Just a reminder to turn in your flies for the new Hareline Dubbin fly tying contest for Oregon Fly Fishing Blog. Check the link for more details.
The grand prize, all of the colors of Crystal Flash that Hareline makes — is pretty damn substantial. Stop by the shop to check it out. 44 different shades of Crystal Flash — nearly $200 worth. A small fortune really. It’s enough to make any serious summer steelhead tyer drool.
We are in the midst of another excellent water year and fishing remains good in many areas around the state. The following are some of what we have been hearing/experiencing around the state.
McKenzie River: Water levels are perfect. Fishing remains good all day on the river with “hopper dropper set ups”. Evening hatches to keep in mind include Little yellow stones, Pale Morning Duns, Golden Stones, Green Drakes and small brown and tan caddis.
Middle Fork of the Willamette: Fishing has been surprisingly good despite the bright sunshine on the Middle Fork. Water temps have remained very cold. Still worth fishing Green McKenzie Caddis, Golden Stones, Pale Morning Duns, Green Drakes and smaller Brown Caddis.
The North Umpua: Steelhead are beginning to show up in the fly water. Sink tips are allowed but no weighted flies. You will work hard for your fish on the North right now but the fish are well worth the effort.
The Williamson River: Look for the Hex hatch when you head to the Williamson. Other flies to consider are small pheasant tails, chironomids, small leeches and damsels. Hot weather in the southern part of the state makes this fishery get better.
The lower Deschutes: My favorite time of year. Blizzard Caddis hatches fewer people and big bank feeding trout. Try a variety of small caddis patterns including X-caddis, elk hair caddis, cdc emerging caddis and hot butt CDC caddis emergers. Red Copper johns and tiny pheasant tails will kill them as well.
The Midddle Fork of the Willamette above Hills Creek, Salt Creek, Salmon Creek and The North Fork of the Middle Fork: All of these streams offer excellent wading opportunities right now and fishing with “boots and shorts” is great this time of year. Try Green Drakes, smaller caddis, paracute adams, half down goldens and other attractors. Hoppers will work as well.
Wherever you fish this weekend enjoy!-CD
Let’s get this out of the way. The random winner of the Sharkskin Line (as determined by plugging the numbers 1-156 into Random.org) is Todd Davidson of Salem, OR. We’ll be in touch about picking up your prize, or you can shoot us an email.
So what did we find out in the survey? The audience is 98% male, mostly between 25-35, you tie flies and really like to fish for trout in moving water. About a third of you spey fish, and Rob and Jay are nudging a few of you a little closer to pulling the trigger. The majority of you send $35 to Trout Unlimited, but a scary amount of you don’t do anything on the conservation side at all.
Sage dominates the favorite rod-maker category, and Ross is the clear winner on reels. Half of you chuck gear — music to Karl’s ears. Your dream fishing trip would be Alaska or Argentina. And we have a lot of hiking, photo-buffs out there.
As for preferred fly fishing Web sites, aside from Oregon Fly Fishing Blog, you really like Westfly, Moldy Chum, Buster Wants to Fish and Catch Magazine, in descending order.
As for why you like our site, it’s primarily local fishing reports and frequency of the updates, with fly tying videos coming in third.
There were some really excellent suggestions for improving the site and we’re taking them all to heart.
We have a plan to make the site easier to navigate in the coming months — so for the dozens of you who told us to get the fly tying videos organized, it’s coming!
We’re looking into producing more beginner and instructional content. We’re going to get back on the Podcasts again. We plan to offer more info for the wading angler, increased frequency on local hatch reports — probably through our Twitter account. And we’ll continue to focus on conservation issues in our area.
Thanks to everybody who took the survey, and be sure to enter the Hareline Dubbin Summer Steelhead fly tying contest.
-MS
Reminder: Trout Unlimited Chapter 678 meeting tonight at the Eagles Aerie 1375 Irving Rd. in Eugene, 7pm. The chapter has been interested in studying wild trout populations on the Row and Coast Fork Willamette to help better protect these native fish, and ODFW’s Erik Moberly and Coast Fork Watershed Council coordinator Pam Reber will be on hand to chat with us about these watersheds and ongoing research.
We’ll also be discussing the chapter’s upcoming outing on the Deschutes the weekend of July 24-26. And we’ll be planning our 2009 backcountry high lakes trout trips for late-summer early fall.
Hope to see you at the meeting.
-MS
How could a River so beautiful have remained undiscovered? Dunno. Summer day, moderate 70s, broken cloud cover, gentle breeze, and swallows working bugs in the afternoon. Several nice runs to swing flies in, without a boat in sight.
River teeth and beaver-sticks to collect. Petrified wood treasures if you can find them. Green rocks from upstream in the Middle Santiam basin, perfect for garden landscaping. All the petrified wood has to come out of the Wiley Creek basin these days, because Foster Dam blocks any downstream flow of gravel from the river above that point. All the petrified wood – one hundred percent – shows evidence of a prehistoric forest fire. One perfect place (right side, lower end of the first island) for kids to wade in the shallows. Plenty of healthy snacks – no shortage of brownies and chips.
Oops! Somebody couldn’t resist a Marabou fly on the hang-down. Rod jumps into Jackson’s hands. Oops! Reel forward to make the line come in. Let him run if he pulls hard. Upstream and downstream, ‘round the boat – a narrow miss – almost wrapped that nice green Winston around the bow anchor release. “ Get the net ready”, Jackson says. Oops! That’s OK son, we were going to let him go anyway.
So it goes. The river looked clean, the steelhead runs green, and the deep holes were blue. Trout splatted at the evening hatch. A 510 gr Airflo Scandi Compact seemed right strung on a 7123. My freshly tied Muddlers skated like they were supposed to.
The R&E funded restroom at the take-out was sparkling clean. Life’s gifts can be so perfect and simple. We unhitched the boat so we could use the drive-up at the Sweet Home A&W. Root Beer Floats and Tater Tots served on a window-tray. Brad paisley sings, “I’m Still a Guy” on Country Western Radio. We all sing along. Home by 8:30.
Sweet.
JN
Fly Tying materials. Yummm. What’s not to love about beautiful Rooster Capes? That’s right. Easy on the eyes, fair on the wallet, and spectacular on the hook – that is – if you find the right feather structure and colors for the flies you are tying.
Up front disclosure – I am an unabashed fan of Hareline Dubbin. Their product line is so deep and broad that it makes me drool. I decided to write a series of product reviews to 1) highlight some of Hareline’s products that tyers might not be familiar with, and 2) share my thoughts on various applications of these products.
Lately, I have renounced my addiction to rabbit and marabou leeches and refocused my attention on hackled steelhead flies. You know, the flies we used to catch steelhead on: Fairly simple traditional steelhead flies tied with a hackle “collar” or “beard”. So in my usual fashion, I proceeded to look for hackles to tie a supply of these little beauties.
Out of the blue, Hareline Pro Grade Streamer Capes popped up on my radar screen. I have always been a great fan of the Hareline Dyed Rooster Saddles for tying steelhead and salmon flies, but until recently, the Streamer Capes eluded my attention. Then in a flash of light (sort of) I found myself standing next to Bob Borden as he arranged a mountain of the most beautiful white Rooster Capes I have seen in years, maybe ever.
“What the heck are those, Bob?”
He smiled that all-knowing smile, and proceeded to tell me a little about the capes. American grown and processed right here in Monroe, Oregon. High feather count. Moderate amount of web. Good hackle range. Versatile. Dyed in Black, chartreuse, hot orange, and purple, in addition to white.
I looked over a pile of the whites. I photographed a batch of chartreuse Bob was laying out to dry. I peered into the dye vat as Marcos checked a batch of hot orange capes.
Ooohhhhhh man, these looked good.
I pushed and pulled, fiddled and fussed, spread out feathers, checked stems, and felt for fullness on several dozen capes. Oh Boy. “Honey, it’s me. Yeah, I’m down at Hareline. Yeah, I found some really great feathers. Yeah, I know I told you I had everything I needed for quite a while – but – these are so good, and Bob says, “when they’re gone they’re gone. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I know. Ok honey, just a few – for now – I’ll order them from the Caddis Fly” (note blatant biased advertisement here).
Here are a few characteristics worth noting about these capes.
• The largest hackles at the base of the cape tie very nice palmered and collared Spey flies
• The hackle stems are fine enough to wind-on nicely
• They have a nice balance of web and fiber firmness
• Bob understated the hackle count, these are very full-feathered capes
• Unlike my favorite White Dyed Saddle Patches, which tend to have a size range of mostly #2 to #4 with fewer #6s, these Streamer Capes have a much wider hackle range, say #1/0 to #10
• I have found these tie very nice hackle collars for my Steelhead and Sea-run cutthroat flies, and – joy of joys – they have made some great Comets too!
• The colors are true and the whites are white
• And yes, when they’re are gone, bye-bye!
Sorry, this review has demonstrated one of my many shortcomings as a fly tyer, specifically; I have limited experience tying STREAMERS! After all, these are Pro Grade STREAMER CAPES. These are not advertised for the types of flies I have found them most useful for.
What to do? Y’all tell me. I look at these beautiful curved feathers that range from very small to very large and my imagination runs wild on streamers. These feathers could be faced with dull concave sides together or with shiny convex sides together – a making for either a slim streamer wing, or a traditional, curved, pulse-in-the-water wing.
Sorry, I know these Capes will tie great STREAMERS, but I just finished my hundred dozen steelhead flies and promised myself I would learn to tie skaters this summer. So I’m depending on someone else to tie the streamers with these beauties, all-righty?
Tie yourself silly – – –
JN
In this new fly tying video, Karl The Mule demonstrates the Light Cahill, a Catskills-style dry fly that he uses to imitate pale mayfly duns in our McKenzie and Willamette Rivers. Check out Westfly for more on PMDs and PEDs.
Light Cahill Dry
Hook: TMC 101, #12-18
Thread: 8/0 Unithread Light Cahill (any cream or pale yellow)
Tail: Ginger or Cream Hackle Fibers
Body: Hareline Dubbin Light Cahill (or substitute any cream colored dubbing)
Hackle: Ginger or Cream dry fly saddle hackle
Wing: Wood duck flank (or dyed mallard flank)
Recent hot weather and perfect water conditions on the lower Umpqua river have the plentiful Smallmouth Bass on the grab. We got a late start on the day and did not put in at Woods Ramp until about noon. We tried a couple of new crayfish patterns and another one of Barretts “curly tail” flies. Both caught fish but nothing like the Craby Clouser I switched to later in the day. A two fly system featuring two Craby Clousers #6 was deadly. Casting towards structure and retriving often resulted in two fish on the same line. Ok if you let the first Bass hooked swim around a bit longer than the usual “bass master” landing it worked even better. The Umpqua is a great summer fishery and holds up throught September.–CD
When the first movie trailer for The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters in the winter of 1979, the world went crazy. Two and a half years of anticipation had hit the boiling point. But rather than letting off steam, the trailer turned up the heat and compressed our yearning for more. Meltdown would have been imminent if the film had not finally opened that summer. Miraculously, the film delivered all that had been promised. It blew fans away with richer characters, better effects and a more compelling story. That summer took Hollywood to a whole new echelon, and for us fans, it was definitive.
In the microcosm of Northwest steelheading culture, a similar, if less dramatic threshold lies ahead with the promised summer release of Skagit Master, the new film by Jeff Mishler. Steelhead fanatics throughout the Northwest have come to idolize Ed Ward, the mysterious real-life guru of Skagit-style fly fishing. And while some of Ed’s unwanted celebrity has been spun by marketers and peddlers, the true story of Ed Ward is sure to deliver on its promise. Ed is the innovator of the lion’s share of our modern tools and techniques, and he is the steelheader we all wish we could be. Mishler knows all about it. He was among the first steelheaders to recognize Ed’s gifts, to understand what Ed was doing to our sport. Jeff is also one of the most gifted photographers of our time, and an exceptional cinematographer to boot. So nothing in this fishy world could be more appropriate than a film about Ed, by Jeff. Can you tell I’m excited?
If you have never frozen your hands to the bone for days on end in pursuit of winter steelhead, then Skagit Master might not mean much to you. If you have never camped on the rivers edge in the pouring rain, day after soggy day, just for the chance of hooking a wild winter steelhead, then don’t bother watching the movie trailer below. But if you have it in you, you know it. And for those who do, get ready for painful anticipation…
RR
This is the way to do mornings, sunrise on the town run, eggs, coffee and bacon. Lots of nice trout rising at dawn between Island Park and D-Street, but no steelhead on the swing yesterday morning for us. Lots around though.
-MS
Headed up to fish the Upper Middle Fork Willamette on foot yesterday afternoon and found lots of willing, wild trout. What I didn’t expect to find was a bunch of McKenzie Green Caddis. Anybody else seen them up there this late? There were also big stoneflies and huge mayflies. I’m not enough of an entomologist to tell you whether that’s a green or a gray drake in that picture below, but whatever it was had the fish on top. The high and dry hopper dropper rig was my go-to set up, but most of the fish took the dry.
This is prime time wading on the Upper Middle Fork. With 20 miles of fishy water between Lookout Reservoir and Hills Creek Dam to explore.
-MS
Bust those vises out of summer retirement — it’s time to get tying again! Hareline Dubbing in Monroe, OR is sponsoring a quarterly fly tying contest for Oregon Fly Fishing Blog readers. For the first round of the contest, we would like to see your best summer steelhead pattern, either an original or your own spin on a classic pattern.
Drop off two finished flies at The Caddis Fly Shop, along with paperwork that includes the fly pattern name, material list, your name and address, and either email or phone number for contact. You will not get the flies back — one will go to Hareline and one will go to the shop. Bob Borden and the folks from Hareline Dubbin will be the judge of the fly patterns, along with the crew from Oregon Fly Fishing Blog.
If you are not local, please send your flies in the mail to the shop.
The prize for this contest is the full spectrum of Crystal Flash — Yup. One of every single color Hareline makes.
Your patterns are due August 1st, so get tying!
-MS
A flies “floatability” has always been a priority when fishing larger western rivers. Fishing two flies has now become quite common. In order to have a dry fly hold up a bead headed nymph it must be tied with “floatability” in mind. “Floatability” can be an excessive amount of hair, hackle, foam, yarn, or even a Thingamabobber. Yes that’s right the thingamabobber has been integrated with flies. Check out some of our hi and dri patterns pictured below.
Hi and Dri Parachute Hares Ear is a great searching pattern. I’ve used it during Green Drake Hatches as well as for March Browns. It can hold up your #14-16 bead heads when it’s a size #12
Hi and Dri Green Drake in a size #10-12 is an outstanding floater and will hold up size #12-16 nymphs in fast water. This fly is heavily dressed and may not trick your flat water feeders, but in big water you will see it and it will float.
Chubby Chernobyl floats like a toy sailboat. It is a Golden Stone imitator and will hold up standard and tungsten bead heads up to size #8. This fly has been performing really well this year on the upper McKenzie and should work in size #8 on all of our small tributaries.
Jimmy Z is a great floater but a low floater. His muddler head keeps him up but also let’s him dive like and egg laying caddis. Killer attractor pattern.
Thingamastone, just ridiculous I fished this fly all day yesterday with a size #10 Possie Bugger under it. Not ever having to dress a dry fly is a little weird, but very nice. This fly is durable, high floating and you can see it from another zip code. $4.00 a fly and limited quantities at this point.
Thingamahopper, similar result to his cousin the stonefly. This is only the beginning in terms of Thingamabobbers integrated into flies. Wait till next year.
VIDEO: How to rig hopper-dropper
It is a great time to head to the upper tributaries of our rivers and fish a hopper dropper system. Keep is simple, take some Possie Buggers and Prince nymphs sizes #10-14 and a hand full of high floating dries, your boots and shorts, and go do some rock hopping. Try the upper McKenzie on the McKenzie River Trail, the South Fork of the McKenzie above Cougar Reservoir, Salt Creek, Salmon Creek, the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette, and the Middle Fork above Hills Creek reservoir. All of these streams are perfect for a two fly system, and with the hot weather they are a great spot to escape the heat.–CD
I thought about using harsher words in the title but I have been known to habitually destroy garage doors with my pick-up so I’ll stick with the facts and you can fill in the blanks.
A local resident managed to submerge his pick-up in about ten feet of water in the Willamette River–coincidentally right on top of an EWEB water line. The Register Guard has the full story here. That’s going to cost him.
A quick call to the Corps of Engineers and I found out they are going to drop the river a down to a couple thousand CFS not a couple feet as reported in the Register Guard article. They have already reduced the flows out of Dexter and will be doing the same thing at Dorena. Once the truck is removed the Corps is going to bump the flows back up.
This will not affect the navigability of the river though it may not help the fishing.–KM
Today Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced fifty habitat projects that would receive a total of 167 million in federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus package). Included in the projects receiving funding was Eugene’s own Delta Ponds restoration. Trout Unlimited National staff asked its local membership to identify worthy projects. Mckenzie Upper Willamette Chapter VP Todd Mullen brought the Delta Ponds project to the National Staff who lobbyied for it and other Oregon projects to NOAA. Nice work Todd!
The Delta Ponds project will restore and enhance twenty one acres and two river miles of riparian habitat by removing invasive species and connecting seven ponds that provide refuge and rearing habitat for juvenile spring chinook. Removal of the last meaningful impediment to salmon and steelhead on Oregon’s Rogue River, Gold Ray dam, will also receive funding and following the removal of Gold Hill dam in 2008 and Savage Rapids dam which is currently being breached, the lower 153 miles of the Rogue River will flow freely.
There are may other worthwhile projects that will be funded through this initiative including the removal of Great Works dam on the Penbscot River in Maine which is the last “stronghold” for Atlantic salmon in the United States.
No matter your political leanings, I think most people reading this site would agree–improving fish habitat is a wonderful thing.–KM
