The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

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

Don’t forget our 30% off sale going on now

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

Don’t forget our 30% off sale going on right now

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