The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Keep Nestle out of the Columbia River

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

From The Oregonian: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has agreed to trade its water rights at Oxbow Springs to pave the way for a Nestle bottled water plant in Cascade Locks.

Cascade Locks City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman said the city and the state wildlife agency jointly submitted paperwork Friday morning to initiate a water rights cross transfer, with the state trading spring water for the city’s well water.

The Columbia River Gorge city will then pass the spring water on to Nestle, which will bottle and sell it.

Nestle’s proposal to bottle 100 million gallons of Oxbow Springs water annually for sale throughout the Northwest has been controversial, with multiple environmental organizations, public health groups and unions protesting the deal.

They’ve been working on this since 2010. Background here:

What’s the problem with this plan? Well, the bottling plant could adversely affect migratory fish. Salmon and steelhead passing through the Lower Columbia to points and tributaries upriver often have to deal with high temperatures, and Herman Creek provides a cold water thermal refuge.

Check out this page for info on how to speak up about this.

Posted in Oregon Conservation News | Leave a comment

Upper McKenzie River logging proposal: Goose Island

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

The Goose Island Timber sale is back. The plan to log more than 2000 acres (including in a large unroaded area and century-old, never-before-logged forests) was successfully challenged in court in 2013. Unfortunately, the new analysis makes few changes to address concerns about impacts to threatened northern spotted owls and other wildlife, older forests, and areas eligible for Wilderness designation.

If you think the forests of the McKenzie River watershed should be protected and restored, not further degraded by intensive logging, please take a moment to send a comment letter to the Willamette National Forest and let them know you have concerns about the Goose Timber Sale Project.

Comment period wraps up on April 20th.

Lower McKenzie River Fly Fishing Report: Spring 2015

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

It was great to get back to my home waters this past week. The McKenzie is at “early summer” water levels and fishing is full on. We put in at Hayden Bridge around 10:45am and immediately noticed mayflies on the water and in the air. The lighter colored cousin of the March Brown was something between a PMD and the larger darker classic March Browns. Fish were largely ignoring the mayflies, and I was in full exploration mode so we stuck with nymphs in the deeper runs and drop-offs.

By 12:30 we were seeing enough bugs, both mayflies and caddis to park in a bit of broken water and fish to actively rising fish. Surface activity continued on until we took out at around 5pm.

It was a bright and windy most of the day but each time the wind would lay down a bit the bugs and fish would become much more surface oriented. Although we did not catch any really big fish on the top we did have quite a bit of action. The most intense period of adult March Browns on the surface seemed to be between 2:30pm and 4pm. Fish were tuned in to both the emergent and adult forms of the March Brown during that window of time.

When we get some cloudy drizzly days in the coming days look for the hatch to be more concentrated and for larger fish to be more interested in heading to the top.

Best flies for fishing the lower McKenzie include:
Parachute Purple Rooster 12,14
Parachute Adams 14,16
March Brown Klinkhammer 12,14
Jigged Pheasant Tail 12,14
Jigged Prince 10
UV Guide Caddis 14,16
Mercer’s Missing Link Caddis 14,16

Posted in Fishing Reports, McKenzie River | 1 Comment

“Brochure” Day at Cedar Lodge New Zealand

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

This one got stuck in the OregonFlyFishingBlog.com post Que. Here we are in April already!

March can bring all types of weather to the South Island of New Zealand. As I write it’s cloudy and blowing 25 knots northwest, but every once in a while March brings you a “minter” a “cracker” of a day. A windless, clear forever day that is absolutely gorgeous. We had one of those perfect days this past Thursday and it happened to be one of those rare guides days out where those of us who have been watching and coaching all season got to make a few casts.

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel | Leave a comment

Lower Mckenzie Report 4/8/15

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Lou Verdugo

Caught a ride in Andrew’s boat and hit the lower Mckenzie this week. We were not disappointed. Anglers should look to the mid to late afternoon for hatches. We caught a massive black caddis hatch, followed by a brief March Brown hatch, around 3:00pm. The action was over a two hour period and ended as fast as it started. We did not get started until mid day

These Lower Mckenzie piggy’s fell to an emerging march brown pattern. Andrew was having success with the missing link caddis pattern. The menu of the day was dries, and soft hackles. No Nymphing! Also, an assortment of cut throats were caught. Look to the faster water for the Redsides. It seemed like the cuts were in the “softer water”.

With showers and cloud breaks forecasted for the weekend it should bring some rising fish for anglers. A special thanks to Andrew who rowed all day and allowed an old, grey haired, fat guy, to have a great day!

Posted in Fishing Reports, McKenzie River | 1 Comment

Lower McKenzie Fishing Well mid-day

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Lower McKenzie River Wild Rainbow Trout

Although I have remained focused on late run winter steelhead and lingcod in the coastal zone, I hear from the most reliable sources that the McKenzie has been fishing very well of late.

A quick conversation with Clay revealed some good info, which because I was using hands-free mode while driving, I then dictated the bare bones of a blog post to myself, as a reminder, so I could draft the post when I got home. Here is what I found on my computer, verbatim.

I quote:

Play entire efficient between harvest Lane and Hayden Bridge last week and in the middle of the day between 10 and four they found huge wrap some bluing dollars in the margins of the stream and big March Brown’s floating out in the middle River that excellent fishing all through the midday noontime time of day apparently. They used little bitten tiny cucumber peacock plasma drive wise to use cat is soft tackles and then found many large brown soft tacos they also use purple Adams parachutes and size 14 and 16 and they used a some other March brown pattern that I will list when I draft the articles they had a great time the clients had a great time and I’m sorry I wasn’t there myself but this is the best I can do you can you should …….

End quote.

Ok, so much for auto spell correct.

Here is the real scoop on the McKenzie last week.

Clay and Ty did fish the McKenzie between harvest land and Hayden Bridge, and yes, there were huge rafts of BWOs (Blue Wing Olive mayflies) along the river margins with trout sipping these up while big hatches of March Browns went driving down the main current with trout taking sub surface and on top too. Guide clients were happy, as were the guides. Much activity from 10 AM to 4 PM pretty much non-stop. Varied selectivity on the part of the trout depending on whether fishing river margins and backwaters or main river riffles and runs.

Effective Flies:

#16 Peacock Caddis

#12-16 Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle

#12-16 Purple Adams Parachute

Spotlight March Brown Emerger

Spun Dun March Brown

Hi and Dry Western March Brown Parachute

BWO Cripple

Comparadun BWO

Hi Viz Parachute BWO

Nope, I wasn’t there, but if you have questions, please call the Shop and ask for the stories behind the stories. Far as I can tell, there were many trout caught and released, much fun had by all, and the river was teeming with bug and fish life.

Jay Nicholas for Clay, Ty, and the Caddis Fly Staff

Posted in Fishing Reports, McKenzie River | 4 Comments

Jay’s Unbiased Review of Hatch Outdoors Fly Reels and Gear

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Hatch and Nautilus Fly reels on Echo, Scott, and Burkheimer fly rods.

Hatch and Nautilus Fly reels on Echo, Scott, Sage, and Burkheimer fly rods.

Unbiased? I’ve sure got opinions about my Hatch reels and gear, based on personal use experience, and as such I’m probably not unbiased. For one thing, I can fish about any fly gear I wanted – and the choices out there are so numerous that it would be impossible for me to fish all the gear and then even more impossible for me to select the best of the best based on performance, because there are too many good reel manufacturers and I am not a super human gear evaluator, jus a regular guy who loves to fish and is capable of recognizing “good stuff” when I fish it. I like to be positive, and yes, I have fished some gear that was a disappointment, but I don’t have time or the inclination to write about disappointing products.

Why Hatch? Put it another way, why not Tibor, Abel, Bauer, or Nautilus instead? There is probably an element of chance and involved, pure and simple. I hold the aforementioned fly reels in the highest esteem, and have fished all four. Each of those fly reels performed at the highest level possible. But at some point, my budget is limited, I have only one fly reel case, and I decided to go all in with one fly reel to fish and specialize with – and I picked the Hatch Finatic. I love the wide range of reel sizes Hatch offers (as do most other reel manufacturers, but something about the Hatch heft, feel, drag, and sound won me over. I know several of the people who run the operation at Hatch, especially Andrew; these reels are made with the highest precision computer controlled machining and components. The reels are tested and tested and then tested again. I am an angler who is HARD on my gear and do little other than rinse them lightly under a hose after each use. My reels bounce around in the dory. One of my Hatch reels, an 11 Plus, survived an 8 ft drop from the overhead rod rack to the oak floor in our cabin without a dent or scratch. Wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, just saying that these are tough fly reels, they sound delightful when an albacore is making a screaming run, and they have a highly dependable drag system that has never let me down.

If you are hoping for details about ball bearings, sealed drag systems, synthetic lubricants and disks, you had best move on, because I don’t really dig that jive. I refuse to regurgitate technical details that I really don’t understand, but I can and will honestly report my experience fishing the Hatch products I have put to the test for the last several seasons.

All I’m going to do is show you a glimpse at the Hatch gear I’ve been using with a few comments.

Hatch 5 Plus Fly Reel.

My Hatch 5 Plus Finatic is lined with a Rio Streamer Tip 10 ft sink tip – ‘been fishing this one on an Echo Glass 4 wt switch rod for winter steelhead this season. Plenty of backing for a 6 wt line and the reel took a serious workout in stride this winter.

Hatch Finatic 7 Plus Fly Reel.

This Hatch 7 Plus reel is strung with a RIO Striper line and hung on a Sage Xi3 rod that I fish for silvers in the ocean during the summer. Again, excellent performance.

Hatch 9 Plus Fly Reel.

This Hatch 9 reel is currently in my Simms reel case, but is about to get mounted on my Burkheimer 995-4 to fish for spring Chinook. Many fine memories with the fly reel and rod combination.

Hatch Finatic 11 Plus Fly Reel.

This Hatch 11 is mounted on a Scott Radian 9 wt rod, again, ready to fish Springers in the next month or so. The reel is far larger than needed, so during albacore season, I line this reel with an Airflo Big Game 700 gr line and head out after tuna. Salmon test this reel, but not like the tuna do, and it stands up to both species with high honors.

Hatch Finatic 11 Plus Fly Reel.

This hatch 11 Plus is equipped with a Hatch Tropical 500 gr line and is my back up when out fly fishing for lingcod. Don’t be fooled by the term tropical, this is a great fly line for use here in our temperate waters offshore Oregon. The 500 gr head gets it down almost as fast as the Airflo 700 gr line and in fact sometimes i fish this line if the kings are at 40 – 50 ft instead of at 80 – 100 ft depths.

Hatch Premium Backing.

Hatch Premium Backing. Best backing I have ever had the pleasure to fish. Not slick and wiry like super braid, this PE is round, feels good, is fine diameter and sting at 68 lb test it is smaller than 20 lb Dacron and is round instead of flat. I use this in situations when I need extra backing fishing for salmon, and especially for tuna.

Hatch Professional Series Saltwater Series Fluorocarbon Tippet.

Hatch Pro Series Saltwater Fluorocarbon. This is the leader I fined for albacore tuna offshore last season (2014) and will fish again in 2015. I fished #20 and #25 alternately and without rationale, and never lost an Albie to a bad knot with this material – and I fight fish hard. My opinion regarding fluorocarbon was not all that good until I fished this material. I am now completely confident in this specific brand of Fluoro, and am ready to rig my tuna and silver lines with this leader again in 2015.

10 & 12 pound Hatch Fluorocarbon Tippet.

I have always been a Maxima Ultragreen guy up until I fished this material overwinter. Now I’m convinced that using Fluoro brought me more grabs in ultra clear low flows and I found this material totally trustworthy. In the past I always downgraded the listed strength of Fluoro but I now consider this material every bit as dependable as maxima, but finer diameter and probably less visible to the steelies.

Hatch Tropical fly lines – Intermediate and 400 gr sink tips.

Hatch Tropical Fly Lines. Again, I’m not one to be deterred by the phrase “tropical” and I fished these two Hatch fly lines last season for silvers and Albacore, with pure satisfaction. The Intermediate is a great line for bucktailing silvers offshore.

Hatch Nomad Pliers.

Hatch Nomad Pliers, my favorite of favorites.

Hatch Nomad Pliers. These stood up to the harsh of an ocean environment with no maintenance the entire summer season. Superior pliers, leather holster, lanyard, clip, cutter jaws, and grip surface. Are there other good pliers out there? Of course. Am I extremely fond of these? Yes.

From fly reels, tippets, lines, pliers, and ball caps (don’t have one yet), I count on my Hatch fishing gear and trust it to perform under the harshest of conditions. I fished one of these reels a few years ago when I went to the Upper Dean River in BC, fishing Spey rods for summer steelhead. Yep. Exquisite performance.

