To Catch Trophy Trout on Oregon's Williamson River you go big or stay home.

Trophy Trout of the Williamson River

The younger Williamson River guides have devised a bunch of different means to catch the wild Redband. I see reports of multiple fish days, pictures of chunky steelhead like trout, and often hear about the monster trout this fishery holds! At the ramp i hear clients talk about the monster they saw, but little about the ones they touched. I peruse websites, listen to fly shop conversation, and check all the videos, and Im left with the more questions than answers. Why are all latest methods; nymphs under an indicator, balanced leaches, and gasp, even dry flies are becoming commonplace on a river that's know for swinging. With a quick Google search, I find an image of the type of river the Williamson is, but I don't see what the Williamson always has been...Eighteen inch trout are touted as fatties and multiple twelve inch days have become "epic." What the???? The old souls of the Williamson would have shook off such fish.

Before you pin me with the old curmudgeon badge, hear me out. On any other stream multiple twelve inch trout would be epic, something that only happens a few times in one's flyfishing career, but on the Williamson it's below average and a distraction, wasting time, from the real reason you should be there. Sure a multi-fish day of twelve inch trout can be fun, but if your methods on the Williamson are only producing that type of fishing you are missing the point of this amazing river. There's a reason the old timers fished what they fished, they wanted big fish.

The late "Polly" Roseburogh said it best,"if you want to catch the big Boys you gotta use a big fly". A statement that still holds true 90 percent of the time on the Williamson.

In today's modern flyfishing it seems vogue to go the other direction. Try to find a 15' spey rod in the northwest in 2025, they are out there, but not like they were in 1985. The same holds true with the rigs I'm seeing on the Williamson.

Trophy Williamson Trout: Once in a Lifetime!

I was taught the ways of the river early. Paul Purcell, Polly, and many others set me on the Williamson path at a young age. Back then a 6wt was a small rod and a 5wt was an ultra light. Today if you look in a guide boat 5wts are common and a 6wt is considered more than adequate. In the 80's there were times we 7 wt's got worked, and it wasn't uncommon to see a 8 wt strung with wet cell and 4" leach in someone's arsenal. Why? What's changed? "If you wanna catch the big boys, you gotta use a big fly."

The old timers weren't after multiple fish days, heck they had several no fish days throughout the season, but their philosophy reigned true. When they hooked up it was probably a good one.

To Catch the Giants, you gotta fish for the giants!

I understand the push of trying to catch a bunch of fish for your clients, but let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Are we loosing the grandure of the Williamson by keying on numbers? Are our new methods of catching more trout taking away from a client possibly catching a fish of their lifetime? That's for people smarter than me to answer, but I can day this! Once you get a tight line grab from a multiple pound monster, a bobber down will become ho-hum.