The doldrums of summer have arrived, things are hot, trout are ornery, and aquatic insect hatches are dwindling in the lower sections of our rivers. We are entering a transitionary period in terms of aquatic insect hatches. It is too warm for the fall bugs, and many of the summer hatches are beginning to taper off. This time of year, we have a superhero that swoops in to help get us through this shoulder period: Terrestrials.
Terrestrials refer to land based insects that do not need water to complete their lifecycle. This could be grasshoppers, ants, beetle, crickets, etc. Beetles are on the menu for trout starting about midsummer and trailing off into the fall. They are a more subtle offering and work great on pressured fish that have been seeing chubbies and hoppers all summer. They are simple to tie and can be tied in a variety of colors making them a versatile foundation.
This pattern is tied smaller with a hot spot to aid in visibility. I have been fishing these on our valley tributaries and have been having great success with them in varying sizes and sometimes a dropper or trailing dry. I also will be fishing this fly heavily in the Midwests’s Driftless Area casting it to browns and native brook trout on meandering spring creeks.
Water with an abundance of stream-side vegetation is great habitat for terrestrials, and fish get used to them getting knocked in the water. This pattern will also fish well on our countless high lakes up in the cascades. Tie some up while the fish have a taste for beetles!
Scuds aren’t an important food source for trout for trout everywhere, but where they are on the menu, you better have a few options in your box. If you’re not familiar with scuds, they’re small freshwater crustaceans that make their home in extremely clean, nutrient dense trout waters. They re not particularly fond of especially swift water, typically they are found in spring creeks, high lakes, side channels, eddies, and headwater sections of all of our favorite rivers. Sometimes they are a key food source in tailwater sections under especially productive stillwater venues. Scuds vary in size and color and having a range of both sizes and shade is especially important when trying to match the scud that fish are keyed in on.
The Fulling Mill FM5140 Jig Force Straight Point is a fantastic jig hook option for this fly as it has a slight bend which makes space for the scud’s shell. An especially sharp long point makes for consistent hook sets. The Fulling Mill Eco Warrior Dub is one of my favorite dubbings of all time as it is so versatile. For this scud, nearly the entire body is constructed from it making this pattern a simple, but effective guide style fly that can be tied quickly. the Fulling Mill Eco Warrior Dub brushes out really well on collars, bodies, and for scud legs like this fly.
We like to fish them on lakes with intermediate lines like Scientific Anglers Sonar Stillwater Clear Camo Fly Line, or the Rio Rowley’s Midge Tip Long. On moving bodies of water, we like to run them as a dropper, or as part of a nymph rig and use small strips to animate the fly. Tie some up for the next time you find yourself in scud territory and a large trout in your net will be soon to come
It is about that time of year where much of what we are throwing is constructed from foam. Terrestrial season is upon us, in the last 15-20 years, the commercial fly scene has seen a major shift in the materials used to construct flies. Foam has been widely adopted as a staple material not only to float big stoneflies and terrestrials high, but also to construct flies buoyant enough to run heavy tungsten droppers below.
Believe it or not, foam as a material can wet out much like out dry dubs, parachutes, elk hair wings, CDC, etc. Tying a fly sparsely always helps with how quickly it sheds water, but being able to coat foam in durable resin really aids in a flies long term buoyancy by creating a waterproof barrier that doesn’t ever let water touch the foam. It also aids in its durability, we all have had great terrestrial days where by the end of it, your foam beetle or hopper is absolutely thrashed.
The new Solarez Top Coat 77 Gloss solves a few long standing issues of using adhesives on foam. For one, using traditional resins on foam will often create a hard shell that will mold around the foam body, but not adhere to it. When foam is put under pressure and coated with the wrong UV Resin, it simply will peel away. The other issue is that certain strong adhesives, like superglues, will melt foam away in a hot chemical reaction. The new Solarez Top Coat 77 Gloss provides a foam- safe, durable resin that keeps your terrestrials floating high, and in one piece. It also bends and flexes with the foam while staying adhered to it. It can be used on flies you tie at home, or used to protect flies bought in store.
If you missed it, we did a tutorial on a fantastic cricket that uses this resin to create a more durable, realistic body. The link to the full article is here, and the video is embedded below.
There may also be some use for this resin in saltwater foam flies, however with terrestrial season ramping up, we really had terrestrials on the mind when we first heard this was coming out. We also have not had a chance to test this resin on toothier saltwater fish to see its ability to protect salt foam flies. Swing by the shop to pick some up, or shop online for it here.
Trout fishing on the McKenzie and upper Willamette has stayed steady through the summer. Despite low snowpack producing low summertime flows, the middle to upper sections of our rivers have remained cool and productive. We have been fortunate and continue to dodge a spell of 90+ degree days. Lets hope it stays that way! As summertime conditions persist this is a reminder to: fish SMARTER not HARDER.
Finn with a nice one – what happens when you start trout fishing at 6:30pm!
Over the past month and especially over the next 6-8 weeks the best time to fish is early or late. Simon wrote a great early July report – the second half covers hatches and fly selection all of which holds true now. I wanted to touch on “timing”, something that might be more important than fly selection as summer progresses. Trout fishing tends to slow down around noon, really lull from 2-5 and then catch fire from 6 (or whenever shade hits the water again) till dark. On hotter, sunnier days the slow window starts earlier and ends later.
What does this mean for you? A smart angler should either wake up early or do something else with most of their day and fish late. My favorite trout fishing window in the summer is 6 till dark. A close second is whenever you can make it to the river till about noon. Both fish differently. In the mornings trout will be pushed up shallow looking for terrestrials, soon nocturnal stones. This is super fun attractor dry fly fishing – casting to targets not rising fish. General “good looking trout water” fishes great with chubby dropper and nymph rigs. If you keep fishing through midday your best bet is euro nymphing pocket water, pour overs, and seams where the hungry fish collect to hide from sun, predators and collect easier meals. In the evenings aim for bends and runs that have shade. You can catch more fish in a prime shaded run in 30 minutes than you did the last 4 hours. After 7:30 or so is when you can start looking for rising fish.
An evening PMD eater
Lots of short evening floats are available on the McKenzie thanks to its many boat launches. The MF Willamette has more roadside accessible evening dry fly flats. Hangout, read a book, have a beverage and wait. That’s what the summer is for! You don’t need to be patient while fishing but be patient for the fishing to get good. The last couple months of summer are a great time to take advantage of Caddis Fly Shop’s half day guided trips – call 541-342-7005 to book. However you get out enjoy the summer! -Robbie
The dog days of summer can be a difficult time to fish. Despite the favorable weather for us, trout start to get a bit unhappy during the peak of summer. Their feeding can be sporadic, isolated to the cooler, shadier times during the day. There sometimes is also no rhyme or reason as to whether they’re eating or not. Anglers in the summer know about the heat induced mid-day lull. While dry fly eats can indeed happen during the brightest portion of the day, fish are far more likely to take a nymph than a dry during the most unfavorable hours of their day. Despite their tendency to turn their nose up for dry fly eats mid day when it’s hot, we still search with a dry dropper rig. Sizing down tippet and flies can help with this finicky-ness subsurface as well. During the summer I like to fish lighter tippet like 5x Scientific Anglers Absolute Fluorocarbon locally with smaller flies in the 16 range.
I developed this fly to ride the line between imitative and attractive, which are two things that finicky trout demand. Its two toned ribbed body is anatomically accurate of most nymphs having a lighter underside. The lighter underside utilizes purple flash which is definitely not natural, but serves as an attractor attribute capturing lethargic trouts’ attention. It is sized down to be less intrusive than a 12 or 14 with a very large bead. This way it blends in closer to the pmd nymphs that trout have been feeding on. The Cinnamon Tip turkey wing case looks like many of the pmd nymphs they’ve been feeding on ready to burst out of their shuck while they ascend. The CDC collar allows this fly to be swung, and when it is wet and the CDC collapses on the body, the fly is reminiscent of many of the summer caddis pupa that are emerging. Feel free to swap out the flash color, or experiment with swapping cdc colors. You may be able to make it much more “caddisy”choosing a combination of green and or tan. Regardless, this is a fantastic nymph to have in your summer box and it can be a day saver when things are slow.
Ken Burkholder with his Bareback Rider Golden Stone
Golden Stoneflies are one of the most important large insects that hatch here in the Western US. This bug is responsible for big, explosive dry fly eats in the summer. It is also partially responsible for the adoption of large buoyant foam dry flies and the growing popularity of running tungsten droppers below to search in the warmer months.
