The Clouser Deep Minnow or as some name it, the Clouser Deep Water Minnow is a must have fly that deserves a home on your fly bench and in your fly boxes. This is a fly that I began fishing for King Salmon here in Oregon. A little research on the fly taught me that its use for salmon fishing is but a teeny tiny fraction of the applications where this fly is top cabin, front line, and among the best of the best flies to fish. Continue reading
One of my good friends Matt Zlotkowski just sent me this jaw-dropping brown trout photo and the following message for blog readers.
“Josh Nugent, owner/operator of Out Fly Fishing Outfitters, is one of the hardest working guides that I have had the pleasure to fish with and a great guy to boot. We spent several days in and around Calgary on the Bow River with Josh and experienced first-hand why the Bow is regarded as a tremendous wild trout fishery that is home to both browns and bows in significant numbers. Give Josh a call if you’re planning a trip to Calgary – he’ll make you a believer in the Bow.”
Matt says it’s a big streamer show when he was there. Definitely considering my own trip to Calgary now.
-MS
John Larison’s new novel Holding Lies is a grown up version of The River Why. It’s grim. In some ways, it’s the book David James Duncan said he didn’t want to write, couldn’t. Because the situation facing the Northwest’s wild salmonids is too dark.
That said, it’s a gorgeous book and you need to read it.
Published last week by Skyhorse Press, the five word summary would read: Oregon fly fishing murder mystery.
But it’s really about learning how to fight for a river, and for wild steelhead. Hank Hazelton and his crew of river stewards illustrates a tight knit community’s beautiful and tragic commitment to wild fish. Plus, there is hatchery puke sabotage, some Monkey Wrench Gang antics to keep it entertaining. Continue reading
Oregon Cascade trout flies. Simple, really. These trout eat about everything that we throw at trout, generally, and seasonally, in other rivers around the western United States. I just wanted to note some of my favorites with a few notes in case it proves useful. Continue reading
Bass fishing guide Larry Cross called the other day to invite me to come have a look at the Willamette River Bass fishery. I jumped at the chance exited to learn a new section of the Willamette. Larry suggested we meet at the Peoria County Park and Boat Ramp at 6am. Just 40 minutes from North Eugene. Continue reading
It’s shaping up to be a good steelhead year on the Deschutes. In the past week, 6,000 to 8,000 steelhead a day have been making their way over the Dalles Dam on average, for a total of over 170,000 already this year, and it is still very early in the game. Unlike our steelhead runs here in the Willamette valley, the Deschutes fish don’t start to show up in really good numbers until sometime in July, and continue to enter the river until late in the fall. Continue reading
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.
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!
Pull a little harder will ye!
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.
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
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
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
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
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
