2/13/2026 – A bit of intrigue in the report today! Over the past few days, several anglers have run into a great Winter Stonefly hatch! These bugs are around size #12-16, with the majority being in the #14-16 range and are jet black. Anglers should consider fishing a dry-dropper with a black Chubby Chernobyl on top and see if it elicits bites! I have a strong feeling it will.
Other than that, nothing has changed from my last report. Flows have dropped to 76cfs, which is OK for now, but if it drops any lower, we might have to consider avoiding the Crooked until flows get bumped back up. Prineville Reservoir sits at 58% capacity right now, which is significantly less than it should be, so cross your fingers for some precipitation!
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1/30/2026 – The Crooked has been fishing splendidly over the past several weeks. I have heard of at least 3 more steelhead being caught since my report last week.
Flows have held steady at just over 100cfs. I’m slightly concerned that they might drop them soon in order to hold more water in the reservoir (due to the lack of precipitation), but it has yet to happen.
Emergers and midge nymphs have been the ticket lately–primarily baetis and midge emergers. Flies like the Serendipity and the RS2 would be good options. As would the olive Tungsten Midge (really just anything small and olive will do the trick).
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1/22/2026 – I have now heard of at least three steelhead being caught in the Crooked below Bowman Dam! While not legal to target in the Crooked, catching one as bycatch is perfectly OK and will certainly add intrigue to a lovely day out on the water!
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1/15/2026 – I am mighty pleased with the continued great fishing on the Crooked. Over the last several days I have had customers coming in reporting success on small, splitback PMD patterns, baetis nymphs, BWO emergers, eggs, and, of course, midges.
This warm weather seems to have jump started their metabolism and they are munching away. Personally, I would be running a small egg pattern to a Juju Baetis, Zebra Midge, or Manhattan Midge. If that didn’t work, an olive Panty Dropper, Micro Mayfly, or tiny Perdigon (also olive). If all else fails, I would swing a leech.
Other midge patterns I might suggest: Jujubee Midge, Biot Midge, Bling Midge, and Higa’s SOS.
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1/1/26 – The first fishing report of 2026! Woohoo! It’s already going better than last year at this time when the Crooked was at flood stage. The river is rocking a cool 100cfs; perfectly normal for this time of year.
It’s been a really good time out on the Crooked over the past few weeks with the average fish getting a bit larger and still pretty hungry. Swinging leech patterns, nymphing whitefish-colored eggs and small baetis patterns will surely stick a few fish. You might see a couple of fish rise to midges throughout the day, but I wouldn’t count on much dry fly action.
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12/18/25 – The egg bite seems to back on in full force on the Crooked to my surprise, it seems that there must be a bunch of straggler whitefish still spawning up higher in the river. Swinging soft-hackle patterns has been great, as well as the usual leeches and Woolly Buggers. The fish coming out of the river lately have been pretty darn large on average (for the Crooked), which is awesome to see. In addition, ODFW stocked some steelhead at a few undisclosed campgrounds, meaning that you might run into one or two. If you do, take a picture of the number on their dorsal tag and send it in to help out our state scientists and fish biologists!
Flows have bumped up a few CFS, but it shouldn’t make the slightest of differences.
