McKenzie River

GAGE LOCATION

DAY/YEAR
GRAPHS

CURRENT
STAGE/FLOW

WHAT TIME

Blue River at Blue River

7 30 year

4.26 / 474

10 pm Yest.

S. Fk. McKenzie near Rainbow

7 30 year

2.39 / 1140

10 pm Yest.

Mohawk atSpringfield

7 30 year

4.22 / 859

11 pm Yest.

McKenzie at Vida

7 30 year

3.13 / 5900

10 pm Yest.

McKenzie at Leaburg

7 30 year

5.95 / 4270

8 pm Yest.

McKenzie at Walterville

7 30 year

4.28 / 5000

9 pm Yest.

CITY

Eugene

NOAA

Accuweather

TWC

HATCH

NYMPH/
LARVA

PUPA/
EMERGER

DUN/
ADULT

EGG-
LAYER

Blue-winged olive

March brown

Spotted caddis

Green caddis

Golden stonefly

Salmonfly

Little brown stonefly

Midge

February can offer some good angling here when the river is not too high or muddy; most of the fishing is in the lower reaches.

Hatches of blue-winged olives are not uncommon, and by the end of the month we could be seeing March browns on both the McKenzie and Willamette. I've done well here in late February on a size-14 Parachute Adams, my standard dry fly when nothing is happening and I feel more like a dry than a wet.

The upper Willamette between Harrisburg and Armitage Park is an excellent venue during the spring. If you're working this stretch in late February, two good spots to look for trout are backeddies and along clay banks that absorb the sun and have 2-3 feet of water next to them.

If March browns start to hatch, use a size 12-14 brown Comparadun, Sparkle Dun, or CDC Cripple. Look for hatches within a few hundred yards of a riffle--either below or above it--in areas of moderate flow. Hatches should start around 1:00.

Egg Flies are also a good choice here because the whitefish are spawning.