In this video, Simon spills the beans and shares his most productive scud pattern to date. This pattern has changed over the years very minimally, small tweaks here and there has helped it become even better at attracting large trout. This is a great pattern for stillwater anglers targeting trout in lakes with high scud populations. Fishing it on an intermediate line and doing short erratic strips helps mimic natural scud behavior. Fish this fly near the weed beds where large fish cruise looking to pick off scuds that wander too far. For spring creeks tag it under an indicator and animate it with small strips near where you suspect a fish is holding. You a let it swing into that area too and do tiny strips as it swings. This animates the fly in a way that drives big trout nuts. Tie them in sizes 10-18 depending on how large your scuds are. In the video Simon is trying them in a 10, as the scuds in the creek he fishes are large.
Our Fourth Annual Umpqua Bass Bashis coming up! This event is one of our most anticipated of the year, and we can’t wait to welcome you to the beautiful Umpqua River, remove invasive Smallmouth bass, and have a fun day of fishing.
What to Expect at our 2025 Umpqua Bass Bash:
Fishing and activities: On June 28th, NFS will host a full day of family-friendly fishing fun! Come help us take smallmouth bass (an invasive but tasty species), out of the Umpqua River. We’ll also have fun raffle prizes for participants, as well as a presentation from NFS staff about the importance of wild, native fish populations.
Food & Drink: June 28th is also the date of our big fish fry! Come out with your families, fish for some smallmouth bass, and we’ll help you fry it up. We’ll also have other food and beverages, so please make sure to include any dietary restrictions you may have in our registration form.
Camping: We have reserved the Eagle View Campground from June 27th through June 29th. Come join us for both or just one night of camping in addition to the festivities on June 28th! BYO camping gear 🏕
Please register for the event below so we can get a headcount. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Boats are available for our annual tournament. Sign up here: TWO FLY
Since 2008, the Two Fly Tournament has raised more than $197,000 to benefit clean water, abundant fish and wildlife habitats and thriving communities for Western Oregon. A benefit for McKenzie River Trust, you’ll be connecting with other people who care and fishing for a cause during the Two Fly Tournament!
Friday: The tournament begins at the Caddis Fly Angling Shop, October 3, 5:30pm, with an evening dinner and local brew. You’ll recieve your own Two-Fly Tournament shirt and your team will draw your guide for the tournament. Need new gear? On Friday, 10% of all sales at the Caddis Fly Shop will go to McKenzie River Trust!
Saturday: Enjoy a full day of fly fishing with your local guide on either the McKenzie or Willamette River. In the evening, participants will come back together again at Hendrick’s Bridge Park to celebrate a great day of fishing on Oregon’s pristine rivers. A catered dinner is provided alongside local brews as the annual winner is announced.
In this video, Simon ties an extremely effective jigged caddis pupa for fishing the Mother’s Day or Grannom Caddis hatch. This hatch can be frustrating with lots of emerged adults on the water, and very few fish rising. This is because fish gorge themselves on ascending pupa. It is an easier meal, and it is safer as they do not have to surface to eat a dry or emerger. This particular pattern is great because it can be ran under an indicator, swung like a soft hackle, and ran under a dropper. It is the jack of all trades for caddis pupa patterns. Small patterns like this is really where Starling shines as a collar material. The new Fulling Mill Eco Warrior Dub sops up water and looks super buggy. We are finding every excuse to put it on all of our flies. The pattern is also extremely simple, which means that you can spend less time tying a few up and more time fishing them.
The Grannom or Mother’s Day Caddis is a long awaited hatch all over the country. This hatch of small salt and pepper colored Caddisflies marks the turn of seasons. The abundance of adults fluttering around and in stream side vegetation leaves anglers drooling and dreaming of days filled with dry fly eats. Unfortunately, this hatch often stumps anglers; some veterans even despise this hatch and avoid it at all costs.
