The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

In this new video, Jay Nicholas shows you how to tie the MOAL Leech (Mother of all leeches), created by Derek Fergus. This articulated steelhead leech has excellent action in the water and a short-shank, trailing hook which means major hook-up percentage. In this video, Jay lays out his methodology to tie these great summer and winter steelhead flies.

MOAL Leech fly tying materials:
Hooks: TMC 811s # 6 and Gamakatsu Octopus # 2
Junction material: Superbraid or gelspun backing
Body: Two Tone Cross cut rabbit strips
Eyes: Pseudo Eyes 7/32
Hackle: Purple schlappen
Head: Purple Ice Dub
Tools:Two c-clamp vises, Tear Mender, Micro Brushes

It’s been a weird week on the Oregon coast, and at the vise. But things are working out.

-MS

For those of you who aren’t combing the blogroll, here are a bunch of important fisheries issues from across the Pacific Northwest:

Bill Bakke on the institutional barriers against wild salmon
A great look at the problem of relying on fish and wildlife agencies to save wild salmon from Bill Bakke’s blog: State governments have never been organized to actually protect wild salmonids and the habitats that sustain them. What passes for protection are carefully chosen words in plans and policies that are never expected to actually be carried out on the river. That way the public is pacified, the agency looks good, and the salmon continue to swim into the toilet.

Irrigation buyback on the Walla Walla could help reintroduced spring chinook
From the Osprey Steelhead News Blog: An effort is underway to secure funding for a $300 million irrigation project that would restore flows to the lower Walla Walla and provide irrigation water from the Columbia or Snake system. The headwaters of the Walla Walla are in excellent condition, however irrigation withdrawal most years leaves the lower river without very little flow. Efforts to reintroduce Spring Chinook to the Walla Walla began in 2000 when the tribe released 300 adult chinook in the Upper River. Since then number have gradually grown and in 2009, 800 chinook returned, the highest count since the reintroduction project began.

River Rights bill goes sideways: SB 1060-2 is a mess
Common Waters of Oregon worked with other river rights advocates over the past weeks to help shape SB 1060-1, not a perfect bill, but a piece of legislation that wouldn’t take away Oregonian’s River Rights. That process was recently blown up by a new amendment, SB 1060-2 that would allow for local jurisdictions to impose their own regulation on river use. Common Waters Oregon will not support this bill that fractures river rights across the state. Also worth noting, this bill avoids the elephant in the room — navigability. The current process of determining a river’s navigability is broken and this bill would do nothing to fix that. It would probably be best if this bill died right now and the Legislature looked at a comprehensive bill in the next full session. But for now, keep your fingers crossed and be thankful that we have people like Common Waters’ Heather McNeil and Jason Wells, Dave Moskowitz of Confluence Consulting, Trout Unlimited’s Tom Wolf and others fighting for your river rights in Salem.

Oregonian has a great article on Ocean Conditions and salmon returns
The Oregonian’s environmental reporter Matthew Preusch warns in a new article, Despite the recent good returns, over a dozen runs of salmon and steelhead remain on the federal list of protected species. None are expected to come off the list anytime soon.

Will golf courses get priority over salmon on Klamath Water deal?
One of the criticisms of the Klamath Basin restoration project is that the salmon won’t get enough water to make a go of it. Where is that water going? Primarily to California agriculture interests. But according to the KlamBlog, a bunch of water is going to non-agricultural sources like golf courses.
-MS

Attention Native Trout supporters on the McKenzie River: We need you Monday night at the ODFW Inland Sport Fishing Advisory Committee meeting. This’s committee will be discussing its draft of the 25-year angling plan which you can download here. This plan is 100% geared towards selling more licenses for agency coffers, with little attention paid to our dwindling native fish stocks.

Tom Wolf, Oregon State Council Chair of Trout Unlimited is on the committee and said that the agency plans to dramatically increase trout stocking to boost license sales around the state. Tom requested that the reduction/removal of hatchery trout on the McKenzie be on the agenda for this meeting, so it is very important for everyone to show up in support.

The meeting will be Monday 2/8/2010 in Springfield, OR at the 162nd Infantry Regiment Readiness Center, Room 147 from 6-9 pm. The address is 3106 Pierce Parkway, Springfield, 97477.

We will be printing signs with the new logo for the McKenzie Native Trout Coalition (designed by Trout Unlimited’s Brent Ross!) and we’d like to make sure everybody at the meeting has one in their hand. See us at the meeting to pick up your sign.

If you are a guide or business owner and would like to be added to our list of coalition members, email me.
-MS

Jay Nicholas wants your fly tying video requests! If you’re looking for a how-to fly tying video on a certain fly or technique you’re having trouble with, leave us a comment and we will get to work recording it.

In this video, Jay Nicholas shows you two ways to tie a trailing hook on a leech pattern. In the first segment, Jay demonstrates his MOAL leech strategy, and in the second section he shows you how he prepares hooks for his version of the intruder. If you struggle with string leeches, or are daunted by big winter steelhead patterns with trailer hooks, this video is for you.

Fly fishing the McKenzie River for wild rainbow trout is my addiction. I love those big beautiful fish. And early spring time is my favorite time of year to chase them.

There’s nothing prettier than a pre-spawn beefed up McKenzie Redside. After a hungry winter with low fishing pressure, the trout are innocent and looking for a big meal. Large possie buggers and mega-princes are just the ticket.

This is my favorite time of year, but it wasn’t always. Back east, some poor fishing-addicted bastard is sitting in a shack around a hole in the ice, puking drunk, eating leftover Turducken and waiting for a 10-inch perch to bite the maggot-tipped jig hanging from his bobber.

That guy was me. But now I can go out in shirtsleeves in February and enjoy amazing trout fishing.

Yesterday I went out for a few short hours with Ethan Nickel, and hooked a 15” fish, an 18” fish and then something that ran across the entire river, shaking its head and taking me into my backing before popping off as I reeled it in. I’m still fuming over that one and secretly hope it was a foul hooked sucker making a break for it and not the trout of the year.

I need to point out that an 8-year old could have hooked those fish, and might even have landed my mystery pig. Fishing for wild trout is not impossibly hard as some hatchery trout proponents suggest. Any kid could do this, and enjoy some of the most beautiful fish in the world. We’d like to see the whole river produce fish like these.

-MS