Fly Fishing on the Metolius River in November

I’ve written before why early November is a transition for me. Usually, the dry fly fishing on the Metolius River in November seems to switch off. Sure, you’ll have BWOs hatching throughout the winter, but that only lasts 20 – 30 minutes a day. This year is different. We’ve had mild weather the first week and a half and it’s extended my October fishing. There have been some days with good hatches and fish rising. It was cold late October, but last week the temperatures were in the 60’s. The PMD look-alike bugs in size 16 have been hatching in good numbers along with smaller BWOs and caddis are still around. I tied up a half dozen PMD Sparkle Dun’s yesterday morning before I went to my home waters. This nice redside took one of my fresh flies.

Metolius River Rainbow | www.johnkreft.com

I haven’t been in the canyon area lately, so I decided to walk down from Canyon Creek last Thursday. It was a beautiful day.

Metolius River Canyon | www.johnkreft.com

I found a few rising fish, landing three. Twice, Bull Trout followed the Rainbows to my net. I had taken a 7-weight fly rod with me just in case I saw Bull Trout. Here is one I was lucky enough to hook and land using a Dolly Llama streamer.

Metolius Bull Trout | www.johnkreft.com

I’m pretty sure it was the smaller one chasing my prey. It measured out around 24 inches.

Here are a couple other Rainbow Trout I’ve tricked in the last week.

Metolius Rainbow | www.johnkreft.com
Fall Metolius Rainbow | www.johnkreft.com

I plan to attend the 2019 Pacific Northwest Fly Tyers Rendezvous this weekend in Portland, OR. I’ll be tying all day, so if you are in the Portland-Metro area, be sure to stop and watch me tie a fly or two.

Lastly, Christmas is only 44 days away and I’m working on my upcoming blog post for the 2019 Fly Fisher’s Christmas List. The list can be shared with someone who needs ideas for your Christmas present. Check out the 2018 Fly Fisher’s Christmas List and let me know what items I should update. Is your favorite present listed?

And if you are thinking about ordering a few RiverKeeper Flies for a Christmas present, now would be a good time to get in touch with me. Just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you quickly.

Enjoy…go fish!

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3 Comments

  1. Hey John,
    NOW YOU ARE FISHING LURES (STREAMERS) TOO!!! Man, are you sure that you are feeling well? I can refer you to a great therapist..there’s hope for you. :-)))))
    Beautiful flicks, John.
    Thanks!

  2. Thanks John for your informative presentation on Wednesday to COFF. During the new member presentation, I said I had fished the Metolius but no luck. Well yesterday I hit the Metolius armed with my new notes and caught my first fish! Talk about results! Subscribing to your feed now so I can get more tips. Thanks for your help!

    1. Kate

      Thanks for leaving a Comment. Good to hear you found a few valuable tips from my presentation as well as one fish in the river that has no fish!

      John

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