April 8, 2008 - Oregon Fishing Update
April 8, 2008
In tribute to ‘the Boz’, I think I’ll rate the day a “6“. We should reach an “8” or ”9” by the weekend. So get out there and fish. Work Party at the Clackamas River site on Saturday morning, 10 - 2pm. It will be all about the trails. Brush cutting and rock rolling; so, bring loppers and gloves & whatever else you feel may be appropriate. You should definitely include your summer steelhead gear. Part of this exercise is to open areas to fish and we’ll need to test our progress. We’ll treat you to lunch and a beer, if so inclined, in Estacada afterwards. We recently spent a couple days working at Schmadeke Pond … the road has two new loads of rock & the pond looks super spiffy.
* Eagle Creek #1 lower end has been sold. By agreement, we still have access through the end of June. The fate of our agreement beyond June is unknown at this time. Hopefully, the new landowner will see the value of having us around and will choose to allow us continued access. The upper end landowner has assured us that we will still have access to the upper end (bridge on up). If any news develops, we will pass it on to members.
* Stillwater trout retention rules have been changed with the most recent newsletter. Members may now harvest only 4 trout/ month / membership.
* Salmon River access changed, again. We may now fish the whole property, again. If you are a fairly recent joinee of the Club, your Salmon River property flier may need a stroke of whiteout. Get rid of the “No OFC Access” section that extends from the ‘no passage’ bluff upstream to the bridge. We may now fish this section.
* Chinook retention rules have changed for the Willamette Basin. You may only harvest one spring Chinook per day on all tributaries except Eagle Creek on the Clackamas where you may still harvest two/day. 2005 was a bad low water year and our 3 year old fish are returning in low numbers. Coastal harvest numbers may be changed as well, and it may extend into the fall season.Calendar:Mar. 15 - Oregon Fishing Club news Spring edition mailed. Haven’t received yours? Have you paid your dues?April 1 - Spring Chinook season opened on most coastal rivers
April 12 - Work Party at Clackamas River…10am - 2pm. (This Saturday!) Loads of trailwork fun, should be a beautiful day, bring your steelhead gear and brush cutting tools.
April 26 - Work Party at North Santiam River…10am-2pm.
May 2 - Kings for the Kids salmon fishing derby … call Rick King 503.709.6603. http://kingsforthekids.org/
May 10 - Work Party at Trask #3/Burdick Pond…10am-2pm.
May 17 - Kid’s Day at Lake Margaret … call Bob Jackson 503.372.8933 to volunteer. http://kidsdayoregon.com/
June 14 - Oregon Fishing Club annual picnic at Lake Margaret
June 19 - 26 - OFC goes to Loreto, Mexico. Want to go? Call us 877.521.8947. DVD slideshow available! Mexico week #1 is almost full …1 villa still open. Great fishing, food and friends. Alaska Air canceled there Friday flights into Loreto and this trip had been shuffled back in time one day from the original schedule. Airfare is still reasonable at $653 roundtrip and seats are available.
June 26 - July 3 - OFC goes to Loreto, Mexico one more week. The moon will be dark and the water should be the warmest we’ve yet to fish. Could get very exciting. Dorado, marlin, sailfish and more. DVD slideshow available!
Sept. 13 - Oct. 4 - OFC goes to Prince of Wales, Alaska. A DVD slideshow is available! Thought we were full, but we now have two openings for the third week. $1498 for 7 nights lodging, 6 days fishing, everything but airfare, gear and booze included. Get on board while you can. Call us toll free 877.521.8947
The Stillwaters:
Trout fishing in the ponds is getting more real. The fish are hungry and active; especially on warmer days, but they’ve definitely gotten more selective. Big hatches of midges have spoiled our fish and anything less than that particular midge in matching color and form is looked on with far less interest. Most midges are small (#18 -22) generally dark, but sometimes w/ a little red or as Rod found at Colton (see Rod’s report below) a little olive, others (Rainier) are a bit larger, black and known to bite. The fish love ‘em and can be seen sipping the emerging adults off the surface. Dragon and damselfly larva are getting fat and more active as they prepare to emerge. Scuds, tiny shrimplike crustaceans, are thick in the weeds at the Trees, and the trout will cruise the edges of the mats looking for stray morsels. The fish are feeding, for the most part, in the upper 2 feet of the water column. You need to stay in the zone to be seen. Bugs will be most active on sunny afternoons. Report any damage or issues you may encounter.
