March 2010 Fly of the Month Club Flies

Fly Tying General, Fly of the Month

Howdy,

Riverwood Trout Fly of the Month

Grey Midge

 

Recipe:

  • Hook: Dry Sz 16-22
  • Tail: Tan Saddle Fibers
  • Body: Muskrat Dubbing
  • Wing: Grizzly or Grey Hackle

Midge is the common name of a variety of small insects that hatch along the water’s edge. They are small, plentiful and a great source of food for trout. They are available in almost every month of the year and hatch at various times.

The grey midge adult pattern not only passed as a midge, but also as a small Blue Winged Olive, Pale Morning Dun and other small mayflies.

The best time to fish these patterns is on a cloudy, or overcast day when the temperature is above 50 degrees. They are also handy to use immediately following a brief rain shower – just as the sun is coming out again.

Riverwood Steelhead Fly of the Month

 

Recipe

  • Hook:  Salmon/Steelhead sz 2-6
  • Body:  Angora Dubbing (Pink used here)
  • Rib:  Holographic Tinsel
  • Body Hackle:  2 Colors of Schlappen (Yellow and Pink here)

This is a very simple, yet very effective pattern.  The long schlappen feathers ebb and flow along with the current, imitating a swimming or free drifting shrimp.  Fish deep and on a dead drift for best results.

Tight Lines!

Dave

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River Reports – 03/01/2010

River Reports

Howdy,

Here’s the latest scoop on my favorite Oregon Rivers!

North Santiam River, Oregon

Report date: 03/01/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The river is still quite low for this time of year at 4 ft. (at Mehama). This makes for great fishing as the fish have less room to spread out. The first couple Spring Chinook have passed through Willamette Falls and are heading this way. They are about 2 weeks ahead of last year. ODFW is projecting a really decent run this year.
Species to fish for: Chinook Salmon,Steelhead
Flow: 2,300 cfs @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 44 @ Mehama
Current hatches: no
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Santiam Stone, Clash Hairwing, Bunny Leech
(Updated 03/01 10:19 AM)

Little North Santiam, Oregon

Report date: 03/01/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 2 – Good
Holding steady at 4-4.5 ft. this week with little change expected. The flow and depth have been stable for quite a while now. Fish will be settled in the deeper pools. Fish deep my friends!
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 587 cfs near Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 43 degrees near Mehama
Current hatches: no
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Santiam Stone, Clash Hairwing, Bunny Leech
(Updated 03/01 10:15 AM)

Siletz River, Oregon

Report date: 03/01/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 2 – Good
The river is still holding steady in the 5-6 ft. range which is optimum for fishing. However, there really needs to be some high water, followed by a drop to make things great!
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 2,200
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Good
Current hatches: no
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Clash Hairwing, Spey, Dee and Leech patterns
(Updated 03/01 10:12 AM)

Picture of the Week:

Dr. Bob's Santiam Winter Steelhead 02/26/2010

Tight Lines!

Dave

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Warm weather in Oregon is bringing out the bugs!

Fly Fishing General

Howdy,

Mild weather here in Oregon the past week or so has caused some insects to think it’s Spring.  Over the weekend I saw BWO’s, Little Yellow Mayflies, Black Gnats, Small Black Stoneflies and numerous other adult insects flying around the water’s edge.  The water temp is still keeping most fish locked in at the bottom, but with more surface food available, that could change. 

Old School Soft Hackle - A variation on the Partridge & Orange

I’m not advocating that you grab your “dry” fly box and start working the surface right away, but it’s probably time to start considering soft hackles, flymphs and emerger patterns.  Nymphs are still the most productive, but you can “lighten up” a tad.  Mix in a few casts with unweighted nymphs, or trail a standard nymph 18-24″ behind your bead head offerings.

Unweighted Pheasant Tail Nymph

Since there are adult bugs in the air lately, look for slightly different locations where trout might be laying.  During the cold weather and heavy flow, trout will have been looking for sheltered water and places where they don’t have to move very far to find food.  The fish may have moved around a bit following the nymphs and larva as they work their way to areas where they will emerge or hatch. Fish under overhanging brush and trees, try above and below gravel/rocky outcrops.  Put a little more “motion” in your drifts to imitate the bugs on the move rather than dead drifting.