These are some of the largest aquatic insects that hatch in the summer with only their cousin the Giant Salmonfly being larger than them. There are a variety of other larger stoneflies like the nocturnal and shortwing stone, but the Golden Stones hatch in greater abundance, thus making them a more important insect to anglers.
Golden Stoneflies, like other stoneflies, hatch different than other aquatic insects like caddisflies, mayflies, and midges. Stoneflies crawl to the bank and emerge on stream side structure like rocks, tree, vegetation and logs, while the latter emerge directly on the water’s surface.
Stoneflies can be clumsy fliers, which is why they become so important to anglers. Female Golden Stoneflies directly oviposit their eggs on the waters surface where they sink to the bottom of the river. Female Golden Stones can be seen fluttering in tailouts and eddies looking for softer water to deposit their eggs, this is exactly where you want to be fishing one of our favorite flies from Fulling Mill Burkus’ Bareback Rider Gold Stone. It also is a great pattern to prospect promising water with a dropper below.
In a chubby dominated large foam dry fly scene, this fly especially stands out as a more delicate, realistic option. Typically, you have to use a simulator-like dry fly or Clark’s Stone that is a mix of deer hair and hackle to achieve a more realistic profile. The issue with using these more traditional Golden Stone patterns is that they lack the buoyancy of a large foam chubby and a tungsten dropper will just sink the fly. Ken Burkholder designed the Bareback Rider Gold Stone to be the best of both worlds, it is slim, realistic, but buoyant enough to withstand several eats, and run a dropper while still floating high.
We love to fish this fly as a buoyant first fly in our two fly dry-dropper rigs. Some of our favorite droppers which happen to be from Fulling Mill to run below The Bareback Rider Gold Stone follow: Olsen’s Blowtorch, Weiss’ Possum Anchor Jig, Yardley’s Low Hole Jig Fly, or a Weiss’ BP Dark Heavyweight Perdigon. All of these patterns have the slim profile that we are looking for in the summer. They vary in size and weight which is perfect as late summer flows and finicky fish require more frequent swapping of flies.
We also are especially fond of running small single dries behind the Bareback Rider Gold Stone. It is a great way to keep track of smaller dry flies when visibility can be difficult during the evening hatch, or casting into quicker water where trout frequently hold in the summer. The Bareback Rider Gold Stone floats high, is larger, and has a high-vis spot on the top, which makes tracking it in subpar conditions easier. We like to run these flies 16-20″ behind it: Croston’s Mass Attack, Tactical Light Cahill Parachute, Olsen’s Front End Loader Caddis, or a Dusty Old Bat Caddis. We will watch The Bareback Rider Gold Stone and it serves as a reference point for eats nearby, as well as being an irresistible dry fly itself.
Ken Burkholder’s Bareback Rider Gold Stone is a must have in anglers’ boxes across the Western US. It is especially important as a Chubby Chernobyl substitute during the late summer when fish get selective, and on pressured waters. Swing by the shop and load up on them, or shop online for them here and we will ship them right to your door!
Did you know that trout are cold blooded? What does that mean, exactly? Well, it means that their body temperature depends on the temperature of the water in which they swim.
Why is this important to consider? If the water is too warm, trout struggle to thrive. Warm water carries less dissolved oxygen, which means it is harder for them to breathe. Think of the last time you hiked at an altitude higher than you’re used to and how hard you were breathing. This is the same for trout when the water warms.
And when you catch a trout when the water is too warm, that is akin to running a marathon at 10,000 feet, or even higher. It is harder for them to recover, and at times, they don’t and succumb to the stress.
Check in with your state’s wildlife management agency for updated info and regulations. Remember to take the temperature of the streams you’re fishing this summer to find out if it is safe to fish. If not, go higher and check the temperature again. Or fish only when the weather is cool in the mornings. Or fish for a warmwater fish like bass.
Take a photo of this thermometer and do your local fishery a favor to keep our beloved trout safe and alive this summer.
Of course, not all trout, and certainly not all fish, are affected at the same temperatures. Generally what’s good for rainbow and brown trout is not cool enough for cutthroat and bull trout nor mountain whitefish. Keep in mind this nuance and use your best judgement. If you observe fish acting sluggish or if you find them in really deep holes and not eating, it is likely too hot to fish for them.
This coming Tuesday, July 21st is our monthly Fly Fishing Community Night. Every month, our local community looks forward to gathering at our favorite brewery which has hosted us for over a year: Falling Sky Brewing. Beginners and experts alike are found in the crowd that attends this monthly gathering. There are new faces each month as well as veterans that have been attending since the monthly event’s inception.
