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Metolius River - September 3rd, 2010
RECORDED:85 °FISHING: Great Trout: Sept and Oct is one of my favorite times on the Metolius. After Labor Day weekend the crowds dissipate. Some folks go hunting, other head to the Deschutes to chase steelhead. Only a handful of die hards are left to pester the trout on the old Metolius.
There is good fishing throughout the system. The upper river (above Gorge Campground) will be dominated by smaller insects. There are good mayfly hatches in the afternoon, small grays, small yellow olives. Spinner falls occur in the morning. One friend swears by the Rusty Spinner at that time of day. My favorite fly is a little bit of a sleeper. Mixed among the mayflies will be the Little Brown Stonefly. This insect is so small (size #16) it is often mistaken for a caddis. Don’t let the size fool you. The Tiny Brown Stone is definitely a preferred food item. It has major attractive power in a mixed hatch.
If you are fishing further downstream, in the Canyon, near the Hatchery or at Bridge 99 and below. In the morning look for Willow Flies. This is a large and very unusual stonefly. Closely related to Golden Stones these bugs are tanish on the belly with blue black on the sides and wings. The egg mass (if present) will be neon purple. It is my theory that these bugs may run out on the water at night to oviposit their eggs. Fish are really keyed on them early in the day.
In the afternoon look for Fall Green Drakes. These insects are slightly smaller than spring Drakes. Happily the effect on the fish is not diminished at all.
Also don’t over look the Tiny Brown Stones mentioned earlier. These bugs are present in both the upper and lower river. Sometimes they can be locally important.
Bull Trout: Fishing in the early part of Sept will likely be slow. Most of the fish are still up in the tributaries spawning. When they come out in mid Sept. fasten your seat belts – they will be hungry and feeding ravenously to regain strength. The Bull Trout post spawn period offers some of the best fishing of the year. It coincides with the arrival of Koknaee; these little landlocked Sockeye Salmon make a wonderful food source for the hungry Bulls. During Sept and Oct in the lower river, you will often find Bull Trout lurking near Kokanee spawning areas. A traditional white “flesh fly” will be a powerful attractor. This combination creates some outstanding sight fishing for larger fish.
RECORDED:90 °FISHING: Great Steelhead: Early season Steelhead fishing has been very good this year. We started with a nice surge of fish that came in a little bit ahead of schedule in mid July. The run has been pretty steady ever since. Fears that we were going to have a massive thermal block due to slightly warmer temperatures coming from the Pelton/Round Butte dam have proved to be unfounded.
At this point fish are well distributed throughout the lower river up to Sherars Falls. It would be my guess they will start moving above the falls within the week. I would expect them to arrive in the Warm Springs area by late September or early October.
Overall size of the run looks pretty good. It won’t match last year’s record levels but it’s still well above the ten year average. As a bit of a bonus fish appear to have found some very favorable conditions at sea. We have seen quite a few larger fish in the mix this year. I would have to say the stars are aligned to produce some excellent Steelhead fishing through Sept and October.
Trout: Trout fishing is still a little bit slow. We are just now coming out of the end of the dog days summer but we are headed into some of the best fishing of the year. Throughout Sept and Oct there is a regular smorgasbord of hatches. These include smaller caddis and mayflies, some midges, a larger gray mayfly size #14 and dominating it all is the October Caddis (despite their name these insects actually start hatching in September).
Dry fly aficionados will find plenty of opportunity to work their craft. We tend, however, to stick to nymphing during this time in the hope that we will be able to attract a Steelhead as well as some nice healthy trout. Steelhead respond very well to conventional dead drifted nymphs. The orange bodied October Caddis Pupa becomes the go to fly. We fishing it as the primary weighted nymph trailed by either a Flash Back Pheasant Tail or a small green beadhead midge pupa. This approach is a little like fishing lotto – you never know if the next cast is going to bring a white fish, a healthy rainbow or a high flying, skyward jumping Steelhead.
