Oregon Fly Fishing Report – Small Stream Outfitters & Guides

The Clackamas has dropped down to more typical June flows over the last couple weeks (at 12.2 as of this morning) and fish are beginning to transition from high water spots to their regular Summer hiding places. While spooky, the fish still bite well when presented to in stealth mode.

The bite has varied day to day with the changes in weather and fishing pressure. Yesterday, we were able to find some unpressured fish under cloudy skies and had a fantastic morning, hooking five and landing three. We weren’t able to get any to go on a dry line waking fly, but we’ll keep trying, remembering those moments of top water brilliance last Summer.

We were done steelheading around 10am, just in time to catch an incredible caddis (size 14 brown) and green drake hatch (size 8). The soft current edges came alive with rising trout. We broke out the 4wts and had non-stop dry fly action for the next hour. It was a blast and a great way to close out the morning!

To book a Clackamas River Summer Steelhead/Trout combo trip call 503.515.3533 or email us

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

After a couple weeks of typical high water from Spring run-off, the local west slope Cascade streams are now coming into shape nicely. The Clackamas started fishing well for Summer Steelhead a couple weeks ago and continues to produce fish daily. Action is fair-good. This fishery should continue to produce good numbers of Summer Steelhead in the coming weeks. Spring Chinook action has been slow. Trout fishing is fair and will continue to improve as the water drops and concentrates the fish.

The McKenzie is finally below 3.0 feet and fishing well. As usual it is heavily stocked and will fly fish well for hatchery and native trout all Summer. This is a great trip for beginning anglers, kids and families. Fish can be caught on a variety of methods and fly patterns. We love to fish hopper/dropper style or strip streamers for these fiesty trout.

To book a Summer Steelhead or Trout trip, please call 503.515.3533

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff

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