High water and cold water temps have been the norm of late. Fishing has still held up on the McKenzie River near Eugene. Blips of sunshine have shown what’s to come. Pale Morning Duns, Green McKenzie Caddis, stonefly adults, Little Yellow Stones and assorted caddis have been emerging. With the nice weather to come, we should see a lot more in terms of hatches in the near term.
Water temps have remained really cold. During the day water temps move up and fishing has been best between 1-6pm. Once the current “melt off” related to all the recent rains pushes through, we will see temps move up, and remain more stable. Temps in the 46-51 range give us more productive fishing the entire day.
Levels seem to have crested so look for lower water in the days ahead.
Nymphing remains the most productive method. Make sure you have black and brown stonefly nymphs, and get them near the bottom. It’s time to start thinking hopper dropper over pure strike indicator set-ups as fish will smash a big salmon or golden stonefly. Have fun out there!
