The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Book your Albacore Fly Fishing Adventure for August!

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Yes, you crazy adventurous fly fishers, one of the most exciting fly fishing opportunities within easy reach is open for booking – and will most assuredly knock your socks out of your waders. Or something like that.

Here is the background. Last summer I took a trip west of Oregon into the deep Blue to fly fish for Albacore. I fished with friends and we were testing the waters with fly rods and managed to catch a few AMAZING HOT Albies. Twenty something tuna landed and several broken off that eventful day, between the 3 of us.

The fishing experience and the power of the Albacore were AMAZING to say the least. The Ocean was as spectacular as the fish. I saw Mola Mola bigger than a Volkswagen Van, sharks, Porpoise and at one point, while fighting a nice tuna, a Whale surfaced so close to the Dory that I heard it exhale, ten yards from the Dory, right behind me.

Enter 2013 and I have decided to pursue these oceanic beasties with renewed gusto.

Jad Donaldson, of opportunityflyfishing.com has graciously agreed to reserve the dates of August 18 and 19 for me and five companions on each day.

Our trip will port out of Garibaldi, Oregon, a nice drive from The Willamette Valley.

Cost for each day is $450 per person, I will fish both days (it won’t be nearly enough, I’m sure) and I would love to have two-day companions as well as one-day adventurers join us on the trip.

You may think it’s early to book this trip, but life may be short and now is the best time to commit to a great fishing adventure. My job is to work with prospective clients and keep the communication flowing to our Guide-Captain-Skipper Jad. Even though Jad provides all tackle and gear (see below) I am messing with my own rods, reels, lines, and flies already.

Jad is going to handle all the financial arrangements and will reserve your seat. Foul weather and inability to fish would get any of your deposit refunded. Jad will have live bait onboard to chum Albies to the surface within casting distance. There is time to sort out lots of details, but for me, I am committed, full bore.

Please call the Caddis Fly (541 342 7005) to reserve your day(s) and call me at 541 224 3524 to talk about the trip.

Here are some words of guidance from Jad that I share with you.

Jad has most recently been working in Belize, where he is the fishing director at Turneffe Flats on Turneffe Atoll.

Jad says . . . . .

The Oregon tuna season is mainly made up of 2 different seasons and subsequently, styles of fishing.

Late June through early August: The fish are primarily feeding deeper than later on. Most of the fishing at this time of the season is done and trolling generally the most productive. I still carry live bait (when available) and try to live bait fish whenever possible. Sometimes it gets going, sometimes it does not.

Mid- August through late October: There is a definite switch away from the troll and on to live bait. Personally this is the time of year that I look forward to and what my boat is designed to excel in. It’s also the time of season that most of my fly anglers come to fish. We carry at least 10 scoops of live bait each day when guests step on the boat.

Jad doesn’t run a budget charter service – but for the dedicated fly angler, he will get you out fishing, into fish, and back to port safely and with more fishing time, than just about anyone else. His boat has a cruise of around 28 knots and top speed of around 40, which relates to a run of about an hour and 15 minutes under most conditions after leaving the harbor.

Jad guarantees all of the following items are onboard when you step on the boat in morning: Boat full of ice ( 1200+ lbs.); Snacks (sampler platter from Rick’s smokehouse in Warrenton, OR and chips, pretzels, etc); soda/water; boots; Gore-tex Bibs courtesy of Simms Fishing Products

Yes you may bring your own fly rods, reels, lines. I will. Kindly allow Jad and I to help guide you in the right direction. A nine wt rod might be fine for King Salmon, but an Albacore on this rod will hand you a drubbing and take away the opportunity to catch several more. I fished a 12 wt last year and it was about right. Lines and backing? Plenty of time to work out those details between now and August.

Care after the catch is very important and Jad runs a proper sluice tank. Because he understands care after the catch and provides a salted sluice tank as well as ice service. His fish hold carries 160 Albacore and they can be delivered for canning, loining, or vacuum packing on your behalf post-trip.

Jad expects you to step aboard with nothing but your own lunch. He doesn’t provide alcohol because his insurance company forbids it and the USCG frowns on the practice. So as far as Beer goes, BYOB please. As for lunch, there are just too many dietary instructions to keep up. Besides, you can count on Jad to be fine-tuning tackle and gear for the coming day’s fishing.

Jad’s boat is a 42′ Dorado Bluewater, accomodating 6 anglers, Jad as Captain and an experienced deckhand each day. His guide service meets or exceeds all requirements of the Oregon State Marine Board and/or US Coast Guard.

