Howdy,

I stepped out of my comfort zone yesterday and did something different.  I went fishing for the fun of it.  You see, I’ve put a lot of time and effort into building a couple businesses – an online fly shop and a guide service.  I’m not looking for sympathy here, after all, it’s hard to feel sorry for a guy whose job (one of them anyway) involves spending long hours on beautiful rivers casting a fly rod.  I love most every aspect of what I do.  There are pluses and minuses to most any job.  Tying flies and guiding trips are definitely jobs that are heavily weighted with pluses.

Fishing is always fun – even when you get skunked, rained on, frozen, sun baked, bug bit, etc.  What I meant by going fishing for the fun of it was that I went without the intention of building my business.  I wasn’t out there to test fly patterns.  I wasn’t there to scout a new section of water.  I simply loaded up the family and headed for a small lake in the mountains. 

Lori strapped Hadlee in the pack and spent the afternoon taking pictures.  The boys and I hit the lake and fished.

A Cascade Mtn. lake - dozens like it around this area

the Boys on the makeshift raft

looking for cruisers

very intense Mayfly hatch

Enough of the “snapshots”.  Here’s some of Lori’s great camera work:

a caterpillar pretending to be a flower stem

Mountain flowers

another Mountain flower

Check out these Dragonflies!

a bright red dragonfly

these boys are HUGE

Oh yeah, I caught a fish.  At the height of the mayfly hatch (pictured near the top of the post) nearly 2/3 of the lake was covered in March Brown spinners.  Only saw one fish rise for a meal.  A few fish rose as the hatch dissipated, maybe picking up dead spinners.  I fished Kaufmann’s Timberline Emerger for a while without any success.  I switched to a brown wooley bugger for a bit and had no luck either.  Finally I tied on a orangish/red wooley bugger and found a taker.  A very fat 15″ rainbow that didn’t put up much of a fuss.  I saw several larger fish cruising around, but spooked them with my casts.  This fish was holding in the deepest part of the lake and took the fly near the bottom on a slow retrieve.

a fat Cascade Mtn. Rainbow

Slow down and give them roses a sniff once in a while……………….

Dave

Howdy,

Steelhead are often on my mind. 

One of my first “steelhead” memories is from the early 1970′s when my Dad returned from a fishing trip to Northern Idaho with the biggest trout I’d seen in all my 7 or 8 years.  He explained how this trout was special and how it had been born in a river, traveled to, and lived in the ocean for a few years, then came back to the river it was born in.  I saw pictures of Dad’s trip a few weeks later (after the film was mailed in, developed and returned).  He and the guys he went fishing with were bundled up in every piece of warm clothing they owned, standing on the rocky banks of a raging river, holding their steelhead with huge smiles on their faces.  It looked cold, hard and not very fun – from my 7 year old perspective.

 My trout fishing up to that point in life had occurred at the local stocked ponds and reservoirs in southern Idaho close to home.  A few days before “opening day”, the Idaho Fish and Game truck would back up to one of these ponds and spew fish into the murky waters.  People would flock to these waters on the appointed day and lob chunks of worms, marsh mellows, hot dog pieces and whatever else they could think of into the water and pull out their 6 or 7 fish for the day.  This would go on for a couple weeks until the pond or reservoir was fished out.  It was fun while it lasted – again, from my 7 year old perspective.

As I grew older, fishing was still a big part of my life.  We lived on the banks of the Snake River.  Not the pretty, crystal clear, evergreen lined shores of the upper river.  We lived in the southern Idaho desert where the river makes it way through rimrock canyons and valleys.   The vegetation on the banks is mostly Willow Trees, Cottonwoods and lots and lots of Sagebrush.   Beautiful in it’s own way, but not necessarily picturesque.  This portion of the Snake contains various species of fish – Channel Catfish, Bullhead Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, landlocked White Sturgeon, Yellow Perch, and on rare occasions,  Rainbow Trout.   But this desert Snake mostly contained “trash” fish (as we called them).  Those species include Carp, Suckers, and Squawfish (Pike Minnow). 

My brother and I fished on a regular basis – at least 75-100 days per year.  We learned a lot about that section of the river, about fishing and about the fish that swam by our house everyday.  It was always a “good day” when one of us landed a 12-14″ Smallmouth, or a 24-30″ Channel Cat.  Those fish were mean and nasty, fought hard and had the potential to do physical damage to you if you weren’t careful.  We learned very quickly how to unhook a fish without getting “stabbed” by a bass top fin, or the spikes of a catfish.  We also experienced moments of wonder.  Not in a “magical” way, but moments that left us thinking about what we had just hooked into.  Two or three good tugs and a broken line.  Was it a huge channel cat?  One of those you hear about that is 5-6 feet long?  Or maybe a monsterous Sturgeon over 10 feet and hundreds of pounds in weight?  We never saw them, so we’ll never know.

We had a lot of fun catching the variety of fish on the Snake.  But even the good days didn’t seem to measure up to the photos of my Dad and his buddies from his Steelhead trip a decade before.  The looks on their faces were something different.  Something I wouldn’t understand for several more years.  That understanding came after I moved to Oregon and hooked my first steelhead.  The fish that would lead me on an entirely different path in my fishing life. 

The rod went down hard, the reel screamed and a silver rocket blew out of the river about 20 feet from shore.  I remember looking at the reel and seeing line spool off at an unbelieveable rate as the fish made a run for the downstream rapids.  I tried to turn the fish and it jumped again.  The silver beast was 3 feet out of the water with the sun shining on it’s sides so brightly it was nearly blinding.  Then a snap!  A straightened rod and limp line.  It was over in a matter of 10 seconds. Now that was fun!  I lost two more steelhead that spring before landing my first fish.  A hatchery steelhead, bright and shiny.  My hands were shaking as I filled out the harvest card. 

I now understood the look on my Dad’s face from 20 years earlier.  Catching a steelhead was something special.  I’ve spent the last decade and a half pursuing steelhead and salmon species.  I’ve put my share of hatchery raised fish on my harvest card over the years.  Catching a steelhead or salmon never gets old. 

My early days of salmon and steelhead fishing were by way of “combat fishing”.  I won’t go into detail here.  You can read more about that at my friend Rebecca’s blog (The Outdooress) in her article titled “Crowded with a side of Steelhead”.  Several years back I began pursuing steelhead with a fly rod.  Admittedly, it’s not the easiest way to catch them, at least not for me.  It requires a lot of patience, practice and knowledge about the fish… oh, and some luck.  One thing I’ve learned over the past few years is that when “luck” happens, you need to step back and make sure you learned something from it.  Don’t necessarily pass it off as “dumb” luck.  Make a mental note of everything that was happening around you when you stumbled on that steelhead – water clarity, temperature, depth, flow, etc.  Chances are, when you see those conditions in the future, your chances of catching a fish or two goes way up.

The first year I started fly fishing for Steelhead, I landed 1 fish and lost 2.  But that one fish gave me more than enough reason to continue.  For me, catching steelhead on a fly rod is another step up on the “fun” ladder.  It’s more of a challenge.  To me, the harder you work for something, the sweeter the rewards are when you succeed.  Two years later I landed my first wild steelhead buck.  A brute of a fish – 34″ long, thick, mean and beautiful.  He jumped, ran, jumped and ran some more before coming to my feet.  The heavy wire hook was beginning to straighten.  A couple more head shakes and I would have surely lost him.  After reviving and releasing him back into the cold water of the Little North Santiam that Feburary day, I spent some time on the river bank in the silence.  I thought a lot about that fish.  How he’d been born in that river, survived the journey to the Pacific, ate, avoided being eaten and become a specimen of his species.  I thought about his journey back to his birth water – avoiding gill nets and sport anglers as he swam over waterfalls, rapids and sometimes…… pretty crappy water conditions.  I guess you’d say I had a “moment”.  It was way beyond “fun”.  It was special.  I’d reached my pinnacle when it came to fishing.  I’d caught a fish in it’s prime, in a way that was a challenge for me, on a fly I’d designed and tied.  I think it was the fish that had been in my thoughts for all of these years. 

Since then I’ve caught several steelhead on the fly rod – hatchery raised and wild fish.  My preference is the wild fish.  They fight harder and are more sporting.  But these days, I find the most joy in teaching and helping others catch steelhead.  My son’s first steelhead a couple years back was a great moment.  I wasn’t with my dad when he caught his first steelhead.  I was alone when I caught my first.  I was there fishing with Christian we he hooked into his first.  I gave instruction, watched his expressions, experienced all the emotions along with him.  It took a coupled days for him to stop smiling.  I knew he was playing it over and over in his head.

Helping a client of our guide service catch a fish is extremely fun.  Watching the reactions when a hooked fish jumps out the of water or makes a reel screaming run.  I know that for most of them, it will be a moment they won’t soon forget.  For me, that’s what it’s all about.  I want them to have an “experience”, not just a “fun” trip down the river. 

Late last month I had a dilema.  As I waited at the lauch point for the clients to arrive, I watched as several fish were caught.  Bright, shiny hatchery steelhead that were part of the previous day’s “recycle” dump.  These are cookie cutter, Skamina strain steelhead that the trap facility upstream is not ready to process, so they load them in a truck and transport them back downstream to the Mehama bridge.  Locals that know the schedule line up on both sides of the river and harvest these “second time around” fish until they head back upstream to the trap (often, to be recycled again).   I had a moment where I considered rowing across and upstream with the clients to join in the harvest.  Our odds of sucess would have been higher for sure. I opted instead to forgo the harvest crowd and give the clients the river trip experience instead.  We saw several fish, had one steelhead hit and miss, and caught a few very nice trout along the way.  It was a beautiful day on the river and the clients had a good time. 

I don’t want to come off sounding like some sort of expert – there are folks out there that catch a lot more fish than I do.  Nor do I want to give the impression that there’s anything wrong with catching hatchery raised steelhead.  They have plenty of fight in them and the way I see it, those fish are bought and paid for by sport anglers through the purchase of licenses and harvest tags.  If the ODWF wants to give us 2 or 3 shots at catching them, then great!  Without the hatchery fish in the system, I’d have a lot fewer fish to show my fly patterns to.  With lots of fish in the river, I can learn which patterns are sucessful.

I think I may have learned something from that last guided trip.   Maybe I should have rowed into the combat zone and let my clients try their luck with the recycled fish.   I need to do a better job of asking what the client is looking to get out of the trip.  I can’t just assume that they want the same thing as I would.

Like I said in the beginning – Steelhead are often on my mind.  I will continue to pursue them “my way” for as long as I’m able.  But I will give the paying client more options in pursuing them “their way”, and work hard to get them into position to have that opportunity.

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

This month’s flies feature a classic from Fly Fishing innovator Lee Wulff and one of my personal patterns.

Trout Fly of the Month

Wulff Style Mayfly

 Recipe:

• Hook:  Dry Fly sizes 10-16
• Tail:  Moose or Elk Mane
• Body:  Natural Dubbing (Beaver, Fox, Oppossum, Muskrat)
• Wing:  Elk or Deer Body Hair, divided
• Hackle:  Brown, Tan, or Grizzly

The Wulff series of fly patterns were developed by Lee Wulff. It presents a bushy, high floating fly, that remains visible into the evening twilight, and rides well in rough water. Every modern fly angler should have one or more of Lee Wulff’s innovations. He designed and sold the first fly fishing vests, championed reeling with the left hand on fly reels (so the rod was in the stronger right hand), invented the first palming spool fly reels, introduced the fly-O casting practice rigs, popularized the “riffling hitch” for salmon fishing and designed the popular triangle taper lines. However, Lee Wulff’s best-known innovations were in his flies.

Wulff patterns were the first flies to use hair for fly wings and tails. Almost all dry flies available in the winter of 1929/30 were, according to Wulff, anemic and too delicate, which he ascribed to their British tradition. The reason for very slim flies was that if a fly was too bulky the feather materials did not have the buoyancy to hold it up. Wulff also noted that dry flies with wings and tails of feathers get slimed up and are not very durable. To Wulff, the solution was obvious use bucktail (deerhair) for tails and wings. The mobility and buoyancy of elk and deer hair has made it a favorite North American fly tying material. 

Steelhead Fly of the Month

Riverwood Eyed Critter

 Recipe:

• Hook:  Salmon/Steelhead size 2-6
• Tail:  4 Dyed Grizzly hackle tips
• Rib:  Gold Tinsel
• Body:  Purple Angora Dubbing
• Body Hackle:  Purple Schlappen
• Wing:  4 Dyed Grizzly hackle tips
• Eyes:  Dumbell or Spirit River IBalz

The Riverwood Eyed Critter is a big purple thing with eyes.  Long schlappen body hackle and dyed grizzly hackle feathers for the wing and tail (four feathers at each location).  Finished with a dyed guinea feather for the collar.  The body is angora dubbing.  I developed this fly for fishing deep runs and pools for both Steelhead and Salmon.  With the weighted eyes, this fly will get down in the water column quickly.  

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

My first blog entry ever was a recount of a family vacation to Anderson Island, Puget Sound, Washington  in 2008.   It was complete with photos of the area, it’s wildlife and sealife.  Not being a writer, I spent hours working on the article, wanting everything to be perfect.  Back then I used a 3rd party blogging application which I soon migrated over to my own hosted application running under my website.  Somewhere in the transfer, that article was lost.   Again, not being a writer, the thought of recreating the article seemed too daunting to attempt.  It is lost forever. I’m sure the 3 or 4 people who read it are as upset as I am that it is gone……….

As luck would have it, we took another vacation this year.  This trip was a big loop through central Oregon, Northern California and back up the Willamette Valley.  I spent a little more time preparing for the trip this time – researching favorite fly patterns for all the rivers we would pass along the way – nymphs, dries, streamers and steelhead flies.  I packed spare leaders, a handful of Thingamabobbers, 3 rods, 3 reels with extra spools and anything else I could think of.  Visions of wild trout and migrating steelhead filled my head as I packed and stowed all the gear. 

Being a homebody and primarily fishing within a 50 mile radius of our house in Lyons, this was a big deal for me.  I now understand the clients I guide a little better.  They show up with this look of excitement and wonder (from too many daydreams of big, wild fish), mixed with dread and anxiety (from the sleepless nights worrying if they brought enough gear).  I think I may have learned a few things about improving as a guide from the process.

We headed east from home, following my North Santiam along Hwy 22 towards Bend.  An hour into the trip and my home water was out of sight.  Our first stop was the Metolius River near Sisters, Oregon.  We took the short walking path the the Head of the Metolius, where it bubbles out of the ground and quickly becomes a river. 

