The Metolius is naturally one of the coldest rivers in the state

Metolius River - Metolius Springs, OR (Jefferson County)


by The Fly Fishers Place
8-14-2023
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The Metolius is naturally one of the coldest rivers in the state, so it remains cold and fishing is good. The little yellow micro caddis are now a very important hatch in the mid river sections and a #18-20 yellow IRIS or small Tan CDC or Elk Hair Caddis are good choices. Also #16 Missing Links, Iris, Corn Fed and Henryville Caddis in both Tan and Olive will match the other caddis hatches you’ll see over the next 7 or 8 weeks. The Micro Caddis abundance is now and it lasts for about 10-14 days usually. Don’t miss it! It’s a later afternoon and evening hatch.
PMD’s #16, Rusty Spinners #16-18, BWO’s #18-20, Ameletus #14 (Jeff’s Flav and a Purple Comparadun are good matches), Mahogany Duns #16 will be mayfly hatches you might run into in any area of the river.
Golden Stones are hatching in the upper river mostly from the Gorge to the Headwaters. A #10-12 Clark’s Stone is a favorite match for us, but the Norm Woods Special is another great match too. Generally we don’d the Metolius fish to like the foam chubby type golden stones so much….
Nymphing is really good, especially with your Euro rod!
Bull Trout fishing is good, with a lot of the recent catches coming on smaller Euro type streamers, but most certainly a Circus Peanut or Dolly Llama is always a great choice. If you want to fish for Bulls, I would get there at Dawn and fish until the sun starts hitting the river for the best results.