Where: Falling Sky Brewing [1334 Oak Alley Eugene, OR 9740]
When: Tuesday, July 21st at 6:30
What: Fly tying, new friends, prizes, great food, great beer, fly swap, fly tying lessons (must reserve your spot), and connecting with the community.
This past two months, our friend Alan Eubanks has given complimentary fly tying lessons to beginners. Again, this month Alan will be hosting an intro to fly tying class sponsored by Caddis Fly Shop. There are limited seats so message our Instagram to reserve your spot, stop by the shop and get your name on the list, or give the shop a ring (541) 342-7005. Alan has been tying flies for decades and is excited to share his wealth of knowledge with eager students. This month he will be pairing down the class size and scope of the class, and will be teaching beginners how to tie a Parachute Adams. Please reserve your spot if you are interested; we only have limited supplies and for those who want to learn
If you haven’t been to a Community Night, you’re missing out, and we’d love to see you there. It is a great excuse to get together and talk about fly fishing, tie flies, meet new people in the community, usher in newbies, etc. We have had a massive influx of new anglers as of lat, and this is a fantastic way to meet people to fish with. See the bottom of this post for the full schedule for 2026.
Tiers are encouraged to bring their vise and materials and tie flies if they choose. We will still continue with the monthly fly swap for tiers who participate. If you aren’t planning on tying, but want to bring a hand tied fly, you are welcome to bring one from home.
We have gotten in some gifts from our friends at Fulling Mill & Trout Unlimited that we will parcel out to those participating in the fly swap. We won’t give everything out this month, as we will stretch the prizes over the next few months but if you participate in the fly swap, you will have a chance to win something.
Falling Sky has great beer and some very talented chefs working hard in the back. Their burgers and sandwiches are fantastic, if you choose either of those you have to try the truffle fries. They also have a fantastic bacon loaded truffle Mac and Cheese. Stephen, the owner, has been generous enough to host us monthly for a year and a half. He is a fly angler himself and always makes his rounds. Be sure to extend your gratitude to the man who has made this happen every month for well over a year.
We can always expect our regulars to show up monthly. We also encourage new people to swing by. We have had a massive influx of new faces and new anglers, so it is a great time to stop by if you’ve been hesitant. Whether you’re a veteran to community night or brand new, we are looking forward to seeing you Tuesday!
Help spread the word, the more the merrier!
-Simon
2026 Schedule
Community Nights will typically land on the third Tuesday of each month for 2026. Some dates are subject to change, so keep a close eye for updates.
Tuesday January 20th at 6:00
Tuesday February 17th at 6:00
Tuesday March 24th at 6:00 (Initial date of the 17th changed Due to St. Patricks)
There are a few insects that are synonymous with summer dry fly fishing in the west. If we narrow it down to the insect order of Ephemeroptera, which envelops our beloved mayflies, there is one that stands out. Of the western mayflies, the longest and most prolific hatch, typically, is the Pale Morning or Evening Dun (PMD or PED).
These small mayflies come off in two distinct groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon into the evening. Within both groups, there are also multiple species, so on the water you may multiple sizes of insects that look similar. For sake of simplicity, typically, a size 16-18 will cover everything you need for this summer mayfly hatch.
One of our favorite patterns to search with during this hatch is Fulling Mill’s Tactical Light Cahill Parachute. The shade of Fulling Mill’s Tactical Dry Fly Dub perfectly matches the shade of our local PMDs. The post is made of Fulling Mill’s Ultra Dry Yarn which is a fantastic synthetic yarn. We like it for wings on terrestrials and larger stones too, but it makes an ultra visible post that sheds water quickly. We love that the fly is tied sparsely which helps it shed water quickly, but more importantly, overdressed flies do not fool large fish as well.
This fly works great during an active emergence, or even mid day searching for opportunistic fish willing to rise for the stray PMD. When casting at further distances, we like to tag this 16-20 inches behind a larger stone. The Burkus Bearback Gold Stone is a great option from Fulling Mill that helps you keep track of the Tactical Light Cahill Parachute. This is an especially effective rig in faster water where trout are often holding in the summer, or in low light to help you track your small dry.
