Category Archives: Lower Willamette

Favorite Flies for Spring on the McKenzie and Willamette Part One: Nymphs and Wets

It’s spring break and the McKenzie River near Eugene is coming into shape nicely. The Willamette is still running a bit high and dirty but could come around later this week. March Browns are hatching daily around 1:38pm. Here are … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, McKenzie River | 3 Comments

Hidden Bead March Brown Wet Fly Tying Video

High water usually coincides with the March Brown emergence on the Mckenzie and Willamette Rivers near Eugene. One of our favorite methods to catch trout during the emergence is to swing one or two wet flies on a floating line … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River | 4 Comments

UV Ice Dub ElK Hair Caddis Fly Tying Video

One of the classics, the Elk Hair Caddis is a must for any Western Anglers fly box. Barrett demonstrates a couple of new twists using mono for the rib and Hareline Ice Dub for the body. This is a quick … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Lower Willamette | 3 Comments

Ten Flies You Need in your Box this Fall

Some great fishing remains available this fall. Locally we have numerous trout and steelhead opportunities. The Deschutes, Umpqua, John Day and many other rivers in Oregon have some excellent fishing through November. What bugs should you have to attack the … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, North Umpqua River Fishing Reports, Oregon Fly Fishing Tips, Summer Steelhead | 2 Comments

Guided Trip Special Starts October 15th.

The Caddis Fly is offering a late season guided trip special. Starting October 15th Half Day Steelhead and Trout trips move from $350 to $250 for two anglers in a boat for a 4-5 hours lower Mckenzie or Willamette River … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Shop Sales and Specials | 1 Comment

Crushing Take and Solid Summer Steelheading on the Town Run

I’m not totally jaded . . . .  On a flyfishing trip for summer steelhead while I’m not completely stoked with one solid grab and a hook-up, I’m not exactly bumming either. Fortunately, I haven’t had to content myself or … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, Summer Steelhead | 19 Comments

Plenty of Water in the Willamette Valley

Remember this March and April when the March Browns and Blue Winged Olives were hatching and the lower McKenzie was low and clear. The Middle Fork of the Willamette flowing out of Hills Creek Dam was running at around 400 … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | 1 Comment

Weather and water moving through the Willamette Valley.

Despite local weather conditions being nasty to say the least, trout fishing has been holding up nicely both on the upper and lower Mckenzie. In addition the Middle Fork of the Willamette near Oakridge has been seeing some decent green … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | 2 Comments

Steelhead Continue to move into the Willamette Valley

Steelhead fishing in the valley continues to get better.  Each day it is a little easier to get up at 4:30 am. Although, I can’t figure out why I continue to get up this early, most of the fish I … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Summer Steelhead | 1 Comment

CDC Pale Morning Dun Hair Wing Tying Video

Pale Morning Dun mayflies become an important insect to the angler interested in “matching the hatch” over the next few months. PMD’s as they are generally known can emerge at any time of the day. On the lower McKenzie anglers … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | 2 Comments

Tying the UV Chewee Skin Mini Stone

This spring we have been playing with UV materials in our fly patterns quite a bit. The UV Cahill fished very nicely this spring and a scaled back “creamier one” is bound to kill during the PMD hatch coming on … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | Leave a comment

Eugene area Summer Steelhead Report

Early summer steelhead fishing has been a hit or miss game in our local rivers. Water levels are a bit up, but the clarity in the Willamette and McKenzie is fine. We have been floating a couple times a week … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Summer Steelhead | 3 Comments

Tony’s Purple Tube Leech: Steelhead fly tying video

In this video Tony Torrence ties a killer tube leech that gets down, swims, and pisses off awaiting anadromous fish. Tony uses HMH and Eumer tubing to create the fly. In addition he adds a Eumer Monster Cone to aid … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Summer Steelhead | 3 Comments

Tony’s Temple Tube Fly Tying Video

In this video Tony Torrence demonstrates how to tie his version of a Temple Dog style fly on a tube. By inserting a small HMH Tube into a medium Eumer plastic tube the tier has a built in junction tube … Continue reading

Posted in Fly Tying, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Oregon Winter Steelhead Fishing, Summer Steelhead | 2 Comments

Wild Winter Steelhead on the Willamette

Here are a few photos of wild winter steelhead, caught recently on the Middle fork of the Willamette. Nice henfish. Look at those perfect wild fins. Jay described the dilemma of a wild steelhead considered non-native, and therefore eligible for … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, Oregon Winter Steelhead Fishing | 7 Comments