This Spring especially has been a finicky one for all of the things out of our control. Torrential downpours, low elevation snow melt, surprise flow changes out of our dams, spurts of hot weather, etc. have thrown not only us as anglers for a loop, but the fish we are chasing, and the bugs they eat. As a result, this has the insects and fish behaving differently. To be successful on the water, we must change our approach too.
There are plenty of Spring bugs historically, but with the river conditions this year, they are a little more difficult to come by. If you know when and where to be, you can do exceptionally well. High, turbulent water are not ideal conditions for insects to hatch. When insects first emerge, they are soft and delicate. If an emerging insects wings get too wet, they will drown. With our high water right now, insects are holding off on emerging. If they are, they are doing so in long glassy glides where it is safer to do so. Fish key in on this and feed opportunistically when and where this is happening. This is precisely why if you time things right you can do very well in a Spring like we are having.
March Browns are the stars of the show currently. Everyone waits anxiously each year for the hatch to hit full swing. We still are waiting for the big boom of bugs, but we have been seeing them intermittently. Blue Winged Olives (AKA Olives, Baetis, or BWOs) are also a big deal, and have been more abundant. They can tolerate less desirable weather, and love a cool, overcast, rainy day to emerge. Winter Stoneflies (Nemora sp.) are also around, fish will take a dry, but are more likely to key in on nymphs. Brannon Caddis (Mothers Day Caddis) are beginning to stage in desirable water for emergence. We still are a bit out, but you will start seeing them in the lower river on warm days. Bigger stones are making their appearance too. Weve had reports of skwalas, and salmon flies on our rivers. Fish are keying in on large nymphs, and on warm days will let their guard down for a chubby.
The most reliable method to employ on the water given the current circumstances is to search using nymphs. In high water fish pod up in current breaks in areas where they are both protected, and do not need to work terribly hard to hold their position. This often is behind obstacles, along a seam, and especially in high water towards the bank. Run a single or double nymph rig adjusting the depth until you start dragging on the bottom, from there lose 6-12 inches of depth, and your flies will be in the right zone. Note in shallower water this means to use lighter nymphs. This is something I often do in the winter which is counterintuitive. We did get some new nymphs in shop, Ive tested several and these are my favorite new ones for high water: Jigged Mega Prince, Jigged Possie Bugger, Goodspeed Private Stock Stonefly, or Olsens Straggle Stone. Some other options include: Yardleys Low Hole, Olsens Blowtorch, Weiss Possum Anchor, Crostons Full Metal Jacket, Sexy Walts Worm, or a Rozas Jigged Pink Pheasant Tail. These flies will cover all of the hatches, and immature nymphs moving around subsurface. Generally as the water clears up and drops, it is wise to begin sizing down both your flies and tippet.
Next up would be swinging wet flies. This means soft hackles and streamers. Cast across upstream of where you suspect fish are feeding and holding. Throw in a few upstream mends to let your flies sink, then allow you fly line to get a bend in it and swing your flies through the target area. March Browns are the most well known hatch locally known for having phenomenal wet fly fishing on the swing, with the grannom caddis hatch right behind it. Some long time shop favorite March Brown wets are: Beadhead March Brown Emerger, March Brown Wet Fly, or try March Brown Soft Hackle Spider. For BWOs these make fantastic options if they arrest picking up your larger March Brown wet: Drymerger Baetis, Harrops Soft Hackle Thorax Bead, Soft Emerger BWO. You can employ the same tactics with streamer fishing by swinging. Stripping a fly downstream to mimic a distressed fish frantically looking for cover can also entice some big eats. Here are a few great spring streamers: Conehead Slump Buster, Conehead Kiwi Muddler, or a smaller Sculpzilla Jr.
