One day with a McKenzie River guide

He knows the river’s secrets.
Where to hook a steelhead, or cast for wild rainbow trout.
How to fish quiet pocket water amid tumbling rapids.
The best fly pattern for time of day and season.
The best recipe for a midday fish-fry along the river.
Best of all, the way into a legendary McKenzie River realm of vivid beauty, of passages through sparkling tranquility and brisk white water.

A day for you

Today you’re a special guest.
Bring a fishing license, proper clothes, perhaps a snack and your favorite rod, if you like.
But leave every detail to your guide: all the tackle, rods and reels, life jackets, boat.
He will tie your flies. Rig up your rod for bait. Choose just the right river run for the day’s fishing.
He will coach you on how to cast. Share history about the river.
Will you choose a lunch? He’ll do it all while you fish from the bank or relax in a folding chair.

Hatchery trout fishing

It’s a keeper.
In a flash, merely a glint in the riffles, the rainbow took your fly and skirted to faster water.
Your rod bent double, the reel screeched. The fight was on.
And now it’s yours to keep: a plump, fin-clipped rainbow, perhaps up to 15 inches long. If you’re lucky, two fish to a pound.
Just 40 percent of the McKenzie River is planted with hatchery trout, but the feisty delicacies – with pink meat like salmon – add timeless excitement to the river.
That’s because you get to keep your limit of hatchery trout. Your guide will choose the fly: maybe a nymph below the surface, perhaps an attractor dry fly. Maybe bait for the kids.
Cooked by your guide over an open fire or small camp stove on the riverbank, hatchery trout make for great memories in more ways than one.

Wild trout fishing

Some days, the McKenzie River percolates.
It’s a bug hatch, and the sight of rising fish exhilarates even the most experienced anglers.
Wild trout feast on the morphing March browns, mayflies, blue-winged olives and caddis flies, setting the stage for a fantastic day of catch-and-release fishing.
Early in the season, around May, your guide may drift the lower McKenzie, hoping for a hatch in warmer water close to town. With the heat of summer and fall, he may run the upper McKenzie, holding sway against tumbling rapids while you cast for wild trout in quiet pocket water.
No bug hatch just yet?
Not to worry. Your guide can hook you up with nymph flies for fishing below the surface, where wild trout gather 90 percent of their food supply anyway.

Steelhead fishing

Down the rod goes, heavy and hard. Will it snap?
No, but listen to your guide, because you must play these trophy fish just right.
McKenzie River steelhead, true fighting machines, typically weigh in at 6 to 10 pounds. And they’re almost always keepers, having been spawned and fin clipped at the Leaburg Dam hatchery before released as fingerlings downstream.
Fattened up in the sea for two to three years, the giant rainbow return to the lower McKenzie in springtime, usually April into June.
Your dry or wet fly may strike silver, but chances are your guide will have you dangling roe or casting a lure or plugs.
If a giant spring Chinook strikes instead, savor the fight. But released it must be.

In a warm-up for opening day the following week, McKenzie River guides will roll out their boats for inspections and fire up their Dutch ovens for a cook-off at Hendricks Bridge Park on Saturday, April 17.

Drift Boat Rodeo

Families and friends of river guides, along with interested drop-ins from the community, are all invited to the first-ever Drift Boat Rodeo/Cook-off.

The free-parking day begins with drift-boat inspections by the Oregon State Police from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Boats with a passing grade will receive a sticker indicating compliance with state marine laws for adequate safety features and gear.

Members of the public also may have their boats inspected by police and the marine board from noon to 3 p.m.

Also joining the Drift Boat Rodeo will be the Oregon State Marine Board, which will peddling Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Permits. The $5 annual permit, now required for all boats, raises funds for protecting Oregon waterways from destructive species such as Eurasian watermilfoil, New Zealand mud snails, zebra mussels and other nasty invaders.

Lane County Parks is waiving day-use fees at Hendricks Park for the rodeo/cook-off, but will have staff on hand to sell annual permits for parking at county boat ramps and parks.

Riverside cook-off

Open to all members of the McKenzie River Guides Association, the baking and grilling judging begins at 1 p.m. The river chefs will compete in three categories: appetizers, main entrées and desserts. Each dish must be prepared over fire or charcoal in a Dutch oven, approved fire pan or existing barbecue pit at the park.

“The public will be encouraged to attend, to see how we cook in Dutch ovens and fire pans on the river,” says river guide and cook-off organizer Jon Payne. The park’s shelter will be available in event of rain.

Cook-off judges will include Steve Brown, a DJ at New Country 93, and likely another local radio personality. Points will be up for grabs in three categories: taste (1-20), presentation (1-15) and simplicity (1-10).

Most points wins. Prizes will be awarded in each cook-off category: appetizer, main entrée and dessert. Payne’s hoping for 20 or so river guides to compete in the cook-off, but hints he may be hard to beat.

“I have several recipes I’ve been perfecting,” he says. “I’m going to lay it all on the line and serve it that day.”

A fee of $10 per entry in the cook-off will benefit McKenzie River Guides Association community programs, namely scholarships and acquiring life jackets for free use by the public when boating on the McKenzie.

Another community outreach spin at the rodeo/cook-off will be allowing guests to sign a petition supporting hatchery trout in the McKenzie River. Brochures spelling out the MRGA’s position on the issue will be circulated.