Stay tuned for an additional article doing a deeper dive into the nuanced specifics of the PMD/PED hatch. We also are in the works of doing another fly spotlight on one of our favorite Gold Stones from Fulling Mill: The Burkus Bearback Gold Stone.
Crickets are an often overlooked insect under the more broad “terrestrial” umbrella of insects. When people thing of terrestrial season, hoppers are typically the first insect that comes to mind. Grasshoppers are typically followed by beetles and ants in terms of popular flies thrown. Crickets are also a huge portion of a summer trout’s diet. This is especially true on smaller streams, spring creeks, and rivers with a lot of stream side brush. Because crickets are often overlooked, and very few commercial cricket patterns exist compared to other terrestrials, this makes them a fantastic option for pressured fish.
This fly utilizes a new resin from Solarez called “Top Coat Gloss”, which is specifically formulated to coat foam flies. This not only aids in durability, but helps with buoyancy. Believe it or not, foam can wet out. This resin really makes a huge difference on this improved version of an already productive fly. Tie some up so you’re ready in the next few weeks when hatches slow and we really shift into terrestrial and attractor season.
Golden Stoneflies are arguably the most important summer stonefly in the Western United States. This large insect hatches consistently across much of the West, and provides steady fishing with large attractors for most of the summer. In the Western United States, it is this insect that is responsible for trout finding large foam flies simply irresistible in early summer. Starting in June, we will start fishing large buoyant chubby style flies with tungsten droppers below. This technique is not only popular but could very well be the dominant summer searching rig in the Western US for the past 10+ years. On high pressured waters, and later in the summer large trout will begun to turn their nose up at your standard run of the mill Chubby Chernobyl.
This pattern provides equal buoyancy to a standard Chubby Chernobyl, but has a much more lifelike construction. A realistic segmented body protrudes past the hook bend, this section also has an additional wing pad glued to the extended body for increased buoyancy and durability. This is a pattern that I have had in active development for the past 4+ years, and it really does not get any better than this. It sheds water quickly when it gets wet, and can be retreated and float high again for countless drifts. A small hi vis spot of Fulling Mill Tactical Dry Yarn can be added for additional visibility. For increased durability and buoyancy, consider coating the body in the new Solarez Top Coat Gloss.
This pattern in its many iterations has been a staple in my box for years. It works great with a tungsten dropper tagged below it. I also love to fish this pattern with a small dry trailing. A Tactical Light Cahill Parachute, Pale Morning Dun Klinkhammer, Olsen’s Foam Front End Loader Caddis Fly, or Elk Hair Caddis: Tan makes a great trailing dry 16-18 inches behind this. For the evening PMD spinnerfall, this fly for years has served as my reference point when running virtually invisible waterlogged spent spinners as trailers. Here are some favorites: Rusty Spinner or a Hi-Vis Spinner.
Despite our subpar winter, we have made it through several popular weekends without any serious local fire flare ups. We have our fingers crossed that we can make it through this holiday weekend without any new fires. Fishing has been great despite the lack of water recharging our aquifers this winter and spring. The water is low all over the state so fish are feeling the late summer squeeze earlier than normal. This year above all others is a great year to seek out colder water in the form of high lakes and small streams
Given the hot weather we’ve had and lower water, our small streams are a fantastic option. Many of our valley tributaries are fed by cold water springs. These smaller tributaries are narrower than the larger mainstream rivers, so the thick riparian canopy casts a favorable shadow on many of these streams. This helps keep these streams cooler, large fish know this and are known to seek refuge in the cold water that these streams hold. These smaller systems offer fantastic dry fly fishing for medium to small trout with the occasional fish pushing 16-20. A shorter 3-4 wt makes fishing these a blast, especially if you can fool the large fish in the run. These smaller systems also contain some of the most beautiful fish the state has to offer, not to mention the gorgeous scenery of a cascading small stream.
I’ve been fishing a few different small stream rods. The other day I broke out my Scott F2 Series 7’2″ 3wt glass and had a blast fishing small dries to willing fish. My Winston Air 2 8″6″ 4 wt is my go to setup for dry dropper fishing on smaller systems. On even tighter streams I particularly like the Air 2 8″6′ 3wt for both dries and even lighter dry dropper rigs. All of these rods I run click and pawl reels from Hardy or Iwana. This makes playing fish more fun and levels the playing field a bit.
