We’ve seen some changes on the Crooked in the last few days. Rainfall earlier in the week brought a bump in flows above Prineville reservoir, and with the lake at 100% capacity the tailwater has mirrored that jump in flows. We were sitting at 630cfs for a couple days and today saw a drop into the mid-400 range to mirror the flows above the dam. While the higher flows create a more challenging fishing environment and decrease the amount of fishable water, there is still good opportunity to find feeding fish. Using slightly larger flies and a little more weight will typically help in these conditions, as will focusing most of your attention near the banks. The Mother’s Day Caddis should still be around in good numbers along with a few PMDs so there is also opportunity to fish dries. Keep an eye on the gauges and expect to see the flows below the dam mirror those above it on a 1-2 day delay. We’ve got more rain in the forecast so its anyone’s guess as to what the flows will do in the coming week.
Suggested Dries: Peacock Caddis #14-18, Black Elk Hair Caddis #14-18, Black Foam Bodied Caddis #14-18, Purple Haze #14-18, Parachute PMD #16-18, Parachute Adams #16-18, Peacock Chubby Chernobyl #16
Suggested Nymphs: BH Pheasant Tail #14-20, Black Copper John #14-18, Black or Red Two Bit Hooker #16-20, Black or Purple Zebra Midge #16-20, Black Winkers Midge #18-20, Black Super Sinker #16-18, Black Lightning Bug #16-18, Black or Pearl Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Tan or Grey Ray Charles #16-18, Orange Scud #16