Count on Hatch for superior products and absolutely flawless quality.

Jay Nicholas, April 2015

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review | 11 Comments

Redsides meeting tonight: Owyhee River

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Our local TU Chapter, The Redsides, are hosting their April meeting tonight.

April Meeting News
Monday, April 6th
Izzy’s Pizza
1930 Mohawk Boulevard
Springfield, OR 97477

The general meeting will be held at 7:00pm – 9:00pm, and is open to the public.

The board meeting will follow the general meeting after a short recess. All TU members are welcome to attend the board meeting.
This month’s presentation is “The Owyhee River” by Monica Mullen

Join us as Monica recounts years of fishing the Owyhee River including landscapes, bugs, fish porn and other “cool stuff”.
There will also be a raffle held at the meeting for a prize worth at least $50.

One free raffle ticket to each person attending the meeting.

Additional tickets available for $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00.

Additionally, there are now two board seats open, Treasurer, and Board Member At Large. Nominations will be taken for both seats at this general meeting and we will have a vote.

Hope to see you there!

Posted in Oregon Conservation News, Oregon Fly Fishing Clubs and Events | Leave a comment

Jeff and Kathryn Hickman Grow Fish the Swing to Lower Dean River

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Lower Dean River Chrome, fresh from the sea and feelin’ grabby.

This post is a hybrid of writing by Jeff Hickman and me (Jay). I wanted to share the news about Jeff and Kathryn Hickman’s recent transition to owners of Kimsquit Bay Lodge at the mouth of the Dean River, BC. Jeff is among my dearest friends, in spite of the fact that we barely see each other every few years, and I hope that changes but hey we are both busy, he is a full time guide/outfitter and I’m a cranky hermit who bases out of Corvallis and Pacific City so there are really limited opportunities for us to get together but of late we managed to fish the ocean in a friend’s dory and all caught lingcod on flies ha ha.

I wrote a companion post for my own blog fishingwithjay and invite you to visit to learn more about Jeff, Kathryn, and the mystery of life (and fishing size 6 Muddlers for giant king salmon) itself. Ok, forget the tiny Muddlers teaser, I just made that part up.

Jeff kindly offered to help me prepare the text for the post, and he wrote it thinking I would publish it as my own writing. Silly boy, I’m no plagiarizer but I’ll now proceed to insert the story just as Jeff wrote it for me. You will see that it suffers from lack on mis-spelled words, poor punctuation, lack of capitalization, and finally the absence of absurdly long run on sentences. Nice try Jeff.

The lower Dean River is probably my number one dream destination, aside from the Nestucca, Tillamook bay, and the Town Lake which are all between 3 and 35 minutes away. The Lower Dean lives in my head with spectacular scenery, water, and anadromous fish that will inhale a swung fly and head back out to the ocean in high gear setting fly reels a-screaming.

Here is what Jeff wrote for me; it’s nicely done and all true.

Jeff Hickman on Lower Dean at Kimsquit Bay Lodge.

Being a married steelhead guide isn’t easy. To make ends meet as a guide you need to be on the water a ton and you need to be able to move around with the seasons. Jeff has bounced back and forth between guiding Winter and Spring on the Clackamas and coastal rivers and guiding the lower Deschutes in the Summer/Fall. Too far to commute every day with the long guiding hours, he had to keep two homes. Kathryn worked an office job at DaKine in Hood River for 10 years. Being tied to Hood River year-round made January-June a tough time of the year for them as they would only see each other on the weekends.

Kathryn Hickman fishing our of Kimsquit Bay Lodge on lower Dean River BC. Yep, she gets the grabs on the swing!

Kathryn Hickman fishing out of Kimsquit Bay Lodge on lower Dean River BC. Yep, she gets skated-fly grabs on the swing!

They saw a summer season together in BC as a possible solution and a way for Kathryn to leave her job. If they could join forces, Kathryn could be free to move with the seasons as well. The opportunity presented itself, they took out a big loan and together they bought the Blackwell’s family lodge at the mouth of the Dean River in BC. Since June 2014 the Hickman’s are the proud owners of Kimsquit Bay Lodge on the legendary Dean River. Owning the lodge together they can now be partners the whole year. Jeff can stick to guiding which he enjoys the most and Kathryn can help to keep him organized, no easy task! They are both great hosts and do everything to make sure all of their guests have an amazing trip.

Here is some of the scenery you will view on the Lower Dean River, BC, out of Kimsquit Bay Lodge.

Now here are the details of how it is all coming together:

Fish The Swing has expanded north to the wilds of BC for the Summer season. Well known Oregon spey guide Jeff Hickman (www.fishtheswing.com) purchased the former Blackwell’s Dean River Lodge, now Kimsquit Bay Lodge (www.kimsquitbay.com). The season on the lower Dean is June through August which compliments the Winter, Spring and Fall Oregon Steelhead seasons perfectly. The lodge sits above the salt water of the Dean Channel with spectacular views of surrounding mountains, glaciers and waterfalls. Just a short trip in the lodges van down the trail to the river.

Here is how you arrive from Smithers, BC, to Kimsquit Bay Lodge.

The strategic location of the lodge allows for easy access to the lower river’s great runs between tidewater and the legendary Dean canyon. This guarantees that fish encountered will be among the hottest and freshest fish on the planet. This is the ultimate destination for swinging flies. The most spectacular scenery and the hardest fighting anadromous fish. With great guides, great food and comfortable cabin accommodations the lodge should be at the top of any fly fisher’s bucket list. All meals are prepared by their talented Red Seal Chef. (note from Jay: Aside from the fact that Jeff and Kathryn tell me she is an AWESOME chef, i googles this and the Red Seal requires 3 years of apprenticeship, 5,000 hours, tests and such forth of training. This Interprovincial Program is broadly recognized and highly prestigious certification accomplishment in Canada.)

Two great, fun and experienced guides instruct and help the anglers have the best success possible each day on the water. They use a wooden dory with an out board jet drive to get the clients from spot to spot. Each guide looks after three clients. The small size of this lodge makes for a very comfortable feel, only six guests per week. The guests stay in one of three comfortable cabins each with their own private bathroom and flushing toilet.

Front porch on a balmy day at Kimsquit Bay Lodge on the lower Dean River, BC. Please note, it has been known to rain here on occasion (ha ha)!

Limited availability of bookings in prime times as follows: Price – $6150 including transportation from Smithers, BC.

These bookings include one day unguided fishing, six days guided fishing, and seven nights lodging and exceptionally fine meals.

June 19th – 26th Chinook

June 26th – July 3rd Chinook

July 3rd – 10th Chinook and Steelhead

August 7th – 14th Steelhead

August 14th – 21st Steelhead

Let us know if you would like to be on a waiting list (will call) in case we get last minute cancellations – unlikely but possible.

Here’s what we’re talking about when we say Dean River Chinook salmon.

Here is some of the water we will fish out of Kimsquit Bay Lodge on the Lower Dean River.

Images like this will be as enduring as the magnificent fish that we swing our flies to on the lower Dean.

Ok folks, end of the pitch. I (Jay again) will be available to help people sort through gear options for fishing the lower Dean. Kings are a different critter than steelhead and require tackle a little stouter than you would fish in August. Chris and Bryson (Ty and Clay, and Peter and Lou also) at the Caddis Fly Shop can help assist with anything from gear to clothing waders boots and bookings. Flies? Yup.

Keep this dream destination in your mind, just as I do. You’ll know when the time is right – how about now?

Jay Nicholas and Jeff Hickman – March 2015

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel | 4 Comments

Fly fishing film fest comes to Eugene

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

The International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4) is coming to Eugene

Wildish Community Theater | April 30, 2015
Doors open at 6:15 PM. Film begins AT 7:00 PM.
Hosted By: True West Custom Fly Rods, Caddis Fly Shop and Homewaters Fly Shop

Funds raised from this event will benefit Fly Fishing Colloborative.

Tickets are on sale here, and will also be available for $15.00 at the Caddis Fly Shop and if available, for $18.00 at the door on the day of the event.

For more information, please contact event organizer at info@flyfilmfest.com

Posted in Oregon Fly Fishing Clubs and Events | 1 Comment

Pike, muskie and other predator fly: The Thickness

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Despite the synthetic fly tying materials craze, I still think natural fibers are the best for the bulk of my fly tying. You can’t beat the way the natural materials pulse, flicker and taper in the water. To that end, I’d like to introduce you to The Thickness. If you checked out The Chubby Chaser, we used a lot of the same techniques and materials, but you fish these flies very differently.

The Chubby Chaser was designed to suspend over deep rockpiles and drive structure-hugging bass nuts. It’s light-weight and designed to cast on a 6-wt rod with a sinking line.

The Thickness is designed for the super shallows, where the big predatory fish lay up after ice-out, fished on a floating or intermediate line, with an 8-wt rod. You want this thing pulsing about 2-4 inches under the surface of the water.

I would also add that this isn’t a fly for a trip to Canada where you’ll catch 100 snaky 24-inch pike in a day. Unless you’re a masochist or really love spinning deer hair. If you’re going into that situation, lash a couple rabbit strips to any wide-gap hook and knock yourself out.

The Thickness is for those waters where you need confidence to keep casting, where you need something to stand out. That wag, 50% slop, 50% sass… It should look like the fly version Kim Kardashian going blonde.

If you tried to stuff these with synthetics, it would look like this:

There’s something amazing about the bouncing, floating, wobble of a stuffed fly with a deer hair head. This is a Sir-Mix-A-Lot approved fly pattern.

Those Daiichi hooks are the bomb. Literally, the best big predator hooks I’ve ever used. Note the Icelandic Sheep Hair is tied in reverse.

The Thickness
Hook: Daiichi Long Shank 2461 Size 2/0
Thread: UniThread 6/0 white
Tail: White bucktail
Flash: Micro Opal Mirage Flashabou
Body: UV Polar Chenille, pearl
Body: Icelandic Sheep Hair
Collar: Extra-Select Marabou
Head: Deer belly hair

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies | 6 Comments

8 Great Fly Tying Tools on my Bench – March 2015

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Pictured left to right: Dr Slick 4″ Razor Scissors; HMH Tube Fly Adaptor; CF Designs Hackle Plier; Nor Vise Automatic Bobbin; Petetijean Long Loop Trim Scissors; Stonfo Elite Rotodubbing Twister; Pro Sportfisher Flexineedle; Dr Slick Stainless Steel Whip Finisher.

I take my tying tools for granted, so long as they perform well, but occasionally I’ll reflect on what has and has not worked well and share my thoughts. The simple assortment of tools above includes a few that I have only discovered in the last six months, and they have become favorites, and all of these merit your consideration, and my brief discussion may also serve to stimulate your own reflection on the performance of your fly tying tools.

Dr Slick 4″ Razor Scissors. Been using these for close to a decade, and they remain my favorite, although I have tried many other scissors from time to time. These are adjustable with the thumb nut, the points are fine and sharp clear to the tip, and they can be sharpened. the 5″ model are too long for my tastes but might fit other tiers.

HMH Tube fly Adaptor. I use this baby to hold some of my tube mandrels but more often use it to secure my OPST Intruder Shanks, because it holds the shank just like it holds a tube mandrel.

C & F Rotary Hackle Pliers: Spendy compared to many hackle pliers but these are the BEST I have ever used. EVER. I’m generally ambivalent about hackle pliers and have used dozens of models over the year. These are amazing and I’ve used them for small soft hackles and fat Marabou quill stems with infallible success.

Nor Vise Automatic Bobbin: Been tying flies for more than fifty years now, and used this spring loaded clutch bobbin for over a decade. My friend Lou V. talked me into trying one, and after a week of practice, iILOVE these bobbins. Norm uses these even on his size #24 flies, but I prefer to stick in the #16 and larger hook size range with these bobbins. So I keep my standard bobbins around for occasional use, but seriously, these bobbins are so good that you are missing out if you fail to give one an honest try.

Petitjean Long Loop Trim Scissors: Perfection. Specialization. If you spin fox or possum in dubbing loops you deserve to have these scissors, and they are better than any other scissor i have tried for trimming any dubbing that is loosely clamped into a loop before spinning. Not for general purpose use, but when you want to make straight cuts with precision and absolute perfection, these scissors are unbeatable. Every time I use mine I appreciate how sharp and well designed they are – just one more example of “Sir Petitjean’s” ingenuity and expertise.

Stonfo Elite Rotodubbing Twister. Another case of discovering a new version of a tool I’ve used for years without thinking but all of a sudden – POW – here comes a new to me tool that performs so well that I’m like – whoa dude, this is amazing! In short, I love this dubbing tool. The way it works, by holding the handle tight and then spinning the rotational “thingy” with your other hand gives one better control, or at least it seems so to me. And when the dubbing is spun nice and tight, you can tilt the head of the Twister to an angle so that winding around the shank or tube can be accomplished more precisely. I was neutral when I picked up this tool and began using it. Now it my number one dubbing twister tool.

