Packable and visible in Fury Orange the Simms Fall Run Jacket is a great insulation piece for those cool and sometimes windy Spring fishing days. Get it now while they last for only $119, regularly $179. Online here, or give us a call at 541 342 7005.
Yes it is mid March, and time when steelhead season often winds down. This year however some rivers are seeing more winter steelhead than they did earlier, so for those folks who still have the energy, there are indeed fish around to show a fly. Or whatever you want to show ’em. Whatever that means.
I had the opportunity to fish a little last few days and found a few fish. Photos attached, and please, no comments from wise persons who notice that this is only one fish photographed from seventeen different angles. It may be the case, but let’s be polite, and pretend that I might have caught more than one even if I didn’t. Thank you so very much.
JN
Prince and Marjorie Helfrich on the McKenzie Pass circa 1930
McKenzie Memories
Friday, April 4th, 2014 from 6-8:30 pm
At Cozmic – 199 West 8th Ave in Eugene
Tickets: $10 – a fundraiser for the McKenzie River Trust
Join the McKenzie River Trust for another unforgettable paddle down memory lane with storytelling, music, rare historic films and photographs. The evening will kick off with live acoustic music. Then Dave Helfrich will share early family stories as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Helfrich family up the McKenzie. Also, learn about the evolution of the McKenzie Wooden Drift Boat with historian and author Roger Fletcher, and hear River Stories presented by the University of Oregon Environmental Leadership Program. Randy Dersham will be our guide for the evening. This event has sold out two years running, so buy your tickets today!
Live Auction
This year at McKenzie Memories, a very special adventure awaits one lucky person.
We will be offering a brief live auction including a memorable afternoon floating down the great McKenzie River with Dave Helfrich at the oars. Dave will share his personal memories and stories of his family’s 100 year history on the river along the way. Lunch will be provided riverside. Dave Helfrich generously donated his time on the river for this unique experience to help raise money for the McKenzie River Trust’s work to protect the lands and rivers in western Oregon. So come ready to bid for this memorable experience!
Buy Tickets Now
If you share our love of Oregon’s wild McKenzie River and its remarkable history, this evening of storytelling and films is not to be missed. If you wish to buy your ticket, click here!
Kickoff the April Matching Gift Challenge
McKenzie Memories kicks off a month-long Matching Gift Challenge offered by our friends at Mountain Rose Herbs. From April 1st through 30th, every dollar donated to the McKenzie River Trust will be matched dollar for dollar up to $5,000 by Mountain Rose Herbs! Your donation will help protect and care for special lands and the rivers that flow through them in western Oregon.
And if you donate $100 or more from April 1st to 30th, you’ll receive our new ceramic mug.
To donate online, click here.
For more information about McKenzie Memories contact Brandi Ferguson, Development Manager at 541-345-2799 or brandi@mckenzieriver.org
Photo credits to Roger Fletcher & Randy Dersham.
LV
Complete with Fish Pimp slogan “Every Nymph Needs a Pimp” the Fish Pimp Hoodie is on sale now for only $29.95. Check it out online or give us a call at the shop. 541 342 7005
Thank you SIMMS, for finally delivering the goods. I’ve been wearing my old set of Simms Bootfoots for the last 4 years, and Eric Nufeld (dear friend and SIMMS rep) was getting a little tired of hearing my annual pestering about bringing back these waders for us mostly boat-oriented anglers.
Be patient Jay, he’d say, you’ll get your new Bootfoots soon enough, but you won’t get ’em until Simms is sure they will knock the ball out of the park in terms of upgrading from their old model. And how are your old boots doing anyway, he’d ask, smiling, to which I’d reply – still going strong, just a little seepage in the foot, nothing to complain about really, to which he’s smile again, and tell me that was one of the things Simms wanted to address before bringing the latest-greatest Bootfoots to market.
OK, got it Eric, I’d say.
The product development people at SIMMS were being really perfectionist about developing these waders. Eric explained that the process of building World-Class Boot foot waders wasn’t as simple as I wanted to believe, and that the wait would be worth it.
