Caddis Fly Shop: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

October 26th arrival day in the Bahamas

Posted on October 27, 2008 by Caddisfly

We left Portland Airport at 11:50pm both children still awake. Continental flight to Houston then onto West Palm Beach. Very little sleep and one vomit session. Two children with colds, night time air travel, what do you expect? We arrived in Marsh Harbor on the Bahamian Island of Abaco around 1:30pm est. For the first time in a long time one of my bags doesn’t show up. Which one? Of course the one with 5 rods in it. Continental is working on that one for us and hopefully we the rod case will be delivered in the next day or so.

The weather is dismal. It’s an absolute downpoor making it a bit easier to get settled in to our accomadations. Abaco Palms is a great house situated in Casuarina Point on Abaco. The weather does clear a bit and I string up the one rod I did stuff in my Patagonia Black hole bag.

All the reels made it in my checked gear, the rods failed because of a gate agent wanting me to check the thing at the plane door. A Loop Opti Speed Runner

and Opti Power rod will be the set up for a couple of days. The reel is the size of a bicycle tire and picks up line faster than anything I have ever used. It is very light and looks super cool (very important in a reel). The rod is nice and will get a better test under better conditions. With a bit of clearing I do make it out to the flats, light is still tough and I spot a couple of fish to late. The weather is set to improve and we have good tides upcoming. Fishing should be great. Stay tuned for more reports.-CD

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel | Leave a comment

Fall fly fishing on the Deschutes River, Central Oregon

Posted on October 24, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Lou Verdugo, Caddis Employee and Guide spent last week with a few of his friends on the Deschutes, from Trout Creek to Maupin. The steelheading was fair and the trout fishing was very good. Steelhead were caught nymphing on Copper Johns and the infamous “Possie Bugger”.

During the mid-day trout were very active in the Deschutes back eddies. Trout were rising for small olive mayfly imitations and olive X-caddis. During the evenings, the October Caddis hatch was “full on” with foam October caddis patterns, X Caddis, and Caddis pupa working very well.

Fall on the Deschutes is a very special time and allows time for reflection and of course, some seriously great fishing! The weather pattern was very good (perhaps a bit too good for the steelheading!) and allowed for easy camp set ups and take downs.

The route from Trout Creek to Maupin always brings a level of anxiousness in dealing with Whitehorse Rapids.

The Deschutes is a very special place and during the fall the canyon becomes more majestic with the fall colors and a great place to enjoy some fantastic fishing with great friends. -LV

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report | 1 Comment

Fall fly fishing on the Upper McKenzie River better than fishing famous rivers in the Rockies

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

There is nothing in the world of fly fishing like drifting the Upper McKenzie River’s highest sections.

The traditional beautiful water clichés don’t apply to the Upper McKenzie River. Gin, crystal, jewel — these images imply sterility, when these waters are the exact opposite. The water does seem to glow and is incredibly clear, but beneath the surface the water roils with moss, insects, fish and current. It’s more like looking into the top of an aquarium.

This upper river allows you to enjoy the mechanics of fly fishing — the cast, the drag free drift — at its finest. You’ve got a short, stiff leader that turns over just like it’s supposed to, attached to an impossibly huge, foam body bug, the size of a ping pong ball.

You’re reading water, making rapid fire casts pockets against the banks, side-arming casts under tree limbs, and trying to keep a drag free drift as you slide down the river at eight miles per hour.

The fish that live here are cagey, acrobatic animals. You hook one just as your boat is about to plunge into a rapid. No time to play the fish, you take it down with you, over the falls and hope the confusion plays to your favor. It often does — I’ve never lost a fish I’ve played while tumbling through a rapid. They swim down to the next pool, and then bear down in the current, using the full force of the water rushing down from the Cascades against you, your fly line vibrating lin the current ike a guitar string, far below the surface.

And then the fish is in your hand. Not some oversized silvery minnow the color of an old quarter with bent fins and mushy mouth. This meaty football of a fish, this torpedo, has a huge dorsal fin, like a shark standing straight up. It’s spotted like a leopard and rippling with muscle.

These are the trout you’ve been looking for, wild native fish raised in fast water, co-evolved with salmon and bull trout. These fish eat big meals: Golden Stones, Green Drakes, Gray Drakes, October Caddis and short-wing stoneflies.

You can have the placid, crowded famous rivers of the Rocky Mountain west, with non-native fish and size 22 mayflies. Give me a drift boat in the Cascades, making split second decisions on where to cast, a stonefly the size of a Bic lighter clinging to the side of my face.

The rhythm of fishing a river this steep, running a Class Five rapid like Fish Ladder, is like riding a bull. Your legs are braced against the bow of the boat, rocking back and forth with the waves and the oarsman, trying to pull off casts and duck under sweeping branches. It’s a physical activity.

Bottom line: The Upper McKenzie is a pristine watershed with more excitedment, wild-ness, and action than you’ll find on a “Blue Ribbon” stream in Montana or Wyoming. You want to talk size? How about wild fish over 20″ on a regular basis? And what’s that sulking at the bottom of that pool? Is that 25lb fish a spawning Chinook salmon, bringing a mega-load of ocean nutrients into this system? Or is it a bull trout, apex predator, waiting to burst out of the pool to snatch that 12-inch trout off your line.

Big fish, big bugs, huge old growth trees, and wild rapids. It doesn’t get any better.

PS, Whitefish need love too:

-MS

Posted in McKenzie River | 2 Comments

EWEB, Conservation Groups Announce Planned Fish Ladder

Posted on October 22, 2008 by Caddisfly

Eugene, Oregon

Yesterday, the Eugene Water and Electric Board announced an agreement reached after months of arduous settlement negotiations between EWEB, conservation groups, environmental groups, Indian tribes and state agencies regarding the final license application for EWEB’s Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project. Interested parties spearheaded by Trout Unlimited’s Kate Miller entered into negotiations with EWEB hoping to provide greater environmental protections and enhancement actions while allowing EWEB to continue to operate the project.

Everyone at yesterday’s signing ceremony hailed the agreement as a positive step for restoring endangered spring chinook salmon and bull trout populations in the Mckenzie basin while allowing EWEB to utilize a clean, non-polluting energy resource. Highlights of the agreement include:

Construction and maintenance of a volitional fish ladder at Trailbridge dam allowing spring chinook access to spawning habitat and permitting bull trout to move throughout the basin.
provision of downstream passage at Trailbridge dam.
EWEB will keep Trailbridge Reservoir at a level suitable to allow Bull trout unimpeded access to Sweetwater Creek at all times.
Placement of spawning gravel in the Mckenzie river above Trailbridge and placement of gravel and large woody debris in the Smith River channel below Smith dam.
Increased flows in the Smith and Carmen by-pass reaches.
Maintenance of the existing spawning channel below Trailbridge dam.
Barriers so that fish do not swim into the turbines at Trailbridge dam.

The signing ceremony formally marks the end of the negotiation phase and EWEB’s finalized request for a renewed operating license will go before the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee. If approved, the utility will be permitted to operate the project for another 50 years.

The Carmen-Smith Hydroproject is an interesting piece of engineering. The entire Mckenzie river is impounded at Carmen Diversion dam shortly downstream from Koosah falls. The river is placed in a tunnel and flows underground where it outfalls into the Smith River reservoir to the north. The entire Mckenzie is dewatered for a couple miles before it springs back to life at Blue Pool/ Tamolitch Dry Falls. The river flows for another couple miles before being impounded again at Traibridge dam/reservoir. Meanwhile, there is another tunnel/penstock that connects Smith Reservoir to Trailbridge reservoir and there is a powerhouse at the end of this tunnel that generates electricity. This diagram should help clarify matters:

There were many notable people at yesterday’s signing ceremony including Robert Lohn, Regional Administrator Northwest NOAA Fisheries who was quoted as saying, “the Willamette system is fractured and broken and we need to reconnect it, lest we lose our struggling salmon runs.”

I couldn’t agree more. Keep posted and get involved. There is a lot of momentum and now is the time to restore the Willamette watershed.–KM

Posted in Oregon Conservation News | Leave a comment

Trout Unlimited ramping up support in Deschutes area

Posted on October 21, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Trout Unlimited hasn’t had much influence in central Oregon. The organization has tried to start chapters in the area in recent years with limited success. But the Deschutes system is such an important watershed, TU isn’t going to give up easily. The organization is bringing in national staff onboard to help shore up support for a chapter on the Upper Deschutes by designating it a Home Rivers Initiative.

TU says the Upper Deschutes is home to ESA-listed bull trout, and prior to dam construction, a spawning and rearing range for native salmon and steelhead. But the system is impacted by large-scale agriculture, dense livestock grazing, and forestry operations, and it is also being loved to death by outdoor enthusiasts flocking to the area.

The challenge to TU and its partners is to recognize the qualities in-stream and out that make pockets of strong fish populations possible, to restore and recover what’s been lost or is missing , and to work with stakeholders in the watershed to link those pockets together again in a functioning, healthy watershed from tiny headwaters all the way down to the Columbia.

If you’re up to that challenge, plan on heading to the Central Oregon Environmental Center in Bend on November 1st. Details on the Upper Deschutes Home Rivers Initiative are here.

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report, Oregon Conservation News | 1 Comment

Mckenzie and Willamette Rivers water levels higher than normal

Posted on October 20, 2008 by Caddisfly

In preparation for fall rains the Army corps of engineers has been releasing plenty water from our local impoundments. Water released from Hills Creek Reservoir and Dexter Reservoir has both the Middle Fork and main-stem of the Willamette higher than historical averages. While higher water is excellent for the long term health of the river and it’s fish, it can make wading a bit tougher. The same story goes for the Mckenzie drainage where Cougar Reservoir and Blue River Reservoir have the Mckenzie running very high when compared to the past 10 years and beyond. What does this mean in regards to local fishing opportunities?

If you have a boat and can fish the lower reaches of the Mckenzie and Willamette you will do fine. Blue Winged Olives, Brown Caddis, Mahogany Duns and October Caddis hatches have been very good. Pressure from predators and other anglers is extremely low. Larger fish will move into slower, shallower edges to feed. Wading anglers will do fine in similar water it’s just going to be a bit tougher to out to your favorite spot.

If you are wading and like smaller water I would look to get above the aforementioned reservoirs. On the Willamette system fish the Middle Fork above Hills Creek Reservoir, Salmon Creek, The North Fork of the Middle Fork and Salt Creek. The tributaries will all be very low and mid day fishing will be good. On the Mckenzie system look above Cougar Reservoir on the South Fork of the Mckenzie. On the main Mckenzie fish above where the Blue River and the South Fork enter the river. The Mckenzie near Belknap is under 800 CFS, compared to the river at Vida at over 4000 cubic feet per second.

Weather and water conditions holding on nicely. We are very lucky to have such a long season on our local streams. Late October can be great, few anglers, good hatches and some very nice fish to be had.-CD

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | 1 Comment

Pleasant Fall weather continues, trout fishing holding up on the Mckenzie River and Middle Fork of the Willamette

Posted on October 19, 2008 by Caddisfly

Hatches of October Caddis, Blue Winged Olives, Mahogany Duns and “brownish orange” caddisflies size # 14-16 are present on our local rivers. We’ve had some warmer days and nights recently and trout have responded nicely.

As the season winds down Mckenzie and Willamette trout become opportunistic feeders. Attractors like Royal Wulffs and Stimulators as well as imitators like CDC Orange Elk Hair Caddis, standard Orange Elk hair caddis, Hackle Stacker flag Dun Adams and Mahogany Duns will take fish. With fewer nymphs in the drift and more insects near shore due to the colder evenings, fish seem to be hanging near the banks and in slower water.

Generally speaking you will see more Caddisflies on warmer bright days and more Mayflies during the cloudy and rainy days. We are looking at some fine weather and fishing conditions for the next week. Get out and enjoy and good Luck-CD

Posted in Fishing Reports, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | Leave a comment

Bahamas Bonefish trip preview

Posted on October 17, 2008 by Caddisfly

November is nearly upon us and while Oregon offers some incredible fall fishing, warmer climates beckon. Bonefish are the quarry and Abaco in the Bahamas the destination. Caddis Fly employees and customers have been travelling to Abaco to bonefish for years. If you can avoid hurricanes, fishing can be fantastic. Hot summer weather has kept traffic on the flats light and fish are eager to take the well placed shrimp or crab imitation.

Stay tuned to the blog for onsite updates “from the flats” late October through the first week of November. We will be testing tackle from Bauer, Rio, Loop, Sage and Scientific Anglers. Hopefully fishing will be excellent and numerous fly patterns can be put to the test as well.

Regardless of how the fishing is, how can one complain, cold beer, warm water flats, beautiful sunsets and good times.-CD

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel | Leave a comment

Lowly Glowly pounding steelhead on the Middle Fork Willamette

Posted on October 17, 2008 by Caddisfly

Caddis fly customer and fly-rod steelhead convert Austin Arrowood has been putting the hurt on steelhead in the Willamette River near Dexter Reservoir on the Lowly Glowly.

“The Lowly Glowly is a definite getter. With a few slight changes in color/way of tying , I banked 2 bucks & 1 hen within 3 hours. Check out the lowly glowly’s in there homes. My first steelheads on a fly pole. The only time I will pick up my baitcaster again will be too trade it in for more fly gear from the Caddis Fly Shop. My ambitions have been replaced with a fun upgrade” Arrowood wrote in an email.

“These steelhead were pulled out next to an army of baitfisherman, I was the 1 fly fisherman, killin it just as hard, if not harder. The next day I went out, I couragesly squeezed into an crack between fishless baitfisherman, I landed another on the day’s very first cast. I give special thanks to you for showing me this indicator setup. This lowly glowly pattern KILLS IT, I’ve seem to have most success with the orange mcfly foam, orange estaz, & GOLD dumbell eyes. This pattern has hooked at least 10 fish in the last 3 days, & landed 5. It’s almost too easy, I might have to go for the swing now, & taste something harder & different.”

Posted in Middle Fork Willamette River fishing, Summer Steelhead | 1 Comment

Last chance for Linton Lake brown trout

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

What would drive a man to drag his pregnant wife out into the Three Sisters Wilderness through ankle deep snow last weekend?

I’d heard rumors of giant brown trout in Linton Lake, fish with heads large enough to look like they belong on a golden retriever. I was told I’d see them finning in the shallows, just waiting for an unsuspecting black wooly bugger to try to sneak past them. So I packed up my float tube, a few wooly buggers and a sinking line and convinced my wife it would be a nice hike. And it probably would have been, without the snow.

That said, if I’d caught a 10lb brown trout, you’d have seen the photo already. The brown trout were crusing the shallow eastern edge of the lake and they did take wooly buggers, but I didn’t not see any of the mythical monster fish.

Posted in Oregon High Lakes | 5 Comments

Willamette Spring Chinook Recovery Gains Momentum

Posted on October 13, 2008 by Caddisfly

Upper Willamette Spring Chinook were listed as a threatened species in 1999. Finally, in 2008 the United States Army Corps of Engineers has come up with a proposal to mitigate harm caused by the operation dams in the Willamette basin (Cougar, Blue River, Dexter, Lookout Point, Detroit, Big Cliff, etc.). The agency was spurred to action after dragging its heels for over 7 years by Willamette Riverkeeper and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center who filed a 60 day notice of intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act. Shortly thereafter, the Corps released its plan. Go figure. It shouldn’t take a lawsuit for a federal agency to follow the law but apparently it does. The fact that they were able to turn a plan around such a short time after finding out a lawsuit was pending is indicative of bad faith in my opinion.

Historically, over 300,000 wild chinook returned to rivers such as the Santiam, Mckenzie, Clackamas and Middle Fork Willamette. In the 1920’s fish were still at near historic numbers but industrial development on the Willamette and its tributaries as well as the construction of dams beginning in the 1940’s led to a sharp and consistent decline in wild fish populations. Despite a small up tick this decade wild fish runs average approximately 10,000 per year (1/30th of historic numbers) approximately half of which return to the Mckenzie.

Now, the Corps is calling for a myriad of expensive techno-fixes at these dams which include improved trap and haul facilities, the construction of downstream passage facilities at some of the dams and potentially temperature control towers.

The crisis on the Willamette is less contentious than the battles over the Columbia and the Governor’s office is working closely with the agency and restoration plans appear to be moving forward provided funding is made available. Unfortunately, the plan appears to rely on untested technologies or technologies that do not yet exist to improve conditions. One option not being considered is to lower the the height of certain dams (Cougar comes to mind) in the basin allowing volitional fish passage. Even a lowered dam could provide nearly equivalent amounts of flood control. When we are most likely to experience flooding events, the dams are approaching full pool and only have the storage capacity of a smaller dam so operators have to open the floodgates like in 1996.

In my opinion, the plan does not go far enough. Nonetheless, this plan is a step forward and we can be grateful for that. –KM

Posted in Oregon Conservation News | Leave a comment

McKenzie River Two-Fly tournament participants have a blast, fund salmon habitat improvement

Posted on October 13, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

On Friday, October 3rd, the first annual McKenzie River Two-Fly tournament officially kicked off at the welcome reception at the Oregon Electric Station with guides, participants, and Trout Unlimited members enjoying appetizers, beer and wine.

This inaugural event raised $2500 to help McKenzie River Trust improve spring chinook spawning habitat at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers. Chris Vogel, director of the Green Island Project at McKenzie River Trust gave a presentation on the organization’s upcoming stream restoration project.

How is the money being spent?
The proceeeds from this year’s tournament went to McKenzie River Trust’s project at Green Island. This island, over 1,000 acres in size is located just west of the town of Coburg and is formed by the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers. It was purchased from the Green Family by MRT in 2003. (The following slides are from MRT’s Chris Vogel)

Green Island’s side channels are home to Spring Chinook Salmon and Bull Trout. In winter, juvenile fish use the flooded backwaters on Green Island to escape the high water conditions. In one particular section, the backchannel flooded and was dammed with sediment, creating Crescent Lake.

Crescent Lake is home to threatened, native salmonids, but now it is also home to invasive warmwater species. On the reccomendation of Oregon State University fisheries biologists, MRT plans to notch Crescent Lake, reconnecting it to the mainstem Willamette River. Reconnecting this backchannel will increase habitat for salmonids in the winter, and decrease habitat for non-native, predatory fish in the summer.

If you would like to get more involved with MRT and Green Island, check out the tree planting, October 25.

Tournament participants and sponsors
Special thanks to all the guides who rowed, donating time and hard work for the benefit of the McKenzie River: Chris Daughters, Karl Mueller, Mike Reardon and Lou Verdugo. They all did a great job keeping the participants safe and on top of fish.

We’d also like to thank the participants: Alex Richardson, TJ Matteri, Rick McCreery, Joan McCreery, Todd Mullen, Julian Kudritzki, Greg Hatten and Clifton Molatore. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Lastly, we’d like to thank Al Coppola of the Okonite Company. Al’s donation to the cause in the tournament was key to the the event’s success.

Fly fishing tournament results
Saturday, October 4 the rain poured down as contestants lined up at the Blue River boat ramp. Guides and participants selected each boat’s flies for the day.

Each team had a different strategy on fly selection:
Team Daughters: Morrish October Caddis, two Possie Buggers and a Mega Prince.
Team Reardon: Half-down golden stone, some sort of prince nymph girdle bug hybrid, an awesome October Caddis pupae derrivation, and an orange stimulator.

Team Verdugo: Morrish October Caddis, Small prince nymph, Mega Prince and a CDC Possie Bugger.
Team Mule: Black Stonefly nymph, Giant orange Madam X, possie bugger and mega prince.

After a long day on the water, the contestants piled into Ike’s Pizza for the awards ceremony. The teams were cagey before the final tally of the lenght of each team’s three largest fish. When the measurements were announced, Team Beast (Lou Verdugo, Clifton Molatore and Greg Hatten — photo below) was the clear winner, and second place was a three way tie. The tie was broken by largest individual fish length and second place went to Team Mule (Karl Mueller, Todd Mullen and Julian Kudritzki) thanks to Mullen’s monster native trout, caught on a dry fly in the final hour of the tournament.

Here are the some comments from the participants:

Lou Verdugo: My team worked very hard. It was a lot of fun. The elements were against us. Our nymphing techniques were good. The highlights included chasing down a fine redside and Greg climbing up into a tree to retrieve a fly. We almost lost one entire set up 100 yards from the put in.

Mike Reardon: We caught quite a few fish, some planters and natives. Our bugs lasted most of the day, but we lost three flies. We fished for eight hours straight, two rods going non stop. I almost went for a swim for a possie bugger. Rationing four bugs for eight hours is a different strategy, but it’s fun. All of the participants’ fish came within a couple inches, so one fish puts you over the top for an $1800 prize.

Clifton Molatore: Mega Prince worked well for me when I got a good sized split shot on it. We didn’t go as far as everybody else, so we worked the holes pretty good and when we did, we seemed to bring up some big fish. This was the first time I’ve ever fished competitively. It was a little weird, caring about how long the each fish was. You didn’t fish real tight to the banks, and if it was shallow, we pulled up.

Karl Mueller: The highlight was definitely the big fish that made a sound like a carp taking a cheese puff on top. Fishing competitively makes you a little more serious. It could have gone any which way, you never know how it will turn out.

Todd Mullen: The big fish came up and didn’t take the fly very hard, so it was difficult to set it. I knew it was a big fish when it was on. It was back underneath some alders. I lost my first fly in the first hour, but I used my dry fly most of the day.

Chris Daughters: At Cooks Rapids we hooked a big fish, lost it, and then made a backcast — hooking two flies into a whitewater raft. We chased the raft down, but no one in the raft could speak English, and they kept yelling “Go Ducks” while we followed them down the river. Eventually we got the flies out of the raft and only lost a half mile of productive water.

Get ready for next year folks. October 10, 2009 is the date for the second annual McKenzie River Two-Fly Tournament. Thanks again to all of the participants, sponsors and guides.

Posted in McKenzie River, Oregon Conservation News, Oregon Fly Fishing Clubs and Events | 1 Comment

Sleep in? Crisp fall weather is upon us and activity peaks mid-day

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Caddisfly

The past few days our weather has shifted, and cooler nights are upon us. Water conditions are still excellent but water temperatures are heading downward. The one to three degrees of upward movement on the thermometer are making a big difference during the day. Activity is far better between the hours of 11am and 4pm.

Fly patterns to have in the box currently include, Orange Madam X, Foam October Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis Orange and Brown, Blue Winged Olives, Mahogany Duns, Prince Nymphs, Possie Buggers and Parachute Adams-CD

Posted in Fishing Reports, Lower Willamette, McKenzie River, Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | Leave a comment

Oregon anglers makes a trip to Montana

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Caddisfly

Eugene angler Pat Banks made a trip to Montana recently he gave us the following report.

Go East Old Man, Go East

Our trip east was to be combination fishing for me, quilt shop stops for my wife and a return to my family’s roots in South Dakota. First up was a jaunt to Idaho’s panhandle for a few days visit with Uncle Larry and Aunt Bea. Uncle Larry will soon be 90, and I believe his secret to longevity can be assigned to daily consumption of Crown Royal. Who am I to argue with that kind of success?

We left late in the day and drove to Umatilla. We spent the night at the Umatilla RV Park and Marina. Walleye are the fish to catch in that area. And a note to the hardware and bait people: there seem to be some good salmon fishing action where the Deschutes meets the Columbia. Not much fly fishing action that first day.

The second day on the road and I found some real hot action. It was tasting samples of hot sauces at a roadside stand out of Pasco. I was invited to sample because one of the tasters was unable to attend. All I had to do was dribble some sauce on a tortilla chip and give my opinion of the heat. After tasting the first sample and having the paramedics pour a half gallon of milk and a six pack of Bud down me, I was ready for the second sample: Da’Bomb. I should have read the warning label, “Consume one drop at a time and keep out of reach of children” this gourmet delight was only 119,700 scoville units. I say this only because the first two (of ten) samples were at the low end of the scale. I had always heard that a near death experience was peaceful and without pain…not so in this case. My hot sauce tasting days were over. In fact my tasting anything days had come to a fiery end.

Next stop would be for a few days in Idaho and hopefully fish catching. By the time we left Idaho the quilt shops were way ahead of my fly-fishing. The one fly shop I found had many major fly-fishing manufacturing signs posted on the windows but no products. The only stream I found to fish was just beyond Beyond Hope. Yes, there is such a place. It’s just down the road from Hope and East Hope. The stream was really beyond hope, low and hardly any holding pockets.

Finally after those fruitless days of foaming Idaho’s Pend Oreville country, the fly fishing god grinned while fishing Montana’s Yellowstone River (Paradise Valley section). I say grinned and not smiled because although the day and float was gorgeous, the trout were not willing to anger the quilt god that day.

We put in at Pine Creek and floated to Carters Bridge. In the morning slow and steady slurping ahead of us would give us a target to aim for with a para hopper and caddis pupa dropper, but as the sun moved higher in the cloudless blue sky and the temperature rose, the action was all hoppers on top. Ty had tied some hoppers the night before and I had some that I had meticulous crafted during the winter months. After flaying the water for some time I came to the conclusion that on that day, Montana brown trout were not in tune with Oregon tied hoppers. So I begged Ty for one of his. Just the ticket. We would focus on any obstructions lying in the river or where any undercut banks happen to be found. A BWO hatch took place so I tried a couple patterns but the fish wanted a big meaty meal so once again I put aside my ego and switched back to Ty’s hopper.

The brown were dainty eaters for the most part that day and to set the hook we had to use the tired and true quick set method. We either yanked the fly out of their mouth or set the hook. More fish were left with a fleeting taste of sponge rubber or feathers rather than cold steel. Except for some early morning action the rainbows found other activities to entertain themselves.

If you have the urge to fish Yellowstone this time of year be sure to stock up on hoppers, BWO, a dark caddis and a parachute Adams. As far as a wet any caddis emerger should work for you. The biggest fish were taken on top. If you want spectacular scenery the Paradise section can’t be beat but be aware it is also the most heavily fished. For a less heavily fished float try Otter access to Pelican.

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

Chrome salmon on the Umpqua

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Caddisfly

Note to self: get set up with a shooting head system.

I tried fishing my fly rod with a extra fast sinking tip, heavily weighted clouser and a couple pieces of split shot but after nearly bouncing the fly off the back of my head a couple times decided it wasn’t worth the risk. I switched over to a spinner as we slowly trolled upstream pitching at the banks and retriving. It seems there are a ton of native coho around this year and though I was hoping for one for the barbecue it was awesome to do battle with natives this bright. We caught three fish total and they all looked like this:

There were fish everywhere between Bunch bar and Sawyer’s rapids and reports indicate that coho and chinook are spread throughout the Umpqua system. The recent rain event brought rivers up enough to empty out tidewater and bring fish into the river proper and the dry spell following the rain has rivers at ideal levels for pursuing salmon with a fly rod. Both the Umpqua and Siuslaw are good bets for getting in to one of these chrome bruisers. Remember, the Siuslaw/Lake creek system is closed at the forks and above. If you can shirk work, do it!–KM

Posted in Fishing Porn, Fishing Reports | 4 Comments