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.

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.

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

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.

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