PMD Emerger

It’s not out of the question to throw a dry now and then, but timing a hatch will be very difficult in these cooler months.  Hatches are few and far between and very often, short lived.   It’s a great time to be out and about after the cold months of winter and rough days on the water (if you’re one of the brave souls that fishes year round).  Get out there and start working the kinks out!

Tight Lines,

Dave

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February 2010 Fly of the Month

Fly Tying General, Fly of the Month

Howdy,

The February Fly of the Month patterns both fall within the general streamer category, one for trout and the other for Steelhead/Salmon.

Trout Fly of the Month:  Black Nose Dace

Recipe:

Hook: Streamer Sz 8-14

Tail: Red Wool

Body: Silver Tinsel

Rib: Oval Silver

Wing: White, Brown and Black Bucktail

This classic streamer was originally designed by Art Flick of Westkill, New York. The silver ribbing and body are great for imitating the silver under-scales found on many bait fish. It also helps catch the eye of any nearby predatory fish. It is tied to imitate the very common bait fish of the same name.

Because the Black Nose Dace is so well liked by trout, Mr. Flick tried to imitate it as closely as possible with a bucktail. The result was a streamer that has proved itself successful, as well as a fly that will take a lot of abuse. Flick normally used it to fish in the early spring, and on days later in the season when he found that the trout were not taking his dry flies.

Steelhead Fly of the Month:  Popsicle

Recipe:

Hook:  Salmon/Steelhead Sz 2-6

Body:  Marabou of Various Colors

The Popsicle (or Alaskabou)  fly is a great fly for salmon and steelhead. This particular fly shown here is great for silver and chum salmon. A variety of color combinations are possible with this fly making it very versatile.  It is commonly fished in the winter months in heavy water flow conditions.  The fly is able to sink quickly.  Bright colors work best in high, off colored waters.  This fly can be stripped, swung or presented on a dead drift. 

When in the current or being stripped, the fly can imitate a leech.  When dead drifted or during pauses in the strip, the fly looks somewhat shrimp-like.  The marabou pulsates in the water, making it hard for a fish to ignore.

Throw in a little flash or sparkle between color changes for a great effect.  Attach the marabou, tip first, at the hook bend and wrap forward, changing colors mid-shank.

Tight Lines!

Dave

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River Reports – 02/08/2010

River Reports

Howdy,

With very little rain in the past couple weeks, most Oregon rivers are low and clear.  Steelheaders will want to downsize their offerings and lengthen leaders a bit.

Siletz River, Oregon

Report date: 02/08/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 2 – Good
The Siletz has been very stable for the past couple weeks. Needs some rain to encourage more fish to enter the system.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 1,320 @ Siletz
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Good
Water temperature: n/a
Current hatches: Bunny Leech,Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Sparkle Egg,Spey Pattern
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Clash Hairwing, Spey, Dee and Leech patterns
(Updated 02/08 9:18 AM)

North Santiam River, Oregon

Report date: 02/08/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
Army Corp of Engineers are still holding water at Detroit and Big Cliff reservoirs so the river is running very low. The temp is still below 40, so you need to put the fly on thier noses.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 2,250 @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 39.7 @ Mehama
Current hatches: Black Stonefly,Bunny Leech,Eggs,Spey Pattern
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Santiam Stone, Clash Hairwing, Bunny Leech
(Updated 02/08 9:16 AM)

Little North Santiam, Oregon

Report date: 02/04/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The Little North is still in prime shape. This week’s rain has had little impact other than to increase depth and flow slightly. Clarity is still “steelhead green”.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 617 cfs @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 44 near Mehama
Current hatches: Bunny Leech,Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Spey Pattern
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Clash Hairwing, Spey, Dee and Leech patterns
(Updated 02/04 11:48 AM) 

Picture of the Week:

Tight Lines,

Dave

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River Reports 01/26/2010

River Reports

Howdy,

Rivers here in Oregon are looking great.  Weather is expected to clear a bit and that will keep things stable.  Lots of winter run steelhead coming in, so get out there a chase em’!

Siletz River, Oregon

Report date: 01/26/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The Siletz is low and clear this week which means good news for steelheaders. Oregon rivers are all seeing big numbers of winter steelhead returning. It’s early yet, but the forecasts are calling for a lot of fish.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 2,029 cfs @ Siletz
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Good
Water temperature: n/a
Current hatches: Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Leeches,Spey Pattern,Streamers
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Clash Hairwing, Spey, Dee and Leech patterns
(Updated 01/26 12:00 PM)

North Santiam River, Oregon

Report date: 01/26/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The river is still running low and steelhead green! A great time to be fishing with lots of holdover summer run steelhead and fresh & feisty winter run fish moving in. Shaping up to be a great winter run of fish.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 3,330 cfs @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Difficult
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 40 @ Mehama
Current hatches: Black Stonefly,Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Giant Black Stonefly,Leeches,Sparkle Egg,Spey Pattern,Stonefly
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Santiam Stone, String Leech, Spey and Dee Patterns
(Updated 01/26 11:57 AM)

Little North Santiam, Oregon

Report date: 01/26/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The river is running low and clear this week and is in great shape of winter steelhead fishing. Good numbers of fish are spread out from the convergence with the N Santiam up to Salmon Falls. Go with smaller profile and muted colored flies in the clear water. BE SURE TO RELEASE ALL WILD FISH! There is a mix of both wild and hatchery raised fish in this river so please check for an adipose fin.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 1,010 cfs @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 44 @ Mehama
Current hatches: Black Stonefly,Blue Winged Olive,Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Giant Stonefly,Leeches,Spey Pattern
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Santiam Stone, Clash Hairwing, Bunny Leech
(Updated 01/26 11:54 AM)

Picture of the Week:

Tight Lines!

Dave

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Winter Fishing

Fly Fishing General

Howdy,

Winter fishing has its own unique set of challenges.  You have to deal with the weather and a number of other factors  - rain, snow, wind, air temperature, water temperature, river levels, river flow, water clarity, etc.  Getting all of those factors to align for a “perfect day” is rare, or impossible.

Around here we hope for a “fishable day”, one in which it isn’t raining hard, the rivers are dropping, the flow is moderate and the clarity is “steelhead green”.  We also hope for water temps above 40 degrees and the air temp above 45 degrees.  This is as close to perfect as it gets and it happens 3 or 4 times during the winter.  Those days usually coincide with a day when your schedule is full – meetings or big projects of some sort at work, travel plans that aren’t near water or other commitments you just can’t get out of. 

Wild Rainbow caught in January 2010

In the winter, the fish aren’t very cooperative either.  They are cold, lethargic and their primary interest is conserving energy to sustain them until spring.  They will eat, but the food has to come to them.  They won’t move much to find it.  Moving burns precious energy. 

To have fishing success, we need to think differently in the winter.  We can’t just walk up to the waters edge and watch for rises, hatching bugs and other signs of where fish are and what they’re dining on.  We have to make assumptions about location and food sources.  We can do some investigation using a seine and/or overturning a few rocks.  Hopefully we’ll find some bugs that will give us a clue as to what food source is in the water.  That may or may not help tell us what’s being eaten, but it will tell us what is available.   If we are fortunate to catch a single fish, we can suction it’s stomach (very carefully please) and then find out exactly what that fish is consuming. 

That’s all well and good if your target species is trout, but if you’re stalking steelhead, entomology won’t do much good.  Since the big ocean going fish don’t eat (or eat very little), food isn’t their reason for being in the rivers – they are in the river system to spawn.  You have to get their attention by other means.  There is a “feeding instinct” that can be triggered, but a lot of the time you’ll get a better response from them by triggering their “protection instinct”.  Steelhead like to “camp out” and establish a territory which they will defend.  We can also prey on a steelhead’s curiosity, as they like to “check things out” on occasion. 

December 2009 Half Pounder Wild Steelhead

Now that we’ve determined what we’re going to use to entice a fish to strike, we need to figure out where and how we’re going to present it.  Under “perfect” winter conditions, the fish will hold in similar places that you’d expect during the rest of the year, but remember, we seldom have perfect days in the winter.  That gentle riffle that produces fish for you in the summer is now a raging torrent with an extra 1,000 cfs of water rushing through it, that pool that was clear and glassy is now a boiling  cauldron of whirlpools and undertows, littered with branches and other debris. 

