After busting hump all last week to get out, starting to unwind on the North Coast. No cell service, but the internet is quick. The Coho in tidewater jumping all over, but not biting. Good times ensue. I’ll keep posting as the vacation and fishing roll on.
-MS
A major life event occurred for Lou over the Labor Day Holiday. His daughter was married on Sunday at Sunriver. As the father of the bride there was only one way to get over the stress and joy: Go Fishing! So I took advantage of the following:
Sunday (yep, the day of the wedding) at the request of “we are getting our hair done this morning, can you leave for a few hours?” So, where else to go from Sunriver for a few hours; Fall River! The mid day hours brought out a nice hatch of what appeared to be tan duns. So, I used the tan sparkle dun and found success.
Monday: My brother and son stayed after the wedding and wanted to fish the next few days. We packed up and headed for Ken’s “cabin” at Sunriver. We prepared for Diamond Lake. We strung up a Sage 99 5 weight (9′ 9″) with some snot line, a Gloomis Stream Dance 9′ 6 weight with a full intermediate sinking line, and a Sage Z Axis 9′ 5 weight with a floating/fast sinking tip.
Tuesday: Diamond Lake; A Carey Special produced the above photo of a personal record trout for my son from Ken’s boat. Casting and stripping Thin Mints also proved to be very productive.
Wednesday; Crane Prairie provided a few fish trolling very slowly with small leech patterns and chironomids.
Thursday: We hit the Alsea for a few sea runs. The Borden Special took all we could handle on a nice overcast morning.
Friday: We hit the lower Siletz and found some sea runs chasing the Spruce and Borden Special. We fished the outgoing tide and found fish just above tidewater.
Saturday: No fishing today! Just getting back to almost normal. Bottom line; A Great Week!
The Cummings Steelhead Pattern is a classic fly developed by Ward Cummings and Clarence Gordon in the 1930s. The fly was, and still is a favorite on the North Umpqua River and many Southern Oregon and Northern California Steelhead streams. The version in this video utilizes a couple of the modern and available materials that do a great job of matching the often difficult to find Claret color of body and dubbing. STS trilobal claret and Metz Hatchery Soft hackle are a beautifully dyed claret and work well on the Cummings and other patterns.–CD
Cummings Steelhead Pattern
Hook: Alec Jackson Steelhead Irons 3,5,7
Thread: Danville 6/0 Black
Tag: Gold Oval Lagartun Med
Rib: Gold Oval Lagartun Med
Body: 1/2 Yellow Uni Floss 1/2 Claret STS Trilobal Dub
Hackle: Metz Hatchery Soft Hackle Claret
Wing: N. Bucktail Natural
The Dec Hogan Summer Bug is tied with seriously fishy materials. A hot pink butt, purple body, mylar rib and two hackles topped with an arctic fox wing. What steelhead could pass this pattern up? Summer Steelheading is looking good all over the state of Oregon. We are hearing good reports from the Rogue, Deschutes, Willamette and McKenzie.–CD
Hogan Summer Bug
Hook: Alec Jackson Steelhead Iron 3,5,7
Thread: 6/0 Danville
Tag: Lagartun Flat Silver Tinsel
Butt: Danville Fluorescent Pink Floss
Tail: Dyed Pink Golden Pheasant Tippets
Body: Purple STS Trilobal Dubbing
Rib: Pearl Flat Mylar
Hackle: Purple Saddle Hackle
Hackle 2: Teal Flank
Wing: Arctic Fox
Cement: Hard as Hull
The Palolo Worm “hatch” has become the holy grail for Florida Keys Tarpon anglers. Caddis Fly employee and Tarpon guru Barrett Christiensen has been fishing the keys for the past 13 years. Over the years he has developed numerous patterns for bonefish, permit and tarpon. His last pattern is a spin off of one of our favorite Northwest Steelhead patterns the MOAL Leech. The MOAPW or Mother of all Palolo Worms crushed Tarpon this May/June, give it a shot on your next Tarpon trip.–Cd
MOAPW (Mother of all Palolo Worms) Tarpon Worms
Hook: Gamakatsu SC 17 1/0
Thread: Chartreuse U140
Tail/Post: 100 lbs Mono
Tail: Fl. Fuscia Cross Cut Rabbit Strips
Body/Head: Dyed Pearl Diamond Braid
Glue: Tear Mender to Bind Rabbit
In our latest video Jay Nicholas utilizes a new bead, UV Chewee Skin, and a new bobbin. All products/materials come to us from Hareline Dubbin. The Multihued Rainbow fly tying bead gives any fly an exotic array of colors within each given bead. The Stonfo Elite adjustable tension fly tying bobbin is well built, easy to use and smooth as silk. UV Chewee skin has already proven to be a “fishy” material this year (check out our green caddis pattern). The Rainbow Bead Steelhead Damsel is a great fly when imitating damsels in lakes or rivers. The simple pattern can be fished on a floating or sinking fly line.–CD
Rainbow Bead Steelhead Damsel
Hook: TMC 5262 # 10
Bead: Multihued Rainbow Bead 1/8
Thread: Lagartun 95D Olive
Tail: Grizzly Soft Hackle Olive
Body: Mixture of Angora goat Olive, Ice Dub Olive
Wingcase: Chewee Skin UV Black
Throax: Same as body
The Spade Skunk is a modern classic steelhead fly. Tied with proven “fishy” materials like peacock, ostrich and Arctic Fox this pattern is fantastic swung down and across in your favorite steelhead run. Weather and water have been cooperating nicely for us this early fall. Steelhead fishing has been consistently good on the McKenzie below Leaburg Dam and the Willamette from Dexter down near the confluence of the McKenzie.–CD
Spade Skunk
Hook: Alec Jackson Steelhead Iron 3,5,7
Thread: 6/0 Black Danville Thread
Tag: Flat Silver Tinsel
Tail: Red Saddle Hackle
Body: 1/2 Peacock 1/2 Black Ostrich
Hackle: Black Saddle Hackle
Wing: Arctic Fox
A family friend has been kind enough to let us borrow her condo in Sun Valley the past couple of years. Labor day is a great weekend in the Sun Valley/Ketchum area. Numerous rivers are in great shape, weather is usually ideal, and events like parade’s and old west shoot out’s mix things up enough for a great family trip.
