Another great year in the books. As ORFFB approaches the six-year mark, it’s nice to look back at some highlights from the last year’s posts.
Cedar Lodge, New Zealand
Chris and Shauna recently took ownership of a fly fishing lodge in New Zealand. Cedar Lodge is on the South Island of New Zealand and offers all-inclusive heli fly out fishing to amazing rivers with big trout.
The Daughters have been posting fishing reports and lodge projects throughout the year and you can read the posts here:
Helicopter fly fishing in New Zealand
Lodge Ownership Chapter 1
Cedar Lodge Adventure Update
Low Water on New Zealand’s South Island
Jay tackles saltwater fly fishing
For those of you who know Jay, you know he tends to get obsessed. This year, the obsession was saltwater fly fishing. He wrote a comprehensive introduction to the evolution of his saltwater fly tying. But the real treasure is the series of reports from the Oregon Coast.
July 19, 2013: Fish were as deep as 70 ft and as shallow as 10 ft, but most of our grabs came in the 30 – 40 ft depth range. Cast, let ‘er sink, feed line as the Dory drifts away from the fly, and then strip the fly back up through the schools of cooperative fish. No salmon this date, but tomorrow, who knows?
July 22, 2013: Ocean current was strong but we were able to get our flies down with careful line management; fish were more in the 30 – 40 ft depth range, more scattered, and more difficult to find. We found enough fish to hit doubles whenever we did find the fish and we found full crab pots too.
July 31, 2013: Calm ocean. Warmer water moving onshore. TONS of baitfish. Silvers on the surface in the morning. Black Rockfish at 15 ft all day long. Rockfish on the surface in the evening. None of it is easy. All of it is fun.
August 18, 2013: We cast the fly to Tuna, caught just enough to make our hearts full and open our minds to the possibilities out there west of our usual trout, salmon, steelhead, and carp haunts here in Oregon.
August 19, 2013: Tim spent a fair amount of time teasing a big Blue Shark at the boat, while we watched and cheered the shark as it repeatedly teased him right back with slow drive-bys and last-second rejections.
September 6, 2013: Silvers will often respond well to a trolled bucktail fly, right in the prop wash, but it is also a ton of fun to find the occasional salmon casting and stripping flies in the open ocean.
Speaking of saltwater fly fishing…
Captain Nate, former Oregon Saltwater fly fishing guide, had his bachelor party in the Texas surf late last fall.
The full moon rose over the Gulf. We drove three hours, land crabs scuttling across the headlights – eyes lighting up on the beams. We’d waited for the tide to go out to open up the beach, drinking hot rum in the Texas sun for eight hours before the trip even started…
Great fishing on our home waters
Let’s face it… the wild trout on the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers are so fantastic. The big flashy silver guys are cool, and the fish in far-flung locations are exciting. But our native trout provide some of the best fishing experiences around the Northwest.
Check out some reports from throughout the year:
–Chris and Jay on the Lower McKenzie in Spring
–Bull Trout on the Dry Fly in May
–Fly fishing the upper sections in the Fall
Native trout conservation continues
Earlier this year, The Fly Fish Journal ran an article on the McKenzie River Hatchery Trout, bringing the plight of the McKenzie River Redside to a national audience. Also, Native Trout advocates launched a new Website to publish the latest information on the ongoing population and telemetry studies. Last, but certainly not least, we raised another $5,000 for habitat restoration on the McKenzie River with the help of some special guides and great anglers. That brings the grand total to $30,000 raised for McKenzie River Trust since the McKenzie River Two-Fly Tournament launched just a few years ago. And the McKenzie Flyfishers filed suit to reduce/remove hatchery spring chinook salmon from the McKenzie River! A good year for native fish on a wild river.
Fly fishing with Jimmy Carter for Mongolian Taimen
Another excellent writeup from Matt Ramsey on Mongolian Taimen. Some of the best writing and photos of the year, plus presidential cred.
For any fly fishing guide, there are special experiences that remind you why you are lucky to have chosen this path. The week with the Carters was just such a time. I got to stand shoulder to shoulder and thigh deep in the river with President Carter for the entire week. And one thing I learned is that you don’t get to be President of the United States by being a wuss. This guy just turned 89 on October 1st, and I am not exaggerating when I say that he out-fished and out-efforted every other client at the Lower Camp this year. He would fish the entire nine-hour day, fish or no fish, with a grit and determination that were frankly intimidating. And while others in the party would grouse about the slow fishing, he truly relished the process and punishment of hard-core taimen fishing.
Grand Slams in Cayo Largo
Fly fishing for tarpon, bonefish and permit is challenging. Catching all three species in one day, the vaunted “Grand Slam” is even more difficult. When opportunity arises to chase a slam it creates an exciting intensity to fly fishing like no other I have experienced. On our trip my wife Shauna and I had one of the most memorable and exciting fishing days our lives.
Gratuitous 2013 winter steelhead fish porn
Missing Oregon
Settling into my second year in Ohio… looking back at all of the great posts this year is a little melancholy. Here are a couple love notes to my old home and friends. Looking forward to the next time I get back.
–Painting my way back to the Northwest
–First trip back to Oregon
Wishing you and yours a happy 2014 from the Caddis Fly Shop and Oregon Fly Fishing Blog. And thank you for contributing, reading, and just being a part of this project for the last six years.
-Matt Stansberry
STAY TUNED FOR A “BEST OF” 2013 FLY TYING ROUNDUP IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS!