We are enjoying one of those lovely springs on the lower McKenzie. I made it out yesterday afternoon from about 1pm to 4:30pm. Water conditions are ideal. There were brown and green McKenzie Caddis out, along with assorted light colored mayflies. Fish were eating the active McKenzie Greens on the surface in some of the faster runs and deeper slots.
The dry fly fishing wasn’t red hot for me but you had the sense that it was going to get better as the light got lower towards the evening. My best tactic was swinging a Possie Bugger and a Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail combo. Fishing was good with both rainbows and cutthroats taking the swung flies aggressively on most occasions.
Check out these old school videos on tying green McKenzie caddis variations. There is something totally unique about this size ten fat “greenish gray” bug hopping around on the surface. The active caddis drives the fish to literally leap out of the water to grab it. It’s really a great surface take.
Good to see you out there, Chris, even if ever so briefly. My results were similar to yours until about 5:30, when the McKenzie Caddis hatch really went off big time, and the fish went crazy on them for over an hour. More than made up for the rather slow action up to that point.