Barrumundi fly fishing report from Thailand

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Sun Saeteurn, Caddis Fly customer and U of O grad, is currently living in Thailand. He recently went fly fishing for Barrumundi and sent us the following report:

I went Barrumundi fishing this past weekend at some private ponds right outside of Bangkok. I caught many Barrumundi, as these are the strongest fish pound for pound I have ever fished for. The initial strike is really something else. These fish were laying in “brackish” water, which is a mixture of seawater and fresh water. I was using various rods from a 7-9 weight. We used various saltwater flies with some marabou,hackle, and lead eyes on 1/O and 2/O hooks. We had on 50lb shock tippet with a 10lb class tippet. The fish weighed from 6-11 pounds. The smaller ones tend to be more acrobatic, as they often jumped and splashed. I saw my backing most of the day, which resulted in finger burns and a soar right arm. This was a new fly fishing experience that I will never forget. I highly recommend this to anyone coming to Thailand. I hope you enjoy the photos. Check out the guides link, he was nothing short of first class and truly a legendary fly fishermen.

barramundi2

barramundi

barramundi3

Be sure to check out our Summer Sale.

Posted in Fly Fishing Travel | 2 Comments

Oregon Albacore Tuna success 45 miles off Newport

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Caddis Fly customer Lee Daniel reports tuna on the fly, 45 miles out of Newport. Daniel was outfitted with a Sage 10 wt 9 foot Xi2 rod, a 10-11 Nautilus reel, 400-grain 24-foot shooting head line and 350 feet of backing. The 24-lb. albacore pictured below took 50 minutes to land. Daniel also landed a 10lb. tuna the same day.

Lee Daniel Tuna Trip

Lee Daniel Tuna Trip

Lee Daniel Tuna Trip

Posted in Oregon Saltwater Fishing | 2 Comments

Oregon Albacore Tuna flies: Craft Fur Sardine

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

For those of you gearing up for Oregon’s hot albacore tuna run, Barrett has tied up some patterns to check out, including this Craft Fur Sardine:

Craft Fur Sardine: Albacore Fly!

Barrett’s Craft Fur Sardine
Thread: 6/0 White Uni Thread
Hook: 3/0 SC15 Gamakatsu
Tail: White Craft Fur
Body: Pearl and Silver Flashabou
Wing: White Craft Fur
Overwing: Chartreuse and peacock angel hair
Shoulder: Orange Flashabou
Eyes: 6mm Prismatic
Marker: Black for barring

Be sure to check in with Barrett this week — he’s supposed to be heading offshore if the conditions hold up.

Posted in Fly Tying, Oregon Saltwater Fishing | 3 Comments

Rogue River looking better for Summer Steelhead

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Caddisfly

The past few years have seen pretty dismal runs of “half pounder” steelhead on the lower Rogue River. Early indications for this year, are that both the adult steelhead and the one salt juveniles (half pounders) numbers are up. Much of the anlging pressure on the lower Rogue right now is directed towards fall Chinook. But just out of the salt and up towards Agness and Foster Bar anglers are finding steelhead. Fishing is best early and late, typical steelhead swings with floating and sink tip lines will produce fish. The half pounders run 12″-20″ and are a great fight on a five or a six weight. Best flies include large Prince Nymphs, Copper John type patterns in large sizes and Crystal Stone fly nymphs.

One of Oregon’s most scenic trips is a float through the Wild and Scenic Rogue River Canyon. Along the way anglers will fish for steelhead, stay and rustic lodges and enjoy the great flora and fauna of an unspoiled watershed. Fishing from Mckenzie style drift boats ideal for navigating the Rogue’s famous whitewater, the trip is fantastic. We have openings for this 3 night 4 day float on Sept 12th and Sept 22nd, give us a call if you would like more info or a brochure.-CD

Posted in Summer Steelhead | Leave a comment

East Lake Fly Fishing Report

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Caddisfly

Reports from East Lake Resort have fly anglers doing well.   Wind drifting with Callibaetis nymphs is providing anglers success.   Fox, Thorax, and Cripple Callibaetis, along with slime lines should prove to be effective.