Head of the Metolius

The next stop was a little further down the road past Camp Sherman to the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.  Some of the prettiest water you’ll ever see.   No time for fishing though, we needed to get back on the road.

We arrived at La Pine State Park late in the afternoon and set up “camp”.  Camp was pretty easy to setup because our mode of transportation was a rented 25 ft. RV.  The process was basically as follows:  Back into the numbered spot (without hitting anything), turn off the ignition, plug in the “shoreline” and hook up the water hose then walk to the Kiosk and pay the nightly fee.  Done.  Well, almost done.  Had to setup a couple camping chairs and get some wood for the fire (back to the Kiosk for a bundle).  To keep things traditional, we roasted some hotdogs over the fire.

Being only a few hundred yards from the Dechutes River, I gobbled down the dog and quickly began assembling rods for me and the boys.  We set out on foot through the campground to wet our lines…. as the snow began to fall.  Yup, snow in mid-June!  We did make it through the maze of campsites and found the trail to the water, made a few casts, lost a few flies and then darkness fell.  No bites, no fish, but now I can say I’ve fished the upper Dechutes.

Dechutes River near La Pine, Oregon

 I did make another attempt at fishing in the morning before heading out.  The river was pretty high and all the rising fish were on the far bank.  We loaded up and headed south on Hwy 97, stopping before we left the park to see Oregon’s biggest tree.  A 500 year old Ponderosa Pine.

Jordan and Dylan at Oregon's Biggest Tree

On to Crater Lake!  The sun was shining and the high desert highway was warming up.  The snowstorm the night before was short lived and it felt like summer again.  Soon we were at the cutoff road to Crater Lake.  A long ascending stretch of road lay before us.  As we entered the park, clouds began to roll in and the rim of the crater was shadowed in darkness.  The park attendant to the gates mentioned that visibility was “spotty” at the top.  As we got closer, we realized what “spotty” meant.  It means snow, wind and blizzard-like conditions.  Being a first time RV driver, 10 feet of snow, with drifts forming and reducing the road to 1 car width in spots, I was a bit nervous.  The grooves in the steering wheel formed by the grip of my fingers took a few days to disappear. 

It did clear enough for Lori to get a shot of the boys with some of the lake in the background.  But I was only thinking of getting back down the mountain and didn’t take any pictures.  The next picture taking I did was down the road a ways, out of the snow and back on clear roads.

Cool Rock Formations on the south side of Crater Lake

We made our way back to Hwy 97 and turned south once again.  Summer weather returned as we neared the border between Oregon and California.   A quick stop to fill up on gas and road snacks and we were on our way again.  Our destination… one of Lori’s high school friends place just across the border with an incredible view of Mt. Shasta.

Mt. Shasta

After a great visit and wonderful dinner, we plugged in and called it a night.  The next stop would be near the Trinity River in the middle of the Trinity/Shasta National Forest.  Steelhead and Spring Chinook filled my dreams that night. 

Again on the road early the next morning and on towards Redding, where we stopped to fuel up again for the long trek through the wild and scenic Trinities.  Traveling through a State on the verge of bankruptcy teaches you some things – mostly about just how bad the roads can get when there is no money to fix them properly.  They do their best with what they have, but the result is a patchwork of fixes that resembles a quilt.  Patches of different materials and colors. 

My next test as a 1st time RVer taught me how to drive a up and down mountain roads  with one tire on the center line and one tire hanging on the shoulder.  With the grooves again forming in the steering wheel, we rounded one hairpin corner to encounter a pilot car driven by a gal holding a red flag out the passenger window.  I stopped and rolled down the window.  She informed us that a boat was being hauled down the mountain and we should just stay here in the “wide spot”.  By “wide spot”, she meant the one place on the mountain where the road is actually wide enough for 2 vehicles.  The mental picture of a ski boat towed by a pickup was shattered quickly as the nose of a semi truck rounded the corner ahead.  Attached to the semi was a low-boy trailer with a full sized house boat perched on the trailer, overhanging each side by at least 10 feet.  Fortunately the semi was coming at us so fast, there was no time to scream like a little girl in front of the kids.  As it flew past I looked in the side view mirror and saw that we really had nothing to worry about.  The house boat cleared our rear end by a good 1/8″. 

Jordan was riding shotgun on this leg and turned to me and said,  “Well… I’m not scared anymore”. 

We made it to Hayfork and checked out the area a bit.  A stop at the local Ranger Station and we got directions to a local swimming hole to relax a bit.  A pretty little section of Hayfork Creek before it enters the South Fork of the Trinity.  We took one rod along and took turns catching small native rainbows.  We hooked at least 2 dozen fish, with the largest measuring a whopping 7″.

One night in Hayfork and we were on our way to De Loma RV Park near Big Bar, Ca.  There I would fish the Trinity and hopefully connect with some andronomous fish.  As we made our way west on Hwy 299, I couldn’t help but notice that the river was winding it’s way through beautiful rock gorges, huge rapids and sadly, up and through trees and shrubs.  The river was running very high.  The gravel bars that did occasionally appear were loaded with debris in the form of log jams and stumps.  Walk and Wade access was going to be tough. 

