The Metolius River is a great place to spend a winter day. There are some great BWO hatches here throughout the winter months along with a few other bugs in the mix. The BWO hatch usually begins in the early afternoon hours. The bugs are around a size 18. It always pays to have a few different patterns to through out there as these fish wise up quickly. A few casts with no response usually means it's time to change it up and see what else they will move for. I always say that the anglers that catch the most here are the ones who cast the least. It is easy to put the fish down, so if you see rising trout make sure you formulate a plan of attack and make that first cast the best. If you do put them down, take a break and let the fish come back up. It may only take a few minutes of rest for those babies to begin feeding again. There are also a lot of Bull trout out there. These monsters can be coaxed into eating a variety of streamers and nymphs. The most fun is stripping bunny leeches in olive and white, feeling that grab, as a big fish pulls on your line. If you know where they like to hold, dead drifting heavy stonefly nymphs and egg patterns is not a bad tactic. These are big fish, so bust out the steelhead rods and pull hard.