Well, the wait was indeed worthwhile. Head-and-shoulders better than my last Boot Foot waders, the new SIMMS G3s are by far the best I have ever worn. Ever.
First, allow me to explain my preference for bootfoot waders versus stockingfoots. Simple: a) 99% of my fishing these days is out of a boat, b) entry and exit time wearing bootfoots is super fast and comfortable, and c) bootfoots represent the most simple and comfortable wader option when I fish dawn to dark – day upon day, week upon week, season’s start to season’s end.
I finally got my new G3 bootfoots and I’ll run down some of the key features. Be advised, I am a loyal SIMMS wearer, based on decades of practical experience; honestly, I expected these waders to be good, and that expectation could have biased my reaction, but when I slipped into these beauties, I found they were better by far than my last set, I took a close look at ’em, and here is why I believe they are a truly superior Bootfoot wader.
The Boots. These Bogs Boots are far more solid and substantial than any Wader Bootfoot I have ever worn before. The foot bed is solid and there is serious ankle support, again, far better then any I’ve experienced previously.
The soles. I selected the lug soles, the SIMMS Streamtread, to wear in the boat when I’m fishing the estuary. No need for felt here where mud or sand is the rule if I get out of the boat. I also got felt soles for the times I am fishing upriver and want to get out and wade the gravel bars and sandstone in nearby coastal rivers. Frankly, these two sole options are very nearly as firm and supportive (I think) as on the best wading boots one would wear over stocking foots. True, you don’t have the lace-up stability of the boots, but these Bogs Boots are a different breed of solid than I have ever worn before and I like them.
Note: you can add screw-in cleats to the StreamTread soles if you wish. I prefer not to have cleats in the boat when I’m fishing the estuary (I always stand on my fly lines), and my Dory friends don’t want my wearing cleats in their glass or wood-decked Dories either. But for many people, the non-felt, StreamTread sole with screw-in studs might be a great option.
The wader fabric. Oh yes my wait was well rewarded. These 2014 SIMMS Bootfoot waders have the Gore-Tex Pro Shell material previously reserved for the G4 series; a material 25% more breathable than previous generations of wader material, with 5 layer in the lower leg and 3 layer in the upper wader.
Leg Seams. SIMMS leg seams are front and rear of the leg, a design selected to prevent seam snagging when legs rub together – this is not an issue for me standing in the boat hour upon hour, but for anglers who are hiking miles each day, the no-inseam seam-design is a major advantage.
Neoprene inside boots. 6mm Neoprene is both comfortable and warm and that can make a huge difference in cold weather wading.
Suspenders. Substantial, sturdy, easy to adjust 1.5 inch elastic. The clips allow one to convert the chest wader into a pant, which I find a great option on balmy days out in the bay and in the nearshore Pacific on sunny afternoons.
Other features. Belt loops. 2 inch stretch nylon wader belt. Reach through hand warmer zippered chest pocket. Inside pocket that is removable, to handle tippets including Maxima sized spools, and other slim items.
If you travel by air: Bootfoots will pack with less mess and moisture, in my opinion, than soggy wading boots that plus Stockingfoot waders.
Entry and exit time. Some people may relish the process of squirming into Stockingfoot waders and lacing up boots. I do not. Yesterday I slipped into my Bootfoots in something like fifteen seconds, including the time to clip on my belt and Stream Works pliers. No, I did not actually time it. I’m guessing at how long it took, but honest to goodness it is fast and clean to get in and out of those boots.
Who might consider these Bootfoot Waders? Tons of us PNW salmon and steelhead anglers fish from boats. These waders make far more sense than Stockingfoot waders. Lug StreamTread boots, with or without cleats, or felts are absolutely fantastic boat waders and allow us to be ready to exit the boat to land fish, to wade fish, and when launching and loading our boats at ramps. Duck Hunters ought to love these boots too. Remember the easy-in and easy-out feature, and the no-soggy dripping boots on the trip home.
Who might NOT want the Bootfoots? Hummmmmm. Not absolutely sure, but I think that if your style is putting on miles hiking each day, up and down trails and over boulder fields, in that case, the Stockingfoot with separate wading boots might be more comfortable and secure on very uneven terrain.
My daily routine usually involves getting into my Bootfoots in the dark, driving to where I will fish, fishing till dark, and sometimes driving back to the cabin in the dark. I hang up my waders overnight and then slip back in the next morning. I only have a month into my new SIMMS Bootfoots this season, but I know how my old waders performed, and I can tell you that these are an absolutely fantastic upgrade over waders that I already loved.
Jay Nicholas, March 2014
Time to do some serious thinking about trouting in any of the multitude of Oregon coastal lakes. Sure, steelhead are still nosing into our rivers, but for many people with a love of stillwaters fly fishing, these can be really interesting times. Wild cutthroat are present in many of these lakes, and there is a pretty solid hatchery stocking program ramping up in many of these lakes as well. The stocking schedules are found at the ODFW link shown below.
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing/trout_stocking_schedules/
Trout can range from 8 inches up to several pounds in size. These fish can be easy to catch one day and frustratingly difficult to entice the next day, or even from hour to hour.
Flies to consider (hint: we have a great selection at the shop and a quick call will allow us to develop an effective assortment if this is a new venture for you) include:
1. Bead head Hare’s Ear in natural, black and olive – sizes 12-16.
2. Chironomids, mostly in 12-14 in black, red, brown. Some of these should be very lightly weighted or not weighted at all.
3. The Carey Nymph in size 8 – 10.
4. Any bugger style of fly in olive or black sizes 8 – 14.
5. Damsel nymphs.
6. Pheasant Tail Nymphs, sizes 12-18.
7. Any streamer style fly like the spruce, royal coachman, and the like.
8. Dry flies will come into play on warm still afternoons too, and these can be little or big flies in sizes 8 – 16.
On Technique: streamers should be fished with a little action, either a twitch or a steady slow retrieve. Nymphs may be trolled behind float tube or boat, cast and stripped back in, or suspended below a very small strike indicator.
I have had some very enjoyable and challenging fishing for trout in coastal lakes from this week through the middle of April, when my attention drifts off to Spring Chinook.
Many of the coastal lakes offer relative solitude and an opportunity to hone casting and fishing skills for beginner and expert alike. If you go, may you have a blast of a good time.
If you do not have a boat or belly boat yourself and would like to participate in this entertaining fishery, Jack and John Harrell offer guided trout trips near Pacific City and would be able to provide a very enjoyable family day on one of the nearby lakes for a half day, easy going fly fishing.
Jack can be reached at 541 921 1276, if he isn’t out on the water.
JN March 2014
Within a few more days it will be official, spring will arrive! Not that some of us will give up chasing chrome native steelhead, in a few more days, but the official pursuit of those beautiful native Redsides will commence! With the thoughts of dropping river levels during those wet/snowy wonderful (?) winter days, I was busy tying up my favorite pattern, the Comparadun. I use a variety of materials and colors for the body from super fine dubbing to goose or turkey quill bodies. The wing is usually deer hair or bleached elk hair. I use moose hair for the tail to provide extra flotation. I use Alec Jackson’s North-Country Trout Fly Hooks Size 9.
I got the word from the guys at HareLine there might be a something else I should consider; Synthetic Quill Body Wrap. Using natural quills for fly bodies is sometimes not the easiest process. The synthetic body material gives you much more in length to handle and it looks like the real quill body.
As with any quill body you have to coat it with a thin layer to prevent the dentures of those wild Redsides and Cutthroats from tearing it to shreds! I have found a thin layer of Clear Cure Goo Hydro gives you a tough coating for a mighty fine looking fly. I look forward to complaining how my fly gets torn up because too many fish chose to pursue it.
The Quill Body Wrap comes in a good variety of colors and let’s not forget: red Synthetic Quill Body Wrap is a good bet for Choronomids! The ice off is coming…? Ok, maybe in weeks verses days? Get out there and enjoy the coming spring!
LV
Today’s smoking deal on over-stocked items from The Caddis Fly is the Umpqua Deadline Duffel.
The Deadline Wet Dry Duffel can be worn as a pack or carried as a duffel. It has a completely waterproof compartment to keep wet gear away from dry gear so it’s ideal for wading equipment. It has plenty of room for lunch, extra reels/spools, boots, dry shoes and clothing. You can use the Deadline as luggage on a trip or storage at home or in your vehicle. The Deadline Duffel is extremely versatile. While they last we are offering them at 30% of the normal $159.95, making the sale price a screaming deal at $112.00.
Call the shop now to get one or two. (541) 342-7005
Spending Nov-April in one area on New Zealand’s South Island has given me new insights to the seasons. Cedar Lodge is located very near the southwestern divide of the South Island, and we get all kinds of weather at all times of the year. It would seem that more snow fell in February (mid-summer) than it did in November (spring) this year on the peaks near the lodge.
Like the Fall season on the 45th parallel North in Oregon, Fall is quickly becoming my favorite time of year on the Southern hemisphere’s 45th. Here are a few photos from a couple of amazing days on New Zealand’s west coast.
I was fortunate enough to get invited to head out on the ocean with a couple of local pals. It was fantastic to sea the rugged beauty of the South Island from the sea. We found a few fish as well. Fishing with 20 ounces of lead at 1000 feet (seriously 330 meters ) is the antithesis of stalking trout and presenting dry flies but it was a blast!
Blue Nose and Crayfish! Sweet Tucker!
CD
The Bluebacks are almost one year old. This video highlights the events and conservation work put on by the chapter.
Trout Unlimited Chapter #196 – The Bluebacks from Cascadia Fly Shop on Vimeo.
Check them out at bluebacks.org or email bluebacksTU@gmail.com for information or volunteer opportunities.
Their monthly meeting takes place at 7:00 PM on the third Wednesday of every month at Sky High Brewery in downtown Corvallis, Oregon.
Sky High Brewing and Pub
160 NW Jackson Ave
Corvallis, OR 97330
With the boss away for the Winter, and a very strange year for weather, the shop has become over loaded in some product categories. We have been instructed to address some of these overages and that means great deals for our customers. Starting today we will post at least two products a week at greatly reduced prices(30% off minimum). These deals will be available on a “call the shop” basis and have limited availability.
We start with a sweet deal on a super warm “puffy” jacket. The Strata Quilted Jacket is perfect for any cold morning or as an under your rain jacket layer to protect you from wind and cold. The Strata has a Thermatex 500 fill, light in weight and very very warm. It’s a sweet deal at only $44.95. For this price you can get everyone in the family one!
Give us a call and we will hold or ship you one right away!
541-342-7005
This is a big, juicy Bucktail style fly tied on a Tube – a fly intended to stimulate a juicy Herring and induce a savage grab from a Coho in the 15 to 20 pound class. Ha ha. We can all dream, right?
This Tube Bucktail incorporates natural colors with modest flash In contrast to some of the shockingly hot PINK Bucktails that we Salmon Bucktailers often fish in saltwater. The fly catches silvers and Albacore, so you can feel utmost confidence when you tie it on and hang it in your prop-wash.
Jay Nicholas
Coho Herring Bucktail Tube Fly
Overall Length = 4” – 5”
Tube: Pro Sportfisher Nano Tube Clear
Hook Guide: Pro Sportfisher XL Clear
Hook: #2/0 Gamakatsu SL 12 Big Game
Thread: Fine mono
Body: Pearl Diamond Flat Braid
Lateral Line: Lateral Flash
Under Wing Flash: Cascade Crest Light Blue Pearlescent Mylar Tubing unraveled
Under Wing: Fishient Flash N Slinky – White
Mid Wing: Steve Farrar’s Blend Dark Green
Upper Wing: Steve Farrar’s Blend Herring Back
Topping: Peacock Krystal Flash
Throat: Fishient Gliss N Glow Pink
Eyes: 5/16 Adhesive Holographic Eyes Super Pearl
Cure Goo: Hydro and Tack Free
We have been introducing anglers to basic fly fishing skills for almost 35 years now. Leveraging the teachings of Lefty Kreh, and inspired by the original casting classes held by Les Eichorn, Bob Guard and Mel Krieger this 6 hour class will have interested anglers on their way to basic fly casting mastery. Basic tackle discussions, basic trout entomology, casting, knots and fly presentation will be covered. All equipment is included and and we maintain a one instructor to 5 student ratio. Four hours of the course will be on water casting. Cost is $55, all equipment is provided, sign up at the shop or call 541-342-7005 to sign up.
Schedule for 2014
March 21, 22
April 25,26
May 21,22,23
June 18,19,20
July 23,24,25
August 20,21,22
September 19,20
October 10,11
LV
Today we bring back our early season special on guided trips for the 2014 season. For the month March we will be running our early season trout fishing guided trips for $275. Give us a call to discuss conditions as weather and water conditions are important considerations this time of year.
Here is how a typical day looks this time of year with the early season special: Two anglers in a boat, guide provides gear including all tackle and flies. Guests provide their own food and beverage. Fishing is usually on the lower McKenzie via Drift Boat. The day is from about 10am to about 4pm.
Our early season special is a great opportunity to hone your nymphing skills with our experienced guide staff. As things warm a bit hatches of Blue Winged Olives, Skwala Stoneflies, Winter Stones and March Browns will bring fish closer to the surface.
To book call 541-342-7005.
We have had a chance to put some serious miles on two new boot models this season at Cedar Lodge. The Patagonia Ultralight Wading shoe and the Simms Vapor boot offer anglers a lighter option when lengthy walks and hikes are part of the angling day.
Patagonia Ultralight Wading Shoe
The Ultralight Boot is very light, under 3.5lbs for the pair. The sole of the Patagonia is sticky for sure allowing it to grab river rocks and the trail really well. We have enjoyed the flexible nature of the upper ankle support with the Patagonia. It’s very comfortable and gives when you kneel down or run. Our pilot/guide Dion Matheson parks the helicopter and fishes upstream all day only to run back to the chopper and begin shuttling guests. He has worn both boots this season and the Patagonia’s more flexible upper suits his running program better than the stiffer Simms Vapor Boot.
The Patagonia Boot’s sole has worn more quickly than the Simms Vapor Boot. It’s softer, sticky sole wears down faster and it’s cleats loser their definition faster than the Simms Vibram sole. We are talking 50 or 60 days of use for this comparison.
Simms Vapor Boot
Simms new VaporTread Vibram 4.0 is much harder than the Patagonia and has held up better in terms of visible sole wear. The Vapor Boot is also very light, again under 4lbs for the pair. If you like Simms Boots but want a much lighter boot the Vapor is great. The neoprene lined upper is comfortable and aids in getting in and out of the boot. The structured fit of the Vapor boot is comfortable and gives good support.
The rigidity I spoke of as a pro can be a con in terms of comfort when running or kneeling down. The foot bed that is very tough is also a bit stiff in comparison, again this could be seen as a positive. The stitched transition between the synthetic leather and nylon fabric on the boot has been a problem on a couple of the boots we have worn with only a couple of weeks on them.
Conclusion
Both the Simms Vapor and the Patagonia Ultralight are fine light weight wading boots with “grippy” soles. Which one grips better? New Zealand may not be as good a test as the Pacific Northwest but I have to say out of the box the Patagonia Boot grips better and over the course of a couple of weeks the harder Vibram sole of the Simms Vapor begins to shine and grip at least as good as the softer Patagonia sole.
Both boots eat laces, maybe we just need better ones? If you are in need of a new pair of boots have a look at both, they are excellent wading boots for any type of application.
CD