Dry fly fishing currently is sporadic, but can be great given the right window. When water levels calm down wither when runoff runs out of snow, or if cooler weather slows the melt, there will certainly be bugs. This last warm spell we had triggered some salmonflies to emerge and I had 4-6 fish get silly for a chubby. If its warm, search using the following with a nymph below to mimic salmonflies and skwalas: Chubby Chernobyl, Water Walker, or a Double Stack Chubby Chernobyl. For the March Brown adults, here are some favorites in sizes 12-14: Hi and Dry Western March Brown, Keegans March Brown Kripple, or a Harrops CDC March Brown. For overcast days with lots of BWOs here are out best sized 16-18: Tactical Blue Winged Olive, Hatch Matcher Blue Winged Olive, or a Blue Winged Olive Ext. Body. Winter stone and grannom caddis dries can be interchangeable, here are some that work for both in sizes 14-16 : Peacock Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis Black, or a Js Black Hi-Tie Caddis.
Keep an eye out for the weather as ti is always changing in the spring, where you fished last time on your day off, it could be interiorly different. Warmer calm days will have better fishing, especially on the surface. On really warm days, search the shallows with a chubby and see who will play. Having a nymph below allows you to read the area on two and subsurface. Keep an eye on the weather and look for breaks in the rain and from the hot days. This will help mitigate river flow swellings and allow for more dry fly fishing opportunities. The secret to a good day fishing dries too is a low cloud ceiling with overcast conditions. This insulates the air temp from changing too much, this keeps the conditions for emergence in shape for a longer period of time during the day. If the rivers are really in awful shape, you may want to get on the spring Smallie jam. Our Stillwater guide Adison Rook wrote a fantastic article on it. Click here to read. He also is at the monthly fly fishing nights, and thats a great time to pick his brain on Spring stillwater valley opportunities.
One thing you dont want to leave home with is a few sizes of Oros Strike Indicators. Scientific Anglers is doing BOGO for the whole month of April with all absolute products. Meaning all tippet and leaders are buy one get one free. So whether you need more or not, it is a good time to stock up. For nymphing youll be using between 3-5x Absolute Trout Fluorocarbon most frequently. For dries the same 3-5x range is a good size to stock in Absolute Trout Tippet Material. The same goes for Absolute Trout Leader & Absolute Fluorocarbon Tapered Leaders from Scientific Anglers. If dries are on you definitely want some floating such as: Aquel or Shimazaki Dry Shake or both. Lastly for drying your flies off before you hit it with desiccant powder, I am a firm believer in Amadou patches. One other thing is a Fishpond puck to hold a few select flies while swapping so that you dont have to open and close your bag all day: Shallow Magpad Fly Puck or Shallow Fly Puck.
Spring is a fantastic time to get out. Personally, it is one of my favorite times of the year, and each year I catch loads of very large trout. Big trout put on the feed bag in preparation for their spring spawn, so if you can locate them, you will be rewarded. Have fun out there and be careful where you step in the high water!
-Simon
In this video, Simon ties a fantastic March Brown emerger. He uses a hackle method called hackle-stacking to create a low-riding emerger that is suggestive of a struggling insect. This method creates a cleaner look than vertically palming a saddle feather and trimming the bottom off. For selective fish in tailouts or spring creeks, this method creates a very convincing emerger and can make the world of a difference. The March Brown hatch can be massive with loads of insects. This can make things difficult, sometimes with so many naturals on the surface, your fly must stand out. This is when fishing an especially vulnerable pattern is crucial. Tie some of these up, and get out there!
Hook- Ahrex FW530 Sedge: 14
Thread- Semperfli Nanosilk 50D: Brown
Shuck- EP Trigger Point Fibers: March Brown & Hareline Pheasant Tail
Abdomen: Hareline Pheasant Tail & Uni XS Soft Wire: Gold
Thorax: Hareline Microfine Dry Dub: Baetis Tan (SMF8)
Wing: Hareline CDC: Tan
Hackle Stack: Uni Flex: Camel & Whiting Barred Medium Ginger Saddle
Resin: Solarez Bone Dry
UV Torch: Loon Plasma Light
Bobbin: Smhaen Tension Bobbin
Additional Materials: Overtons Wonder Wax
Vise- Renzetti Master & Deluxe Streamer Base
COAST FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: Chinook, summer steelhead, trout
Stocking will resume in spring 2025. The river is open to fishing all year for trout, hatchery Chinook salmon, hatchery steelhead and wild steelhead over 24 inches.
