Category Archives: Lower Willamette

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

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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

Willamette River Summer steelhead hitting Eugene

The summer steelhead are hitting Eugene, with some of the biggest and best fish on this early part of the run. Get out there now for excellent fishing on the Willamette River. I caught this bruiser today with Ethan Nickel, … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Porn, Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, Summer Steelhead | 5 Comments

First day swinging for summer steelhead on the Eugene town run

I went out on my first trip targeting the Willamette Summer Steelhead over the weekend. With over 2,000 summer steelhead over Willamette Falls fish count, and clearing water on the drop in the town run, we had a shot. We … Continue reading

Posted in Lower Willamette, Summer Steelhead | 7 Comments

Streaker McKenzie Green Caddis

In this video Barrett shows us one of his favorite adult Green McKenzie Caddis patterns. The Streaker McKenzie Green Caddis fishes well dead drift or skated across the surface with added movement to emulate the active adult caddis. The spun … Continue reading

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Chewee Skin Green McKenzie Soft Hackle

Swinging wets during the Green McKenzie Caddis emergence can be deadly. We like to combine a larger “emerger” wet below a high floating dry, or use the wet above a Dark Cahill in a tandem wet fly rig. In this … Continue reading

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

CDC McKenzie Green Caddis Pattern V2

Every year we look forward to the Green McKenzie Caddis emergence on the McKenzie and Middle Fork of the Willamette Rivers. The bugs usually start showing themselves during the later half of April and remain an important fly pattern for … Continue reading

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

McKenzie and Willamette rivers reset with high water

Recent down pours have been hammering our local waters. We do need the water, and the fish never mind a reprieve from pressure, especially on a low water year. As the rivers drop into shape late this week how should … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | 3 Comments

Late winter/early spring steelhead

The end of March is the time when people start to ask; are there many winter steelhead left? and when are the summer steelhead going to be in? The answer to the first question is, Yes! Although the major push … Continue reading

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, North Umpqua River Fishing Reports, Oregon Fly Fishing Tips, Oregon Winter Steelhead Fishing, Summer Steelhead | 5 Comments

McKenzie in great shape, Caddis hatch developing

The McKenzie and Willamette rivers remain in fantastic (low water) condition. Boating and wading conditions are ideal. March Browns continue to emerge daily, however bright and windy conditions have made the usually reliable March Brown fishing a bit slow compared … Continue reading

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