Grannom Caddis are famous for producing “blanket hatches” which refer to massive hatches which leave the waters surface, eddies, anglers, and stream side vegetation covered in bugs. They are small sized 14-26 salt and pepper colored caddisflies. Generally, the hatch happens around Mother’s Day give or take a few weeks. Hatches begin at lower elevations downriver which heat up earlier, and as things warm up each spring, you can follow the hatch upriver. A few weeks before Mother’s Day is generally when we start seeing these bugs on the Lower Mckenzie & Willamette. The hatch generally overlaps for the second half of the March Brown hatch, as long as we get a few warm days in a row to wake the bugs up.
The degree to which anglers are excited varies with how the hatch behaves in each respective region. In areas where food is sparse, and the Grannom hatch makes up the bulk of insects hatching it can be good. In areas where the hatch isn’t absurd and a moderate amount of bugs come off, this can help increase dry fly eats on the surface. The issue with the hatch, when it is a large blanket one, is fish gorge themselves subsurface on emerging pupa. Just like us after a big Thanksgiving meal, the fish are in a caddis induced food coma. This leaves anglers stumped, wondering why fish aren’t eating their dry when they see hundreds of naturals on the water. If fish are feeding on the surface in an abundance of bugs, they likely are being selective taking crippled, stillborn emergers, and spent caddis.
Luckily there are several solutions to this, it just requires being a little more strategic with your approach and presentation. To master the Grannom Caddis hatch, you must understand the lifecycle of these insects and view it through a trouts feeding behavior. Some events that you will have to pay attention to follow: pupa emergence, cripples/emergers, ovipositing females/ egg laying events, and lastly spent bugs which hit the water after these large egg laying events.
Starting subsurface caddis pupa are the bulk of what fish are eating. Caddis flies pupate and transform in cases prior to emerging. These pupa are especially helpless when ascending to the waters surface. Tactics to fish pupa involve dead drifting a pupa nymph under an indicator. Swinging caddis pupa wet flies or soft hackles is also especially productive once the hatch really turns on. At the end of your indicator drift, let your line pull taut and it will swing your nymphs up, imitating an emerging insect. To swing without an indicator rigging up with a heavier nymph trailed with a light soft hackle works great. Make a quartered cast upstream, throw some upstream mends in to let your flies sink, and let your line pull tight. As your flies swing towards your bank fish will often hit your flies hard. Some caddis pupa flies follow: BeadHead Ascending Caddis, Sweetmeat Caddis, Boroff’s Knuckle Breaker Caddis, Hogan’s FA Caddis, Silvey’s Primetime Pupa, and Nick’s Fat Caddass. Often fish gorge themselves on pupa so much that they do not eat much from the surface. This is the safest feeding option for trout; coming to the surface, or hanging in the upper water column sipping dries makes them more vulnerable to predation. This means fishing pupa is often the key to a successful day fishing a Grannom hatch.
Actively emerging insects that are breaking through the surface film also make a good choice. Fully emerged adults can flutter off if a fish is rising to eat them. Emergers that are still stuck in their pupal shuck, have injured themselves, or gotten too wet in their emergence make easy meals that trout can depend on. Rising to a vulnerable insect is a better use of their precious energy than an adult. The flies that you want to use for this are called emergers and often sit lower in the surface film than an adult. As a result the flies are harder to see, so I like to fish them tagged off the back of a more buoyant adult dry fly. Tagged 18-24 inches behind a buoyant dry, I will fish the following: X2 Caddis, Sparkle Pupa Caddis, X-Caddis Tan, Mason’s Soft Hackle Biot Swimmer, Dally’s Tailwater Soft Hackle, or a Peacock Soft Hackle. Some of these are soft hackles and they work great for mimicking a failed emergence. Often insects get flushed below the surface and these do a great job of mimicking that. Keep an eye on your more buoyant dry fly and watch for it to drop under like an indicator.
Dry flies are last because of the life cycle, but also because they’re the most tricky to time. You can see fish have two other options that are safer and easier to take than a caddis fly adult with fully dried wings. This means you must be smart with how you fish adult Grannom patterns to entice an eat. Occasionally the rogue young trout will rise to one, but to entice larger fish to feed on the surface, we must look at the final life cycle of these insects.
Grannoms emerge and rest on the water’s surface allowing their wings to dry before fluttering to stream side vegetation. Often they will “skitter” across the surface as they test out their new wings. Most aquatic insects can only emerge on more calm water, and fish know this. So they position themselves in the tailout of a pool sipping bugs whose wings did not dry fast enough. This is a great place to skitter a caddis across the back of the pool, mimicking a caddis rushing to get off the surface before they hit a rapid. Slack water is also important for ovipositing females. Females will dot the waters surface depositing eggs, and trout notice this. You can tease trout up in slack water by mimicking this behavior.
The most important part of their life cycle for us is unfortunately the end of theirs. After spending some time in stream side vegetation, Grannoms will form large groups and migrate upstream for a large mating event. You will see a large swarm start to move upstream past you and it can take minutes for the whole swarm to pass. These bugs are looking for suitable water to lay eggs, and you should follow them. Like mayflies, they will mate and die. Trout now have the ability to feed on dead insects, that will not get away from them. They have been waiting for this moment, and that is why they’ve been ignoring your flies. Dead insects will be on the water’s surface and underwater, and you will need a pattern that mimics a “spent” insect. This is where Jonny King’s Splitsville Caddis shines. It has wings which lay on the water’s surface suggesting a spent bug. It is my favorite caddis pattern for times like this. Other good options to fish during a spent caddis event follow: Egg Layer Caddis Fly, Olsen’s Front End Loader Caddis, Croston’s Mass Attack, Hackle Stacker Caddis, or an E/C Caddis.
This hatch can be finicky, at least here in the Willamette Valley. That does not mean you can’t have an awesome day out there. Often it lets people down because of the sheer amount of naturals on the water, and the lack of dry fly fishing. If you know what to do, and you’re patient you can have a great day fishing pupal wet flies, emergers, and adults in the same day. The hatch still has plenty of life left in it, it will move upstream as things warm up. Swing by the shop, we’re happy to help get you geared up. If you’re online click the links to shop and give us a ring if you have questions (541) 342-7005.
There are many reasons to appreciate being a fly angler in the United States of America. We have abundant, diverse river systems and plenty of lakes and ponds. We have native fish, wild fish—even stocked fish, which so long as they don’t impede native and wild fish can be an asset in that they get some people hooked on fishing in the first place. The more you care about fish and fishing at all, the more you might come to realize just how precious those native and wild fish are.
But what sets the American angler apart from almost any other on the planet is that we have millions of acres and thousands of miles of fishable streams (and lakes) that are available to us as a birthright. I’ve fished all around the world and have enjoyed every minute of doing so. But what makes my soul filled with joy is the realization that, as an American, I share ownership, and have access to more places than any one person might endeavor to fish in a lifetime.
So it breaks my heart when certain pavement-bound members of our government think it’s a good idea to divest of public lands. And it’s especially troubling when some people who are serious anglers seem willing to fall in line and think that’s a good idea. It isn’t a political issue—at least it shouldn’t be. It’s a cultural issue, and I have plenty of friends from both sides of the political aisle who stand fast in support of keeping America’s public lands, with good reason.
Here are some facts:
– 70 percent of habitat for native trout in the Rockies is on public land.
– Public lands provide access to 70 million hunters and anglers.
– Over half the “blue ribbon” trout streams in America flow through public lands.
There are 640 million acres of public land in the US… which loosely means each citizen “owns” and shares a couple of acres, whether they know it or not. You might not have a deed, and might not know exactly where they are, but you’re a public land owner if you’re an American.
Frankly, my two acres aren’t for sale. And I’m happy to have you fish or hunt on them, hike on them, camp, ride bikes, whatever, wherever they may be.
But if you want to sell my piece of public land, I say GTFO.
If you’re a fly angler who supports the sale of public lands (which will likely never be reclaimed), stop fishing on them, stop hunting, stop hiking and camping, right now. Stay out of the national forests, don’t fish in National Parks, keep off the BLM land, and stick to your private water if you own it, or pay to go there.
You’re trespassing. Maybe not on the land itself (yet), rather you’re trespassing on a uniquely American ideal. And the rest of us don’t need you, and we don’t want you stomping around and fishing on our land.
If, on the other hand, you truly care about public lands, access, and your right to fish and hunt there… be heard. It’s never been more important, and the threat has never been greater. The rest of us public land advocates not only need you, we appreciate you, and will support you more than ever before. Please, voice up and take a stand.
To Stand up for Public Lands Click this link here.
Last week, we launched a major restoration project on Quartz Creek—a key tributary of the McKenzie River. This work is part of a larger effort to bring back healthy floodplain forests along the middle McKenzie, helping the land and water return to a more natural, thriving state.
The goal of this project is to reconnect the creek with its historic floodplain. By doing this, we’ll create more diverse habitats, slow down the flow of water, and allow sediments to settle out naturally. These changes help improve water quality and make the area more welcoming for fish and other wildlife.
Construction will take place throughout the summer months. If you’re driving or boating nearby, you might notice large equipment at work—moving soil, rocks, and trees as part of the restoration process.
As we seek to revive the creek, we’ll excavate new channels to allow water to spread back into the surrounding forest. As the water slows down in these channels, it creates calm areas where sediment can settle and fish can thrive. We’ll also place large logs and wood structures throughout the area. These not only help guide the flow of water, but also create shelter for native animals like salmon, trout, lamprey, beavers, and more.
This project is made possible by committed community partners and funders, including the Eugene Water & Electric Board, Haley Construction Company, Inc., the McKenzie Watershed Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, the U.S. Forest Service, and Wolf Water Resources.Read the full story >>>
If you haven’t already seen, Scientific Anglers released an exciting new collection of clear fly lines geared towards trout fishing. They have released 6 different models covering 2 tapers. Clear tipped lines come with their benefits and drawbacks. Clear tipped lines give you an unmatched level of stealth, allow you to shorten your leader, give you a wider range to make mistakes, and allow you to fool that finicky fish that you haven’t enticed to eat yet. One drawback historically of clear tipped lines is coiling in cold temperatures. Fortunately, the SA R&D team has done a fantastic job of mitigating this. Prior to launch I took this line to the ice-cold Metolious just to see how it stood up. I was impressed to say the least.
Clear tipped lines have a variety of uses in our own state, most notably on waters with picky fish. Generally, this comes in the form of spring fed systems with crystal clear water and plenty of food. Think Metolious, Fall River, The Wood, Williamson, and other spring fed systems. The Owyhee and Deschutes pump out huge browns year after year, and this line should be on your radar if fooling choosy browns is your forte. If you like to travel, think Silver Creek, The Letort, The Driftless, Armstrongs, Rocky Ford, New Zealand, Italy, etc. These lines also have great potential in the stillwater scene. Those of you who are Crane, Hosmer, Diamond, and East Lake veterans, I’m certain, you can think of where and how this line may benefit you. The Infinity taper also does bump up to an 8 wt so the carp folks should be all ears. Don’t let all of these technicalities turn you away from trying this line for your every day trout needs. After all, the Infinity taper is our shop favorite for general trout fishing, so this line will do everything the standard Infinity does with more stealth.
Review
I personally chose the Magnitude Textured Infinity wf5f with a 10 foot clear tip to test. I fished the line on a Winston Air 2 9′ 5wt and spooled it up on one of the new Ross San Miguels. I fished this line on the Middle Deschutes, the Metolious, the Middle Fork Willamette, and the Upper Umpqua. Casting this line felt very reminiscent of the Infinity taper which it was based off of. I casted everything from small dries, a large salmon fly with a dropper, a nymph rig, and small to medium streamers. The line fooled several browns and bows on the Middle D that were looking up for salmonflies. For this, I fished a shorter leader (3-5 ft) to “kick” over the heavy rig, and the line allowed me extra stealth that I would not normally have with such a short dropper leader. I did worry about coiling on the Metolious, as the line is recommended for use over 50 degrees. There was virtually no coiling to my surprise. I felt very confident laying out large spring caddis in the evening amongst the large naturals ovipositing in the slackwater. The line beautifully turned over a long 9ft Scientific Anglers Absolute Leader with a big caddis on the end affording me 19 feet of stealth for the most discerning of fish.
Casting it next to a standard Textured Infinity I did feel some very slight differences. The standard Textured Infinity “Kicked” a little more. It was marginal, but the standard Infinity turned over larger rigs with slightly more confidence. The drawback of the power is a standard Infinity is much more splashy than the clear tipped version. This is exactly what the folks over at SA had in mind, and aimed to make the clear tipped lines more delicate. So for lining your rods, I’d recommend to stay true to weight. If you know you are only going to be using this for throwing big chubby-dropper setups or you have a very fast rod, I’d recommend bumping up one size. I casted the 5wt Clear Infinity on a Winston Air 2 8’6″ 4wt and an Echo Trout X 9′ 4wt, and the line kicked in a fashion that would make turning over larger rigs at shorter distances easier. For the most part I would urge you to stay true to weight, unless you have a very specific use in mind.
Overall, I am happy with the line. I am extremely impressed with the final product released from SA, and have many other places that I am excited to try it later this month. I also am planning on taking a lighter version of this line to the spring creeks of the Midwest’s driftless area for large picky browns and brookies. This line will excel both at throwing Tricos for the late morning spinner fall, and throwing hoppers and beetles against the bank in the afternoon. I chose the 1o foot tip over the 49 foot head so that I could keep track of my fly more closely. The one thing that takes some getting used to is having a clear tip. I never noticed how much I use the head of my fly line for orienting myself to my fly until I tried out one of these lines. It is not a dealbreaker by any means, but something you will notice and adjust to quickly.
Line Guide
Starting with the line that I fished, the Magnitude Infinity with a 10 foot clear tip, this will be the most popular line by far. This line comes in a textured and smooth version, and comes in weights 3-8. This line is based on Scientific Angler’s most popular and versatile trout taper, the Infinity. Every line in this new collection comes in a Smooth and Textured option, which I will explain below. This line is the most versatile for the angler that fishes many different venues. It can offer you stealth when you need it on a spring creek or alpine lake, but can also give you a little extra help on a small freestone stream in the summer. It would make a fantastic option out of the front of a drift boat on the Mckenzie or Willamette in the summer. The Metolous and Fall are two local spring fed fisheries that anyone can greatly benefit from 10 feet of extra help. If you’re someone who likes to explore new places, this can help give you an upper hand in new fisheries that you don’t have fully dialed yet. Fish this in a 3-4wt on small streams, especially spring fed ones like the Driftless. This line in a 6wt is a dream in Montana or New Zealand for large picky fish. Lastly, the 7-8wt is a fantastic option for carp fanatics.
Next up is the Magnitude Infinity with a 49 foot clear head. This line also comes in a textured and smooth options from weights 3-8. This line offers maximum stealth, and because of that, it limits what you can do with it. For smaller, more intimate spring fed systems a line like this would be great. You can track your fly easily, and you generally will not shoot past your clear head. On a high lake where stealth is key, this is another fantastic application for this line. The water is clear, fish move slow, and they have all day to look at your fly, leader, and line; this is exactly where an ultra technical line like this can benefit you. The turbulent, fast water of the Upper Mckenzie makes for fast paced, technical fishing where you need to shoot your fly in the zone and you only have one shot. A line like this would be a disadvantage, because whether you like it or not, you do use the head of your fly line to orient yourself to your fly. In high energy situations like this, the full clear head would hold you back and you’d constantly be losing your fly. If you are on a guided trip, your guide will also have a hard time seeing where your line is. This isn’t to say this is not a fantastic line, it just has more niche uses than the 10 foot tip.
The next two lines have a different taper than the Infinity, and are more closely based on Scientific Angler’s Trout taper. The taper of the Magnitude Trout Expert Clear Tip is more mellowed out compared to the Infinity and really focuses on a delicate presentation of a dry fly. This line comes in a smooth and textured option, comes in weights 4-6, and only comes with a 10 foot clear tip. This more narrow range of weights really highlights this line’s dedication to technical trout fishing. This is the type of line for the dry fly purist who loves nothing more than challenging themselves with the demanding trout that make spring fed creeks their home. This line would also make a fantastic paring with more medium action rods that are geared to dry flies specifically. Glass aficionados will love how this feels on their new or old fiberglass rods. This is the type of line that you do not rush to cast, and is a game of finesse. This line has its place on the many legendary spring creeks all over the country. Within our home state, this is really geared to the Upper Metolious, the Fall River, The Wood River, the Williamson, and fishing dries on the Owyhee. This line would also excel on any of our high lakes sight casting at fish cruising the shallows, sipping bugs. If you like the feel of a more “old school” taper, or like to fish more medium action rods, this would be the line for you.
A quick note on textured vs smooth lines for all of you wondering. Smooth lines refer to the standard finish that you feel on most fly lines. In contrast, textured lines are dimpled at a microscopic level. These lines are generally more expensive, but have superior shooting capabilities. They also float higher in the surface film making picking the line up, and mending easier. For these reasons I personally only fish textured lines. They do make more noise than a smooth line, but it is something you can get used to. In fact, when I use a smooth line I like the textured noises so much, I feel like something’s missing. If you are a wade angler, the textured lines are also superior due to their ability to seamlessly feed line downstream. Places where downstream presentations are paramount will benefit from a textured line whether you are in a boat or on foot.
If you have any questions about these lines feel free to contact the shop by phone (541) 342-7005, Email: Support@caddisflyshop.com, or message us on Instagram @caddisflyshop. We are happy to answer any questions for you, and help you get the right clear tipped line for the type of fishing you do. We are pumped these lines came just in time for the turn of the season, and are excited to see what everyone does with them this summer. Have fun out there.
Everyone’s favorite night of the month is coming up next week. Community Fly Fishing & Tying Night is coming up next week at Falling Sky Brewing at 6:30! We’ve been having a great turnout and have seen lots of new faces at the last few events. If you’re new, bring your tying stuff, find a spot, grab a drink/food, visit with your table, and tie some flies. Non-tiers are certainly welcomed, and encouraged to come. Sometimes with all of the visiting, it is hard to tie flies; if you’re a chatter, don’t feel the need to bring your tying stuff! We love new people showing up. Tell all of your friends, and tell them to tell their friends.
We will continue with the fly swap. For those of you that are new, if you throw a fly into the pot, you will get a ticket. As the tickets are recalled, you will be able to come up and pick someone else’s fly. The first few tickets will get a small prize.
Speaking of prizes we have graciously received several large donations to raffle off in the next coming months. These high dollar items will be raffled off using raffle tickets that can be purchased from Stephen, the owner of Falling Sky. Proceeds will be donated to local nonprofits.
The first raffle will be a free guided trip with stillwater guide Adison Rook. If you have been attending the tying nights, you have likely bumped into, or atleast seen Adison. He is a veteran attendee and you can find him there grabbing a bite early before the meeting every month. He will be raffling off a Pre-spawn Spotted Bass guided trip. I had the opportunity for him to take me out several weeks ago and the experience blew my mind. I believe every purist trout angler must experience the freight train of a 5+ pound spotted bass on the end of their line. I wrote an article on my experience with Adison last week, it can be found here.
The trip will be for two anglers, all day crushing massive spotted bass. Adison is a master of his craft, and you will be able to tell very quick that he knows his fishery inside and out. The trip is all inclusive, including lunch. The trip is free, but we recommend still tipping your guide. If you are interested in the trip and don’t happen to win, Adison is booking trips through the shop.
-Simon
This weeks time & place:
Where: Falling Sky Brewing 1334 Oak Alley, Eugene, OR 97401
When: Tuesday 5/20 6:30 PM
Future meeting dates:
Where: Falling Sky Brewing 1334 Oak Alley, Eugene, OR 97401
In this video, Simon ties a proven Grannom or Mother’s Day Caddis Pattern. This hatch, especially in Oregon can be a finicky one, so having the right fly is really important. Grannoms often hatch in abundance, so fish have plenty of food to pick on during the hatch. This makes it especially difficult because fish often eat their fill quickly, and there are so many naturals on the water that it can be hard for them to choose your fly. Crippled or injured insects always stand out, and that is what this fly intends to do. It uses deer hair and rides low in the film with splayed wings, making it irresistible to feeding trout. Grannoms often migrate upstream in large clouds and have large egg laying events where “spent” adults die and land on the water. This is the same logic as a spinner fall for mayflies, and this is a secret to fishing the Grannom hatch. Not only does this fly look like a spent Grannom, as it gets beat up it looks like a cluster of spent adults floating downstream. The Grannom hatch still has plenty of time left in it, tie some of these up and get out there. Also stay tuned on the blog for an educational article fleshing out the details of the hatch and tips to fish it.
This last week I had the opportunity to experience something like never before with a friend and local guide Adison Rook. Adison has kept this fishery under wraps for the last 6 years as he has been perfecting his approach. I never considered stillwater fishing for bass on the fly something that I would get excited about like I do with the intricacies with trout fishing. After this trip I can say I was wrong and believe every fly angler should experience a freight train of a Spotted Bass on the end of their line.
Adison is a passionate and accomplished stillwater angler here in the valley, on our very own Cascade’s high lakes, and down in Northern California. He has put in years on many of the West’s best stillwater fisheries, and the minute you step in the boat with him it is apparent. For 6 years, Adison has been mastering our spotted bass fishery close to home. This is something completely new to our area, and stillwater fishing as a whole. Even Phil Rowley, the Canadian master of stillwater fishing, is so intrigued he is coming down and getting on the spots with Adison.
Adison and I hit the water early one morning, and the lake was like glass. We shot across the lake to some promising structure, cutting through the morning fog. One of first things I noticed on the quick ride over is how open his boat is for fly anglers working in the front. Line management is a constant struggle, and the design of Adisons boat makes working from the front a breeze. We got all rigged up and Adison covered some basic strategy on how we are approaching these monster fish.
Within the first few minutes I was having the most delicate of eats and absolutely blowing it. There definitely is a learning curve approaching these seemingly gentle giants, but Adison filled me in and I was able to adapt quickly. He assured me there is plenty of structure to fish all day and we continued along. A GPS assisted trolling motor puttered us along and with the use of a satellite, kept us right in line with the structure we were fishing. This alone was an absolute game changer as Adison could track a course and repeat it with ease.
Just as I thought I was about to blow another eat, it happened. I hooked up to what I thought was a tractor on the end of my line. A massive Spotted Bass took my fly and ran deep with it, peeling line off my Sage Spectrum LT. Massive head shakes and unrelenting digging ensued as my arm burned leaving my 9’6″ 6wt Sage Sonic doubled over. Bewildered, I looked over at Adison and he was grinning, knowing exactly what I was experiencing. Once netted, the fattest bass I have ever laid my eyes on was there before me. Spotted Bass seem to grow fatter instead of longer at a certain size, and I am confident that this fish was larger around than an NFL football. My first Spotted Bass was a 5.11 lb brute, which seemed like chump change considering Adison has caught them over 8lbs.
Over the next few hours Adison and I hooked into several other massive bass. Our largest of the day weighted in at 6.8 lbs. We had lunch, and continued enticing Spots and other panfish to eat into the afternoon. We were both whooped and shot back to the launch. On the ride back, I dreamt of the 8+ pounder and now understand Adison’s obsession with chasing these tanks.
Adison is now booking trips for Spotted Bass through the shop. Spring time is your best shot for a trophy fish. If you or someone you know is interested, contact the shop to get in Adison’s books. (541) 342-7005
Adison is a wealth of info for stillwater fishing as a whole. You can find him religiously at the monthly Community Fly Fishing & Tying Nights at Falling Sky, and that is a great time to pick his brain.
At the next Fly Fishing and Tying Night later this month on the 20th, Adison will be generously donating a Spotted Bass trip to be raffled off. You must be there to enter the raffle, this is a great way to meet Adison, check off a new species if you win, and get out with a local stillwater master.
In this video, Simon ties his take on a well-known controversial fly. The mop fly has had its share of time in the spotlight. This is the type of fly that makes a purists blood boil, and it has been the subject of many heated debates. Luckily the Mop Fly isn’t ONLY a trash fly. Mops actually are exemplary imitations for Cranefly Larvae. Cranefly Larvae often live most of their lives feeding on detritus on the underside of rocks. Sometimes they get knocked loose, and when in the water column, they are hard for trout to pass up. They also make an appearance on the menu when the big Cranefly hatch happens mid summer. There are several different types of craneflies, unfortunately we do not have a huge abundance of the large variety here in the Willamette valley. We do have plenty of small yellowish Cranes that pop in the spring and fall. If you want to catch an awesome Crane hatch, the Drifitless area gets a pretty epic one, and late summer the Yakima Basin gets its fair share of big Cranes too. Despite mega Cranefly Pupa being a scarcity in our rivers, trout still eat the mop with reckless abandon.
A quick update on river conditions on the Mckenzie this weekend. Kyle Duke shared photos of the river below Bear Creek where a large tree fell and spans the entire river. To avoid the hazard, take out at Silver Creek. Please use caution this weekend and spread the word anyone you know who is planning to float! We will share when we receive updates on the log removal. Have fun this weekend, and be safe. Swing by the shop if you need anything to have a great day out there; we will be in starting at 10.
In this video, Alex Swartz ties a fantastic large saltwater streamer for predatory big game fish. This is a fantastic streamer for Dorado (Mahi-Mahi), Roosterfish, Snook and Jacks. In freshwater would be a great option for Peacock Bass, Golden Dorado, Pike, Muskie, etc. The SL12S is a proven big game hook and will not bend out on you. The fly uses SF blend which is a common big game streamer body, but it also uses squimpish fibers. These are new in the shop and they make fantastic large streamers. They have a great profile and shed water quickly, which makes them a fantastic material choice for big flies. If you have a trip coming up, tie some of these up! These also would work great on the coast off the jetty. 2/0 is a great size for Lingcod, and size down to a 2 -6 for Rockfish.
The spring issue of WaterWatch of Oregon’s Instream newsletter includes an article detailing the latest on WaterWatch’s efforts, in conjunction with Steamboaters and Pacific Coast Federations of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), on securing formal permission to participate in a state fish passage enforcement proceeding that may ultimately determine the fate of the 135-year old Winchester Dam near Roseburg on the North Umpqua River.
The groups are intervening in support of native fish runs and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), and against dam owners Winchester Water Control District (WWCD) and their legal challenge to a recent ODFW order requiring the installation of new and improved upstream and downstream fish passage facilities at the dam in compliance with state law. WaterWatch and allies are jointly represented in this particular case by Earthjustice and Crag Law Center, and the Law Office of Karl G. Anuta.
Construction costs for new fish passage facilities at Winchester Dam are expected to be about $100 million. The most recent comparable fish passage upgrade in the North Umpqua subbasin was at PacifiCorp’s Soda Springs Dam in the Umpqua National Forest, which cost upwards of $70 million. In contrast, estimates for Winchester Dam’s removal range between $3 and $6 million.
This contested case is the latest in the years-long, high-profile back-and-forth between a WaterWatch-led statewide coalition of fishing, conservation, and whitewater groups and the WWCD over the dam’s poor management and ongoing harm to the North Umpqua. The District’s governing board previously rejected the coalition’s 2019 offer to contribute $10,000 in engineering services to improve the dam’s fish ladder function, and then a subsequent 2020 offer to remove the decaying dam at little to no direct cost to the District.
Join WaterWatch staff in Eugene this Wednesday the 30th for an Oakshire Inspires event at the Oakshire Public House at 207 Madison Street. As part of Oakshire Brewing’s support for area nonprofits, WaterWatch will receive one dollar from each core pint sold throughout the day, and WaterWatch staff will be on-site from 5 to 8 p.m. to connect with you about our ongoing programs and work, including the Winchester Dam removal campaign.
WaterWatch will have copies of the latest Instream newsletter, free Rivers Need Water and Oregon Rivers stickers, and raffle tickets for sale to win packages including books and our WaterWatch 40th Anniversary YETI Custom Water Bottles.
