Images from the River

This week’s post includes some images from the river. While we’ve picked up a few fish here and there, the colder temperatures seem to have impacted the hatches and fish eating habits. So I seem to be paying much more attention to my surroundings when I don’t see any rising fish. On the other hand, perhaps I’m a little obsessed these days with my new camera equipment! I hope you enjoy the images from the last couple of weeks.

Caddis on Metolius - Closeup | www.riverkeeperflies.com

The image above is a close-up of a caddis wing. I was stunned to see the variation in the wing. I was sitting, watching the river and this Caddis landed right next to me in the bushes. I think it was a sign! Here is a full image.

Caddis on Metolius | www.riverkeeperflies.com

The next image is of a Crane Fly. You’ll see these in different sections of the river.

Metolius Crane Fly | www.riverkeeperflies.com

I’ve been practicing with shots of insects floating on the surface. They are quite difficult to capture and I delete most of them. Occasionally, I get lucky. This is a size 16 PMD Mayfly.

PMD on Water | www.riverkeeperflies.com

Yes, the fish do rise at times. We are blessed to be able to fish for and catch a few of these beauties.

Metolius Rainbow | www.riverkeeperflies.com

and the release…

Releasing Rainbow on Metolius | www.riverkeeperflies.com

We found some friends fishing along the river and were there at the right time to capture this moment.

Playing Fish on Metolius | www.riverkeeperflies.com

She landed a very fat fish!

Fat Metolius Rainbow Trout | www.johnkreft.com

Keeping an eye out for insects available to the trout helps to select the right fly. You can find them floating in the water or crawling along the shore and bushes. Here are a couple I found recently.

A size 16 Olive Stonefly

Olive Stonefly - Size 16 | www.riverkeeperflies.com

And a small BWO.

Metolius River BWO | www.riverkeeperflies.com

You can tell it’s spring by the occasional wildlife like this Canada Geese family.

Canada Geese on Metolius | www.riverkeeperflies.com

On one of the warmer, dry days, I decided to pull out my 8′ 6 weight bamboo fly rod. The fish gods smiled down on me and I was able to land a couple fish with it.

Metolius Rainbow and Bamboo | www.riverkeeperflies.com

It seems like my river photography is taking time away from my fly fishing, but I really enjoy it. I marvel at the beautiful fish we are able to catch and the insects I attempt to match with my fly tying skills.

I hope you enjoy them as well.

If you’d like to see more images, back cast to a previous post entitled My Home Waters, The Metolius River.

Lastly, I encourage you to follow me on:

  • Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/riverkeeperflies/
  • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/riverkeeperflies/

Enjoy…go fish!

Similar Posts

  • Galloup’s T & A Leech

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Galloup’s T & A Leech. I stayed at Galloup’s Slide Inn last week during our 2017 fly fishing road trip and had the opportunity to talk with Kelly about a few of his early fly patterns. I told him about my RiverKeeper Flies Throw Back Thursday fly feature and…

  • Fish Camp 2017

    Fish Camp 2017 finished up last week with 12 more kids learning to fly fish. Fish Camp is a 3-day fly fishing camp for kids 10 – 14 years old in Bend, OR. It’s part of our fly club’s Next Cast Flyfishers (our youth program) goal to get kids into fly fishing in Central Oregon. My…

  • Fall on the Madison

    Here we are back at the Madison River. We had some spectacular fishing in July (Fly Fishing the Madison River in 2020) during a caddis hatch and wanted to return for the legendary Baetis hatch, hoping for another wonderful experience. We’ve grown to love this Valley, not only for the fishing, but the beauty as…

  • Lord Baltimore

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is the Lord Baltimore wet fly. This is an old fly pattern listed as No. 64 (page 158) in Mary Orvis Marbury’s Favorite Flies and Their History (1892). Click the link for a free download of the book. The fly can be seen on Plate I, page 183. No….

  • LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge

    This week’s Throw Back Thursday Fly is Gary LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge. LaFontaine’s Diving Egg Laying Midge is one of the flies highlighted in LaFontaine’s Legacy, by Al and Gretchen Beatty. In the book, Al relayed his story about Gary’s underwater research and how he observed adult midges crawling underwater to lay their eggs. Trout…

  • Cold Winter Day

    It’s been cold out lately. As I write today’s post early this morning, the thermometer reads 7 degrees. That’s right…single digits. For some reason, I haven’t made it out to the river lately. Too cold I guess. What should I do on a cold winter day? Tie flies! Here is a picture of Whychus Creek,…

4 Comments

  1. Hey John:
    I’ve been following you for many years. You’ve come a long way man! The flicks are just great and the written script is very fine too.
    Many thanks for all of your work!

    1. Thanks for your Comment and being a long-time follower, Scott. I shake my head at the quality of my images from the first year. What was I thinking???

  2. Great shots! You’ve got a good eye, and having good equipment certainly helps. Keep those lenses out of the water 🤑

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *