My good friend Chester hit the Metolius a couple of days ago, and he shared this with me yesterday:
I got lucky with the weather on the Metolius. It was a cloudy, 38-degree morning, and I felt a hatch was possible. But would the trout show up? I got to the river early to practice casting that new sink-tip line with a big fly. I worked over the Dolly Hole pretty well but no bites. That’s okay, as I hardly ever cast a sink-tip line, and I need to practice before Chile. There was a super-light snowfall and NO WIND. I started seeing bugs at 12:30, and the hatch was full-bore by 1 p.m. I hooked three fish and landed two between 1:15 and 1:30. A size 20 Sparkle Dun got very confident takes. I don’t think these fish have seen many dry flies for the past month. Then the temp dropped like a safe from the sky. It started dumping, and the rises vanished. A pretty perfect little outing.
My favorite dry fly guy knows how to do it, that is for sure. He felt the hatch coming. I love that. I also believe it.
I am confident this BWO hatch will be fairly strong each afternoon this week so make sure you have some good emergers, cripples and duns to match the hatch and a 12′ 6x leader to get a good drift. While Chester saw #20’s on the water this week, you NEED to make sure to have #18’s and 20’s. The difference in size from one hatch to the next on another day, or another stretch of river can be the difference between a fish in the net or not. And my experience says more January and February Baetis are #18’s.
There have been a lot of October Caddis and some smaller Silver Stripe Sedge too. It’s a good idea to have a couple big orange dries, but to really make an effort to fish the Pupa, along with some smaller #14-16 tan pupa like the Fat Ass Caddis and my Improved Fat Ass Caddis with the Rose Pink Bead and the twisted Antron Body for durability.
Golden Stones, Orange Girdle Bugs (why? A good crossover fly for the Oct Caddis and a Stonefly nymph), Eggs, Zebra Midges, 2 Bit Hookers, Blue Perdigons and Blue Prince (why? In winter light blue shows up really well under water), Perdigons in Brown, Olive, Purple, Pearl and Orange and Red Copper John Red Ice Cream Cones and Red Lightning Bugs. Pop in a few Jig Streamers too, and try them under the Indicator and on a Euro rig.
Big Streamers are always a good choice for Bull Trout, with a sink tip and a cone head or tied with lead eyes, articulated streamers get the job done and can be tied long enough and big enough to look like a fish a big bull actually wants to eat. Fish them dead drift to a swing, under a (large) indicator, swing them or strip them. Different water types can require different techniques and different techniques can necessitate a different fly choice. Color, Size, Head Shape, Sink Rate all play a role.
Don’t forget that from the Headwaters to Allingham Bridge is closed until May 22nd to protect spawning fish.
Also, don’t forget to purchase your 2026 ODFW fishing license. The OSP Game Wardens love to do early season checks on anglers out there to “remind” them if they forgot. Sometimes reminders result in a ticket. I applaud the OSP for being out there, and especially for them watching the river for closed areas and watching for people not following the tackle rules. I wish they could have someone there every day.