone get better and better, and to have a greater understanding of where the fish are, and what it takes to get them. Over the years, I have seen a lot of my clients really improve their fly fishing skills, and the trips typically get better and better as a result of this.

Flies that worked well yesterday were the Red Butted softhackle in size 12, yellow softhackle in size 12, Royal Coachman Wet in size 12, a green caddis wet in size 10, and no fish are dry flies, and nothing nymphing. We did not nymph too much; since the wet fly grab was on, and it was too much fun to put those rods down to have to throw a Thingamabobber out there. The bite shut down about 5pm, and then we headed towards the takeout. After reeling in the boat, I visited a good friend in Eugene for a bite to eat, and then I was headed back to Portland after a wonderful day of guiding fly fishing.

McKenzie Trout Fly Fishing - There is actually a trout double going on....