Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

Yesterday marked the official first day of Summer on the calendar, but you wouldn’t know it by looking outside. Cool, rainy weather has dominated the calendar during May and June. June, 2010 is already the wettest on record with a rainfall total of 4.28″ to date, surpassing the old record of 4.06″ and there’s still over a week left to go. Coast and Valley streams were all blown out for over a week at the beginning of the month. The rain swollen rivers looked similar to a strong storm in January or February, certainly not June.

While the high water has made for some less than typical fishing conditions and some frustrating days of cancelled trips, the rain does have a few upsides. Sections of water that usually too low for drift boats this time of year are flowing nicely, allowing access to fishing grounds usually reserved for Winter. Fish of all species including Spring Chinook and Summer Steelhead have had free passage up river under moderate to heavy flows and dirty water. That has kept the fish far less spooky than normal and allowed us to fish bigger presentations and heavier leaders.

But perhaps the biggest upside is still to come… All this rain late in the season means increased river flows in July, August and September when rivers typically get low, warm and have decreased dissolved oxygen content. That’s good news for fish and fishermen who should enjoy good mid-summer/early-fall conditions for Summer steelhead, sea-run cutthroat, Coho and Fall Chinook. Fish should be less spooky, more aggressive and spread themselves out through river systems instead of stacking up in big dark pools with bad cases of lock-jaw. Only time will tell, but with the rivers now on the slow drop and approaching the magic 50 degree mark we are looking forward to a great Summer and Fall of fishing.

We are currently fishing Summer Steelhead/Spring Chinook on the Clackamas as well as the Nestucca. We are also guiding cutthroat and rainbow trout on the Clackamas, McKenzie and Coastal Rivers. To inquire about a guided fishing adventure email Info@SmallStreamOutfitters.com or call 503.515.3533

Tight Lines,
The Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff

Viewing Osprey on Oregon rivers is a regular occurrence. Like us, they are fishermen and good ones at that. I always enjoy watching them and it’s a rare treat to see them dive and catch a fish. They have never tried to grab a hooked fish from myself or a client, that is until yesterday.

I spent the day on the McKenzie with David from Kansas having a glorious time catching Rainbows and Cutthroats. Even with the sunny skies the hatchery rainbows were particularly aggressive and David’s rod was bent often. About halfway through our float, there’s a great riffle that always holds fish and is a favorite hang out spot for a pair of Osprey. Rich Youngers of Creekside Fly Shop has had client’s fish stolen on multiple occasions at this spot, but for whatever reason, it hadn’t happened to me. I had heard all the stories and saw all the pictures, so of course David and I were chatting about the birds as we approached and set anchor.

David made a cast with his streamer and instantly hooked up. I watched him as he fought the fish and just as I was about to reach over and grab the line to land it, a large splash startled us. An osprey was in the water, just feet in front of the boat. He took off with our fish in tow and now Dave had a 12″ rainbow and very large bird attached to his 5 weight! Awesome! “Break him off”, I yelled while laughing. He pulled back and away the bird went, back across the river. Now one less hatchery rainbow in the river… That alone was enough to make the day and certainly lightning couldn’t strike twice. As I tied on a new tippet and fly, Dave got out his camera to snap some photos of the other half of the Osprey pair, sitting in a tree across the river.

I finished the knot, stripped off some line and flicked a cast out the side of the boat, waiting while he finished snapping shots. As the fly swung in front of the boat (did I mention fishing was hot yesterday) the rod surged and now I had one on. “Get that camera ready” I said. And with that, she took off from the tree, flew across the river and started a dive on the fish. Not wanting to lose another fly, I shook the fish off right before she hit the water. Success!! She got the fish, I saved my fly and Dave snapped away. Count two for the Osprey. As she flew away, presumably to feed their babies, Dave and I chuckled as he made a cast and hooked another fish.

Now with the Ospreys fed, we can get on to catching more fish!

Guide’s Fishing report from Sunday, June 7.

Fished more of a run and gun style with a single angler today and covered about 9 miles of river looking for active fish on top. We found a few pockets of actively feeding fish, but couldn’t get very many to go when blind casting to the banks. Any place we found trout sipping dries we were able to get them to take on a variety of patterns including, size 8 salmon flies, yellow sallies, low-water caddis and adams.

We fished dries hard until about noon and then switched over to streamers until 4:30 and then switched back. Streamers worked well, but we had to down size and go darker once the sun came out.

We caught mostly natives today and a majority of those were cutthroat. A few hatchery fish here and there, but not huge numbers. That’s fine by me. The wild fish bite far better when there are fewer hatchery fish in the way.

All in all it was a great day with lots of variety.
River Clarity: 6 feet
Water temp: low fifties
Weather: 55-70, mostly to partly cloudy. Variable winds
Fishing Pressure: light

To book a trout fly fishing trip on the McKenzie River this Summer, call 503.515.3533 or email us

Guide Report from Friday, June 5.

Small Stream Outfitters was on the middle McKenzie today and had some great action. Sporadic hatches of #12-14 brown caddis, golden stones, salmon flies, and large cahills provided some good dry fly action in the morning and evening. During the day we covered lots of water by swinging streamers. The streamers worked like magic and kept us busy during the middle of the day . The majority of rainbows were of the hatchery variety, but we did land a couple small native cutthroats and one trophy native rainbow. This big redside measured 19″ and is our biggest McKenzie Rainbow of the season to date. We’ve caught these big bows up to 22″ in past years and know these big trophies are still out there.

We’ll be on the water again Sunday and are hoping to run in to a few more of these big boys.

Weather: 60-70 degrees, mostly cloudy, variable winds and a few sprinkles
Time: 9am-6pm

A mighty Spring run off from a Winter of heavy snow kept Cascade streams on the high side most of June. However, rivers are now running at close to normal levels and the McKenzie is no exception. The river is in beautiful shape with 6-7′ of visibility and a cfs of 2,870 (near vida as of July 21).

Stocked rainbow trout are prevalent and provide great action all day long. Native Rainbow and Cutthroat are also present with the best opportunities for these fish coming during hatches and low light periods.

Predominate hatches are Yellow Sallies (size 10-14) and Tan/Brown Caddis (size 12-16). A few PMDs are also flying around.

Try hopper/dropper setups during hatches and rely on nymphing tactics when the sun is bright and on the water.

To book a McKenzie river guided fly fishing trip, please call Small Stream Outfitters at 503.515.3533 or email us at info@smallstreamoutfitters.com

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff