Date: Sat. Feb 21st 2009
Time: 8:00 AM
Where: Nestucca River (see map at the bottom of the page)
Breakfast/Lunch Provided: Yes.  The club will provide lunch and drinks.
Rod/Line: 7 to 9 weight rod with a floating line.
Leader: 8 lb fluorocarbon (this is really important in low clear water)
Flies: Since the water is low and clear you'll need small egg patterns in size 6 - 8 in darker yet subtle colors (gorman's caballero egg, glo-bugs, lifters, estaz eggs, etc.)

  

Other: Waders, Strike indicators, split-shot (size 6 to 8)
Directions: To get to the Fish-A-Long on the Nestucca River please type the following address into your favorite mapping application:

[42619-42621] Nfd 85 Rd, Cloverdale, OR 

That address is a parking lot at the intersection of NFD 85 Road/Upper Nestucca River Road and NFD Road 112/Bible Creek Road. We'll meet at that location for lunch at 12:30 PM.  We'll also be at the parking lot at 8:00 AM to meet with anyone who has question or just wants to find a fishing partner.  Allow approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours travel time depending on your route and driving conditions.  Please note that the shortest route may take you over Bible Creek Road.  We took that route on Monday (2/16) and the road had a fair amount of snow on it.  It is passable but there's only a single lane, actually 2 tire tracks, of dry pavement.  I wouldn't recommend driving it early in the morning since it could be icey, although given the weather report it may all be melted (which could be good for river levels) by Saturday.  But, if you drive to 101 (either from the north or from the south) you'll have the opportunity to fish various parts of the lower and upper river prior to meeting the group for lunch.

If you drive in from the north along 101 you'll meet up with the river at Beaver (turn on to Blaine Road).  If you drive in from the south you'll meet up with the river around the town of Hebo as you come in from highway 22.  There are numerous fishing opportunities (see below) along the river from Hebo to the parking lot where we'll meet for lunch.

Here's an interactive map showing the parking area:

View Larger Map

Lunch: The club will provide lunch (sandwitches, chips, and soda) at 12:30 PM at the above mentioned parking lot.  We'll have something to eat, swap stories, and see if we can help each other get into a fish.

Morning Meet and Greet: This is optional.  For anyone with questions or who would like to find a fishing partner for the day we'll meet at the above mentioned parking lot at 8:00 AM

Fishing Opportunities on the Nestucca

• Pay to play.  There are 2 pay to play opportunities on the lower part of the river.  The first is the "pipeline hole" and is available through private property that can be accessed via the parking area at the mouth of Three Rivers.  Look for a pay to fish cash box at the left end of the parking lot as you face the river.  The second is "Jackson Drift" and can be accessed from Condor Road.  Condor Road is just north of the town of Hebo right after the "steel" bridge on highway 101.  Take a left on Condor Road and travel about a mile.  You'll see see a house on the right with a barn on the left.  Just before the barn is a gate with a pay to fish cash box welded to it.  Both locations charge $1.00 per angler and offer some of the only bank access to lower river.  The river is much bigger and slower in this section and may be more suitable to swinging.
• The next bank access is available at the public boat ramp at Farmer Creek.  It's located on highway 101 and well marked.  It's a popular take out point so you'll see a lot of trucks with empty trailers in the parking lot.
• From there you're going to find numerous points of access from Beaver all the way up to the parking lot where we'll be meeting for lunch.  There's a lot of private property on this river so be respectful of land owners rigths and look for pull outs that mark public access points.
• Above Blaine the river changes fairly dramatically, becoming smaller and faster.  The good news is that more than half the land bordering the river above Blaine is public lands (Siuslaw National Forest and BLM).  From Moon Creek to Elk Creek the river offers plenty of opportunity to the fly fisherman with numerous pools and plenty of pocket water. This water is well suited to groups of 2 to 3 guys per section allowing each to work various pockets and holes.

      Notes:

• You'll see a lot of boat traffic from what is known as "4th bridge" all the way to tide water.
• The use of artificial lures and flies (only) from Blain (moon creek) to Elk Creek.

After lunch Keric and I headed to Hebo for duct tape and a fishing report, unfortunately they (the Nestucca Valley Sporting Goods Store) sold their last roll a week ago, but he was nice enough to lend us his roll.  With a group of guides watching we patched up the failed boot and headed to Farmer Creek.  We explored the water and fished for an hour with no luck. On our way to the truck the duct tape patch failed and the boot was once again in pieces.  At that point we could have given up but being "hard core steelheaders" we headed for the Beaver "Grocery and Fire Arms" store (I'm not making that up) to see if they might have a roll of duct tape we could buy.  Fortunately they had a good supply, we taped the boot again, this time with farmers looking on, and headed up the road.  We fished until dark and hit several (very nice) spots above Blaine.  Fortunetley the 2nd duct tape patch held until we were hiking up the hill to leave.  Unfortunatley frustration set in and Keric kicked the boot sending the duct tape patch back to the bottom of the canyon.  He did the right thing and went back down the hill and retrieved his trash.

Then there was the story of "Jim and Gil's Great Adventure" home, the story goes something like this:

We went back home through the hills.  We obviously missed a turn or something.  Snow depth kept rising, but we knew that you had gone that way, so no worries.  Then deeper snow, more trees down, getting a little scary,  but no worries cause you did it.  Then more trees down, then a HUGE fir tree down, still no trucks and it's getting late.  There's no real place to turn around so we just make sure we don't get stuck (we don't have chains).  After a long while we run into three trucks w/ motorcycles.  They tell us Willamina is way off in another direction.  Our road takes us to McMinville.  They give us a back country map and we keep going another 15 miles.  We eventually see a couple more trucks, and are headed down the west side.  We came out OK, but it was interesting.

The story was similar (in terms of fish success) for everyone who fished the river on Sat. (from http://www.nestuccariveroutfitters.com/):