Ok, I confess, I have been not out on the Lower Mckenzie or the Middle Fork. I have succumbed to a severe case of “winter steelhead fever”, and shop time. My fever has subsided, I have regained consciousness, and ready to pursue our beloved Redsides!
Customers and our Caddis Shop guides are reporting seeing “a few” March Brown’s on our local waters. I have been on the mighty Willamette and did see “a few” March Browns for a very brief time around 2:00pm. With the forecast for showers, sun breaks, and cooler weather anglers should begin to see stronger hatches.
Last year, Chris and Ethan took a trip and Ethan shared some of his tactics and strategies regarding nymphing and swing fly’s during March Brown time. It never hurts to get a reminder about tactics or hatches.
Why swing two flies? Sometimes you get doubles. Sometimes on the upper fly I’ll put a bead head on to keep the flies from skating on top in the faster water. But honestly, two flies give you two chances. Even though the upper fly is on a much heavier tippet, the fish don’t seem to mind much.
A team of flies is always better. The other thing is you can experiment with different patterns. Sometimes on a bright day a drab fly works better, and on a cloudy overcast day you want to specifically match the hatch.
What is the leader set up? Leader length is 9-10 feet, tapered leader cut in half. Tie a blood knot and run the upper fly off the blood knot with a 2x loop to loop dropper. This is the most tangle-free way to go.
Shop customers or clients will ask “how do you set up for nymphing”? Chris has repeatedly shared what he has in this video below.
We have a full set of March Brown patterns in the shop. I have been using a version of the Royal Coachman Wet with Golden Pheasant tippets on the Willy.
Let’s have Spring and the hatch of March Browns begin!
-LV
Our library of march brown fly tying videos is below. Take it easy on us, some of these were filmed four years ago.
March Brown Fly Tying Videos:
Hidden Bead March Brown Soft Hackle