Willamette River
Middle Fork

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 Mills Tactical Light Cahill Parachute. The shade of Fulling Mills Tactical Dry Fly Dub perfectly matches the shade of our local PMDs. The post is made of Fulling Mills 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.

-Simon

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Caddis Fly Shop

Caddis Fly Shop

168 W 6th Ave

Eugene, or 97401

Phone: (541) 342-7005

Email: [email protected]

COAST FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: Chinook, summer steelhead, trout

Will be stocked the week of July 6th with 800 hatchery rainbow trout.

The river is open to fishing all year for trout, hatchery Chinook salmon, hatchery steelhead and wild steelhead over 24 inches.

Use of bait is 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 7/14/26.

MIDDLE FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: Trout, steelhead, Chinook

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. Chinook fishing should be really good! Chinook and summer steelhead fishing should be good June July downstream of Dexter Dam.

A Columbia River Basin Endorsement is required for anglers targeting salmon and steelhead.

The Middle Fork Willamette above Lookout Point and Hills Creek reservoirs are 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 6/30/26.

WILLAMETTE RIVER: Steelhead, spring Chinook, coho salmon, bass, walleye, shad, catch-and-release sturgeon

Spring Chinook are still available in the lower Willamette River, but we are approaching the end of the run. There will still be fish caught through July down by the deadline near Kelley Point, but catch has been winding down.

Shad fishing is just about over for the year on the Willamette River. There may be a few stragglers left in the Oregon City area.

Warmwater fishing is a productive summertime option on the Willamette with water temperature over 70 degrees. Consider fishing for bass, walleye, and other warmwater species that reside in the Willamette River and Multnomah Channel.

As a reminder, per permanent regulations, sturgeon angling is prohibited from the Lake OswegoOak Grove Railroad Bridge upstream to Willamette Falls from May 1 through August 31.

See Willamette Catch Summaries for more details on spring chinook, steelhead and sturgeon here.

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 trouts 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 youre ready in the next few weeks when hatches slow and we really shift into terrestrial and attractor season.

-Simon

Hook- Ahrex FW531: Size 12

Thread- Fulling Mill Black Pro Flat Thread: 70D

Tails- Hareline Life Flex: Black

Abdomen- Hareline 2mm Hi-Float Foam: Black (NEW), Hareline Micro Fine Dry Dub: Trico Black

Legs- Hareline Life Flex: Black

Hackle- Whiting Bronze Saddle: Black

Wing- Fulling Mill Ultra Dry Yarn: White

Hot Spot- Fulling Mill Ultra Dry Yarn: UV Pink

UV Resin- Solarez: Top Coat 77 Gloss (NEW)

UV Torch- Loon Plasma Light

Bobbin- Smhaen Tension Bobbin

Vise- Renzetti Master & Deluxe Streamer Base

Follow us on Instagram

Caddis Fly Shop: @Caddisflyshop

Oregon Fly Fishing Blog: @OregonFlyFishingBlog

Caddis Fly Travel: @Caddis_Fly_Travel

Subscribe to our Youtube channel

Caddis Fly Angling Shop

Shop Online from all over the World

Caddis Fly Shop

Caddis Fly Shop

168 W 6th Ave

Eugene, or 97401

Phone: (541) 342-7005

Email: [email protected]

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, Olsens 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.

-Simon

Hook- Ahrex Dry Long FW570: Size 8

Thread- Fulling Mill Black Pro Flat Thread: 70D

Body- Hareline 2mm Hi-Float Foam: Hopper Tan & Brown (NEW)

Wing- Montana Fly Co. Widows Web: White & Hareline Krystal Flash: Grey Ghost

Legs- Montana Fly Co. Medium Barred Sexi Floss: Yellow

Markers: Copic Pale Sepia & Copper

Additional Tools- Stonefo Detached Body Tool

Additional Glues- Brush on Loctite

UV Resin- Solarez Bone Dry

UV Torch- Loon Plasma Light

Bobbin- Smhaen Tension Bobbin

Vise- Renzetti Master & Deluxe Streamer Base

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 weve 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.