Pro Sportfisher (large) Flexineedle. This is so simple that I take it for granted too often. The Flexineedle is easily secured in most vise heads, and sometimes i even insert it into my HMH Tube fly Adaptor. The Flexineedle holds the Pro Sportfisher 40/40 tube, the Nanotube, and Microtube. The Flexineedle also holds the HMH small Poly Tubes.

Dr Slick Stainless Steel Whip Finisher. This is a surprise to me, because I tie my whip finisher by hand instead of using a tool Here’s the deal – I use this as a dubbing pick. Saw Scott Howell doing it not long ago and decided to try it. the fine curved point of this tool and the way it nests in my hand have combined to make this my favorite dubbing picker tool. You may have your other bodkins and picks at hand like I do, but I find myself reaching for this tool to fuzz up my dubbing every time. Give this a chance and see what you think.

That’s it for now, hope these ideas stimulate your own quest for the best tools that suit your individual tying style.

Jay Nicholas, March 2015

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review, Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies | Leave a comment

New lingcod flies in March 2015

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Yes, with several great days out in the ocean offshore Pacific City already in 2015, i’ve been refining my lingcod flies and having very good response from the big fish – Whoo-hoo!

My shift from my most favorite Clousers that general feature white, chartreuse, and Bleeding Mackerel Steve Farrar’s Blend for the wing to a different color theme began with my friend John Harrell mentioning that he was having better catch rates on brown Twister Tail Jigs than on white.

First, I tied my big clousers with brown theme (belly = Camo Steve Farrar’s Blend; Back: Bronze Back Steve Farrar’s blend. These flies are about 7 inches long and were well received by big kings in 40 – over 90 ft of water.

Never satisfied, I noticed that the lingcod often puked up suid or little octopus (octopi?). These were fatter than small fish and I wanted a bolder profile than I could a achieve with a Clouser. My work in recent months on Intruder style flies gave me good opportunity to work with the new EP Sommerlatte’s and Chromatic brushes, and these seemed perfect to thicken the front end of my new octopus/squid flies.

The colors I have found most useful and best received by the lings to date are as follows —

EP Sommerlatte’s UV 3.0 inch brushes: White/red; Tan/chartreuse; Rootbeer/Chartreuse.

EP Chromatic 3.0 inch Copper Candy; Flame.

Jay Nicholas Lingcod octopus fly, about 5 inch.

Jay Nicholas five lingcod Octopus flies.

Jay Nicholas comparison of 5 inch octopus fly versus 7 inch Clouser.

Jay Nicholas – nice lingcod dory fly box.

I will do more fly and line experimenting as the season evolves, but I wanted to share these new and super effective fly patterns now.

More to follow, but for now, have fun and you may book a charter with pacific City fly Fishing if you are so inclined.

To tie the octopus fly, I start with a Gamakatsu SL 15 3/0 hook, XL plated dumbbell eyes, and just lash the Farrar’s Blend material on the hook in the rear of the shank. Then I wind on one color of the EP Brush behind the eyes and two colors ahead of the eyes to provide contrast. These flies have been great producers and I’m still trying to figure out the color scheme philosophy but at times they have produced better than the slim Clouser profile flies.

Jay Nicholas, March 2015.

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies, Oregon Saltwater Fishing | 9 Comments

Fishing Plier Review – March 2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Fishing Pliers are part of my all day every day gear that have become second nature to carry, whether I’m on a lake fishing for hatchery trout, on a river swinging flies for steelhead, or out in a friend’s dory boat fishing the Pacific ocean.

Shown left to right above and below are images of my Hatch, Dr. Slick Typhoon, and Steeamworks Night Hawk fishing pliers.

Left to right – Hatch, Dr. Slick Typhoon, and Streamworks Night Hawk fishing pliers.

First thing you should know is price.

Hatch Nomad Pliers: $280

Dr Slick Typhoon: $59.95

Stream Works Night Hawk: $59.95

Simms Plier: 159.95 (Not pictured.)

I have used all but the Simms over the course of the last year. The Typhoon are the newest Dr. Slick Plier and I have only used it a month or so.

