Had a great time, nearly drowned both days

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

We’re going back to the Strait. I’ve been tying some Nelson silver salmon flies in various colors for bucktailing in the prop wash. One week of debauchery in the no-man’s land between the U.S. and Canada. Here are a bunch of new paintings that attempt to capture the hopes and terrors of small boat operator on The Strait of Juan de Fuca.

#15: Salmon Slam Painting Continue reading →

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel, Oregon Salmon fly fishing | 8 Comments

Rick and Sam’s River Crawl

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

We (Sam and Rick) set out to highlight the bounty of bank/wade fly fishing opportunities within a day’s drive of the Eugene area (and get on the blog without a boat :). The task was to catch and release fish in 10 streams during a one day road trip from Eugene to Bend and back again. We drove just under 400 miles. Each of us caught trout in each stream. Sam caught the “grand slam” of rainbow, cutthroat, brown and brookie. We each caught our 10 fish on 10 different flies.

Here is our day:

Boat or no boat, you can find peaceful, pleasant fly fishing opportunity on waters big or small nearby. Enjoy!

Posted in Fishing Reports | 4 Comments

More from Sneaky: Out to Sea on the Oregon Coast

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

fish on

Pull a little harder will ye!

black rock bass

The coast is a plethora of action right now. Sea Runs are in and Fall Chinook to follow. Calm inland seas brings anglers to the very reliable inshore fishery.

Posted in Fishing Reports, Oregon Saltwater Fishing | Leave a comment

Sneaky Pete Checks in from the Coast

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

sea run cutthroat fly fishing in oregon
Continue reading →

Posted in Fishing Reports, Oregon Salmon fly fishing, Oregon Saltwater Fishing | 3 Comments

Autumn Dreams on the Big Windy

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Last weekend was to be my first scouting trip for fall chinook, only two weeks after saying farewell to North Coast springers. I relished the chance for three long, quiet days of unicorn hunting. No fish required. A study in low expectations, but sure to produce magic in some unexpected form.

Doctor Brad’s email came Wednesday morning. He knew what I was planning, and he wanted to tag along, do some camping, fish or no. I reluctantly agreed, happy for the company, but nervous about having to entertain anyone under such dismal odds. Then came an email from Sean, our “Third Amigo.”

“Let’s have a fish party! Should we take the sled?” Continue reading →

Posted in Oregon Salmon fly fishing | 3 Comments

Oregon Cascades Trout Part II: Tackle Choices

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Here it comes folks. Blatant commercialism. Deal with it. Fact is, I got a chance to fish some fly rods, fly lines, and a fly reel that are either new in 2011 or at least new to me. People are genuinely interested in product reviews. I know that because I find myself answering a continuous stream of emails asking advice about this rod or that, which fly lines are best for specific applications, fly reels, value/cost ratios, leaders, and so on. Continue reading →

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review | 4 Comments

Trout Unlimited Meeting, 8/10/11

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Caddisfly

On the heels of a sucessful event on Monday evening, Trout Unlimited will be hosting its monthly meeting at the Vet’s Club on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm. Mark Christie of Oregon State will be speaking on the interactions between hatchery and wild steelhead and Dwayne Meadows of Trout Unlimited National will be speaking about TU’s campaign to prevent Pebble Mine, slated to be the world’s largest open pit mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, one of the world’s most productive sockeye fisheries.

The meeting is as always, free and open to the public. Hope to see you there.–KM

Posted in Oregon Fly Fishing Clubs and Events | 1 Comment

Historical Perspectives on Oregon Fishing

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Oregon Fishing Perspectives.

Someone said, sometime, that an understanding of the challenges we face, the decisions we make each day, could surely benefit from understanding the perspective of people who have preceded us. Or something philosophical like that. Continue reading →

Posted in Fishing Reports, Oregon Conservation News | 3 Comments

Oregon Cascades Trout Part I: A Most Excellent Adventure Begins

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

I am NOT a stalker. Really.

This seems an appropriate opening assertion for this article, given the fact that I just recently opened the Caddis Fly Blog to find that my most trusted and share everything friends RR and MS had just returned from a venture to one of MY favorite Oregon Cascade mountain streams. FINE! Fellows, I was prowling these waters from the banks and underwater 35 years ago. So maybe you should at least let me know that you are going; just returned; might go; and yes, that you are going to blather about it for the Blogosphere. Continue reading →

Posted in Fishing Reports, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | 2 Comments

Steens Mountain

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Caddisfly

Steens July 2011 112

Fish Lake located “just off the highway” (14 miles) on Steens Mountain provided some fun fishing on day three of our four day trip (see previous post for the rest of the days). The lake had some planted trout which were hearty but not very mighty! However, float tubing in this high mountain desert lake, enjoying the sun, provided a great afternoon of angling. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Trout perspectives

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

As a Midwest native, I came to trout fishing late in life. And had an idea that the craggier the water, the better the fishing opportunities. Broken, boulder-strewn, rapid filled stretches were easy to read — it limited where fish would actually hide. Also, something about dramatic water features appealed to my flat-lander fantasies.

Fishin Continue reading →

Posted in Fishing Reports | 2 Comments

Cast the new Sage ONE Rod today at The Caddis Fly

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

SAge one fly rod

Our Sage, Rio, Redington Sale Representative George Cook has stopped by this week to write orders for the coming season. While we are in the back battling about some ugly Redington Vest please come by and cast the new and really cool Sage ONE Fly Rod. The rods are lined up and ready to go, it will just take a few minutes of your time. We tried them out yesterday and they are very nice. Continue reading →

Posted in Fly Fishing Gear Review | 1 Comment

The Steens

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Caddisfly

Steens July 2011 051

Last week a few of the Technical Men’s Conference (old dawgs who have fished together for decades) headed off to The Steens. Marc, who grew up in Burns, was our tour guide. The rest of us only had read about the Steens. The Steens were settled by cattleman Pete French who drove cattle from Sacramento, Callyfornia, in the late 1800’s, to The Steens. Let me be frank….the Steens are not a place you just say “I think I will drop by today and visit the Steens”. The Steens are located sort of southeast of Burns, and are “just off the highway”. “Just off the highway” in Eastern Oregon, means at least 25-50 miles of dirt road! Besides the angling, our group wanted to get the most of our visit. We took the Steens loop road which was under repair and closed above the South Loop Campground to enjoy the views of the canyons from above the rim. Continue reading →

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel | 11 Comments

What every environmentally concerned citizen should know about hatchery trout

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

The McKenzie Fly Fishers, Trout Unlimited Chapter 678, and The Caddis Fly invite you to a free lecture by renowned author and environmentalist Anders Halvorsen, author of An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World.

Suppose that, more than a century ago, U.S. government officials became concerned democracy itself was at risk because men seemed to be less virile. And to reverse this trend they decided to populate streams, rivers, and lakes with “an entirely ‘synthetic’ fish”—quarry with which Americans could rediscover their abilities to capture and kill animals. And suppose that, up to the present, these creatures were still being produced and distributed on a massive scale, sometimes even being trained like gladiators and pumped full of the same supplements as the best human athletes so that they would provide a better fight.

Where: Boulevard Grill, 2123 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, OR (541) 686-2020
When: August 8, 2011, 7:00-9:00 pm
Sponsors: McKenzie Flyfishers, The Caddis Fly Angling Shop, and Trout Unlimited Upper Willamette Chapter (678)

Posted in Oregon Conservation News | Leave a comment

Our Dear Friend Passes on to New Waters

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

IMGP0094

We had many great fishing adventures with Rick McCreery over the years, all of them memorable. Rick touched many people through his work and fishing career and we will miss him tremendously. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments