The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

This Saturday at around 2pm it started. The three hours before were void of bug life and we caught few fish. By 2:15 there were waves of March Browns rolling down the river.

Then a bit of wind, a break in the action then another wave of bugs,  that cycle continued until 3:30. Honestly I would have thought every fish in the river would have been up gorging on the surface.  There were Blue Winged Olives amidst the March Browns and fish were on them as well. In my local we did fine; we had some fish on dries and others on March Brown wets and a few on Possie Buggers swung down an across through rising fish.  But it really could have been better. Hopefully other anglers found the fish more active in other areas of the river. My general feel from talking to other anglers and what I experienced was that the unstable weather may have had the fish a bit unsettled at times. Generally speaking the reports for both Saturday and Sunday were good.  A few steelhead are showing up and I did watch an angler land one at Belinger this Sunday afternoon.  It looks like the river is on the way up, hopefully not enough to blow it out. Later this week the caddis should pick back up and March Browns will continue to be good.

It looks like the next few days on the Mckenzie will be a bit cooler. I would expect the March Brown hatch to remain strong. You may also see a few Blue Winged Olives, and a few caddis on the surface. The large caddis emergence that occurred during this past (warmer) week will be less of a factor. Nymphing will still be good, try March Brown nymphs in #12 and #14 coupled with a stonefly or mega prince. The traditional wet fly swing should really be productive under the cooler, wet conditions. Try  Royal Coachman Wet #12, Hares Ear Soft Hackle #12,14, and Dark Cahill #12,14.  The Mckenzie remains in good shape and water temps are moving up,  despite the weather the outlook is good.

Warm afternoons, and warmer water temperatures have made for some good fishing on the Mckenzie River near Eugene. March Browns continue to emerge around in the 1-3pm time frame. A new hatch has develped recently. Small Caddis ranging from sizes #14-18, colors ranging from almost black to light gray. This hatch seems to really go nuts when air temps get up around 60 degrees and water temps reach a level near 47-50 degrees. The caddis hatch can be frustrating. With millions of bugs on or near the surface and very few fish rising, one begins to wonder. The fish will get going on the caddis eventually, look for isolated feeders occupying their own feeding lane, if your timing is right you will get them to come to your imitation. Good patterns for the Mckenzie are: Parachute Adams #14-18, Sedge Hammer brown/green #16,18, Peacock Caddis #14-18, Hogan’s Yuba River Emerger tan and olive #16. Subsurface caddis imitations include Hares Ear Soft Hackle #14 and Beadhead Hungarian Caddis Pupae # 14, 16 in  green and Tan. Water conditions remain excellent. 

Caddis fly guided fly fishing trips on the Mckenzie River near Eugene yielded some nice fish the past couple of days. It was great to see the March Brown Hatch back to full strength.

The river is still a bit high and cold but the fish are hungry for nymphs, emergers and dries. Best patterns on Sunday were Mega Prince, Beldars triple bead Stone black and Copper Johns fished deep. When the hatch came off strong March Brown Sparkle Duns, Spun Duns, and Western March Browns caught fish. Monday we did less nymphing and fished closer to the surface throughout the day. March Brown Beadhead Emergers, Royal Coachman Wets and Possie Buggers swung near the surface were effective.

The Klinkhammer emerger March Brown fooled this Cutthroat during an intense March Brown hatch. There were bugs all over the place and the fish had options, a good sign for this new pattern.

Wet, blowing and bone chilling weather on the Mckenzie today. We toughed it out much of the day, and caught fish on swung wet flies and nymphs. Overall fishing was a bit tough. The past few days the March Browns have been hatching consistently around 1:30pm. Today there were none to be found in the stretch between Hendricks and Hayden. The air temp was 40, add the wind chill in, and it was bitter. Both water and air temps were the lowest in several days.  Best flies were Royal Coachman Wet, March Brown nymphs, and Possie Buggers nymph fished and swung. You know it’s cold when the “golden wigglers” are on the grab.

We did manage a few nice rainbows, they were on the swung wet. Look for things to break loose when the current weather front moves through and we get air temps into the high 50s.