Here is the thing about fishing pliers. You get what you pay for, they all work reasonably well, and the only bad fishing pliers are the set you leave at home in your rush to get on the water (or the pliers you drop overboard in a thousand feet of water).

I have fished all of my pliers hard, I do not clean them after use, and they take a real beating.

My well used Stream Works Night Hawk Pliers

My stream works pliers are still covered with dry blood from Albacore caught offshore last September. There is corrosion that would have been avoided if I had but rinsed the pliers after each saltwater use. That said, the Night Hawk Plers work very well, they have the longest reach (handy at times) and have been entirely satisfactory. I do wish the handles did not stick up quite as high in the holster, but it works none the less. If you fish at night the LED light in these pliers are a huge help. The batteries are replaceable, and this unusual feature does come in handy at times.

Dr Slick Typhoon Plier for fishing application

My Typhoon Pliers are the latest Heavy Duty fishing Pliers offered by Dr. Slick, they are stout, the cutters are on the side of the plier, making them easy to see to use, and the set comes complete with spare jaw liner and cutters, a very nice feature. The nose of these pliers is a little shorter so if you need a long reach, these might not be your best choice. Otherwise, they are sturdy, function well, fit well in the sheath, and are an overall great value in a good fishing plier.

The Simms Plier is one I have not used yet, but priced between the 60 buck and 280 buck price points, this 160 buck plier carries the SIMMS reputation and feels good in hand. I’m likely to get a set of these for use at sea in 2015, but I have every confidence that this is very good fishing plier, because SIMMS never compromises on quality.

Hatch Nomad Fishing Plier

My Hatch pliers are spendy but are hands down my favorite. This probably just proves that I’ve been brainwashed by the Fly Fishing Military Industrial Complex, but everything about these pliers (from the holster, the lanyard, the clip attaching the lanyard, the fit of the holster on my SIMMS wading belt, the heft of the plier, the cutters, the mid-length of the nose, and the materials add up to a superior (duh) product.

If you are a gear nut like me and can afford it, I recommend the Hatch fishing Plier.

For normal people, the Stream Works and Dr. Slick pliers are very good tools that will give good service – and once you get your first set of fishing pliers you will begin to develop your own biases and opinions about these must have tools.

The SIMMS Plier is nestled in the middle between high and low end fishing pliers. Consider these as a mid-range option that merits a serious look, as I will be doing in 2015.

Jay Nicholas, March 2015, and I’d be pleased to answer specific questions about any of these fishing pliers.

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review | 3 Comments

Jigged Nymphs: field trial and approval

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Just a quick few thoughts on a series of mostly barbless jigged nymphs currently available at the Caddis fly shop.

Many of you blog readers know that I am fond of fishing a small coastal lake near our family cabin in Pacific city, and I have mentioned on numerous occasions that hatchery trout will often respond well to bead head nymphs under the smallest possible strike Indicator.

I was in the Shop a week ago and noticed a new variety (to me) of very nice looking bead head nymphs tied on mostly barbless jig hooks. These looked really good to me and I purchased several flies in several forms and took them to the water.

This is a sample of the flies I tested on two days this past week. All produced, but the smaller darker flies produced the best for me.

Bottom line: these flies work well and are easy on the trout too.

I fished these on RIO Fluorocarbon 5x and 6x tippets of about 4-6 ft below my smallest size thingmabobber. Larger indicators work too but these trout are not large yet (8-10″) and are capable of taking and spitting a fly so quickly that it is difficult to detect the strike,, so the smaller and more sensitive the indicator is the more effective it will be. 6 ft is for the sunny hours of the day, 3-4 ft is for when the shade is on the water.

The patterns I found most useful were as follows:

As far as size goes, I would emphasize # 12s and #14s but also carry larger sizes just in case.

Will these jigged nymphs work well in the Mckenzie and other rivers? I bet they will. Many of the fish are hooked in the upper portion of the jaw and were easy to release, the hooks are sharp and the trout loved to chew my offerings.

Final thoughts. fine leaders do increase the number of takes you will get on any fly. These hatchery fish tend to be fairly forgiving for the first few days after they are stocked, but become increasingly more selective and quirk as the days roll on.

Is this a gimmick? I think not. These are well tied effective flies that fish very well under a strike indicator. Give ’em a try and see what you think.

Jay Nicholas March 21, 2015

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review, Oregon Weekend Fishing Forecast, Proven Spring Fly Patterns | 2 Comments