Wild Salmon spawning in upper Mckenzie River

This past week I spotted  some cleaner gravel along  edges of runs on the upper Mckenzie. Yesterday I finally saw the fish on the spawning beds. Despite the dismal returns of Chinook around the west including the Mckenzie/Willamette watershed, wild Salmon are still making their journey to the pristine waters of the upper Mckenzie.  By some accounts the returning numbers of Salmon are 10 wild fish to 1 hatchery fish.  So while overall numbers of fish are down, the wild and successful returning fish are making it much better than their cloned brethren. For trout and steelhead anglers the spawning salmon mean an uptick in activity. Eggs and flesh will be available to the trout and steelhead. Trout and steelhead will move from deep water, into the shallower more exposed lies to find the salmon spawning. Lower light conditions, cooler water, spawning salmon all make this time of year just about the best fishing of the year. Good flies to fish continue to be Parachute Adams #10-16, CDC Orange Caddis # 10, Orange Caddis #8,10, Possie Buggers, Tan and Brown Elk Hair Caddis #12-16-CD

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