This spring, for the first year in many, we have had light precipitation and consistently low and very fishable water conditions. As of this writing, we are finally getting a good rainfall, and the river has come up, but is still in fine shape. The lower McKenzie can fish well at a wide range of water levels, and current conditions are not high, but only moderate. If anything, this modest spike in water levels will serve to move the fish around, give them a little bit of a break from angling pressure, and reshuffle the deck.
Nymphs have still been taking a lot of nice fish both early and late in the day, but over the last couple of weeks, we have seen a lot of great afternoon hatches of March Browns as well as grannom caddis, with good numbers of nice fish looking up. Swung wet fly emergers and dry flies have been getting a lot of attention from the wild redsides and cutthroats of the lower McKenzie.
The spring season offers some of the best hatches and trout fishing of the year on the McKenzie. Now is a great time to get out and see what the lower river has to offer.
Ethan Nickel Outfitters 