LV

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report, Oregon High Lakes | Leave a comment

Summer Sale on at The Caddis Fly

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Caddisfly

We are just weeks away from launching our eccomerce store caddisflyshop.com. When the store is live our entire stock will available online. In the meantime seasonal and discontinued items in stock at the shop are being discounted 30%. Items on sale include Sage “FLi” Rods, Sage VT2 spey rods, Sage Z-Axis Spey Rods, Redington Spey Rods, Cortland Fly Lines, Ex Officio clothes, Redington CPS rods, Redington CDreels and Sage 3000 series reels.  Give us a call if you have a particular item in mind, we will ship for free within the continental US. If you live in the Lane County region stop by and have a look at our sale items.-CD

Posted in Oregon Fly Fishing Tips | Leave a comment

To Protect Redsides and Bull Trout, Bait Ban Proposed on the Mckenzie

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Caddisfly

The Register Guard recently reported that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is proposing to ban bait on a popular stretch of the Mckenzie river between Blue River and Goodpasture Bridge.  As reported by the RG, the proposal initially came from the Mckenzie River Guides Association who are concerned by the apparently dwindling number of wild redsides in the river.   The Blue River to Goodpasture Bridge bait ban has the support of the ODFW biologists who are also concerned as they have been unable to come up with a valid population estimate because they cannot capture and then recapture enough natives.  The guides also proposed banning bait between Hayden and Hendricks Bridge though that proposal does not have the support of ODFW and as such is unlikely to be adopted.

We support the banning of bait on this section of the river, perhaps unsurprisingly for a flyfishing blog.  But, this isn’t about a grab for more flywater. The fact is that native redsides and bull trout need protection and trout caught on bait have a substantially higher mortality rate than fish caught on artificials. When was the last time you gut hooked a fish with a fly? It just doesn’t happen.

The article also quotes a couple of anglers whose points I’d like to address.  Basically, the argument is that the ban is unfair to kids who are unable to fish artificial lures.  Personally, I fish with lures and gear in the winter with my boy and he has a far easier time casting spinners than bait for steelhead because with a spinner, there is only one control point.  So  don’t think that is true.  Also, as the angler in the article points out, “[i]f the rule is adopted as proposed, he said, ‘realistically, I’m better off going to smaller stream or something.’”  Bingo! There are plenty of places to fish where bait is allowed.

Another gentleman argued that without a driftboat you can’t do anything on the Mckenzie with a fly rod . . . well, if you are reading this you probably know that isn’t true. Plus, he can always fish elsewhere too.

Personally, I think protecting our native fish populations is much more important than allowing everybody to drown worms on the Mckenzie.  If you feel the same way you can send written comments to : Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Angling Regulations, 3406 Cherry Avenue NE, Salem, OR 97303 or e-mailed to the Angling Regulations Coordinator at: rhine.t.messmer@state.or.us.  You can also sign our comments that we will be sending in to the commission at the shop. Better yet, you can attend the hearing on all proposed regulatory changes Sept. 18-19 in Forest Grove.

Maybe with less pressure, they could also plant less fish . . . I’m not holding my breath on that one.–KM

Posted in McKenzie River, Oregon Conservation News | 1 Comment

Sportsmen need to stand up for hard rock mining reform now

Posted on August 14, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Trout Unlimited, Northwest Steelheaders and other conservation groups are making a concerted effort to update the 1872 Mining Law. According to the National Wildlife Federation:

Under this law, mining takes precedence over all other public land uses, including fishing. The Secretary of the Interior is required to sell public land to mining companies, often foreign-owned, for as little as $2.50 per acre. Furthermore, mining companies pay no royalties for hard rock minerals — gold, copper and zinc — that belong to all citizens. It is estimated that since the 1872 Mining Law was enacted, the U.S. government has given away more than $245 billion through royalty-free mining and patenting. Over 40% of western headwaters are contaminated by mining pollution and 500,000 abandoned mines despoil the landscape.

You don’t have to look far to see how this nightmare affects us in Oregon. From the Register-Guard: On the South Umpqua River, a foreign, multinational copper mining company tunneled into a mountain south of Roseburg, quit the venture after 2 1/2 years and left behind an ecological disaster: Eighteen miles of salmon-rearing stream are dead, killed by acidic waters running from the mine. This is a dirty secret from the Oregon backcountry, where hills are pocked with at least 140 abandoned mines. A dozen of them gush fish-killing acidic waters.

According to the RG, the Formosa cleanup on the South Umpqua won’t be cheap. The state Department of Environmental Quality already has spent more than $1.5 million at the site and failed to stop the pollution. Some estimates set the price of an effective fix as high as $15 million.

That’s taxpayer dollars. We’re literally paying for cut-and-run mining companies to destroy our fisheries.

In November, the House of Representatives approved the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 (HR 2262), which passed with bipartisan support 244-166. But the Senate has stalled introducing a reform bill. The NY Times recently ran an editorial, calling for mining reform and pointed to Democrat Harry Reid as the culprit for holding up this important legislation. “Harry Reid, the majority leader, is a miner’s son whose home state of Nevada does a brisk business in mining. Mr. Reid has been unenthusiastic about reform in general and royalties in particular.”

It’s high time to let folks like Reid know that the hunters and anglers won’t stand for this garbage. Email him or call 202-224-3542. You could also give Senator Gordon Smith a nudge by calling 202-224-3753. Smith listens to sportsmen and needs to hear why mining reform is a good idea. Senator Ron Wyden has been a supporter from the beginning.

For more info, check out Sportsmen United for Sensible Mining. -MS

Posted in Oregon Conservation News | Leave a comment

Hiker saves drowning steelhead angler on the Deschutes River

Posted on August 13, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Yesterday I fished the Deschutes River for summer steelhead on a jet boat trip with guide Bob Toman, a trip he donated to the Northwest Steelheaders auction at the banquet earlier this year. We camped at the Deschutes-Columbia convergence the night before and headed upriver at 5:30am, easily running Rattlesnake Rapid in his 225 horsepower sled.

Toman steelhead trip

We pulled off before the light came over the edge of the canyon and Willie Tiffany hooked up with a nice hatchery steelhead on a swung purple steelhead fly on floating line.

Toman steelhead trip

While we’re fishing we hear a boat with a small engine struggling up the river. Toman had seen the boat on this section of river before, a guy alone in a wooden driftboat with a small outboard motor, and decided to take a photo of the guy heading up the river, saying “I want to get a shot of this guy while he’s still alive.”

What happened next is speculation based on what we observed later: The angler had attempted to run Colorado Rapid in the boat, lost control and was thrown into the water. His boat was still running, nose into the bank when we found it (photo below). The angler was swept downriver, and managed to cling to a rock in the middle of the current, his waders filling and then coming down and wrapping around his ankles. I have no idea how long he had to hang onto that rock in the 58-degree water, but a hiker spotted him and ran up the ridge line to call for help with his cell phone. A guide and Oregon State Trooper in a jet boat managed to pull him out of the water, taking him to shore. The guide asked Toman to come help get the guy off the bank and to an ambulance at the mouth. He was in shock, exhausted when we found him and carried him to the boat.

Toman steelhead trip

After that, we spent the rest of the day fishing above Colorado Rapid. Lots of fish rolling, but not many biters yesterday. I lost two — one on a Bitch Creek nymph under an indicator, the other on a Purple Peril on a sinking line. Former NW Steelheaders lobbyist Phil Donovan was high hook with two wild steelhead on Toman’s plugs in the second half of the day.

Toman steelhead trip

Toman steelhead trip

-MS

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report, Summer Steelhead | 1 Comment

Oregon Cascades high lakes fishing report

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Caddisfly

Crane Prairie Reservoir has been very slow. Davis Lake bass fishing is decent early and late in the day. Hosmer Lake has been pretty good fishing in the channel connecting the upper and lower lakes with small nymphs like Flashback Pheasant tails and Prince nymphs in sizes #14-18. Gold lake has been fair with small Damsel nymphs, Chironomids,  Mickey Finns, and small  buggers.

Diamond Lake has been the most productive lake thus far. Fly fishing the south end with Chironomids and mini-leech type patterns. Calibeatis hatches have been consistent but fishing subsurface has been best. It should be a great fall for the rainbows of Diamond lake, fish who grow an incredible 2 inches per month.-CD

Posted in Central Oregon Fishing Report, Oregon High Lakes | 2 Comments

Prime walk and wade conditions for upper reaches of Mckenzie and Willamette Rivers

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Caddisfly

Looking to get out of the valley and fish some small water this summer and fall? Water conditions are perfect and fishing has been good on the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette, Salt Creek, Salmon Creek and the Middle Fork of the Willamette above Hills Creek Reservoir. All of these streams can be reached easily out of Oakridge, 45 min to the southeast of Eugene. Fish tend to be willing on these smaller, less pressured waters. Favorite patterns include Parachute Madam X #10-14, Parachute Adams #12-16, Parachute Hoppers and Elk Hair Caddis #12-16. Water levels are such that an angler can get in the water and walk upstream as far as you want. Deeper pools tend to hold the larger fish but don’t overlook cut banks and pocket water. -CD

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

The Angler’s Coast: Does it still exist?

