The lower Mckenzie River near Eugene continues to fish well. Water levels are currently dropping. With little precipitation in the 5 day forecast, maybe, just maybe we will see a steady drop, instead of the yoyo ride we have been on lately. We have been guiding clients on the lower river the past few days with good results. Native Cutthroats and Rainbows seem to be enjoying the high water. Numbers have been good and quality fish have been landed. Warmer periods during the day have brought decent numbers of adult Golden Stones out. Sunday’s warm afternoon seem to spurn the stonefly activity. We had a few fish take the larger Half Down Golden Stone dry imitation and fishing nymphs in faster, shallower riffles seem to pick up later in the day. Finding fish in faster water along with water temperatures edging over 50 degrees are excellent signs for things to come.
The Middle Fork of the Willamette river has been very high but looks to be dropping considerably the past few days. Look for things to pick up on the Middle Fork. With very little pressure of late, fishing should be great. Golden Stones, Green Caddis, Brown Caddis, and Pale Morning duns will be important bugs.
Pictured below a beautiful native rainbow caught on the lower river this week on a Caddis Fly guided trip. CD
