The Metolius maintains its reputation, and I mine

Got a river tour with our kind host on Monday. He pointed out stretches that he traditionally fished, up which sides of the banks, which time of day, etc. He even took me to some private land with some beautiful stretches of fly fishing water. It was just after the heat of the day, so not the best time to be fly fishing. I wasn't exactly expecting to catch anything under these conditions, on this river, and sure enough I didn't.

It's well known amongst my group of fishing friends, that the Metolius in fact may not have any fish in it whatsoever. Our normal invitation to go fish it is, "Hey, want to go get our asses kicked at the Metolius?" We can see the fish at times, always monsters, but we sure as hell can't seem to catch them. The grand majority of the time we just fish and fish, mezmerized by the beauty of the river and the potential of all these hides and spots we're casting to, and go fishless. (Before they jump on and defend themselves, I will qualify that a few fish have been caught here by my fishing cadre, but it sure as hell isn't the norm).

My history with this river has been solidified -- I can only catch fish here by cheating. My very first day here, years ago, I rigged up a pretty standard deepwater nymphing outfit like I'd use on the Deschutes -- two flies, plenty of lead, strike indicator. That day, I caught two big beautiful trout, and was thinking "hey, this place isn't as hard as everyone says it is," right about when one of my fishing buddies walked up and said "Uh, you aren't allowed external weights on your line here. Better get them off before you get a ticket." Whups.

On this trip, I've caught a few fish. But I've caught them all at a spot that our gracious host deems so easy as to be unsportsmanlike, and calls The Kiddie Pool. It is the spillway for the little dam they have on their property. There is a small phalanx of young, gullible trout that hang out in the bubbles there. Once I figured out that this was the notorious "kiddie pool" I had to try a few casts, and sure enough I missed a few strikes and hooked a small rainbow. My host insists that if I mention having caught fish on this trip, I announce where. I'm not ashamed, at least I caught a few.

Enjoy getting your ass kicked,

Bp