Fly Fishing the Metolius

The Metolius River is what first drew me to fly fishing. I first experienced this magnificent Central Oregon  gem, after stopping by while attending church camp at Suttle Lake. I instantly fell in love with this spring creek.  I watched the grace of the fly fishermen as they plied their craft to the clear running spring creak. I could see the fish finning casually in the stream and dreamed of fooling them.

When I first started fishing the Metolius it was heavily stocked. The fishing still was not easy, but you could be reasonably sure to hook a few fish on every trip. The fish fought well, but lacked the true beauty of wild rainbow with their vibrant red stripe. ODFW eventually realized that these heavy stockings were hurting the wild fish populations and ended the program.

This lead to a few years of slow fishing, but the wait was worth it. Now the fishing is much more challenging, but the fish are worth the work. There is also a far greater chance of getting a trophy trout, rather than just cooky cutter hatchery plants.

The Metolius fishes best with nymphs and indicators.  It is illegal to use added weight, but fly fishers get around this by using large weighted stone fly nymphs trailed by smaller offerings like bead head pheasent tails, or a zebra midge.  During the fall small egg patterns can be useful as the kokenee spawn.

Some of the most exciting fishing happens through July and August.  Large golden stone flies bounce like dodo birds onto the stream surface.  Big trout are eager to grab at these ungainly flies.  My favorite fly for fishing this hatch is the Clarks Stone.  But there are many patterns, like stimulators, or foam bodied patterns, which will take fish.

Pale morning duns and sometimes caddis will also take fish on top during this time.  You will start seeing these flies between 9:00 and 10:00 am most mornings.  The fish need to tell you if they are interested though.  Many times they seem to only want the nymphs.

When using a foam bodied stone fly, I like to tie a tippet to the bend of the hook and tie on a zebra midge, or bead head pheasent tail in size eighteen.  I have caught many fish with this set up.  I use tungsten bead heads to help sink the small nymphs quickly.

One of the more challenging ways to fish the Metolius is with small size eighteen to twenty two flies.  Small blue winged olives, beitis, or midge flies.  I simply watch for rising fish, try to figure out which little fly the fish are taking and make the most delicate presentation I can.  I will go down to a thin seven x tippet.  Timing is important in this kind of fishing.  If your to slow the fish will drop your fly, but after a few misses, it is easy to over set and snap off the hair thin tippet, leaving the fisher to attempt tying on a microscopic fly during a setting sun.

In the late fall and winter you can still get some decent dry fly action.  On warmer over cast days when there is a little moisture, or even light snow these bugs will pop.  Size eighteen to sixteen flies should take fish.  I would probably stick mostly to size eighteen.  Smaller seems to be better on the Metolius.
Swinging big white streamers can be effective for bull trout starting in November, but I have yet to hook up.  It is on my to do list.  They are not known as great fighters, but they are big powerful predators and could certainly warm a cold winter day.  The Metolius is one of the few rivers in Oregon that still has a healthy population of these fish.

I do not go to the Metolius for large numbers of fish.  I go there for the unparalleled  beauty and the quality of the few fish I catch.  I also go there for the burgers at the Camp Sherman Store.  My freind Steve always tells the clerk, "This is the real reason we come here".

There are many camp grounds and here is some lodging for your stay on the Metolius.  http://www.metoliusriver.com/lodging.html