Mckenzie river, Oregon

[Darrin.Deel]

Has any one fished up there? I have a buddy going to school in eugene and he wants me to come up with the drift boat and fish mckenzie and i had a couple of questions...

Rowing difficulty? I saw some pictures with giant boulders in whitewater. My buddy uses it to kayak and says he has a blast.

Fishing? I read where there is cutts bows and bulls. Has anyone fished it? What techniques did you use?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[easymends]

Hey Darrin,

Its a beautiful place. I haven't had the privilege of floating it but the Caddis Fly Shop is one of the best shops in Oregon. I lived in Portland for 8 years. Check out their site, a great blog with great updates on the river too. They will help you out with all your questions.

The river is known for its March Brown hatch which should be right around the corner. With the lack of rain the Northwest this year its been like summer flows on the river. So, not sure how that has affected the bugs.

http://www.thecaddisfly.com/

[Mik]

Hi Darrin. It has been a few years, but I went to school up at Oregon State and fished the McKenzie a few times. The parents of one of my fraternity brothers lived on the river so I got a chance to wade around their property. The fishing was pretty awesome. I remember using EHC with a dropper. I caught many fish up against the banks. I didn't float it, so I don't know what degree of difficulty it is. Most of the parts I could see from the main roads looked to be pretty mellow. It really depends how much water is flowing up there. Lots of pretty fish to be had in that river. There are some amazing properties along the banks.

[koffler]

I went to U of O and floated the McKenzie hundreds of times. As you described the upper river has more rocks and fast water but if your a confident rower it's not a problem. The portion of river a few miles above Eugene and downstream from there is similar to the Yuba - perhaps a tad faster.

The river is known for heavy caddis (in the spring yellow and green, in the summer brown), march browns, PMD's, and yellow stones. It's a great river - if you have specific questions let me know.

[ryeflyguy]

The McKenzie is a beautiful river, especially the upper section. The ranger station up there says most of the trout in the river are cutts, but I've caught almost all rainbows in my trips. There are also bull trout but it might not be legal to fish for them - check the regs.

On one float trip I got out and nymphed a seam near the shore, my indicator went down and the fish just hugged the bottom, moving a few feet here, then a few feet there, and shook it's head. I couldn't budge it with my 6 weight which was in the shape of a U, and finally the 4X tippet snapped in two after about five minutes.

One of my favorite destinations, wish I could be there, please post a report if/when you fish it!