Boat features include: Triple 300hp Suzuki Engines (re-powered Sept. 2012); In cabin seating for all guests (nice when the weather gets a bit rough or rainy); 8 man Off-shore Life Raft; Epirb (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon); VHF radio and backup handheld VHF; Iridium Satellite Telephone; Furuno 24 mile NM Radar; Furuno Navnet w/ GPS, chart plotter, temp sensor; Airmar 1000w Transducer; 40 gallon built in livewell; 240 gallon main livewell on the “dance floor”; 2 ton fishhold; Standard Head; Hot and Cold Freshwater Shower; Heat and Air Conditioned Cabin; Secondary/Backup GPS system; USCG Life jackets with strobes.

Departure times are based on tide and bar conditions. US Coast Guard limits the Skipper to a 12 hr. day, port to port.

The plan is that Jad and I touch base on the phone in the window of 48-72 hours prior to scheduled departure. At that time, the call is made whether the trip is a “go” or not. If weather doesn’t cooperate, we will cancel and Jad will refund your deposit. Your credit card will be charged if you’re a no-show unless we fill the seat with an alternate client.

Jad can provide references or put you in touch with past guests upon request.

Direct contact is: Captain Jad Donaldson

www.opportunityflyfishing.com

503-799-1498

skype: Jad_Donaldson

Oregon State Marine Board Licensed Fishing Guide and Ocean Charter, USCG Licensed 50t Master

OK – lets go tuna fishing!

This will be an experience beyond price — a fly fishing specialist’s services in a dazzling environment, and the chance to put some serious meat in the freezer and snap a few photos for future reminiscing.

Jay Nicholas, July 2013

Sage Brings New Fly Reels to Market August 2013

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Northwest sales rep George Cook stopped by to detail the new fly reel introductions from Sage. Starting August 1st the reels discussed in the following video will be available. There are some really good looking new offerings in the line up. The Sage 2200 series reel has a sealed drag and starts at $129, the 3200 series is fully machined and starts at $199, and the new Evoke is a fantastic new design aimed at spey and saltwater fly fishing.

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review | Leave a comment

Oregon Saltwater fly fishing update July 22 2013

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Count on it. Every day on the ocean has the potential to be waaaaay different than the previous.

Duh.

July 19th: New dory (old but new to my friends); huge schools of Black rockfish, grabs a-plenty, Lingcod, gentle ocean current made it easy to get flies down to fish; wide mix of fish sizes from 12 inch dinks to nice big plump shouldered fish; lots of fish in the 15-25 ft depth range; motor starter failed and we needed a tow to shore. One oar cracked as we rowed to beach. Great first voyage in my friend’s newly acquired dory.

July 20th: Rough ocean. Crab pots full to the brim; heavy ocean current; lots of surface eelgrass to foul our bucktail flies; cold 45 degree water; heavy swells made fishing so unpleasant that we returned to beach in 30 minutes with nary a serious chance to fish. grateful Bread breakfast and a nap by 9 AM.

July 21st: Surprise! Good calm conditions to launch dory late at 7:30. Winds in the sub-ten knot range. Fished for salmon at 160 ft contour for a few hours, but no joy, no working bait or birds. A friend motioned us over when his starter failed – and we towed him into beach, cast him off to row to shore. Then we went back out fishing again for the Rockfish we so love. Ocean current was strong but we were able to get our flies down with careful line management; fish were more in the 30 – 40 ft depth range, more scattered, and more difficult to find;. We found enough fish to hit doubles whenever we did find the fish and we found full crab pots too.

July 22: up at 4 AM. It is calm here in Woods. Don’t know what the ocean will bring. I have rods rigged with new lines to test, new flies to swim, and great expectations. Waiting to see if the phone rings and says: Hey Jay, want to hit the ocean?

7 AM and the phone indeed rings. Truck won’t start. Ocean is perfect, but no truck means no Dory launch.

See what I mean? Maybe I’ll fish for sea runs. Or take a nap. Odds are the nap will win out.

Here are some photos from yesterday, July 21st, 2013.

Call me silly (I know you will), but this 4 weight Echo-3 wt rod makes an amazing Rockfish rod. More on lines and flies later, but this outfit made for wonderful excitement when we found fish at less than 30 ft depths.

Whenever we found the fish, we hooked upon doubles.

Tube fly, big eyes, and plenty of cure goo over Steve Farrar’s Blend.

Black and orange Clouser tied with heavy lead eyes; SF Blend.

Don’t believe that the SeaDucer is only an East coast fly, because it Rocks the Blacks here with just bead-chain eyes and lateral scale accents.

Sea Lice on Dorsal fins.

More SF Blend in blue, chartreuse, grey, and red on this Clouser.

Full crab pots. Yummmmm.

Black and Chartreuse SeaDucer at work.

May this day be good to all of you, on the water, at home, at work, and waiting for your chance to play with fishes.

Jay Nicholas

Posted in Oregon Saltwater Fishing | Leave a comment

Great Lakes Shimmer Minnow Fly Tying Video Version 2

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

This is another Internet-Poached fly that Jay Nicholas is tying to demonstrate some of the creative tying possibilities offered by Greg Senyo’s Laser Yarn.

By the way, that guy Greg is quite an interesting fellow, great tyer/angler, and a ton of fun to talk with. He is also very generous in sharing his fly tying and fishing experience. Thanks Greg.

Remember, we really do not know who actually created this particular fly, but it is easy to tie, uses cool new materials, and looks really FISH.

One thing we will bet on is this: the darn fly series will fish in all sorts of places where anadromous salmon, trout, and steelhead live, not just in the Great Lakes.

We can imagine this fly being taken as an attractor or feeding trigger or territorial defense motivator, heck, who knows what lurks in the minds of the fish we seek to catch.

Anyway, tie this white/shrimp pink Shimmering Minnow as-is or create your own color combinations and go fishing as soon as you can.

Key materials of this White/Shrimp Pink Great Lakes Shimmer Minnow steelhead and trout fly are noted as follows:

Thread – Veevus 8/0 or 10/0 red
Hook – Daiichi 1530 #6/8
Tail- Senyo’s Laser Yarn, white
Body – Blue Crystal Chenille Medium
Wing – Ice Dub Minnow Back Shimmer Fringe, Hot Pink/Purple back
Head/Collar – Senyo’s Laser Yarn, Shrimp Pink

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies | 2 Comments

Low & Clear comes to Eugene, August 1st

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Gathr Films is hosting a screening of Low & Clear on Thursday August 1 at 7:30pm at the Bijou Art Cinemas in Eugene, Oregon.

Here is a quick synopsis of Low & Clear:

During a winter flyfishing trip to Canada, two old friends, J.T. Van Zandt and Alex “Xenie” Hall, learn they’ve have grown apart in more ways than one. J.T., the thoughtful even-keeled son of a songwriting legend believes there’s more to fishing than catching fish. Short-tempered Xenie, a “firewood salesman,” sees it differently and fishes like it’s a race against the clock. Their different approaches to fishing and life emerge and clash on the snowy river banks and damp hotel rooms of British Columbia in this true story of a friendship stretched to the breaking point. An exploration of life in the disappearing wilderness of the West, Low & Clear unfolds with moments of humor and pathos, success and failure, as J.T. and Xenie find themselves on a fishing trip that could be their last.

Based on the trailer, I really think this film says something interesting about the different kinds of fishermen and relationships that develop, erode, and haunt us over time. Looks like it’s got potential to be something more than the average fly fishing movie.

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

There’s No Place Like Eugene

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

A week before I was scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka, the head of
Redington’s marketing team called and asked if I could help organize a
photo shoot. She was looking for a special location–someplace other
than the typical high desert trout scene. It needed to be authentic,
gorgeous, and accessible. I suggested the McKenzie, and put the
Redington crew in touch with The Caddis Fly. Within a couple of
days, the stage was set: Clay Holloway, Matt Ramsey, and I would be
the guides & oarsmen, and the upper McKenzie would be our location.

The night before the shoot, we all congregated for a planning/drinking
session at the North Bank Pub in Eugene. I dropped my boat in at Alton
Baker and anchored it just off the McMenamin’s patio. Since we were
all staying at the Valley River Inn, I couldn’t resist the chance for
a starlight float. After dinner, we jumped in the boat and lazily
drifted to our hotel.

The next morning, we made a caravan to McKenzie Bridge. The river was
dressed in full summer regalia. The photographers couldn’t believe
their eyes. And in a rare stroke of luck, the hot sunlight was broken
by sporadic cloud cover, allowing for perfect shooting all day long.

It was my first time rowing from McKenzie Bridge to Blue River. I was
excited and mildly nervous. Whitewater is not really my thing, and the
guys made it clear there would be lots of it. They were not
kidding–my arms are still sore!

