The bugs of spring.

Byline: MIKE STAHLBERG The Register-Guard

WHEN IT COMES to trout fishing in eastern Lane County, the early bird really does get the worm. Figuratively speaking, of course. Worms and all other forms of bait are prohibited this time of year.

But that worm cliche does convey the message that sooner is usually better when it comes to fly-fishing in Eugene-area rivers and streams.

Indeed, many anglers say the best trout fishing of the year is often over by the time the traditional opening day of trout season arrives on the fourth Saturday of April.

Among them are Chris Daughters, owner of the Caddis Fly tackle shop in Eugene, and Brian Marz, manager of the Walterville Fly Shop. Both contend that hatches of a trio of spring insects - March browns, blue-winged olives and a early caddis fly - provide the best fishing of the year.

Native cutthroat and "redside" rainbow trout, both resplendent in their spawning colors, are at their hungriest and most aggressive in March and early April. In addition, the midday timing of the spring hatches provides more hours of good fishing each day than in summer, when trout often surface feed only at first and last light.

What's more, spring fishing on the McKenzie River seems to have improved after the 1996 floods rearranged the stream bed habitat.

"In my lifetime, this is the best I've seen it - without a doubt," Daughters said. "It's just been great. I think there's a better number of fish than there ever has been, and I think the hatches are really good quality."

And no one can argue that spring trout fishing was better in the "good old days," because spring fishing became legal only in 1989.

Until then, most of the March brown hatch went to waste as far as fly-fishing was concerned. Most mayflies had already emerged from their underwater nursery by the time trout season opened on the fourth Saturday of April.

In '89, however, the state fish and wildlife commission granted fly-anglers' pleas for a year-round "catch-and-release" trout fishery on the lower McKenzie River (between Hayden Bridge and the confluence with the Willamette).

That allowed anglers to fish the riffles and deep pools of the lower McKenzie at a time when native cutthroat and "redside" rainbow trout begin feeding aggressively after a sluggish winter. That fishery proved so successful that the list of year-round opportunities keeps expanding.

In 1993, the Middle Fork of the Willamette River between Lookout Point Reservoir and Oakridge was opened year-round, and the following year the same was done for the Willamette River between the mouth of the McKenzie and Harrisburg.

Last year, the state expanded the portion of the McKenzie open to year-round trout angling to include everything between Glen Forest Boat Ramp near Blue River and the river's mouth. Fish with intact adipose fins must be released at all times. Bait is allowed for trout fishing only in the section between Hayden Bridge and Forest Glen Boat Ramp and only between April 27 and Dec. 31.

Opening the spring hatches to angling turned the McKenzie into a March mecca for fly-fishers, because it provides one of the earliest opportunities for outstanding dry-fly fishing in the western United States.

"I bet you couldn't have better dry-fly fishing right now anywhere west of the Rockies," Daughters said. "Not in February and March, and not with a size-12 dry fly on the surface. That's pretty unique, and we're fortunate to have it right in our backyard."

Word of good fishing has spread.

"You have people coming down from Seattle and up from Northern California" to fish the McKenzie, he said. "I guide a lot of people from out of town who fish this early season."

In addition, guides from Corvallis and Salem frequently bring clients to the McKenzie for the spring hatches, the best-known of which is the March brown, a member of the mayfly family.

This year's March brown hatch began a couple of weeks later than normal because of the cold weather, but has gotten "progressively better every day and should stay on for another three weeks, at least," Daughters said.

But the March brown is not the only item on the menu for local trout, just as the McKenzie is not the only place to catch them. Marz said he's been steering anglers to the Middle Fork Willamette below Hills Creek Reservoir because the McKenzie has often been flowing too high for safe wading.

An insect pattern called the blue-winged olive is "pretty much the ticket" for the Middle Fork Willamette, Marz said.

The insect that pattern imitates begins hatching in February, he said, because of the warm water drawn off the bottom of the reservoir that time of year.

"You can be catching fish on dry flies up there when most people are nymphing (fishing a submerged fly near the bottom)," Marz said.

Fishing is usually good any time the outflow from Hills Creek Reservoir is below 800 cubic feet per second, with 300 to 400 cfs being optimal for wading. River flow information is available via an Army Corps of Engineers recording at 937-3852.

"I've been having exceptional fishing up there this spring," Marz said, noting that he switches to fishing a golden stone fly beneath the surface "when the dry fly action shuts off."

Blue-winged olive hatches also provide the first early-spring action on the main stem Willamette and lower McKenzie. But those small insects are only trout appetizers.

The first real entree of the season is the March brown.

"It's the first meaty insect large enough to get those fish to look off the bottom and up onto the surface," Daughters said.

March browns also provide an ideal introduction to fly-fishing, as the freshly emerged aquatic insects must often linger on the surface of the water while their wings dry.

This means a neophyte angler need only let an artificial fly float over the top of feeding fish to experience the biggest joy in fly-fishing - having a fish grab a dry fly from the surface.

During a hatch, anglers also can see fish feeding, thus answering the question of where to cast.

Spring fly-fishing is very much a civilized activity, as the best fishing invariably occurs at midday (some say between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., others between noon and 4 p.m.) Thus, there's no need to be in your waders when the sun comes up, as in steelhead and spring chinook salmon fishing.

March brown fishing also tends to be better on overcast, rainy days than on bright, sunny ones.

"On overcast, rainy days, that bug struggles to dry off and he's available to fish during a much greater period," Daughters said. "On a warm, sunny day, he's out of there immediately."

The third major insect hatch that often arrives on the lower McKenzie is the green caddis fly, Daughters said. Its arrival is usually triggered by a few 60- or 70-degree days.

"It provides some of the very best fishing, because it's a big active bug," he said. "The fish get really stupid about it. It tends to flutter on the water longer, and it's a size 8 or 10 so it's a great meal for them."

Occasionally, spring fly-anglers are lucky enough to encounter "overlapping" hatches of different insects.

On one such day last year, Marz said, "between four people we logged in about 75 rainbows, most of them between 16 and 18 inches."

Fishing the McKenzie may be more difficult than normal for wading anglers this year, because water levels will be higher while the Army Corps of Engineers drains Cougar Reservoir in preparation for a major construction project. A heavy snowpack could also produce higher flows.

Wading anglers generally need the McKenzie to be running at 2.5 feet or less on the Vida gauge (as reported daily on the Register-Guard weather page) to access good spring fishing. For drift boat anglers, anything below 3.5 feet on the Vida gauge is fine, Daughters said.

CAPTION(S):

A March brown fly, here tied in a parachute pattern, is one lure with a proven track record. MIKE STAHLBERG / The Register-Guard Fly-anglers, some from as far away as Seattle, wade the McKenzie during the spring insect hatches.