This years Two Fly Tournament kicks off this Friday. As part of the events fund raising we are donating 10% of our sales this Friday to the McKenzie River Trust. Come by, have a beer, spend a bunch and support a great non profit land trust. All Friday October 2nd 2016.
Monday, October 5th, McMenamins North Bank 22 Club Rd. Eugene, Oregon
The general meeting will start at 7:00PM and the public is welcome. The board meeting will follow directly after the general meeting and TU members are welcome to attend.
Summer is over and It’s time to ramp up the TU meetings again. And on that note we would like to invite everyone to our fall kick off. Also there are some new things in the works from the Redsides this year, including something near and dear to my heart. Our chapter is sponsoring two new Project Healing Waters Fly-fishing chapters. One down in Roseburg headed up by Jeff McEnroe (fish biologist for BLM) and our Eugene/Springfield chapter headed up Chris Matthews ( he is also our new education chair). We have some things to get done, some things to discuss and some exciting trips and volunteer opportunities to come.
And with that, we would like to invite you to our first presentation on Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing.
Chris Matthews will be giving an in depth and informative presentation on PHWFF. How it began, where it began, how and why we choose to begin our local program, what our mission is, how you can help, and will be answering any questions you may have. Also we will have a special guest Chris Hubert from the Phoenix Arizona PHWFF on hand.
So mark it on the calendar, and see you there.
October Caddis have been out in the late afternoon and evenings in low numbers for the past week. Yesterday they started earlier and were more numerous. Look for more of these bugs to be out in the coming couple of weeks and for fish to key on them.
Two of our favorite dry fly patterns are Kingrey’s Better Foam Caddis and Morrish’s Foam October Caddis.
Here are a bunch of October Caddis fly tying videos we have done over the years.
Long tail sea lice on Chinook salmon
September 2015:
Dear Friends, the days are shorter now than back in June, and there is so much going on that it is nearly daunting to try to explain it all so in stead – here are some photo images of the local goings on.
Best wishes to you all, come visit sometime, you will have a great adventure!
Jay Nicholas
Must be a spinner bite at the Bridge.
Brian was happy with this king!
Crabbing remains very most excellently good.
Tying Flies and sketching at 3 AM.
Nice salmon released by Rob.
Red Kulper and bullhead.
First, angler hooks salmon on Kwikfish. Second, seal takes salmon from angler. third, seal eats salmon, carefully refraining from the dangerous parts! Finally, angler finds kwikfish and gulls floating by in the estuary. Had to see it to believe it.
Motoring off to chase a king.
Bye Bye for now, hope for the best every time you are on the water.
I know, some of our readers are begging for mercy, because three posts on Clouser Eyes is nearly too much fun to endure.
New Hrareline Double Pupil Lead Eyes.
True enough, but these Double Pupil Lead Eyes from Hareline are impressive critters and many of our readers who obsess over the details of their flies will want to explore these beauties in 8 colors and 4 sizes!
Here is our standard king salmon Clouser tied with the but one of the 32 possible color/size options for these nice new eyes.
Kindly note: the finish on these eyes and the intricate paint/enamel work is impressive, the nicest eyes I have ever seen on a heavy lead base. From x-small to large, these babies will find a home on my flies for this and successive seasons.
Securing Hareline Double Pupil Eyes to partridge Attitude Extra hook.
Top view Hareline Double Pupil Lead Eyes – hit it with Zap Brush on to secure.
White buck tail belly with hint of hot pink Fluoro Fibre at throat secured front and rear of eyes.
Adding the traditional chartreuse buck tail back on the Clouser to finish the fly.
Our three Clousers tied with Double Pupil Lead Eyes (left), BalzEyes (center), and Pseudo Eyes (right) – all from our friends at Hareline.
Three new Clouser eyes in morning coastal sunshine.
Have fun, fellow fly tyers; we now have more options to ponder when tying our flies.
Post Script: sorry to repeat, but the finish and detail work on these eyes is absolutely amazing, and I am not going to be satisfied with my old eyes after seeing these and fishing them.
Jay Nicholas, September, 2015.
