The Metolius River for the most part showed us good fishing days this past week and the trend is upwards and onwards from here until early July with some very good fishing days to look forward to.
On Thursday (5/1/25) the large flying carpenter ants made an appearance and the fish were looking up for them. I see we have some good warm days returning in the 7 day forecast, so I think that flying ant hatch might have fragmented today in the cool weather but should return for another couple of days when we get back to the warmth.
PMD’s (#16) have taken a strong hold on the hatch cycle here, but don’t overlook BWO’s (#18-20). Fish the cycle from nymphs, to emergers, add cripples because the fish in spring creeks like to key on the stuff that won’t get away easily, and of course duns and rusty spinners will complete the package.
Probably not enough Green Drake Duns on any given day to get truly psyched for “the Hatch” until Mid-May, but make sure to fish Drake nymphs and put a Film Critic and Sparkle Dun in your box just in case.
Usually sometime between May 15 and Memorial Day is when we expect more consistent Drake days, and it is worth noting that even if you don’t see a lot of drakes flying look for explosive rises (usually mid river where the drakes seem to prefer to emerge) and follow up in that area with your fly of choice.
The spring Drake emergence is about a 6 week process, with 2 weeks in the middle of the hatch offering the most intense action. The prelude and conclusion of the hatch often don’t show as many duns looking like helicopters hovering over the river, but you know it is happening because of the strong rises you’ll encounter later in the afternoon.
By far the best nymphs we’ve been using on the river lately are tan caddis pupa. Eggs, Golden Stones, Drakes, Red 2 Bits, Brown and Olive Perdigons, Fire Starters, PT’s and Micro Mayflies are going to be fish catchers throughout the river and throughout the day.