Finally! After a nice, long summer, we are finally starting to see some decent hatches come off on the Crooked River. There has been a nice caddis hatch and an exceptional PMD/PED hatch coming off in the mid-afternoon and lasting for several hours. You will see a variety of midge hatches throughout the day that gets the fish moving around. Fishing midge dries or small Adams/purple haze can be productive. If you are not fishing during the hatch, focus on nymphing with winkers midges, anatomays, and two-but hookers. The smaller, the better. Reds and blacks have been our go to colors.
Once you see the hatch kick off, switch to dries! There is SOO much fish crushing the surface trying to get a bite. This is mainly in the afternoon once the canyon walls can put some shade on the river. However, when this goes off, you will have some fun! We are fishing 6x leaders and a variety of dries. Staying on the small side with size 18-20 adams, purple haze, renegades, and royal wulffs.