Metolius River Fishing Report near Madras, Oregon

The caddis are all over the Metolius right now. Fish are bottom feeding on nymphs. I had the best luck fishing for Bull Trout using stonefly nymphs.

Which is normal for this time of year. You need to be either a really good nympher or patient throughout the day. On warmer evenings, look for a few fish to rise to small caddis and maybe some rusty spinners towards dark. Cinygmula & BWO hatches can come from 1:00 p.m. to early evening, in slacker water. Caddis are mostly in the evening, faster water. Streamer fishing for Bull Trout is best good bet around the hatchery and Bridge 99. Stonefly Nymphs with a small dropper is your best choice throughout the day.

Rainbow Brown and Broom trout should be found in similar basic locations (with varying specifics) semi shallow to mid depth with mild to little current (often in breaks) with some cover (debris, weed, etc) or bottom structure (drop offs, pools, etc). Use surface flies of the most abundant hatch or a drowned subsurface pattern, also subsurface terrestrials and streamers may take a few. If your not fly fishing try a floating or light weight jig, plug or inline spoon. Bull trout should be looked for slightly deeper likely relating to bottom structure (drop offs, pools, ridges, etc). To catch Bull trout on flies use ones similar to that I suggested for other trout (streamers will hold more potential for Bull). Also light jigs, plugs and spoons will get bites. Finally whitefish should be fished for in locations slightly shallower to Bull trout with similar types of lures but more suitable profiles.

Broom trout should be Brook trout sorry I didn't notice my error.

From the base of a volcanic stock that rises 3,400 feet above the river bubbles up clear cold water (even on the hottest summer days the water temp rarely rises above 50 degrees Fahrenheit) from within the earth. For the next 28 miles those bubbles turn into one of the best trout streams in the nation. One of the things that make this river so good is the fact that basalt makes up most of the rock it flows over. As the river flows over the rock it leaches out the minerals inside the rocks, which equals huge hatches. The signature hatch of the river comes in late May and June with green drakes but throughout the rest of summer caddis are king. The other thing that makes the Metolius River so good is that it flows into Lake Billy Chinook which means every year there are runs of kokanee and bull trout. The two runs usually happen at about the same time (they arrive in fall and they spend the winter in the river). On top of that there are really nice rainbows, I recommend you use an 8 weight to cast you black, gray, brown, and purple green butt skunks, muddlers, and duck tail caddis but other streamers will work too. The sizes that work here are generally a size or two bigger than the sizes that work on other steelhead rivers. When you are fishing here odds are you might hook into a sea run cutthroat; if you do it must be release immediately because of one of the regulations that govern this river. Speaking of regulations, from Rock Creek upstream to Soda Springs Dam the rule is fly fishing and catch and release only. Below Rock Creek normal rules apply. As a parting note the river is so deep that there are places you can’t see bottom even though the water’s really clear so be careful if you are wading. Good luck fishing!

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About Fishing Reports for Metolius River near Madras