Sea-run cutthroats are entering the Siuslaw, Alsea, Siletz, Nestucca and other coastal streams in Oregon. These fish are very susceptible to the fly patterns such as the Spruce, Borden’s special and other streamers. Casting near structure, bushes with a stripping retrieve has proven to be affective. Early mornings and overcast days are the best times to catch these fish — avoid the sun.
-LV
March 13 &; March 14, 2009 has been set for the next Northwest Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo at the Linn County Fairground and Expo Center in Albany, Oregon. Get to watch and talk to the best fly tyers at the largest fly tying demonstration in North America. You can also take classes on casting, tying techniques and fishing methods. Please check the expo website at www.nwflytyerexpo.comfor updates during the next few months. LV
Continuing the Oregon Albacore fly fishing craze, here is Barrett’s next pattern, the Bunny Baitfish. Barrett ties this offshore fly from size 2 to 4/0. Keep in mind, this pattern is designed for casting to fish, rather than trolling.
Barrett’s Bunny Baitfish materials available at CaddisFlyShop.com
Thread: White, 6/0 Uni
Hook: Gamakatsu 3/0 SC15
Tail: White craft fur
Body: Pearl and silver Flashabou
Collar: White cross-cut rabbit strip
Wing: White craft fur
Overwing: Blue extra-select craft fur, Peacock Angel Hair
Eyes: 6mm molded prismatic eyes
The fish are around. We also found a video of some guys catching albies in early August this year:
Had a great day on the Mckenzie River today. Trout were all over large dries and old faithful the PB, Possie Bugger. Parachute Madam X or Morish Extended body October Caddis as the top fly and a size 10 Possie Bugger dropped underneath caught fish all day long. Fish were rising throughout the day to small tan and brown caddis. Overcast weather and a slightly cooler air and water temperature ticked up the action on the Mckenzie. The day ended with a great bonus fish, a 24″ summer steelhead headed for the BBQ.-CD
Ken Crangle and Lou Verdugo launched at East Lake Saturday (8/16/08) and started to fish about 75 yards out from the dock. During the day they enjoyed a couple interesting “events”: sulfur fumes from vents coming from the bottom of the lake, one large brown trout coming to the surface to take one of Ken’s released fish and swim away with the trout dangling from it’s mouth!
They saw plenty of Callibaetis going off all day. The hatch went from heavy to light during the entire day. Thorax, and Cripple Callibaetis worked well for fish within the 8-10 inch range that were rising on the surface.
While at the ramp, they came across two future fly anglers. The rumor on the lake was that they were using 7 ounce split shot, 45 feet down, trolling very slow and “worm like” flys? LV
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.
Be sure to check out our Summer Sale.
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.
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:
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
-MS
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