Ive been fishing a few different small stream rods. The other day I broke out my Scott F2 Series 72 3wt glass and had a blast fishing small dries to willing fish. My Winston Air 2 86 4 wt is my go to setup for dry dropper fishing on smaller systems. On even tighter streams I particularly like the Air 2 86 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 trouts 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 wont be good anyways if you stick around. Typically I begin moving before then, one for the fishs 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.

Our seasonal table in the shop is loaded up with all of our favorite patterns for fishing locally. Many of these patterns are representative of key bugs hatching across the west if you are traveling. Our favorite PMD duns follow: Tactical Light Cahill Parachute, Tilt Wing PMD, or a Quill Body Parachute PMD. PMD cripples and emerges are very important when there are lots of bugs coming off; here are some favorites: Sparkle Flag Fly, CDC Biot Dun, Quigleys Film Critic PMD, or a Galloups OG Bent Cripple. PMDs have one of the best spinner falls of all mayflies, here are some you want in your box: Rusty Spinner or a Hi-Vis Spinner. Standard issue caddis patterns in tan, brown, and cinnamon are key to have during the summer. Here are some must haves: Crostons Mass Attack, Rubber Legged Elk Hair Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis Brown, Peacock Caddis, or a Kings Splitsville Caddis.

For searching with gold stones there are two routes you can go. For a more delicate, realistic offering try these: Clarks Stone, Goulds Half Down Golden, or a Parachute MadamX. Sometimes a single delicate Gold Stone is the ticket to fooling a big fish. If you want to run a more buoyant Gold Stone with a dropper below, here are some options: Burkus Bearback Rider Stone Fly, Morrish Fluttering Stone, Double Stack Chubby Chernobyl Fly, Chubby Chernobyl, or a Double Stack Chubby Chernobyl Fly for extra heavy droppers. Yellow Sallies are smaller and less buoyant, if you want to fish them in tandem, a trailing caddis or PMD emerged are great options. Here are some shop favorite Sallies: Js Hi-Tie Sally, Goldie Hawn, Tims Levitator Fly, or a Parachute Headlight Yellow Sally.

Terrestrials are going to be even more important this year with the mild winter that we had. These have been essential to bringing up finicky trout and searching on smaller streams and our high lakes. Some of our favorite hoppers follow: Rios Blade Runner Hopper, Henneberry Hopper, or a Morrishs Hopper. Here are some ants and beetles that we like, these work great ran as a trailing dry: Deer Hair Ant, Masons Bant, Masons Wingman Ant, Ground Beetle, of a Splitzville Beetle. Dont worry if they start to sink, they work even better in the film as a trailer. Other miscellaneous terrestrials we like are: Fat Angie, Stubby Chubby, Hi-Vis Micro Chubby Chernobyl, or a Bubbas Foam Assassin. Terrestrials will only become more important as things warm up; these flies will get use into early fall.

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, Millers Victim Jig Fly, Jigged Sassis 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: Bubbas 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 dont 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: Smiths 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, Foissets UV Callibaetis, Mercers Epoxyback Emerger Callibaetis, or a Callibaetis Pandemic May. We like to fish these on intermediate lines, especially Phil Rowleys 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, Rios Hangin w/ My Chromies, Chironocones, Buzzer, Kellys Ice Cream Cone, or a Crostons 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. Its dry fly season, dont forget your floatant!

-Simon

Caddis Fly Shop

168 W 6th Ave

Eugene, or 97401

Phone: (541) 342-7005

Email: [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram

Caddis Fly Shop: @Caddisflyshop

Oregon Fly Fishing Blog: @OregonFlyFishingBlog

Caddis Fly Travel: @Caddis_Fly_Travel

Subscribe to our Youtube channel

Caddis Fly Angling Shop

Shop Online from all over the World

Caddis Fly Shop

COAST FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: Chinook, summer steelhead, trout

Will be stocked the week of July 6th with 800 hatchery rainbow trout.