Rod’s report - “Lower Colton Pond“ The geese took no notice as I parked in the grass next to the pond. As I approached the fishing platform at the edge of the pond, geese began to paddle around nervously. The geese were cool to watch, but those splashes all over the pond were trout, not geese. Splashy rises are generally indicative of fish chasing prey to the surface. The prey were rising rapidly to the surface from the pond’s muddy bottom. Black chironomids work great in Big and Little Tree Lakes. Black chiros would obviously be my first imitation to try. Not a hit. Every technique in my bag of tricks was used. Not a hit. Dry imitations. Not a hit. Scuds. Not a hit. Wooly Buggers and Brush Bunnies. You guessed it….Not a hit. A long-handled aquarium net emerged from my pontoon boat’s left pocket. Bending over to sample the water hoping to find whatever the trout were chasing to the surface, I saw, right in front of me, an adult size 18 chironomid. A gently positioned finger was welcomed as a way to get away from the voracious trout. As the insect crawled over my finger I noticed its overall blue-gray color which didn’t surprise me. The body however, was different from other chiros I had found in OFC lakes. The front one-third was a beautiful medium olive and the rear two-thirds was the expected gray-black of other chiros. All I had was black or olive, no combos. I did have some light blue duns in a size 18. Again, the trout refused to take a dry. I examined the fly. What could I do to make it look like an emerger? The light bulb that went off might have spooked a few fish, but was worth the chance. I pulled the wings off. I pulled and pressed the dry hackle toward the rear of the fly to sweep it back wet fly style. After tying the fly back on the 6X tippet, into my mouth it went. A careful soak in saliva (makes it sink immediately) and I casted to the edge of the shoreline structure, an area of partially submerged brush next to a fishing platform adjacent to the outlet of the pond. A ten-count got the fly down and then I began slowly and sharply twitching the fly to the surface. The next hour and a half were so much fun. I lost count of the two, three, and four pound trout that came to my boat. This was a great learning experience for me and I wanted to pass it along to you. Next time, and there WILL be a next time, I will have more of these dry flies and a LOT of the same pattern tied as an emerger. The addition of permanent markers will leave me totally prepared for any contingency……or, probably, until the next time I go fishing.
Posted By: Rod Grant - Date Posted: 4/4/2008“
The Rivers:
Steelhead fishing continues to be best on the coast. Bright hatchery fish are still available. The Wilson, winter steelhead fishing continues to be good. Trask, a rare hatchery steelhead stray from the Wilson wanders upriver, but wild fish predominate. Trask #1 and Trask #3 are good for both, and Trask #2 can be awesome this time of year (the road is blocked by fallen trees just the other side of second gate). No springer reports, yet … still a little early. The Nestucca is also still producing the occasional bright hatchery steelhead. #1 is easiest to fish below the Hwy 101 bridge, but two sets of cable stairs exist above Hwy. 101. Nestucca #2 is good beneath 3rd Bridge and at the ‘Red House Drift’ on the upper end, but is difficult access. Stop in Hebo at ’the Original Nestucca Valley Sporting Goods’ and ask Pat Gefre what’s going on in the river. Call after hours for Pat’s daily? report (503) 392-4269. http://www.nestuccariveroutfitters.com/ The Washougal, (big time summer steelhead run) use our boatslide to fish the upper river with a pontoon boat or driftboat. Eagle Creek might receive it’s first hatchery spring Chinook returns this year. Conditions were poor when the fish went in, but we might see as many as 3,000 fish return to the creek this year. The Clackamas has been getting better for steelhead and will continue to improve as more fish enter the system. The Sandy - Member Report “Fished the Sandy River last night. Caught one 10 lb hen steelie and lost one. Also lost one on Saturday. The water is in great shape.” Posted By: Tony Jacobs - Date Posted: 4/8/2008. The Molalla, the ‘House Hole’ is the deepest hole for quite a stretch, and a good place for stray summers & springers or smallmouth bass when things warm up a little. Big Creek continues to return the occasional spring Chinook. Call Howard Kem at 503.318.4804 or 503.397.0213 to make a reservation. $10/OFC angler … $20/guest … kids 12 and under free. Lodging available at $45/night/person … $20/kids 12 and under. Santiams, both the North and South got easier to fish this winter. Summers and springers take a week or so to get from the falls at Oregon City to these sites. (see link below under Fishing for counts). Willamette, can be a super smallmouth fishery in the spring. The road down to the river is torn up by the recent passage of a large tractor. Best to park at the top of the hill and then walk down the hill or you might get stuck. There is rock all the way to the launch, but turning around and then getting back up the hill may be extremely difficult. Launch a small boat, one you can drag up a hill, and fish the seam where the river enters the slough. (1/4oz -1/2oz jigheads w/ 2 inch white doubletail rubber grubs are a known fish catcher.)
Go fish
Brian
Oregon Fishing Club
877.521.8947
Referrals: Do you know someone who’d like to join OFC? Send us their name and phone number. You’ll earn a $50 reward for your efforts.
Links: Oregon Fishing Club Member’s Bulletin Board http://members.ofc.org/
Oregon Anglers - www.oregon-anglers.org - 503.655.4077 - OA is a Political Action Committee run by OFC members working on the behalf of us sportanglers, and deserve your support. Send them $50 as an individual or $100 as a couple. OA is fighting a huge fight on multiple fronts and they need your help! Get involved…make a difference. There are evil legions of anti-sportanglers working to dissolve away our rights and resources, and OA provides a means of stopping them.
Oregon Fishing Club Fishing Trip - POW Alaska - Three different weeks of hot coho action in small coastal streams. Bruce will handle the first 10 days or so and Brian the last 10 days. Sign up now for a week of adrenaline pumping excitement. Call us for details…877.521.8947. DVD slidehow available!
Weather - The NOAA home page http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ or http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/weather/10_day.cgi (A great 10 day look at the future with color pictures)
Tides - http://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/oregonsites.html orhttp://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/sites_uswest.html River Levels -http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/current/?type=flow (USGS Oregon River Levels)orhttp://ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=pqr (NOAA’s Advanced Hyrologic Prediction Service - NW OR)
http://raws.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/roman/meso_base.cgi?stn=EGKO3&time=GMT Eagle Creek weather report.
Oregon Fishing Club Prostaff -http://home.comcast.net/~grantsnwguideservice/ (Grant Scheele) scheeleteam1@comcast.net (541)990-6358 http://www.fishonnw.com/ (Shane Groshong) shane@fishonnw.com (541)338-8362www.FishYFS.com (Jack LaFond) Jack@FishYFS.com (800)270-7962
www.theflyfishinginstructor.com (Ron Lauzon) ron@theflyfishinginstructor.com (503)622-3634
www.CatchSomeFish.net (Chris Nordling) ChrisNordlingFishingGuide@comcast.net (503)866-0971 (cell); (503) 659-1401
Fishing -
www.ifish.net (Jenny Logsdon-Martin) (The best Oregon fishing website.)
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/fish_counts/willamette%20falls.asp Willamette Falls fish counts
2008 Chewaucan Challenge - What … no interest? We’ve recv’d zero, zip, no interest in this and I don’t get it. Looks like a lot of fun. Take away the competition thing … go planning on losing … bad! A little town is going to bust there collective behinds to throw a big party and there’ll be a unique opportunity to fish otherwise unaccessible waters. Check it out at http://www.paisley.presys.com/fish.htm . Send us an email, if you have interest and maybe we can help get a team together. Scheduled for June 15-18, 2008. The Chewaucan basin flows from the Gearheart Wilderness, high in the Cascades, to the little city of Paisley in Southern Oregon on the edge of the Great Basin. The Chewaucan River has over 40 miles of walkable, wadeable, fishable water with a diversity of challenges from fast boulder strewn rapids to the slow meandering holding waters. The past five years have seen over four million dollars in improvements to the river from local ranchers and state and federal agencies, which has allowed the wild red band trout to return to its historic runs. A BBQ (tritips) kick off dinner is held on Sunday, June 15, 2008 at 5pm, and morning briefings will be held daily. Package also includes 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and an ‘all you can eat’ spagetti feast. Bag lunches, T-shirts and assistance with lodging, meals and amenities will be available. Registration is $170 per person (3 person teams). A trophy and cash prizes will be awarded. Paisley is a tiny town and this is one time of the year where they all get together to throw a big party…should be a lot of fun…even if you don’t catch fish.
Tags: fishing, flyfishing, oregon, oregon fishing club, reports, salmon, steelhead, trout