Clay and Matt were absolute pros, and by lunchtime the Redington crew
had all their product shots. We stopped for lunch on a beautiful
island, caught some nice rainbows, and soaked in the perfection of the
upper McKenzie.

As I drove back to Portland that evening, I thought back on the four
years when I called Eugene home. There were so many special people and
places, so many good times. Tears fell, and I knew, beyond any doubt,
that I’d never again find a place quite like Eugene.

Rob Russell

Posted in Fishing Reports, Fly Fishing Gear Review | 5 Comments

Kayak Fishing Challenge August 3 2013

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Visit northwestkayakanglers.com for more info on this fun event coming up August 3rd. Fishing has been great on the coast stay tuned for more coastal reports and activities in the month of August.

Posted in Fly Fishing Contests, Oregon Fly Fishing Clubs and Events | 1 Comment

Oregon Saltwater Fishing Report July 19 2013

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

After a lengthy period of non-fishing (laugh if you must), I received an invitation to join friends fishing from their newly acquired Dory out of Pacific City on this fine day. The ocean has been rough much of the last several weeks and I have been devoting much/most of my off-water hours delving into a realm of fly tying that is practically new to me: the world of saltwater flies.

More on that as the season progresses. Suffice to say for now that true salty fly people have talent galore and the transition from principally estuary and river flies to the stuff people throw at oceanic critters has been a challenge, what with new materials, new hooks, and a different mindset to adjust one’s thinking and handiwork.

My saltwater flies prior to my recent obsession (hummmm, there’s the O-word) with saltwater patterns date have mostly been “Clouserish” in nature and based mostly on buck-tail with limited use of synthetics.

Anyway, our day on the ocean was wonderful. Any of you who fish your own boats offshore for salmon and bottom fish with conventional gear should seriously give fly rods a fair shake, because it is a fun and productive way to fish —- at times I believe that the fly rod can hold its own, fish-for-fish with traditional gear techniques.

Anyway again. Great Day.

Shakedown cruise finished-up rowing dory into the beach, just like in the old days, though not exactly by design.

A few trip photos, labeled or not, relate a few highlights.

Yup. These come in handy sometimes, even in the ocean.

Long-toothed Lingcod. Fly rod yes, Rodger that.

Just about to drift over the school of fish, located about 40 ft deep.

We actually had 4 fish on (simultaneously) on several occasions, but only two rods made this photo frame.

Hooked fish were often inexplicably unhooked prior to being sighted and were surely deep-shouldered brutes, but when we found them, it was pretty sweet.

When the motor wouldn’t start, it was nice to have friends to cheerfully lend a tow. They had already limited their boat fly fishing Black Rockfish and were ready to head inshore – but let me tell you that the hooking up of tow ropes was quite interesting.

Two strong men on the oars brought us safely ashore, slowly, but we rode the light swells onto the sand in fine style.

Finally, here are some fresh-from-being-eaten flies that we fished successfully today. These and more will be featured in fly tying videos (eventually), accompanied by lots of tips and techniques involved in tying saltwater style flies.

Great fishing and fun to you all, hope to be back at it the next few mornings. And remember that Albacore will be in our reach VERY SOON!

July 19 2013

BTW, we fished 7-10 wt Sage ONE, Echo 3 Saltwater, Echo ION, and Echo Prime fly rods with sinking lines. Lines included Rio Striper Coldwater Series, Rio Max II shooting heads in Type 6; Rio Custom-Cut T-14 full fly line; and home-crafted shooting heads using T-17 and T-20 in lengths of 20-30 ft, looped to Rio 44 lb Slickshooter running line.

Leaders were tied up using Maxima Ultragreen and one formula that worked well was as follows: perfection looped, 3 ft- 30 Lb butt section; 3 ft 20 lb mid section; and a tippet section of 3 ft in either 12 or 15 Lb. I intend to delve into shock tippets, bite wire tippets, and droppers any day now, but for this day we kept it simple.

Fish were as deep as 70 ft and as shallow as 10 ft, but most of our grabs came in the 30 – 40 ft depth range.

Cast, let ‘er sink, feed line as the Dory drifts away from the fly, and then strip the fly back up through the schools of cooperative fish. No salmon this date, but tomorrow, who knows?

Posted in Fishing Reports, Oregon Saltwater Fishing | 2 Comments

New Fly Tying Product: Fish Skull Articulated Fish Spine

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

The insanely cool baitfish pattern in the video above is tied with Fish Skull Articulated Fish Spine.

You can vary the body material we suggest CCT body Fur or Tarantula Hairy Leg Brush one inch, and Frizzle Chenille, all materials will need to be trimmed to taper and colored with a pen to some degree.

A nice tail can be formed with hen saddle feathers and clear cure cure brushable.

A variety of eyes are available include the Clear Cure Goo Dumbbells, Big Game Dumbbells and simple stick on eyes from Fish Skull Living Eyes.

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

Great Lakes Shimmer Minnow Fly Tying Video

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

This fly represents Jay Nicholas’ effort to provide fly tying instruction that is fun, showcases new materials, features basic and/or advanced tying techniques for new and weathered tiers, spark your imagination, and so on.

This fly is a version of a Great Lakes steelhead fly we saw on the “blogosphere” and decided to pass on to you. It was tempting to claim the pattern as an original, but most likely it has already been claimed by at least a dozen people already.

Several things about this fly are appealing: for example, it is pretty simple to tie, but the technique for using Greg’s Laser Yarn is still important to learn; the colors have steelhead attraction power, the colors look nice in our boxes; the fly could be fished as an egg or flesh fly in addition to inducing a minnow eating response, and it is capable of being fished with a traditional sink tip on single and two hand rods.

We intend to give this fly a dunk here in Oregon fishing for cutthroat and salmon too, and our bet is that it will fish well and the fish will eat it. Alaska trout and salmon? Why not?

You decide. A separate video will feature the GLSM in yet another color combination.

Key materials of this Great Lakes Shimmer Minnow steelhead and trout fly are noted as follows:

Thread – Veevus 8/0 or 10/0 black or red
Hook – Daiichi 1530 #6/8
Tail- Senyo’s Laser Yarn, pink
Body – Chartreuse Crystal Chenille Medium
Wing – Ice Dub Minnow Back Shimmer Fringe, Chartreuse/Peacock back
Head/Collar – Senyo’s Laser Yarn, Fl. Blue

Posted in Fly Tying, Fly Tying Materials and Supplies | 1 Comment

Clearance Pricing on Fly Lines

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Act now to save big while we re-organize our fly line department!

The lines pictured below represent stock on hand. Most are not listed online. Give us a call at 541 342 7005 to order or come buy the shop. Hours are 9-6 M-F 10-5 Saturday and 10-3 Sunday. Sale is limited to stock on hand.

Pricing: Each line will be sold at 50% off list price (most boxes pictured show list price) however no reasonable offer will be refused.

Additional lines not shown but on sale online include the Rio Steelhead Scandi, Rio Skagit Flight and Skagit Short. You can view those sale lines and much more on this page: SALE FLY FISHING GEAR

Scientific Anglers XPS and VPT, excellent presentation lines for lighter action rods and small waters.

Scandi spey heads for lighter steelhead flies. Attach a poly leader or a long mono leader and you are set.

Switch line heads designed by Beulah.

Clouser for all around saltwater, DeepSea for Bluewater and Tarpon channel fishing, Carp for Carp fishing and Redfish for warmwater saltwater flats fishing.

Bathed in silver boxes, these clear Airflo fly lines are perfectly suited to fishing lakes and we reach for these lines fishing estuaries when we are swimming flies at relatively shallow depths pursuing line-shy salmon, steelhead and sea-run trout. These clear lines 6/7F (floating), 6/7FI (Fast Intermediate are perfect for sea run cutthroat, silvers, and pinks. 8/9F (Floating) and 8/9FI (fast Intermediate) are our Chinook “Secret” lines when we want to fish the upper 3-4 feet of the estuary with clear lines.

Sixth Sense 8/9SI – These Airflo Lakes lines are another of our estuary favorites for fishing shallow. The pale olive fly lines are slimmer than the clear line series, leaving a less noticeable shadow in sunny conditions, and fish the upper 4 ft of the water without requiring a fast retrieve.

Elk River Estuary anglers should give both these and the clear lines a shot, knowing they are proven performers.

Awesome saltwater lines for all around use in the tropics, floating and clear sinking tip. Sharkskin technology from Scientific Anglers casts fantastic and is extremely durable.

Older version of the estuary and lake line previously mentioned.

Longer Spey head for a 7/8 rod and a Delta Spey Multi Tip line that includes line and sink tips in wallet.

Type 3 sinking 4 weight lake lines.

Textured Nymph lines from Scientific anglers, great for casting heavy nymphs and indicators.

Fast sinking integrated sink tip for a 7 or 8wt rod, and a presentation double taper for a 2wt rod.

The now rare double taper line, perfect for two and three weights. The GPX will load any length of rod.

Excellent all around saltwater Mastery Textured lines. These cast great and are not as loud as the Sharkskin but do zing through the guides and resist tangling better than almost all other lines.

Remember to give us a call or come by the shop to purchase, bring a reel and we will load backing ( n/c) along with your new line.

Posted in Shop Sales and Specials | 2 Comments

Salmon Creek Grand Slam – Cutthroat, Rainbow, and Dragonfly

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Last Friday I spent a beautiful day hiking and fishing along Salmon Creek, NE of Oakridge. On a stretch miles up the creek from town I was casting into small pools with short, lazy tosses when I heard a “thwack” on the backcast and felt the fly and line change course. As the fly passed near my left ear I saw a large object on the end of the line. Thinking it was a leaf, I recast but the fly seemed to flutter away. I finally stopped casting and found a large blue dragonfly wrapped around the fly. When it landed on the ground it attempted to take off with the fly, but was slightly tangled in the tippet. I untangled it and tried to get the fly back, but the dragonfly (probably a California Darner) held on with it two front pairs of legs and its mandible (a jaw-like structure). I eventually retrieved the fly and the dragonfly, probably dazed by the wild take-down, took a few moments to recover before departing. The remainder of the day was spent catching beautiful wild cutthroats, with golden/orange slashes, and one especially large rainbow.

For those interested in casting to dragonflies, I recommend a #16 Parachute Adams with a 9’, 5 wt. tapered leader, although the 5 wt. gear may be more than is needed.

Jim Reichman

Posted in Fishing Porn, Fishing Reports | Leave a comment

Watermaster Raft on the Lower Umpqua River

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

My daughter and son take the incredibly buoyant and easy to maneuver Watermaster Grizzly down the lower Umpqua. The boat is light on the water and with just one push or pull you get results.

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review | 4 Comments

Oregon Suction dredge bill heads to the governor

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

From the Oregonian: A bill that would scale back the number of suction dredge mining permits issued in Oregon has passed the House and Senate and heads to the desk of Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is expected to sign the bill into law.

Photo by Klamath-Siskiyou Wild

The bill prohibits mining in salmon spawning areas year-round. Fish advocacy groups like Trout Unlimited, the McKenzie Flyfishers and Native Fish Society have been tracking this bill throughout this legislative session. Send these people money and volunteer your time.

Posted in Oregon Conservation News | Leave a comment

Summer Solstice in Alaska

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

This is the second time I’ve experienced summer solstice in Alaska and it doesn’t get any easier to sleep through 22 hours of daylight the second time around. I had an amazing trip on the Alagnak river in the Bristol Bay Region of Alaska accompanied by great friends. The Alagnak is fed by two lakes the Nonvianuk and Kukaklek and flows for about 70 miles until it feeds into the Kvichak River and then into the bountiful waters of Bristol Bay.

At times this river is chock full of salmon but we were after a different quarry, the unique leopard rainbow trout that inhabit the rivers of the area. The lodge we stayed at is in the middle of the prime rainbow trout territory about 25 minutes from the confluence that forms the Alagnak and a little over an hour’s boat ride to Nonvianuk lake.

Finding the rainbows was tough some days and on others pretty damn easy. Many lake trout, grayling and dolly varden, also found the net on the trip. These trout are hungry in the spring time and are after a big meal.

Mouse patterns were very effective at times and leeches such as the Dali Lama were the go to flies for the trip. I caught a handful of average sized rainbows on the mouse and missed many more, but the big fish seemed to prefer a leech fished deep. It is one cool experience to see a large rainbow crash a skated mouse on the surface or feel the grab on a leech pattern. The best weapon to throw these balls of hair, lead and foam were small spey and switch rods. A 6 weight 12’6” spey rod seemed like the ideal choice for many sections of the river and was well suited to the size of the fish, but a shorter rod switch rod also worked very well for others. Most everyone who was not a die hard spey angler was converted into a full blown two handed fanatic by the end of the week.

A special thanks goes out to all the guides and staff at Alaska Trophy Adventures who made the trip a memorable one. The last photo is of one of the great guides at the lodge Pete Micol who I got the pleasure to spend my last 3 days of the trip with and who taught me spey rods are not just for swinging they also make great outriggers for trolling up big lakers. When Pete is not chasing rainbows in Alaska or steelhead in Michigan he also works as santa, check him out at www.flyfishingwithpete.com

Posted in Fishing Porn, Fly Fishing Travel | Leave a comment