Chinook fishing should be good throughout the month of June.

The river is open to fishing all year for trout, hatchery Chinook salmon, hatchery steelhead and wild steelhead over 24 inches.

Use of bait is 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 6/30/26.

MIDDLE FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: Trout, steelhead, Chinook

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. Chinook fishing should be really good! Chinook and summer steelhead fishing should be good June July downstream of Dexter Dam.

A Columbia River Basin Endorsement is required for anglers targeting salmon and steelhead.

The Middle Fork Willamette above Lookout Point and Hills Creek reservoirs are 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 6/30/26.

WILLAMETTE RIVER: Steelhead, spring Chinook, coho salmon, bass, walleye, shad, catch-and-release sturgeon,

From June 15 - 21, anglers in the lower Willamette River harvested an estimated 667 Chinook and released 180 Chinook. Most of the boat effort and Chinook catch was in the area below the St. Johns Bridge. Bank anglers in the Oregon City area reported no salmonid catch.

The water temperature is now over 70 degrees in the Willamette River, and the bite is often in the earliest hours of the day once the water gets this warm. Most of the successful springer anglers are fishing with 360 flashers and spinners or hard plastic "stuffer" baits. Fishing near the head of channel is still productive, but as we approach July the Kelley Point area is improving please observe the deadline boundary with the Columbia when fishing in this area. Target fishing in this area on early mornings and incoming to high tides.

Shad fishing is still good in Oregon City. Last week, an estimated 2,773 shad were kept and 753 were released for 644 anglers, an average of 5.5 shad per angler. You can find them throughout the system, but the best shad fishing occurs in the Oregon City area. Use small spoons and shad darts to target them from a boat or from the bank. Clackamette Park is a productive area to try catching these abundant, hard-fighting fish.

Warmwater fishing is becoming a productive option on the Willamette with the water temperature over 70 degrees. Consider fishing for bass, walleye, and other warmwater species that reside in the Willamette River and Multnomah Channel. Walleye fishing can be especially productive in the lower Multnomah Channel this time of year.

As a reminder, per permanent regulations, sturgeon angling is prohibited from the Lake OswegoOak Grove Railroad Bridge upstream to Willamette Falls from May 1 through August 31.

See Willamette Catch Summaries for more details on spring chinook, steelhead and sturgeon here.

MIDDLE FORK WILLAMETTE RIVER: Trout, steelhead, Chinook

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. Chinook fishing should be really good! Chinook and summer steelhead fishing should be good June July downstream of Dexter Dam.

A Columbia River Basin Endorsement is required for anglers targeting salmon and steelhead.

The Middle Fork Willamette above Lookout Point and Hills Creek reservoirs are 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 6/30/26.

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 BWOs 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 cant 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.

-Simon

Hook- Ahrex CZ Mini Jig Barbless FW555: Size 12

Bead- Fulling Mill Copper Slotted Tungsten Bead: 5/32 or 3.8mm

Thread- Fulling Mill Black Pro Flat Thread: 70D

Tail- Whiting CDL: Dark Pardo

Abdomen- Hareline .02 Lead Wire, Montana Fly Co. Ostrich Plume: Olive, & Hareline Small Vinyl Rib: Olive

Thorax- Fulling Mill Eco Warrior Dub: Olive & Pepperbox

Legs- Montana Fly Co. Medium Barred Sexi Floss: Olive

Wing Case- Hareline Cinnamon Tip Turkey Feather

Additional Tools- Smhaen Thread Splitter

UV Resin- Solarez Bone Dry

UV Torch- Loon Plasma Light

Bobbin- Smhaen Tension Bobbin

Vise- Renzetti Master & Deluxe Streamer Base