Use of bait allowed April 22 Oct. 31 but beginning Nov. 1 anglers may only use lures and artificial flies. In addition to five hatchery trout, two wild trout may be kept daily. Last updated 11/27/24.
MIDDLE FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: trout, steelhead
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers refurbished the boat ramp on the south side of the Middle Fork Willamette just below Dexter Dam allowing drift boat and raft access. Walleye fishing below Dexter Dam should be decent March May.
A Columbia River Basin Endorsement is required for anglers targeting salmon and steelhead in the Middle Fork Willamette below Dexter Dam.
The Middle Fork Willamette above Lookout Point and Hills Creek reservoirs is open to fishing using lures and artificial flies. All wild trout must be released upstream of Lookout Point Reservoir. The Middle Fork Willamette River is not stocked with hatchery trout. Last updated 3/12/25.
WILLAMETTE RIVER: catch-and-release sturgeon, steelhead, spring Chinook, small and largemouth bass
Poor river conditions last week and not much effort.
Preliminary estimates for Week of March 17-23.
Boats: 200 anglers - Chinook 0 kept, 0 released - Steelhead 0 kept, 0 releasedBank: 160 anglers - Chinook 0 kept 0 released - Steelhead 3 kept , 2 released
See summaries for more details.
Spring ChinookSteelhead
River conditions and fish counts:
March 17 Willamette River Portland-Temperature/Visibility: 48F, Visibility: 1.2ftWillamette Falls Counts as of 3/08/24: Chinook-0, winter steelhead-3,377, summer steelhead-161Link to Willamette River Morrison Bridge Hydro DataLink to NOAA-Willamette River Forecast (Salem)
The Willamette often gets overlooked because it is so close. But this river offers convenience, fairly good access and variety.
The river is ideal for small boats such as canoes and kayaks, but there are enough public access points for bank anglers as well. Consult Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for specific locations.
The upstream section between Albany and Harrisburg is open year-round for trout fishing, which can be very good when flows are cooperating. Look for deep slot pools and the tail-end of long riffles and the head of pools where the fish are likely stacked up in feeding lanes.
Smallmouth bass can be a lot of fun to catch and are plentiful between Salem and Corvallis during the spring and summer. Trout prefer the cooler temperatures upstream of Corvallis. From Salem downstream there are plenty of largemouth bass in the deeper, quieter sections. Last updated 3/26/25.
In this video, Simon ties a fantastic CDC BWO pattern. Stillborn mayflies happen when there is an accident in the emergence. Generally this involves one of the wings touching the water when the insect is unfurling its new wings. When this happens, the wing becomes stuck on the surface tension of the water. Sometimes the insect can break its wing free, but often it is damaged and the insect is exhausted. All of these small mishaps make for a very vulnerable bug. When BWOs emerge this time of year, often they do in large numbers. Fish can get picky during any large hatch, so giving them an easy meal makes the world of a difference. The CDC in this patterns mimics the damaged wing of an emergence gone wrong. Tie some up and take some to the river the next overcast day we have.
Hook- Tiemco 900 BL: Size 16
Thread- Semperfli Olive Nano Silk: 50D
Tail: Whiting CDL
Body: Semperfli Kapok Dubbing: BWO
Hackle: Whiting Dun Cape
Wing- Hareline CDC: Dun
Other Tools/ Materials: Stonfo CDC Winder & Hareline Overtons Wonder Wax
Bobbin- Smhaen Tension Bobbin
Resin- Solarez Bone Dry
UV Light- Loon UV Plasma Light
Vise- Renzetti Traveler 2304 & Renzetti Streamer Base