Trinity River near Big Bar

I fished one area with limited access and managed a couple small trout.  There was a small side channel with only a few thousand cubic feet per second of flow that allowed for some nymphing.  I spent a good half hour wading chest deep through some trees hoping to find a shallow area to cross to the island with better looking water on the far side, but had to turn back when I reached a rock cliff with raging water over my head.  The RV Park owner was also a fishing guide on the Trinity. We talked flies, fishing and river conditions.  The fishing was poor, but the fishing conversation made up for it.  We traded business cards and fly patterns before leaving.

Onward West to the coast and more sightseeing was on the next day’s agenda.  We said goodbye to the Trinity and Hwy 299 and turned on to Hwy 101 Northbound through the Redwoods.  I’ve been there a few times before, but the trees always impress me.  Somehow you forget just how big they are. 

California Redwood

We stopped for the final night at Panther Flats Campground along the Smith River.  Again, I managed to get in a couple casts before dark and hooked some very small native rainbows.  I woke early the next morning (Father’s Day) and quietly exited the RV for some alone-time fishing on a famous California River. 

Smith River, California

Sunlight entered the Smith River canyon as I stepped into the crystal clear water.  I stood in the silence for several minutes watching the surface.  A few mayflies emerged on the far side of the river, but nothing rose to sip them in.  I tied on a stonefly nymph, followed by a caddis larva 12″ below it.  A pretty good cast behind a big rock dropped into a nice slot and allowed for a long drift to tailout.  A small trout grabbed the stonefly and came to hand.  The 3rd drift through the same slot took a hit that actually made the rod bend a little.  The largest fish of the trip came to hand – an 8″ rainbow trout.  Yup, Eight Inches!  I finally caught a fish worthy of having it’s picture taken.  Not a trophy, not a Hog, but a pretty little wild fish without it’s baby spots.

Smith River Rainbow

My quest was complete.  I’d caught a fine fish on one of California’s famous northern rivers.  I returned to camp a happy man.  I’d fooled some trout with a couple Riverwood originals – the Santiam Stone and Caddis Pupae

Following a quick breakfast, we loaded up for the home stretch of the journey.  We hopped onto I-5 North near Grants Pass.  To break up the home run, we stopped in Winston at the Wildlife Safari and made the drive-through the park.  The animals cooperated and were out in the open for the most part.  We stopped for a bit to watch an Elephant Car Wash in the “Africa” portion of the park.

Wildlife Safari near Winston, Oregon

There were Lions, Tigers, Bears (oh my), giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, Elk, etc.  I mostly noticed the fly tying material available – ducks, geese, ostrich, rhea, etc.

Spey hackle!

The fluffy ones are way prettier than the plastic ones.......

Ah, home again.  The Little North Santiam and North Santiam were back in shape when we got home.  While I’d been away catching miniature trout in California, my guide partner, Jeff Goodell had caught a nice Spring Chinook a few miles up the road.  Aaron Wainman had stopped by our place while we were gone and caught a very nice 15″ trout just below the house. 

We saw some pretty rivers and beautiful country on our trip, but there’s no place like home.

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

I’m happy to announce a new product coming soon to Riverwood Flies  – Fish Skulls, Nymph Heads and RealFlyColor Beads from Flymen Fishing Co. !  As most of you are aware, I don’t sell stuff that I don’t use myself, so a few weeks back I ordered up some of the Flymen Fishing Co. products to give them a try.  As luck would have it, the order arrived a day before a float trip down the North Santiam.  I managed to tie up a few quick flies for the trip.

Top - Fish Skull Streamers, Bottom - Nymph Head Stonefly, RealFlyColor Bugger/Leach

My apologies for the image quality, but not only were the flies rushed, but so where the pictures. 

The Fish Skulls are tied on AFTER you complete the fly.  The nose is slotted so it slips over the hook eye and covers the completed fly. Then simply make a thread dam in front and you’re done.  Adding these to just about any streamer / baitfish pattern is simple.  Conditions to test these flies was perfect – the river was running high and fast and we needed something weighted to get down quick.  Also this time of year the Spring Chinook are in the system.  Again, something heavily weighted was called for to get down into the deep slots.  If you’re looking for a product to get your fly down into deep pools, runs and pockets – Fish Skulls are just what you should be using. 

Testing Results:

I fished both of the streamers, throwing the chartreuse version first.  I did get a solid hit early on, but missed the take.  The purple and blue version took a couple hits and even had a fish attached to it for a short while.  The fish surfaced and threw the hook pretty quickly – it appeared to be a hatchery steelhead - brite and shiny.  A couple days later on a guided trip, it found paydirt in the form of a beautiful native steelhead caught by guide client Robert Burlingame. 

Fish Skulls work! This native Santiam Steelhead sure liked it.

 The Nymph Heads are tied using the same methods you’d use for any bead.  Place them on the hook before starting the fly.  The “feature” of this product is a small bump on each side of the bead that you touch with a marker or jig paint to create eyes.  You really have to try them to see what a difference it makes.  It adds some realism to an otherwise drab looking pattern.  It transforms fur and feathers into a bug in seconds. 

Testing Results:

I used a Nymph Head on my typical Rusty Squirrel pattern later in the week and dead drifted the fly off the base of a shallow riffle.  In a period of about 15 minutes I’d hooked and landed 4 trout and 1 whitefish.  I don’t know how many takes I missed in all, but it must have been at least a dozen.  This area I tested in generally holds fish and a typical haul from this spot will yield a fish or two on most days. 

The RealFlyColor Beads are available in a variety of colors and sizes.  For now, I only plan on stocking the 3/16 szie to be used on bugger and leach patterns for steelhead and salmon hooks.  I’ll let customer demand dictate future stocking orders.

Testing Results:

Although I can’t report any fish caught with the sample fly, I will tell you that the beads are rugged.  The fly was put through a good test of fast water and lots of rocky, gravel bottom areas and came out as brite and shiny as it did right from the package.  These beads are tough and have a very good finish.

Needless to say, I was very impressed with the results of these first few sample flies and decided to stock them ASAP.  You can get them from the Riverwood Flies website in the Hooks and Beads section of the online store.  Be sure to check out the product details for for the product specifications and tying tips.

To see the products first hand, make sure to swing by the Riverwood Flies / Oregon Outdoor Excursions booth at the upcoming Cascade Foothills Saturday Faire in Gates, Oregon on June 5th.  I’ll have a display of the products and will be tying with them all day!

Tight lines!

Dave

Howdy,

Here are the June 2010 Riverwood “Fly of the Month Club” fly patterns:

Trout Fly

Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle

Recipe:

• Hook: Dry Sz 14-22
• Thread: Tan
• Body: Orange Floss & Natural Dubbing
• Hackle: Partridge or Pheasant

This fly pattern dates back to the late 1800’s and has been widely used in England for years. You’ll also hear it called the Orange & Partridge, Orange Spider and a few other names. The most common pattern is tied with a silk/floss body, minimal dubbing on the thorax and 1 to 1 1/2 turn of partridge feather hackle.

You’ll also see this pattern tied with a tail of partridge, wire ribbing, heavier hackling, different colored floss (olive, yellow, gold) and sometimes even with a fully dubbed and tapered body. All of the variations are effective in catching a fish’s attention. This pattern imitates an emerging insect. The hackles simulate the legs of a nymph, sweeping back in the current or when stripping, then flair out on a dead drift or between strips.

Steelhead Fly of the Month

Dragon’s Tooth (Mike Kinney)

My version of Mike Kinney's "Dragon's Tooth"

• Hook: Alec Jackson Spey #1.5
• Tip: Oval silver tinsel
• Rib: flat silver followed by oval silver tinsel
• Hackle: purple coque, one side stripped, butt first
• Body: purple yarn
• Underwing: four golden pheasant breast feathers, back to back and tented
• Collar: teal
• Overwing: two golden pheasant rump feathers, tented, veiling the underwing

This is one of my favorite steelhead patterns to tie AND fish.  I will often change up the colors of the floss body and use black, maroon, or even red, then make slight color variation changes to the Underwing and Wing to match.  This pattern looks as great in the water as it does in the vise!

Tight Lines!

Dave

Here are the weekly river reports:

Breitenbush River Report – 05/27/2010

Little North Santiam 05/27/2010

The Little North is at a great level for fishing. The temperature is coming up, but that may change with warm weather and snow melt from up high. Most Steelhead will be in the upper reaches of the river.

Species: Steelhead, Rainbow Trout

Hatches: BWO, Brown Caddis, March Brown

Flies to use: Trout – Biot BWO, Double Wing EHC. Steelhead: String Leaches, Matuka’s, Hairwings

Flow: 874 cfs
Depth: 4.82 ft
Temp: 46.4
Wading: Difficult
Clarity: Steelhead Green!

Posted on 27 May 2010 by dcarp

 

North Santiam River Report – 05/27/2010

The N Santiam is coming down some after a week of heavy flows. Spring Chinook and Summer Steelhead numbers are still looking great.

Species: Rainbow, Cutthroat, Steelhead & Spring Chinook

Hatches: Brown Caddis, Olive Caddis, Yellow Stonefly, BWO

Flies to use: Trout – Double Wing EHC, Bullet Stone, March Brown, Biot BWO. Steelhead/Salmon: Bunny Matuka, Hairwings, ESL

Flow: 4,220 cfs @ Mehama
Depth: 4.86 ft @ Mehama
Temp: 47 degrees
Clarity: Excellent
Wading: Difficult

Posted on 27 May 2010 by dcarp

 

Picture of the Week:

 

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

I had the pleasure this week to spend a day with Dr. Bob and Dr. Dave.  Grey skies, high water and ominous clouds loomed overhead as we shoved off from the Mehama Bridge boat launch to start our downstream journey.  Bob and Dave are fly casters at heart, but were open to any method necessary to have a shot at the numerous Steelhead and Spring Salmon beginning their way upriver.  They drifted corkies through the first couple runs as I got my rowing muscles warmed up.  The river was fairly clear and reading 47 degrees.  Not too bad, all things considered. 

With the river running high and angry, I figured our best bet would be to work the riverbank and softer water around the rapids and riffles.  They continued to work likely looking seams with the corkies and occasionally tossed a bobber and jig in the mix. 

Our first stop was at the first set of power lines that cross the river below Mehama.  With the high water, a fairly good sized channel splits off to the north side and creates a small gravel island.  We anchored the boat and set up the fly rods.  On a trip down this section the previous weekend with Jeff Goodell (Oregon Outdoor Excursions Guide)and Jordan Rada, I’d spotted a couple steelhead in there, obviously taking a breather and avoiding the strong swift currents. 

Dr. Dave working a side channel.

 Both fellas gave the channel a thorough try, swinging flies along the deeper slots.  I did see one fish give chase to Bob’s fly, but it turned at the last moment and swam back into the deeper water.  It was good to see that the fish were still hanging in that area.

Dr. Bob giving it a shot

We loaded back up and moved on downstream, tossing gear in likely look places.  We soon pulled into another side channel with a deep pool on the south bank of the river this time.  On the previous trip with Jeff and Jordan, they each pulled a big native trout from this pool and once had a rod go down hard but missed the take.  Bob and Dave again pulled out the fly rods and worked the area well.  No takers though.  We continued downstream a ways and stopped on the island above “The Rock”, a big right hand turn with a nasty whirlpool, made even nastier by the amount of water pushing through right now.  We gobbled down some great sandwiches made by the folks at the Koffee Kupp in Sublimity, Oregon and went back to exploring the small island and the side channel down the back side.  Bob took his fly rod, Dave grabbed one of the baitcasting rods rigged with pink corkies.  I brought along a 5 wt. flyrod and a handful of flies. 

A spot of sunshine broke out and bugs started hatching – mostly olive and brown caddis and a few golden stoneflies.  With the cottonwood “hatch” going on, not much was happening on the surface. A splash downstream from Dave caught my eye.  Then it happened again.  The third rise confirmed that a trout was keying in on stonefly adults.  I quickly tied on a yellow bullet stone and traded rods with Dave.  The trout took a swipe at the fly on the 3rd or 4th pass, then slammed it hard a few casts later.  A pretty 11″ native cutthroat was photographed with it’s captor and quickly released.

Dave and a Native Cutthroat trying to see things eye-to-eye.

The coloring on this fish was beautiful.  It had very pronounced red “slashes” under the jaw, was chrome bright and speckled with it’s ancestral sea-run black spots.  I don’t think Dr. Dave was impressed, this being a steelhead/salmon trip, but I sure enjoyed seeing this fish.  It was fat and healthy – just what you want to see in your local river.

We continued on downstream throwing everything in the boat at likely fish holding areas.  We ported the Upper Bennett Dam without incident and worked our way though the flatter, slower section of the drift.  Spotty hatches of Caddis and Stoneflies continued and the occasional trout would rise for the meal.  As we neared the end of the trip, we stopped one last time at another location I’d scouted on the last trip.  I’d missed a take here and had a fish on for a few seconds on the trip on Sunday.  Both clients rigged up the fly rods, Bob with a new fly I’m tying lately with some cool new products from Flymen Fishing Co. (I’ll go into more detail in a future blog post). 

It didn’t take long and Bob’s rod bent over double and his reel was screaming! HE WAS INTO SOMETHING BIG.  The fish jumped about 4 feet out of the water, shaking and twisting.  The battle was on.  The fish jumped several more times, made several reel screaming runs anytime it saw us.  As it began to appear that the fish was wearing down, I moved in to put the net on him.  He was having none of that and with a renewed strength, gave Bob a few more jumps and runs. I positioned downstream a bit more and Bob worked the fish closer to shore.  I slowly moved the net into position and picked him up on the turn around.  The big buck steelhead was netted – and it had it’s adipose fin intact, meaning it was a native (wild) fish.  We snapped a couple quick shots and released him unharmed to continue his journey. 

Dr. Bob and his Native Santiam Steelhead

Not only was this a wild, pissed off, buck steelhead in his prime, but Bob did battle with him on a 6 wt. fly rod and 10 lb tippet!  It made me a believer in the Orvis Helios, that’s for sure! 

The rain finally drove us back into the boat and we pulled out at the Stayton Bridge ramp.  It was a great day….. or would have been if we’d gotten out of there a little quicker.  I’ll avoid the gory details, but as we were leaving, a City of Stayton Councilman decided to let me know how displeased he was that I was operating a guide service.  For one thing, the city of Stayton is on the OTHER side of the river from where we were located, for another, I have full license from the State of Oregon Marine Board to operate a guide business here.  I guess the guy feels he holds the title of God over the Rivers and Fishes along with his city councilman position……………….

