Both the Mckenzie and the Willamette Rivers, and tributaries dropped huge amounts this past week. If you are used to walking in on the Middle Fork or the Mckenzie access is as good as it has been all year. In addition Salt Creek, Salmon Creek, and the North Fork of the Middle Fork are all in fine shape. Insects present on all previously mentioned waters include, Green Drakes (especially on the upper Mckenzie), Golden Stones, Little Yellow Stones, Pale Morning Duns and Brown Caddis.
As waters have dropped clarity has improved. It’s time to start thinking about lighter tippets, moving from 4x to 5x or on the really small waters even using 6x. We are headed for another hot period of weather and fishing will be best in morning and evening on the lower Mckenzie and main Willamette. The upper Mckenzie and upper Willamette offer more broken, fast water that will hold feeding fish through out the day. When surface activity is limited go subsurface with Prince Nymphs, Possie Buggers and Copper Johns in sizes #10-16.
Our local waters are now much closer to normal flows. They are far easier to read in terms of drop offs and submerged structure and the wading is much safer. Summer seems to have finally arrived.-CD
