The Crooked River is one of our favorite places to jam out to for a quick day on the river! The roads are generally pretty nice and clear and the crowds are relatively thin. You may see a few more people out there this year with a so far rather poor snow season on the mountain but as we all know, once that snow starts to drop heavily the fishing crowds get thinner and thinner! So, if thats your M.O. make sure you cross your fingers for snow in the mountains at least. Anyway, here is what is going on at the Crooked River.
The water is in good shape however it is rather cold which make the fish move a little less and have more subtle grabs on your flies under an indicator. This being said, if you are indicator fishing be sure to pay extra close attention to the indicator to see any sort of movement on it. We even recommend stepping down to a small indicator to get some more visibility on take downs. You can also subsitute the round bobber for a pinch on indicator. This being said, the fishing has been a bit more challenging. We believe the fish are grabbing very softly, so this can give us the impression that they are not grabbing at all! Like we said, focus on those bumps and set when you think it is a fish! Just take it easy and you will get er done. The flies you will want to focus on fishing are size 20-24 midges. These can be winkers, tailwater tinies, serendipity or zebra midges in red, black, purple, or olive. The smaller, the better! Other flies we are focusing on are size 16-18 flashback pheasant tails, size 16-18 scuds, and size 18-20 brown, red, or black two bit hookers.
If the conditions are right, we will see a decent BWO hatch with a few midges here and there. Fishing a BWO, parachute adams, or purple haze with a midge dry dropper can be effective. We also like fishing smaller renegades when we see fish eating on top! This can be effective. Make sure to fish flourocarbon tippets for anything subsurface.