Fellow members and friends,
My favorite place on earth to fish is in Central Oregon. Everything in Oregon is volcanic rock and the views are beyond exceptional.
I have fished the Crooked, Deschutes, McKenzie and Metolius as well as a 3 Creeks Lake. Each of these rivers and the lake are exceptional in their own way and worth the trip just to see the scenery. In this part of Oregon, you catch everything from Brook Trout to White fish.
The Crooked just meanders along providing water to the farms along with trout and whitefish to the fisher person.
Everyday around 2:00 the PMD hatch starts. You can catch fish any way you want from nymphs to dry flies. The trout will take anything as long as it looks like a PMD.
My first experience fishing the Metolius was breath taking literally and figuratively. I tripped over a sunken log and went head first into the river. The water temperature that day was 36 degrees. The Metolius is crystal clear. The water in the river comes from the snowmelt. Local lore claims it takes 5 years for water to flow through the capillaries in the rock into the river.
The Metolius has some huge rainbows in it however I have never seen one caught, these fish just move back and forth eating nymphs and ignoring anything you might dangle in front of them. When the hatches begin, the smaller rainbows start jumping to grab bugs out of the air.
There are hatches of every species of stone flies as well as PMD’s. I saw one PMD hatch that was so prolific that it looked like snow on top of the river.
My fishing with guides in Oregon has been limited the McKenzie River. Riding in a boat on that river is just about worth the price of the guide. This river too has much to offer. There are rainbows, and some young steelhead mixed in.
The McKenzie can be fished from shore in many locations however if you want to catch larger fish you need to be in a boat. The water is too deep and fast to even think about fishing near shore.
The smaller feeders flowing into the river are wadable with fabulous scenery and smaller fish.
The Deschutes has many access points. You can enter the river from along the highway , parks and as well as a guide in a drift boat or raft. The river is very fishable with good populations of rainbows and white fish.
If you are going with a guide on the Deschutes you cannot fish from the boat, you must be standing in the river when fishing.
During the salmon fly hatch you need to be careful retrieving a fly that might get tangled in the brush on a back cast. During that time rattle snakes are feeding on the salmon flies also, so need to pay attention. Though this area is not remote medical services are far apart.
Three Creeks lake is about 10 miles and a mile high from Sisters. The Oregon DNR and nature keep this lake full of rainbows and brown trout. The water is very cold and the colors of the fish are exceptional.
I was fishing from a one person pontoon using Adams dry flies. This was fun until the wind kicked up – which is a story at another time.
There are several fly shops in the area that all provide great service. My favorite is the Fly Fishers Place in Sisters. The owner himself specializes in lake fishing and his guides take on the rivers.
Fin And Fire in Redmond carries just about everything you might need or want. They also have an extensive guide service. Fin And Fire is the only shop that I know of where you buy a dozen flies and a growler full of locally brewed beer at the same time.