Hot weather and trout behavior do not mix well at all. The gradual warming of spring is something that trout love. It kicks off our favorite hatches, and gets trout’s metabolism moving so they are more wiling to eat. When things get too hot trout get lethargic. Warm water does not hold dissolved oxygen as well, so trout become lazy. They will push to the head of pools and into riffles where there is a higher dissolved oxygen content. Knowing this can help you locate trout when you are fishing perfect looking water without yielding much interest in your flies.
As anglers we have a responsibility to look out for trout. Fly anglers heed this call to action in multiple ways, in the summer it is in the form of taking water temperatures with a thermometer. We have a variety of options here, but our favorite is the Fishpond River keeper Digital Thermometer. Fishing for trout in too warm of water can be deadly to fish. Fighting them in hot water is a seriously physical feat for them adjacent to asking you to run a mile while breathing through a straw. The lower dissolved oxygen content from the summer heat poses a serious physical risk to trout especially as the water gets very warm. Temperatures exceeding 67/8 °F are just too hot for trout, it also impacts their feeding, so the fishing won’t be good anyways if you stick around. Typically I begin moving before then, one for the fish’s wellbeing, and two because the fishing will be subpar with the heat. Finding shaded sections of river, quick plunge pools and riffles are where there will be more optimal conditions for trout, and likely hold the larger, more seasoned fish
Bugs & Fly Selections
Summer time boats a serious buffet for trout often with several species hatching alongside one another. The star player are Pale Morning and Evening Duns (PMDs and PEDs); these are small cream colored mayflies that offer consistent hatches through the summer. There is a consistent PMD spinner fall that happens every evening that offers great fishing post work. The second most important bug is the mighty Golden Stonefly. In the early afternoon you will see these bugs fluttering up or down stream, and as evening approaches you will find females ovipositing. There is a smaller more yellow colored stonefly called the Yellow Sally. These bugs make a fantastic searching pattern, especially mid day or on small streams. In the upper sections of our rivers and tributaries, we are seeing great afternoon hatches of Green Drakes. These along with the PMD hatches will be even better on an overcast day. Lastly for aquatic insects, the is plethora of summer caddis species active on the rivers. Searching with a tried and true elk hair always works, especially on small streams they shed water quickly and can withstand catching many fish before needing to be retreated with floatant. With the mild spring terrestrials are already out in full force, beetles, ants, hoppers, and crickets are all fair game now. These are all even more important on smaller streams with abundant stream side vegetation.
Running a dry dropper is a great way to search promising water. You can learn a lot by running this type of rig through good looking water. The beauty of this rig is that is gives you information both on the surface and below. For dries we like to run big buoyant chubby Chernobyl flies on our larger rivers. Any of the buoyant Gold Stone patterns listed above make great options. For smaller streams any of the buoyant foam terrestrials make a great top fly in your dry dropper rig. Some droppers we like follow: Weiss’ BP Dark Heavyweight Perdigon, Miller’s Victim Jig Fly, Jigged Sassi’s Solution, or a Tungsten Jig TNT Nymph.
It is not uncommon to have a serious mid-day lull as things get warmer. One way to get around this outside of stopping for lunch, or for a nap is to nymph your way through the warmer parts of the day. Setting up a double nymph indicator rig is common practice during the hot parts of summer. We are particularly fond of Oros Indicators for this. Running one large fly to aid in getting down with a smaller offering in tandem often works well. Pairing one flashy and one natural option is also another good way to help decide what is working. Some larger options follow: Bubba’s In The Zone Stonefly Nymph, Jigged Mega Prince, T.J Hooker Nymph, Double Bead Epoxyback Peacock, or a Montana Fly Company Jig Hot Spot Girdle Bug. Outside of Gold Stones, many of the insects hatching have smaller nymphs sized 24-18, so here are some smaller offerings:
Our high lakes offer a cold water safe haven when our lower rivers in the valley can get warm. Fishing stillwater can be a refreshing change of pace., and many of the smaller lakes fish well from the bank if you don’t have a boat. Float tubes are small inflatable watercrafts that are light enough to be packed into hike in lakes. Float tubes are a great way to open the door to exploring tons of different lakes, we have a variety of them in the shop and available online here. Many of our high Cascade lakes are seeing fantastic summer hatches of Callibaetis mayflies. Here are some of our favorite Callibaetis dries: Smith’s Emerger Callibaetis, Parachute Extended Body Callibaetis, Tilt Wing Dun, CDC Thorax Callibaetis, or a Epoxyback Emerger. Slowly stripping Callibaetis nymphs can be deadly too, here are some that we like: Epoxy Back Emerging Callibaetis Nymph, Foisset’s UV Callibaetis, Mercer’s Epoxyback Emerger Callibaetis, or a Callibaetis Pandemic May. We like to fish these on intermediate lines, especially Phil Rowley’s Midge Tip Long. With the help of our friend and stillwater guide, Adison Rook, we wrote an intensive review of the line here. Running a slip strike indicator rig with Chironimids is a foolproof way to prospect water on a lake. Here are some Chironomid options from the shop: Chironomid Bomber, Rio’s Hangin’ w/ My Chromies, Chironocones, Buzzer, Kelly’s Ice Cream Cone, or a Croston’s Bung Buzzer. Any of the above terrestrials listed above will work great on all of our lakes this summer as fish work the banks looking for clumsy insects that end up un the water.
If you have any questions, give the shop a ring, or even better swing by and ask our knowledgeable, friendly staff questions. We are happy to help get you dialed in to have a great day wherever you go. We hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend. Remember how dry it is and be careful out there. It’s dry fly season, don’t forget your floatant!
Green Drakes are one of the most famed mayflies in the world. Here in the US, the insects can be broken into two broad categories: Eastern and Western Green Drakes. Although both are large green mayflies, they belong to entirely different families. Eastern Green Drakes belong to the Ephemeridae family which contains very large burrowing mayflies like the famous Hexagenia. The Western Green Drake is a part of the Ephemerellidae family which contains PMDs, Sulphurs, Hendricksons, and some BWO’s not in the Baetis family. These families have entirely different looking nymphal forms and this particular fly aims to capture the western variant of the famed Green Drake.
This hatch persists through late spring into the summer. It climbs in altitude clinging to cooler weather. Currently, our upper Mckenzie, Upper Middle Fork Wilamette, & other Wilamette tributaries at higher elevation are seeing great emergences of Western Green Drakes in the afternoon. These hatches are even more prolific on overcast or particularly rainy days. This fly makes a fantastic searching nymph pattern this time of year locally and over the hill on the Upper Deschutes and Metolious. If you can’t take this to the Metolious and catch the tail end of the early Green Drake hatch, there is a second wave that comes in September where this fly will get some love. This fly was tied with a large tungsten bead and extra lead to excel on the Upper Mckenzie and Metolious.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Portland District, posted a press release on Tuesday outlining its plan for operating Willamette Valley Dams. Immediate actions include a deep drawdown for Detroit Reservoir as well as seasonal drawdowns / water-spills, and fish-weir operations at “key facilities” to aid in downstream migration, volitional passage, and improve water quality.
Specific, tailored operations include…
Green Peter – Deep fall drawdown & spring spill
Lookout Point – Deep fall drawdown & spring spillway usage
Cougar – Deep fall drawdown & delayed spring reservoir refill
Foster – Delayed spring refill and use of summer attraction-flow fish weir
Hills Creek – Prioritized nighttime winter water releases
Big Cliff – Spill across multiple bays to reduce total dissolved gas levels
By drawing down the Willamette River Basin reservoirs, the Corps can return the river to a more natural flow and restore endangered salmon populations. Deep drawdowns allow juvenile fish to migrate more easily by reducing the length of the reservoirs while also allowing the fish to access lower outlets on the dams, avoiding dangerous turbines.
Yellow Sallies are a small, yet important summer bug in the Western US. They are often overlooked as other warm weather stoneflies are much larger like Salmonflies, Skwalas, Gold Stones, Shortwing Stones, Etc. These bugs come in a yellow, more known, variant, and a bright Lime Sally as well that is similar sized. Here in Oregon, the only place I’ve seen Lime Sallies in abundance is on the Wood river down south. Regardless of what color the adult is, small sized 14 stonefly nymphs are preparing for emergence and trout are getting keyed in on them this time of year. Here is a simple, but effective Sally pattern that will make a phenomenal dropper under a larger Golden Stonefly for most of the summer. Depending on the type of water you are searching in, you may want to size the bead down a size to a 1/8 or 3.2mm Gold Slotted Tungsten Bead. The adults make a fantastic searching pattern as well, especially on smaller water. If you’re a fan of this pattern’s construction, you certainly could size it up for a Gold Stone to an 8-10, or even bigger #6-8 for Salmonflies.
