Screening of the film, ‘DamNation’
Thursday, June 19 at Bijou Art Cinema (492 East 13th), 7 pm
Western Environmental Law Center and Save Our Wild Salmon with sponsorship from Mountain Rose Herbs is hosting a screening of the film ‘DamNation’ here in Eugene. It will be Thursday, June 19 at Bijou Art Cinema (492 East 13th) at 7:00pm. If you’re not familiar, it’s a film about the growing need and push for dam removal to restore wild fish runs and the ecosystems affected.
Summertime on the Fall
PMD hatches on the Metolius have been consistent and in good numbers over the past few weeks; however, we are starting to see some green drakes flying around below Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery. The Metolius Green Drake hatch presents a great opportunity to (actually!) catch fish on the Metolius. Drakes like cloudy, drizzly weather, so your best chances for fish on the surface will come on those sorts of days. Some of our favorite Green Drake dries in the shop are Quigley’s Film Critic and the Heavy Hackle Parachute Drake. Keep your eye on the forecast, and mark your calendars for the next overcast day. While the hatch is still in its preliminary stages, fishing Green Drake nymphs under an indicator can produce some awesome fishing. This beautiful brown ate a Hunchback green drake nymph below the hatchery.
Brownie ate the drake nymph
Early Summer fishing on the Fall River can be fantastic. This time of year, you can see hatches of caddis, various mayflies, and midges all in the same day. The three primary public access points are at the Falls, the fish hatchery, and the Fall River campground (moving upstream). Being ready for anything is the key to fishing the Fall, so make sure you have a good assortment of dry flies in your box before you head out there. Even though the fish can be picky at times, the parachute purple sparkle size 16 remains one of my favorite patterns to fish on the Fall. Also, don’t hesitate to throw a streamer in the deeper pools and around the logjams, as it is a great way to target the larger browns and ‘bows that hide down low.
Get out there and enjoy!
What If You Could Listen To Your Water Source?
On Saturday, June 7, 2014, “McKenzie River Stories,” an interactive multimedia exhibit will open at the Lane County Historical Museum in Eugene, OR. A family-friendly opening reception will take place from 4 – 6 p.m. The goal of the exhibit is to draw residents of the greater Eugene area into a closer relationship with their only water source, the McKenzie River, with the end goal of promoting stewardship of this unique and beautiful river.
The exhibit showcases the work of the River Stories team – a group of undergraduates participating in the Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon, working in collaboration with Randy Dersham of the McKenzie River Drift Boat Museum and Lane County Historical Museum. Since January 2013, the River Stories team has interviewed, documented, and learned from residents living, working, and recreating in the McKenzie River watershed. The exhibit features stories of the original McKenzie River drift boat builders, stories and audio clips from current residents, vivid river photographs and video footage, and a white water boat made by Woodie Hindman for Prince Helfrich.
The team describes the many voices featured in the exhibit as similar to “one of the many springs and streams that converge in the McKenzie River; before we can hear the ripples echo, we must first step in.” In the exhibit, the River Stories team encourages visitors to think about their own connection to the McKenzie and how to sustain a conversation with their water source. Guests are also invited to share their own river story. The exhibit will be up through December 2014.
Supporting the main exhibit, the team will also install “River Stories” around town at water fountains and other locations where people interact with the McKenzie. These posters feature photography and quotes about the river and further the team’s goal of promoting awareness, connection, and stewardship of the McKenzie River. To hear these stories and for more information: https://sites.google.com/site/mckenzieriverstories2014/.
In typical agency fashion, ODFW is hosting a weekday event wherein working folks need to try to take a day off to support their interest in protecting wild fish in the Coastal Management Plan. There is a place for written public comments listed below, but if you’ve ever been through one of these, the thing that actually matters is in-person appeals.
So why attend? Although it’s not included in the Coastal Management Plan, we expect a large vocal contingent to attend requesting the plan be amended to include harvest of wild Umpqua winter steelhead. Here is some info from North Umpqua guide Mark Stangeland’s blog:
Please attend if you can to support the current no-kill regulation. If you can’t attend, please send an email odfw.commission@state.or.us or letter to the Commission opposing any harvest of wild steelhead on the Umpqua River.
Your message can be very simple. You can also include any of the following issues to support your position, but it’s important to get the basic message across: No harvest of wild steelhead in the Umpqua Basin.
1. This is the last, best wild steelhead run in the United States, a world-famous fishery characterized by uniquely large fish as recognized in the CMP. Sound management requires caution with such a resource.
2. ODFW relies on their 2004 Biological Assessment to support harvest. Based on admittedly sketchy data, they estimate a run of 30,000 – 35,000 wild steelhead with over half coming from mainstem Umpqua River tributaries. Neither ODFW nor BLM can identify the tributaries with sufficient high quality rearing habitat to produce the half-million smolts needed for this estimated return (and it likely doesn’t exist).
3. Pending Federal legislation would transfer management of O&C lands currently administered by BLM to state control, under the provisions of Oregon’s Forest Practices Act. This will result in additional deterioration of fish habitat in mainstem Umpqua River tributaries
4. Climate change will have a disproportionately high impact on the upper Umpqua Basin for both flow levels and temperatures. As the only Cascade Mountains rivers in the CMP, the Umpqua headwaters depend on snowpack for summer flows, and snowpack is diminishing – note the recent news articles about record low snowpack in Crater Lake, the source for much of the North Umpqua summertime flows.
5. Given the budgetary problems ODFW is facing, they cannot identify the current state of wild steelhead or adequately monitor impacts from harvest combined with these other factors. This isn’t the time to increase pressure on the best wild run in the US.
Meeting info below:
COASTAL MULTI-SPECIES CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Commission Draft Coastal Multi-Species Conservation and Management Plan (CMP) was presented to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (OFWC) at its April 25, 2014 meeting in North Bend. Thank you to all who testified in that public hearing. The CMP and your input were favorably received by the OFWC.
The final draft CMP is being presented to the OFWC for approval on June 6, 2014 at ODFW Headquarters in Salem. Public testimony will again be heard as part of this agenda item, which we expect to be taken up most likely after 10:00 AM (please note that agenda items are subject to change and we cannot provide a time-certain). Details on this meeting can be found on the OFWC website. The final draft CMP and Executive Summary will also be posted by 5:00 PM on May 28 at: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CRP/coastal_multispecies.asp. In addition to testifying at the Commission meeting, written public comments can be submitted prior to the meeting to: ODFW.CoastalPlan@state.or.us, odfw.commission@state.or.us, or Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem, OR 97302.
The Middle Fork of the Willamette is flowing at ideal levels for trout and steelhead fishing.
With approx 810 cubic feet per second being released out of Hills Creek dam the Middle Fork near Oakridge is very “wadable” and “boatable”. Salt Creek, Salmon Creek and the North Fork of the Willamette have all settled in terms of run off and the river is in fine shape overall. Trout Fishing has been very good despite some bright and windy conditions of late. Best fly patterns include CDC Green McKenzie Caddis, Parachute Adams, Pale Morning Duns, Little Yellow Stonefly patterns and larger Golden Stone fly patterns. Look for mornings and evenings to produce best on the surface and then go deeper with Jigged Possie Buggers, Flashback Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns and smaller Stonefly Nymphs.
Steelhead numbers in the Willamette River are similar to what we had last year, approx 6600 fish over Willamette Falls at the end of May. While this number is half of the May 2012 count, water conditions on the Willamette are much better this year, allowing anglers to catch more fish to date. From Dexter Dam all the way into “The Town Run” water conditions are low and give boating and wading anglers a chance to give the water “full coverage”. Best flies for the Willamette are Moal Leeches, Reverse Marabou Leech, Versi Tube and Green Butt Silver Hilton.
Get out there and enjoy!
Blog reader and freelance photographer Joshua Rainey sent us a writeup of his recent Deschutes Salmon Fly Trip:
We floated Warm Springs to Trout Creek on Friday/Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. The fishing started off really good with a few fish to hand over 18”. By noon a pretty big storm rolled in and we were battling heavy winds and a strong rain. The fishing completely died during the rain. We set up camp during the storm and then tried to fish it out but only picked up one fish. We ended up waiting out the storm for a few hours and it eventually let up. After things cleared the fishing turned on. Big fish were looking up and we had a bunch of success on darker colored chubbies. Brought in plenty of fish that evening and had a ton of fun fishing dries. The next day was really slow but we didn’t mind so much after the great fishing on day 1. Picked up a few fish on a 16 red copper john and some chubbies. Not much surface activity all day long on Saturday and didn’t see nearly as many bugs on the grass in the lower section of that float. All in all a great trip on an awesome river!
Check out more of Josh’s salmonfly photos here.
The Stellaria Building
150 Shelton Mcmurphey Blvd., Eugene, OR 97401
Large community room
Monday June 2nd at 6PM, The McKenzie-Upper Willamette Chapter of Trout Unlimited will hold its monthly board meeting in the small community Room of the Stellaria Building, 150 Shelton Mcmurphey Blvd.,Eugene, OR 97401.
At 7PM, there will be a presentation entitled “Trout Unlimited in Oregon: Partnerships with the US Forest Service to preserve native trout habitat.” presented by Dean Finnerty, SW Oregon Organizer for TU. This meeting will be in the large community room of the Stellaria Building. The public is welcome to attend.
See you there!
Salmon biologist, conservationist and author Jim Lichatowich will be speaking in Eugene tonight, reading from his new book Salmon, People and Place.
Here is a great quote from Lichatowich in a recent interview:
By relying more and more on hatcheries we’re creating a charade of sorts where the river that can’t support a salmon becomes a stage prop where fishermen and fish play out their respective roles, reenacting something, an important part of our past, that now is sort of a hollow empty memory of it.
The event tonight is hosted by the Western Environmental Law Center at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene, 6pm. You can find more event details on Facebook.
Why not just do one Clouser Minnow and call it good? Because sometimes you can pick up different ideas, materials, color combinations and other inspiration. What you get with this pattern is Fishient Fish Scale and a subtle color pattern, something like a Pacific Sand Lance.
Subtle Saltwater Clouser Minnow w/ Fishient Fish Scale
Overall Length = 3.5”
Thread: 210 D Danville’s Green Chartreuse
Hook: #2 Mustad 3407
Lower Body: Fish Scale White
Upper body: FishScale Aquamarine over Olive
Eyes: Medium Plated Lead
Cure Goo: Hydro
If you are curious about how “Citizen Scientists” can make a difference and you would like to hear the latest on The McKenzie River Trout Study please attend the Wrap Up Meeting on June 10th from 6-7pm at Springfield City Hall (225 5th st.) in the Council Meeting Room near the Library.
Dave Thomas, Scott Kinney and Arlen Thomason will have the written reports and go over the results for the the 2013 sampling season. The meeting will also summarize the entire study as it has ended.
Arlen Thomason describes the studies success below.
We think that this study has been an important success, from several points of view. First, the results confirm that when a management regime is implemented that optimizes conditions for native wild fish on a river like the McKenzie, the wild fish population responds and the quality of the fishery improves. Second, it has demonstrated that concerned citizens, working together with government fish and wildlife professionals, can generate high quality results and have a big impact on fishery management. We have been told that the scale, persistence and caliber of this study’s effort has set a new standard for ODFW-sponsored citizen science across the state. You, the volunteers, made that happen. It is the results of your dedication that we will discuss on June 10.
Hope to see you there!
If you are unable to make the meeting the results will be posted to the study website: http://www.mckenzietroutstudy.org/
CD
Dogwoods, Alders, Ash, Cedars and many more trees are in full “bloom” along the sides of the gorgeous upper McKenzie River. I love the upper river as Spring moves to Summer. Every day is a bit different. Insect hatches, fish behavior and fishing vary day to day as the water drops and temperatures warm. What remains the same however is the incredibly vibrant green in the trees, and the gorgeous colors of the wild rainbow trout.
With binoculars in hand, we returned to Malheur Field Station to enjoy the feathered side of Mother Nature. Malheur Lake was full of birds and carp! It appears these fresh water bone fish have propagated to become so numerous they are everywhere to be seen.
The wild flowers were just starting to bloom and the skies were clear and the air was crisp as we set out each day.
Home of the Red Band Trout the Blitzen and Malheur Lake are being utilized for a study to help determine the impact of the Caspian Tern feeding on trout and other native fish.
You may recall a 2012 project was created to help move the Caspian Terns from the mouth of the Columbia to an island constructed on Malheur Lake. The Malheur Lake project is a collaborative effort between the Corps’ Portland District, the USFWS’s Region 1 and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The main focus of the project was to get the terns to eat the baby carp. The good news, the terns are eating the carp! The bad, the number of carp appear to be multiplying at greater rate than the terns can eat!
This trip the group recorded over 80 species of birds.
Our host for one day was Station Director, Duncan Evered. If you ever wished to learn about the birds of Malheur Lake and birds in general, Duncan is the guy!
No fishing this trip but certainly a great time in Eastern Oregon. The Malheur Field Station is a great place to stay if your fishing in the area. The accommodations are clean and the rates are very reasonable. Yes, its a long drive to get there and maybe that is a good thing?
LV
Dear Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Jeff Ziller:
I am writing today to thank you very much for your participation in the McKenzie River Trout Study. Your efforts along with volunteer anglers have improved a section of river immensely in just four seasons. The McKenzie River from Hendricks Park to Belinger Boat landing has been the site of the study. Four years ago that section of river was a sliver of what it is today. Fish populations and fish size have improved mightily!
Thanks Very Much ODFW and Jeff Ziller!
What caused this improvement in fishing and fish population in the section of river? Two key management policies that were implemented by our local biologist Jeff Ziller. The removal of stocked trout in the section and the elimination of bait fishing. How do we know the management has been successful? There is a breadth of evidence on the McKenzie River Trout Study website and I have seen the 2013 data (soon to be released). The data is convincing and the angling in this section is now some of the best on the lower McKenzie.
Here is a preliminary statement from Dave Thomas one of the key data analysts on the population study.
Recalling that there haven’t been any previous longitudinal studies of wild trout population numbers in response to removal of hatchery trout competitors; at least we can’t find anything like this in the published literature. So given that caveat, I was pleased and a little surprised and pleased that our estimates of the population in the study section showed a >50% increase in 4 years. Generally, population estimates in moving waters are pretty imprecise but an increase of this size, and particularly where the increases were persistent over 4 years is unlikely to be caused by sampling error. The next question is what does this mean for anglers? We’ve looked at this very closely and found that the catch per trip or per hour of angling on the study section has about doubled (e.g. increased a 100%). If there are a lot more fish in the water this is what you might expect, but it’s gratifying to see that the fishing can improve this quickly. Finally, we asked the question of whether this “improvement of conditions” could be explained by the angling participants just getting better at extracting wild trout from the river rather than their being more trout to catch? To answer this question we segmented the results of anglers with substantial experience in fishing the study section and those with less. The results were that both groups showed increased productivity across the years, so we conclude that the study results can not be explained by increasing skill levels of the participating anglers.
More thanks go to Jeff and ODFW for new stocking protocol on The Middle Fork of the Willamette River above Hills Creek for the 2014 season. This year the MFW above Hills Creek will not be stocked. Instead hatchery fish will be stocked in Hills Creek Reservoir. Moving these fish to more accessible water for more anglers is a great move in my opinion. Additionally fishing will be restricted to flies and lures in the Middle Fork above Hills Creek. If you are in favor of the policies mentioned above it never hurts to let our local ODFW office know they are moving in the right direction.
Springfield Field Office
3150 E Main Street
Springfield, OR 97478-5800
Tel: 541-726-3515 Fax: 541-726-2505
CD
Paul and I left the lodge at 7am, the plan was to arrive at the pick up point by 9am. Dion and three guests would fly to the remote South Island West Coast River, if they left around 8:20, they would arrive at the river around 9am. Dion and the chopper would then come get Paul and I and drop us with the guests for the day.
In September of 2013 a huge slip at Diana Falls on State HWY 6 ( the only road from Wanaka area to the West Coast) caused night time road closures. The lost rod day occurs in February so the road is only open from 7am to about 6pm. The plan is to finish our fishing day around 5pm, and drive/race back to the lodge just as the gate shuts on HWY 6. The anglers would fly back to the lodge after we were dropped at the car.
After a fine day of fishing, Paul and I are the first load first out. We landed near the car and Paul yells over the whop-whop of the chopper blades, “grab a rod in case we get stuck on this side”. I grab the first available rod and reel in the heli-pod and walk to our vehicle. We take off wet boots and socks and hop in the car for the race to beat the gate closure at 6pm. Once we are through the gate we have another 50 minutes or so to the lodge.
We make it through and return in time for dinner at the lodge. It’s not our normal day at Cedar but it works out at times that a long drive saves fishing and flying time when we travel further a field.
The next morning Dick Matteri asks me for the rod he’d been fishing during his stay, the same one I had grabbed from the chopper. I say sure I will grab it out of the car. I go to look. No rod! I search the guide shack, no rod, I search the car again, no rod. After more frantic searching it begins to dawn on me that I have left it near the car where we were dropped off. In a hurry to make the road I left the Sage Z-Axis and Bauer Rogue Reel next to the bloody car! The next morning we phone a friend/pilot in the area of the lost rod and ask him to have a look. No such luck.
A couple of weeks go by and by absolute chance I glance at the comments on OregonFlyFishingBlog.com. On one of my New Zealand/Cedar Lodge fishing blog reports I see an interesting comment.
“Wanted to let you know I found a new Sage fly rod outfit on a remote West Coast river and that it has gone to a good new home”.
What? I rack my brain for clues on how this guy finds OregonFlyFishingblog.com and leaves a comment. Turns out the small elastic straps (Fishing Butlers) securing the four sections of the rod were logo’d with the Caddis Fly info and the guy must have “Googled” the shop and found the blog.
Now when folks leave a comment on the blog they also leave their email address. So I quickly write the guy and let him know I am just over the hill from him and suggest that I would be happy to give him a reward for the rod, A day or two more passes and we get a difficult to decipher voice mail one evening. In not so kind alcohol induced garble the message “why don’t you just come get the rod with our helicopter”. OK, fine we are open to whatever is needed to collect the rod. I reach out to him several more times with no results and finally get him on the phone nearly a month after I left the rod on the side of the road/river.
During our phone call it’s clear he is stalling and has no concern for his own “fishing Karma”. I’d like to think that most anglers would happily return found gear especially in such a remote location. During our phone call he weaves an elaborate story about how because I had left the rod it was no longer mine and that he had traded some friends the rod for saltwater casting gear. I offer a $100 reward; he suggests he has $400 in the trade with his pals. I now offer to let the police handle it, he offers to “take it out fishing and lose it”. Nice guy right?
I file a police report. The police dispatch agrees with me that the rod is now stolen. I am able to give them the phone number, email, address of the person in question. Weeks go by, I return home to Eugene and then get an email from a police officer letting me know she had located the rod and I needed to provide proof of ownership.
I scan the warranty card, photo of the rod, purchase receipt, and email it to the officer. A few days later I get an email letting me know the rod is now in the possession of the police and that they are happy to deliver it to the closest police station to me. Paul is in Albert Town so the Wanaka Station is nearest. I just spoke to Paul and he has picked the rod up. Two months removed from leaving it, the rod and reel are recovered.
A special thanks to Georgina from the Westport Police for sticking with it and recovering the rod.