This years Two Fly Tournament to benefit the McKenzie River Trust has received some sweet prizes. Thanks so much to Hatch Fly Reels, Costa Sun Glasses, and Echo Fly Rods for contributing. Costa has even helped out with hats, cleaning cloths and sun glass retainers for the guides.
First Place Boat: Hatch 5+ Reel for each of the winner
Second Place Boat: A pair of Costa Del Mar polarized shades for each participant.
Third Place Boat: An Echo Glass Fly Rod for each participant
Cooler weather has the fishing on the lower McKenzie improving.
Thanks to Andrew Shipman for this report.
Hi Chris – Quick report on the lower McKenzie. Couple buddies and I were able to get out of our father responsibilities and hit the river Sunday, we floated Bellinger to Armitage. Low river levels persisted & the sun was out so we focused on deeper green runs, running two nymph rigs (mega-prince, posse bugger, various jigged nymphs, Caddis emergers, etc.). We were hoping the recent shot of rain would help the river. There was little to no surface activity all day, but fishing was good. The third time fly fisherman caught: redsides, cutthroat, whitefish, & a 19 inch sucker, but no steelhead…it took two semi-tow trucks to land this redside:
See you at the two-fly. Andrew
(Camera settings were totally “bleeped-up”, don’t let 3 year old twins play with your camera. Some redsides seems ‘skinny’ and were quickly released.)
Fresh on the heels of my post on new BalzEyes, this will be an abbreviated post showing a similar Chinook Clouser tied with new Pseudo Eyes from Hareline. Remember, these are hourglass shaped whereas the BalzEyes are a genuine barbell shape.
Also note that the new Pseudo Eyes have even more NEW color options available, so it is well worth your time to browse these and let your imagination run wild.
New Pseudo Eyes from Hareline.
New Pseudo Eyes from Hareline on Partridge Attitude Extra Hook.
Top View of new Pseudo Eyes, apply Zap Brush on to secure.
Add a hint of Fluoro Fibre as throat to white buck tail belly.
Now secure Chartreuse buck tail in front of Pseudo Eyes.
Ok, enough for today; next up are the new Double Pupil Lead Eyes.
Jay Nicholas, September, 2015.
New Anodized BalzEyes in Red and Green with White Pupil from Hareline.
I realize that not ever fly tyer gets as enthused about dumbbell (barbell) eyes as I do, but for anyone who is similarly affected – there are several new options to dress our clousers with, so I decided to feature these here.
I tie Clousers and Bonefish-like Mini-Charlie flies to fish for Chinook salmon, but many flies use or could use these eyes to achieve a sink and an erratic retrieve motion.
The new BallzEyes are offered in anodized Red and anodized Green with white eyes and black pupil. These are different from Pseudo Eyes in that the former are a genuine barbell shape while the latter are an hourglass shape.
The photos following show a nice little king salmon Clouser tied with the new BallzEyes.
Secure new BallzEyes to Partridge Attitude Extra #2 hook.
Apply Zap brush on to secure eyes.
Tie in buck tail in front of BalzEyes.
Secure buck tail behind the eyes.
Add a hint of hot pink with Fluro Fibre.
Add Chartreuse buck tail tied in front of BalzEyes.
Our new Clouser with Balzeyes.
Next up: new Pseudo Eyes from Hareline.
I know, it’s almost more than a fly tyer can bear.
Jay Nicholas, September 2015
From the Native Fish Society: Mining companies want to develop nickel strip mines in the pristine headwaters of the Wild and Scenic Smith and Illinois Rivers in southwest Oregon. Nearby Hunter Creek and Pistol River are also threatened! These watersheds are home to wild, native fish including salmon, steelhead, pacific lamprey, eulachon and sturgeon.
What’s at stake?
The threatened area includes the headwaters of three national Wild and Scenic River that serve as vital strongholds for wild, native fish. Hunter Creek, and Pistol and Illinois River are free of any hatchery salmonids, making them increasingly important as protectors of diverse and unique salmon and steelhead genetics.
Join Native Fish Society at the Patagonia – Portland store tonight (Thursday 9/17/15) to celebrate the wild rivers and places of the Kalmiopsis in Southwest Oregon. This event is free and doors open at 7:00 pm. Ninkasi sponsored the event, so you know the beers will be great.
