RECORDED:53 °FISHING: Good I took advantage of the beautiful day we had on Sunday and made a quick trip down the Fall River. By the time we had some breakfast and made it to the river, the day was warming up nicely; hopefully warm enough to provide some good dry fly action. It wasn’t very long before we started to see bugs flying around and trout noses breaking the surface of the water. There were lots BWO’s on the water as well as a good number of very small black Stoneflies fluttering around. Most of the fish were taking the Blue Wings, which were bigger than normal and about #14 in size. I did get a couple of fish to go after a black caddis that I trimmed down to look like the Stonefly, but they seemed more interested in the stone that was fluttering on the water than to one that was dead drifted or still on the water. When the day cooled off and the fish stopped rising, I switch to a nymph setup with a mayfly nymph followed by a Black Zebra midge and started working spotted fish. I had some success nymphing, with most of the takes coming on the dropper midge pattern. Because of the Fall Rivers slow clear water, the fish normally get a long time to look at your offerings and the fact that you sometimes have to fish really small flies, you sometimes have to go down to 7X tippet to fool them. We drove and fished up and down the river in different spots and spotted fish everywhere we stopped. At a spot just down stream from the headwaters of the Fall River I landed a small, but the most beautiful Brook trout I think I have ever caught before that was holding right in front of a log jam. . The sun was getting low, the day was getting cooler and without lunch, my stomach was telling me it was time to call it a day.
With most of my days spent chasing steelhead on our Northwest Rivers lately, it was refreshing to have a bluebird day with bugs coming off and fish rising to them in crystal clear waters in a beautiful area to reacquaint myself with challenges of trout fishing again.
RECORDED:48 °FISHING: Good Got a chance to get over and fish the North Santiam River a couple days ago.I made the drive over the hill and arrived at the first spot I wanted to fish just as the sun was coming up. I love the first run in the morning at first light; it always makes the bleary-eyed o-dark thirty drives to where ever you are going worth while.
The water was clear and running at about 1250cfs from the dam and 2600cfs below Mehama. The weather was warm with heavy overcast that soon turned to rain which continued most of the day.I didn’t have great expectations, but there have been a few reports of a fish or two being caught. I fished through my first run without a pull and hiked upstream to another run I like to fish and found my first fish of the day. About twenty minutes into the second run a really nice wild fish that went over 10 pounds grabbed my fly with a hard strike and the race was on. It took me a little while with it’s hard runs mixed in with a couple of jumps, but I was finally able to subdue this thick shouldered fish and bring him to hand. I fished through the rest of the afternoon and was delighted to hook two more fish, but failed to land either one with both coming unbuttoned during the fight for a LDR (long distance release).
I’m glad the days are getting longer because it kills me to have to call it a day when the fishing is good and it gets dark so early. The day came to an end and I headed back over the pass, which is a lot more enjoyable when you have a couple of fish to think about on the way home.
RECORDED:51 °FISHING: Great
Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers
I got the opportunity at the beginning of the month to fish the Snake and Grande Ronde rivers, with Jay and a group of his Idaho buddies, on an annual trip they have been doing for several years.It is a good 8 hour drive from central Oregon to the southeast corner of Washington, but a good book on cd makes the drive very easy.
I had broken my Z-Axis 6126 at the end of December, and had it off to be repaired, but it showed up the day before we left.A good omen!While driving through the last of civilization in Washington, we witnessed the mother of all mullets! We should have stopped to take a picture, but just being in it’s presence was good enough.Another good omen!As we were driving up the Snake canyon, we saw a Bald Eagle flying the river.A triple warning of signs of great things to come.
We rolled into camp early afternoon on Friday, and after a thirst quenching beer, and a “Hey, how you been?” shot or two, we were able to wet a line.Casting a rod into a river the size of the Snake is a bit intimidating, but it felt good to be swinging.At last light, Jay landed a spunky 24”er.It was only the beginning!We fished hard for the next few days with incredible success.We both swung and nymphed, but both techniques were equally effective.For the record, Jay nymphed a heck of a lot more than I did.Our trailing hook, marabou fly was the time proven success it always has been.Rubble legs and large Prince nymphs worked, but egg patterns were the wet fly of choice.Spey rods in 6 and 7 wts, and single handers in 7 and 8 wts were the rods of choice.A versitip line with added T-8 and T-14 tips rounded out our arsenals.
What an incredibly beautiful area!Elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, bald and golden eagles, and raptors were just a few of the animals we saw that made the canyon a very special place.While this was my first trip to this country, it will certainly not be my last.Thanks to Josh, Pat, Mike, Nick, Seth, Brian, and especially, Jay for a weekend that won’t be forgotten any time soon!
RECORDED:49 °FISHING: Good Thu and I had not had a chance to get out and fish since the start of the New Year, so we packed up and headed down to the Lower Deschutes last weekend for a little steelhead fishing. The water was clear but still up a little bit running just over 6000cfs. Saturday morning it was a perfect day for steelhead fishing with a warm day, no wind and overcast conditions. Thu hooked a nice fish in the first run of the day and even know the fish came off during the fight, we were hoping that it was a good sign for things to come. Unfortunately, after a full day of swinging flies, that was the only fish we touched. The next morning, we woke up to steady rain, which dampened our spirits even more with the thought of repeating yesterday’s slow day, but this time in the rain. Thoughts of being warm and dry on the couch watching the NFL playoffs for the afternoon started running through my mind, but diehards that we are, we put on our waders and rain gear deciding to deal with the weather for a few hours and see if we could find some fish. As we expected, it did continue to rain all day, but sticking around and fishing turned out to be the right decision. By lunch time we had hooked five steelhead and in the same water we had fished the day before with limited success. Just goes to show, that you never know what a day on the river will bring. That’s why you just have to go, or you’ll never know!
RECORDED:20 °FISHING: Good Hope all you Patient Anglers out there are having a nice holiday season. Santa brought Thu a new SAGE 7136-4 Z-Axis spey rod matched with RIO’S new Flight Skagit line for Christmas, so we headed out at o-dark-thirty the day after Christmas to Meca Flats on the Lower Deschutes to test it out. We geared up for the 20 degree overcast weather and walked down the river trail to one of our favorite spots. The river had dropped little to around 4600cfs, was clear and had a temperature around 45 degrees, which was still a lot warmer that the air temp. Clouds of fog rose from the river as we stepped in and started to fish the run. We had only been in the water for about 40 minutes when I heard Thu call out, Fish On! I reeled in quickly and made my way down to where she was fighting a nice fish. It was a colorful hatchery fish and it put up a pretty good game of tug of war with Thu and after a few last heroic efforts, came to hand for a quick hero shot and release. After a quick congratulations and a tong in check Question about why it took her so long to break in her new rod, I decided I should get back in the water and try to catch one myself. A while later I was closely following Thu through a short little run with about the same amount out line out as the distance between us, so every time my line swung to a downstream position, I would have to strip in and cast again so I wouldn’t accidentally hook her. Half way through the run, just as I was about to strip in for another cast, my line went tight and a big bright steelhead came out of the water jumping and thrashing on the surface ten feet in front of her. Needless to say, the explosion from the smooth calm water at her feet, startled her and I just about fell in the water from laughing because of the look on her face when it happened. Unfortunately, as I was trying to gain control of myself, the fish came unbuttoned. But it was all worthwhile, just to see the look on her face when it happened. We fished the rest of the day without another touch, but it was a great day on the water and Thu fell in love with her new rod set-up from Santa.
The upper portion of the lower Deschutes that borders the Indian reservation closes on January 1st, so there’s still a little time left if you want to fish in the Meca area.
Thu hooked her fish on a black & blue Trailer Trash using a type 8 sink-tip and I got mine on a black Moal Leech using a 15 ft piece of T-8 sink-tip.
Well, I’ve had the opportunity to go fishing a couple of times in the last week.I went out to the Crooked River about 5 days ago when it was overcast and a little drizzly and had a great time out there.I wasn’t able to get away until noon, but that’s perfect timing for the Crooked.When I got there, I rig up my rod with a nymphing set up and hit the first hole.I landed typical size rainbow for the Crooked with an egg pattern right off the bat.As I worked this hole a little longer, I noticed some rising fish down below me.I immediately switch to a BWO and dropper, because you never know how long a hatch will last.I continued to fish dries the rest of the day and landed around 12-15 trout.If it stays cloudy and around 40 to 50 degrees, the dry fly fishing should stay productive.So, grab your 3wt and get out there.
RECORDED:41 °FISHING: Great
The next fishing trip I went on was for steelhead.A buddy of mine and I headed down to South J.It was a week day, but that doesn’t mean the crowds won’t be there.We got lucky.It was a light traffic day for South J.We swung most of the morning and hooked 5 fish.We only landed one.It was a tough day for landing fish, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.The fish that my buddy, Jesse, landed was a big 30+ inch native.Needless to say, he was stoked.We left around noon, and it was perfect timing.The crowds that typically are associated with South J were beginning to arrive.If you decide to go down to SJ, go with a good attitude and expect crowds.If you don’t get the crowds, BONUS!
RECORDED:37 °FISHING: Great The arctic cold front that we were enjoying last week, has finally moved on letting things warm up a little bit and allowing us to get back to the real important things in life, like fishing! So I took Monday off and headed down to the Deschutes to scratch that steelhead itch again. I got to Meca Flats at first light and found I was the first one there. The clear weather was a lot warmer than last week, but it was still in the mid twenties when I started my day and I was pretty happy when the warm sun finally cleared the canyon wall. There was not a lot of angling pressure on the river with only a few cars in the parking lot and couple boats floating by, so I pretty much had the Meca area to myself.
This time of year when the water is colder and the fish are a little less aggressive, I normally use a heavy sink-tip and a leach pattern. I was fishing my Winston 7wt BIIX spey with the new Rio 500grn Flight Skagit line and I attached a 15ft T-8 sink-tip and tied on a black rabbit string leach.
One of the tricks I use when the temperature is below freezing and I want to avoid the problems of water freezing in the guides and on the rod, is to not get it wet to start with. With my spey rod I can lengthen the line two feet at a time like normal, working out line with each swing until I get my full head out, but being careful not to let the rod touch the water. Then I just work down stream with the same amount of line out, it’s the stripping in of wet shooting line causes the guides to freeze up. I rather fish 50ft of line and keep moving, than shooting line to cover an extra 20-30 ft and having to deal with frozen guides, reel, line and hands every couple of minutes.
I jumped in and started fishing not far from the parking lot and had my first fish on about 20 minutes later. It was a nice 26 inch wild fish that came to hand without much of a fight, like she knew I was going to release her. I was going snap a quick picture of her, but my camera, which was in my outside wader pocket, was frozen and showed low battery.Which brings up another trick, put your digital camera in a pocket closer to your body to keep it warm enough to take pictures in cold weather. I stepped back in and worked down another 50ft when my line came tight again, but this time something wasn’t right. It only took a couple seconds and a jump by the fish that almost pulled the rod from my hand to realize that my reel was frozen and that I must have got it wet when I landed the first fish. I stumbled down stream trying to reduce the tension between the fish and my locked up reel, while I franticly tried breaking the reel free so I could take or give line as needed. I finally got the reel to turn and was able to keep the fish on and land him. It was another colored up wild fish and this time my camera was warm enough for a quick self-portrait before the release.
I fished through the rest of the day and managed to hook three more fish before heading home. Unfortunately none of those made it to the bank. One came off shortly after being hooked, one came unbuttoned during a jump and the last one came unpinned at my feet while trying to land her. As the old saying goes, “that’s why they call it fishing and not catching”. I had a great day and it was good to get out and swing again.
The upper half of the Lower Deschutes stays open for steelhead until December 31st, so there is still time if you haven’t had the chance to get out lately. I’m pretty sure there’s a steelhead out there with your name on it.
RECORDED:80 °FISHING: Good I hadn’t been down to Cabo to fish for a while and I had some new saltwater products I needed to test out, so Thu and I decided to go down over the Thanksgiving holiday and get a few days on the water.
The weather was great with temperatures around 80 degrees, which was really nice, compared to the 40 degree weather we left at home. The ocean conditions were good with blue water just a few miles off shore and good numbers of Marlin and Dorado in the area. The only down side was that our trip was during the full moon which sometime slows the Marlin fishing during the day, as they are able to feed all night. We found this to be the case for us, as we came across six Marlin while on the water, with only one showing any interest at all and wouldn’t come to the fly.
The Dorado fishing was a lot better for us with consistent action and pretty aggressive fish. We mostly came across single fish which you sometimes have to work harder with teasers to get them to take a fly. When you come across a school of them, it’s often easer to catch them because of their natural instinct to compete for the available food. They tend to get excited during a feeding frenzy and make more mistakes in their rush to get the food before someone else does.
Thu had not fished for Dorado, so on the first day we put her on deck first and within 30 minutes she had her first Dorado chasing teasers behind the boat. If you have never fished for Dorado before, it’s quite a sight to see these lit-up neon gold, blue and green torpedoes slashing through the water at 40mph looking for something to eat, and when you hook one, that’s when the fireworks begin.Anyway, Thu did a great job casting to this beautiful 25lb electrified fish-eating machine that was following the teaser to the boat, landing her fly just in front of the teaser for a perfect bait-and-switch and the Dorado crushed her fly. The Dorado immediately took off ripping line from her reel jumping and cart wheeling across the ocean. Unfortunately, this beautiful fish came unbuttoned during one of its jumps, but it gives you a great feeling for the day when you get action right out of the gate.Thu’s second opportunity came just 15 minutes later when a 20lb bull Dorado busted the teasers and came to Thu’s fly like it hadn’t eaten in weeks. This fish took a lot of line on the series of acrobatic runs, but Thu stuck with it and slowly fought this nice fish back to the boat where she landed her first Dorado on the fly. We teased in and had shots at about ten Dorado that day and caught a half dozen of them. A good day on the fly by any measure and made possible by the expertise of the captains and mates of Baja Anglers. The most important thing you can do when preparing for a “productive” saltwater fly fishing trip is making sure you find a good guide or outfitter that has good equipment, knows the water and has the knowledge & skills to bring fish to your fly.
I tested a new Loop Opti Big large arbor reel on this trip. I had hoped to fight a Marlin or two on it, but since that wasn’t happening for us, we used it on some of the Dorado we caught. It preformed well with a smooth clean drag and the super large arbor came in handy for quicker line pickup. We fished 10 and 12 wt rods for Dorado and a 13 wt to cast the big flies for the Marlin.
It was a Quick trip, but certainly worth the effort just to have my toes in the warm sand of lands end.
Well, a buddy of mine and I went up the John Day to see if we couldn’t hook us a steelhead.We tried fishing way up river around Service Creek area.The water level bump just a little bit in the last few days, and we thought it might get some fish moving up in the river.We were wrong.We fished hard most of the day without a tug.The water temp was around 35 degrees, and the air temp wasn’t much warmer. I was wishing I had brought those new battery powered heated socks we just started carrying.It was the perfect condition to try them out, and I don’t see the weather warming up anytime soon.I might have to ask Santa for a pair.If you are thinking of fishing the John Day, you may want to fish some of the lower parts for now.