The Big Lost River in the Copper Basin area is just one of the many streams that one can walk and wade with relative ease near Ketchum. We had a look yesterday and found some nice Cutthroat, a few small rainbows and a nice hybrid “cut bow”. Hoppers, Parachute Green Drakes and size 16 bead head pheasant tails were the only patterns used. Undoubtably many other patterns could have produced. If you are looking for a final fall outing (before it gets to cold out here) have a look at the Big Lost. Of course The Big Wood River, Warm Springs Creek, Silver Creek, Trail Creek and others offer miles of wadable water for the fly fisher.–CD
Tackle used: Sage Z-azis 9ft 3wt, Nautilus FW 3 Reel, Rio Gold Line, Rio Trout Leader 9ft 5x
Our pal Warren Moran wrote this review of his Echo Carbon 9′ 4wt. 4-piece:
A Good Stick: Echo Carbon 9′ 4wt. 4 pc.
This is a great rod and a nice compromise between power and grace. It’s also something everyman can afford.
The matte finish on the blank and reel seat are really nice. It’s about time they got around to this. I can’t tell you how may times I think I’ve put fish down with a shiny rod. If you’ve ever been looking for a buddy fishing on a wild stretch of river just look for the rod glare – it’s the fist thing you see from a half mile away.
As far as casting goes this thing feels like a 3 1/2 wt. and likes a slightly slower casting stroke. With a SA Trout taper WF-4-F line it seemed to have a moderate action – not slow at all with plenty of power lower in the blank with a soft tip for nice presentation. Should handle some wind and be able to present very small flies to big fish. I’m thinking this will be a good stick for easing trico spinners and midges in front of at big browns on the Owyhee.
The only downside was the grip size. It’s a bit thin and delicate for my mitts but I can live with it.
Here is a video from Jay Nicholas, talking about Echo fly rods:
The warranty and service from Echo are great, they are quick to ship we like working with them, Tim Rajeff is an excellent rod designer. -CD
Here are a few articles worth digging into:
Bakke lays out the case for rethinking hatchery programs in the Northwest
Oregonian: Fish management agencies are continuing to contribute to the decline and extinction of wild salmon and steelhead, and that contribution is even more serious than that of land and water management agencies in their determined degradation of salmonid habitat. It’s more serious because the fish management agencies are charged with protecting fish, recovery of wild fish and preventing their decline.
National Marine Fisheries Service states hatchery fish harming endangered Columbia Basin salmonids
Oregonian: The overall ecosystem picture is bleak. The hatchery fish interbreed with wild fish and can weaken the genetic stock. They’re more subject to disease that can spread into wild runs. They take up habitat and food, and in some cases, prey on the wild fish.
Don’t be a half-hearted fanatic: Get involved now
Upper Deschutes River Steward Tom Davis sent us this article from Orion: We all need the occasional escape, or even indulgence. But we must be able to pursue those escapes and indulgences with the knowledge that others are rushing into the burning building… And that, frankly, is part of the problem: there aren’t nearly enough of us working anywhere near hard enough to stop this culture from killing the planet. Obviously, or the world would be getting healthier, instead of being desecrated with ever increasing speed. If there were more of us trying to stop this culture from killing the planet, then those who are working themselves to death could afford to take a little time off and not feel as if things would fall apart while they climbed the mountains or ran the rivers.
Sockeye salmon boom in BC
Seattle Times: The biggest sockeye run in nearly a century is headed back to British Columbia’s Fraser River and its tributaries. An estimated 25 million fish have returned, more than double preseason forecasts. The runs are yielding an unexpected bonanza for U.S. and Canadian commercial fishermen who are more used to feuding over dwindling shares of a declining resource.
Beads, Cones, Eyes, now welcome Fish Skulls to the fly tying arsenal. Fish Skulls are a new way to create heads on bait fish patterns. Fish Skulls give the fly a realistic, perfectly formed head with eyes. Add epoxy or not to develop the head of the fly further. In this video Barrett demonstrates how to use the fish skulls with an Intruder style fly pattern. We see fish skulls having application in with Steelhead and Salmon flies, saltwater streamers, and trout streamers. For their size they do not weight the fly down too much, they allow the pattern to swim as the tyer intended. A great product brought to us by Hareline Dubbin.–CD
Fish Skull Intruder
Hooks: Gamakatsu T106H
Thread: 6/0 Uni Blue
Butt: Holographic Silver Ice Dub
Tail: Kingfisher Blue Ostrich
Body: Lagartun Mini Flat Braid Holographic Silver
Hackle # 1: Eumer or Hareline Artcic Fox in Dubing loop
Hackle # 2: Black Hareline Spey Plumes
Head: Fish Skulls
Head Finish: Loon UV Fly Finish and UV Light
In this video Jay Nicholas ties a very sparse wet fly style muddler. The fly is on a heavy wire hook with a yarn body. Designed to be swung subsurface for steelhead the fly could be tied in a variety of colors for both wing and body. One could also tie this pattern in very small sizes for a trout muddler. Imagine a size 10 or 12 muddler for Cutthroat in the lower McKenzie and Willamette, deadly in Spring and Fall.–CD
Sparse Wet Fly Muddler
Hook: TMC 700 2-6
Thread: Petitjean Split Second 8/0
Body: Purple Uni-Yarn
Wing: Gold Krystal Flash
Wing/Head: Hareline Primo Deer Hair Strip
Last weekend we camped out at the mouth of the Deschutes River for the Native Fish Society River Steward retreat, hosted by NFS staffers Russell Bassett and Tom Derry. It was a great event, full of presentations by top fisheries biologists and policy-makers, and presentations by the River Stewards themselves.
We shot a video of some of the river stewards at the event, and they got to talk about the projects in watersheds around the state. Definitely check it out:
For more info on the River Steward program, contact Russell Bassett 503-829-6211.
While that’s all pretty great, the fishing was even better. Early mornings and late evenings, desert rainstorms, and jumping sea-run salmonids. Can’t beat it. I caught steelhead on a floating line, but a sink tip would have been helpful during the middle of the day. Johnson Creek river steward Will Govin sent us these photos:
Will went 4 for 5 on Sunday night, with 3 wild, 1 hatchery and one that never slowed down and eventually freed himself well downstream.
-MS
San Francisco, CA – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an attempt to strip protected status from wild steelhead trout in California’s Central Valley. A group of Central Valley irrigators had argued that ocean-going Central Valley steelhead population should be removed from the endangered species list based on their opinion that freshwater rainbow trout – which never go to sea – might someday replace extinct steelhead populations.
Steve Mashuda, an attorney with Earthjustice who represented the coalition of conservation and fish groups said, “Steelhead and people need clean water, swimmable streams, and healthy habitat. We all win when we protect and recover wild steelhead and their habitat.”
The Court agreed with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the conservation and fishing groups that NMFS may protect steelhead without including all freshwater resident rainbow trout in the protected population. The Court concluded that “under the ESA, interbreeding is not alone determinative of whether organisms must be classified alike where, as here, they develop and behave differently.”
Steelhead once returned from the ocean in the millions every year to the Sacramento and San Joaquin River systems in the Central Valley. Today, these fish have been lost from 95% of their historic habitat, and they continue to face threats from unchecked water use, blockage by dams, urban sprawl, and polluted rivers.
“Anyone who’s ever been lucky enough to see or catch a steelhead in the wild knows they’re a special fish,” said, Mark Rockwell of the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers. “They wanted to add rainbow trout numbers to the few steelhead left, thus removing protections for steelhead, and allowing more water diversions from Central Valley rivers.”
The Court’s ruling represents the latest rejection of attempts by big agricultural interests to take more water out of the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem. It also follows a report issued earlier this month by the State Water Resources Control Board which found that greater flows and less water diversions were needed to restore the estuary and its imperiled fish populations.
In its ruling, the Court cited evidence from several independent scientific reviews that all found even where some interbreeding may occur, freshwater rainbow trout cannot regenerate or replace a steelhead population if those sea-run fish are lost.
“It’s time to start working to restore this irreplaceable part of California’s natural heritage,” said Kate Miller of Trout Unlimited. “Today’s ruling helps put the focus back where it belongs – on efforts to restore clean water and healthy habitat in Central Valley streams.”
Earthjustice represented the five conservation and fishing groups arguing on behalf of wild steelhead protection in these two cases, including Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, the Federation of Fly Fishers, Delta Fly Fishers, Trout Unlimited, and the Center for Biological Diversity.