Posted on August 10, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

I just finished reading Russell Chatham’s great book, The Angler’s Coast, essays written between 1968-1975 about coastal fly fishing in Northern California and Southern Oregon.

The angler's Coast

Chatham explores coastal rivers, estuaries and bays, fly fishing for the Pacific Northwest’s disappearing anadromous fish. In the introduction to the second edition, Chatham writes “If these stories were originally written as documents of things ongoing, they now record conditions only vaguely remembered. Wild steelhead and salmon are hovering on the brink of extinction.”

That depressing intro was written nearly twenty years ago. While you can bet ocean conditions, dams, logging and overharvest have continued to contribute to the decline of the Pacific Northwest’s fisheries, I’d like to hope we’ve gotten smarter since then, that it hasn’t all gone to hell. Some of our watersheds on the Oregon coast are bouncing back, and you can still find excellent coastal cutthroat, chinook and steelhead fishing if you put the time in and know where to look.

Chatham’s essays are full of world record fly-rod stripers, twenty Chinook salmon on twenty casts on the Chetco River. But the essays are also about fishing the urban-industrial edges, places where nature dies hard and giant, elusive fish eke out an existence.

“The Valhallas are not where they’re supposed to be, at the end of expensive floatplane rides, splitting the fare with an orthodontist and his credit cards, or a feedlot owner and two chorus girls,” writes Thomas McGuane in the prologue. “The magic zone keeps turning out to be a rectangle of light made by a highway bridge lamp where stripers crack into the holding bait.”

While the North Umpqua, McKenzie or Deschutes are all storied, scenic rivers, worthy of homewater status and pilgrimage, this book should inspire you to push the boundaries of your fishing experience, to look for places less-fished, to look for dark shapes sliding into coastal streams on an incoming tide.

You can pick this book up at the Eugene Library. -MS

Posted in Fly Fishing Books | 1 Comment

Video: How to do shore lunch on the McKenzie River

Posted on August 10, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

We’re working on another article for KATU — this time on how to do shore lunch on the McKenzie River. Here is the video and some photos we’ll be including in the article:

McKenzie River Fish Fry

McKenzie River Fish Fry

McKenzie River Fish Fry

McKenzie River Fish Fry

McKenzie River Fish Fry

McKenzie River Fish Fry

Look for the full how-to article on KATU’s website in the coming weeks. -MS

Posted in Oregon Fly Fishing Tips | Leave a comment

Mckenzie River fly fishing holding up through the summer months

Posted on August 9, 2008 by Caddisfly

High and cold water has it’s benefits. Cooler water temperatures, and higher than normal water all year long has August feeling like July. Hatches of small caddis, pale morning duns, green drakes have continued on the Mckenzie later than we have seen for years. Before you know it we will be into a fall pattern and may flat out miss the dog days of August. Add to our great water year cooler air temps during the height of summer, and you have good dry fly fishing until around 2pm. Patterns to try this time of year include, Cutters E/C Caddis in #14-16, Parachute Adams #12-16, Elk Hair Caddis Orange and Brown #14-16, and small attractors like Royal Wulff’s and Parachute Madam X.
Overcast days, early and late in the day remain the best times on the lower Mckenzie. The upper river tends to hold up throughout the day by going deep when the dry fly fishing slows down. -CD

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Posted in McKenzie River | Leave a comment

Pale Evening Duns on the Willamette River bring up wild trout

Posted on August 9, 2008 by Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

I headed up to the Willamette River near Oakridge tonight expecting a bonanza. As you can see from the landscape photos, that’s not what happened. Not many golden stones, or even caddis flies for that matter. Small, pale mayflies were on the water by 8pm though, size 16 PMD’s were a good match.

August Willamette River

I didn’t catch any large fish tonight, but caught quite a few native rainbows.August Willamette River

The Butterfly Bushes are out of control on this section of river — an invasive species and popular garden plant in the Pacific Northwest. Check out OSU’s write up on butter fly bush infestations. -MS

August Willamette River

Posted in Middle Fork Willamette River fishing | Leave a comment