Look beyond your normal “honey holes” and find water that a fish might prefer.  Think about where you normally find the fish, then search for those types of conditions -  water moving at the correct pace, seams between slow and fast water, cut banks, structure, etc.  Those places do exist, even in crappy conditions, you just need to find them. 

Finally, once you have found the right fly AND the right location, present that fly so that it gets to where the fish is holding – put it in front of their noses so they don’t have to move to get it.  Vary your depth, speed and angle until you find the combination that works.  You can have success fishing in the winter, it’s just measured differently.  It’s not so much about quantity or size in the winter, it’s often more rewarding because you had to think and work a little harder.  Even if you come home empty handed, you’ll have spent some time learning new things about the fish and the water.  You’ll be a better angler because of it and have even more success in the coming months when things are “easy”.

Tight Lines!

Dave

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River Report Updates

River Reports

Howdy,

The North Santiam and Little North Santiam are both in great shape with flow and depth reading in the sweet spot, water temps above 40, air temps above 50 and color /clarity at “Steelhead Green”.  Better be fishin this week!

North Santiam River, Oregon

Report date: 01/20/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The Army Corp of Engineers is releasing a stable flow of water from Detroit and Big Cliff upstream, so the water levels are on the low side. This is great news for anglers because there is less room for the fish to spread out. Look for fish in the usual places. Boulder patches and “walking pace” flow are your best bet. Work the head and tailouts of deep pools.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 3,230 @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 40 @ Mehama
Current hatches: Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Giant Black Stonefly,Spey Pattern
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Eyed Egg, Santiam Stone, Clash Hairwing, Bunny Matuka
(Updated 01/20 9:33 AM)

Little North Santiam, Oregon

Report date: 01/20/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 1 – Excellent
The river is really coming into shape this week and has dropped into the “sweet spot” at 4.1 feet. Steelhead are in the system, both fresh winter metalheads and holdover summer stock.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 890 cfs @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 44 @ Mehama
Current hatches: Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Giant Black Stonefly,Spey Pattern
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Santiam Stone, Eyed Egg, Clash Hairwings
(Updated 01/20 9:28 AM)

Picture of week:

Tight Lines!

Dave

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River Reports 01/17/2010

River Reports

Howdy,

Here are the weekly river reports:

Little North Santiam, Oregon

Report date: 01/17/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 3 – Fair
The river is running pretty high right now and rising. Fish the seams and soft water where you can find it.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 1730 @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Dangerous
Water clarity: Fair
Water temperature: 44
Current hatches: Leeches,Spey Pattern,Stonefly
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Santiam Stone, Eyed Egg, Moal Leech
(Updated 01/17 9:23 PM)

 

North Santiam River, Oregon

Report date: 01/17/2010
Report by: Dave Carpenter
Fly fishing outlook: 2 – Good
The river is low right now but rising. A great time to be fishing if you can handle a little rain.
Species to fish for: Steelhead
Flow: 4140 @ Mehama
Wading difficulty: Normal
Water clarity: Excellent
Water temperature: 39
Current hatches: Egg Sucking Leech,Eggs,Leeches,Spey Pattern,Stonefly
Wet flies (nymphs) to use: Santiam Stone, Eyed Egg, Santiam Clash Hairwing
(Updated 01/17 9:25 PM)

Picture of the Week:

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Winter Hatching Caddis Fly

Fly Tying General

Howdy

Just a quick post to show a recent hatch of Caddis Flies that have been fluttering around for the past couple weeks.  Started after a cold snap and subsequent warm up.  Wonder if the hatch is out of sync with the norm.

Glossy Wing Caddis & #10 imitation

I used the special dyed american oppossum dubbing that Adirondacks guide Chris Stiles requested for his Ausable Wulff Mayfly imitations.  It’s a pretty close match to the body color on these bugs.  If you look closely, you’ll see two sets of “wings” on the imitation.  I’ve found that adding two clumps of Elk Hair to the standard EHC makes a much more realistic match to the “live” adult.

Now if it would only stop raining so I could give the fly a chance to fool a trout……

Tight Lines!

Dave

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