Presentations will focus on the importance of the Kalmiopsis and ways you can help to protect its wild rivers from the threat of industrial open-pit nickel mining.
Fall is here in the Willamette Valley and our local fisheries have really turned on. The McKenzie in it’s entirety has been fishing great, the Middle Fork of the Willamette has dropped down and is very “wadable” with a 722cfs release out of Hills Creek Dam. October Caddis have begun to emerge, Short Winged stoneflies are around on the upper McKenzie and we are seeing some really nice fish.
The best bugs to have in your box are pictured below.
Starting from the top:
First Row
Morrish’s Foam October Caddis
Advanced Stimulator Orange
Kinrey’s Better Foam Caddis
Second Row Nymphs
HDA Jigged Variant
Jigged Possie Bugger
Jigged CDC Pheasant Tail
Third Row Dries
Parachute Adams
Goddard Caddis Rusty
Hairwing Gray Drake
Fourth Row
Orange Soft Hackles
Extended Body Mahogany Dun
Blue Winged Olive
Klinkhammer Blue Winged Olive
From Trout Unlimited See TU Post here: Protect Oregon Streams
Two minutes can help protect 14,000 miles of Oregon streams.
The Oregon Board of Forestry (BOF) will soon decide whether to increase Oregon’s riparian buffers. These buffers supply cool water in the heat of summer, water necessary for steelhead, trout, salmon and other organisms important to Oregon rivers and streams.
Currently, Oregon requires only a 20 foot buffer — far smaller than neighboring states, and according to the science, woefully inadequate as a means of providing the necessary cool water on which these species depend.
Studies have shown that at least 120 feet of buffer is needed to provide adequate shade 90 percent of the time. By comparison, Federally managed forests in the Northwest require a 300 foot buffer on fish bearing streams.
We are asking for a mere 110 feet – a reasonable compromise.
But we need you. It’s not often you can protect 14,000 miles of streams. Please, reach out to the Board member in your region and tell them you support increasing buffers to 110 feet.
The board is expected to make its ruling by early October. We urge you to take a moment and stand up for a positive change for fish and habitat that is supported by both the science and the angling community.
Contact Information
General email for Board of Forestry:
BoardofForestry@oregon.gov
Members
Tom Imeson – Chair
220 NW Second Ave.
Portland, OR. 97209
Phone (503)-220-2370
tom.imeson@nwnatural.com
Sybil Ackerman-Munson
20200 SE Walgren Road
Damascus, OR. 97209
(503)-419-8454
sybilbof@gmail.com
Cindy Deacon Williams
4393 Pioneer Rd.
Medford, OR 97501
(541) 601-4737
Nils D. Christoffersen
401 NE 1st St. Ste A
Enterprise, OR 97828
(541) 426-8053
nils@wallowaresources.org
Tom Insko
Eastern Oregon University
One University Boulevard
Inlow Hall Suite 216
La Grande, OR 97850
(541) 962-3512
Gary Springer
Starker Forests, Inc.
7240 S.W. Philomath Blvd
PO Box 809 Corvallis, OR 97339-0809
(541) 929-2477
gtspringer@hotmail.com
Mike Rose
25379 State Hwy. 38
Elkton, OR 97436
(541) 337-7413
It feels like an early Fall season is upon us. The past few days on the river have been cooler, and several species of mayflies have been emerging. Gray Drakes, lesser Green Drakes and Blue Winged Olives have been available to fish, and they have been responding really well to dry flies. The first of the “orange termites” have been spotted, but no October Caddis yet, it won’t be long however.
A few of the key flies to have in your box are:
Redington Fly Fishing continues to improve it’s equipment offering. This season’s introductions include the Hydrogen and Chromer rods as well as the Behemoth and Zero reels.
The Hydrogen Rod is the sleeper of the group and really should be cast or fished to grasp full understand and appreciate. This rod is an absolute joy to cast.
The Chromer series of spey and switch rods has and excellent all around action and a unique rubber grip to aid in running line grip and hand placement.
The Behemoth Fly Reel has and expansive drag range, large drag knob, great looks, and a comfortable handle. This rugged and very economical fly reel suits line sizes from trout to spey and saltwater.
The Zero Reel is a very simple click drag fly reel. The Zero plays well on lighter rods and tippets.