Anyway, thank you Dave and Bob for joining me on the river this week!  BTW, I did some checking up and it turns out that being a City of Stayton elected official does NOT give you any right, title, license or jurisdiction over the water, or it’s fish, on the North Santiam River.

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of running the Ogden boys down the lower section of the North Santiam from Stayton to Shellburn.  This section is always a good drift in the early summer/late spring.  This time of year the Spring Chinook Salmon are entering this part of the river on their way upstream to the spawning beds.  There are also a fresh batch of Summer Steelhead moving in as well. 

We started the morning at the Stayton Bridge Boat launch with high hopes.  Steve and Josh arrived right on time and after a quick shuttle trip to drop my rig at the take out, we hit the water.  I’d brought along a varying selection of gear with baitcasting rigs, spinning gear and of course, fly rods.  It was going to be a great day on the water.  The sun was shining, the water temp was near 50 and the air temp was supposed to reach a high of 78 degrees.

Josh & Steve at the Stayton Launch - Ready to board the Rapid Sucess

 As we rounded the first bend, Steve selected the Bobber and Jig set up while Josh grabbed the Spinning rig.  We worked our way downriver hitting the likely looking spots along the way.  At the first long, deep run, I convinced Josh to give the Baitcasting rig a try.  Rigged with a Yellow/Silver Oakie  rig, he worked the run from top to bottom.  He got the hang of it pretty quick.

Working the 1st long run

As we neared the midway point in this section of the river, Steve was still working the bobber and jig.  Josh had switched to the other baitcasting setup with Hot Pink Oakies.  We rounded a corner and settled into a flat section just above where I planned to stop for lunch.  Steve was casting to the north bank is some very nice looking water.  I instructed Josh to just “let it drag” behind us as we lazily drifted to our lunch stop on the next gravel bar.

What happened next was “classic”!  Just as Steve is in mid-cast, Josh yells out “Fish on!”  Steve’s jig launches into a tree just upstream as Josh’s fish turns and heads downstream.  As the fish passes the boat heading downriver I drop the anchor to start the process of trying to manage the chaos.  As I scramble to get the net, I’m aslo giving instruction to both Steve and Josh.  Steve managed to break off and get his gear clear.  Josh was doing a great job of handling the hot fish and we soon had him tuckered out enough to get him to the boat.  As luck would have it, the fish was missing his adipose fin (a hatchery raised fish) and could be tagged.

Josh's Hatchery Steelhead

 Josh filled out his harvest tag and we ate some lunch.  We worked the area around the big gravel island after finishing the grilled lunch and a beverage.  Josh was ready to pick up the fly rod and Steve switched over to the Spinning rod.  As predicted, the weather really warmed up in the afternoon.

We made our way downriver and Josh had another good hit, but no full on take.  Steve had a smaller trout on for a short time as well.  We arrived at the takeout in the early afternoon and called it a day.  Not a bad way to spend a Oregon springtime weekend.   A big thank you to Josh & Steve for a great day!

 If you’d like to experience a day on the river, be sure to visit the Oregon Outdoor Excursions website and book a trip!

Tight Lines!

Dave

Howdy,

I’m a little late in the month for the “fly of the month club” entries…. sorry about that….

Trout Fly of the Month

Bivisible

Brown Bivisible

Recipe:

• Hook:  Standard Dry sizes 14-20
• Thread: Tan
• Body Hackle:  Rear 3/4 Brown, Front 1/4 White

The Bivisible is a classic fly that was introduced by Edward Hewitt (1866-1951) in 1926 in his book, “Telling on the Trout”. It has remained a standard attractor fly through the years either mimicing a skating caddis or a midge cluster. The Bivisible was developed to use two contrasting colors. The darker colors are more readily visible to the trout while the contrast of the light against dark colors allowed the flyfishermen to see the fly on the water more easily. The use of palmering the hackle over the body is a old technique going back perhaps to the 1700′s. Mr. Hewitt presented the first Bivisible as a Brown Hackle body with a White hackle wisp at the head. This pattern has been recognized as the Brown Bivisible.

Steelhead Fly of the Month

Admiral Hairwing

Admiral Hairwing

Recipe:

• Hook:  Salmon/Steelhead size 2-6
• Tail:  Red Hackle Fibers
• Body:  Red Angora wool or chenille
• Rib:  Flat Silver Tinsel
• Collar:  Red Saddle hackle
• Wing:  White Fox, Bucktail, Skunk or Polar Bear Substitute

This dressing is a hairwing variation of the fly originated by Rear Admiral E. B, Rogers. He tied the Admiral with scarlet silk floss and white goose-quill feathers.  It is said that the fly pattern was originally tied as a trout fly, but it was found to be quite effective for steelhead.

Tight Lines!

Dave