Presidents Message March 2026

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This month marks six years as your club President. I’ve been having a great time running the club and going to all the Fish A Longs. This year, steelhead fishing has been pretty good when the weather cooperates. Now we are finally having good, stable weather and it’s time to get out there and fish hard!

We’ll have a regular meeting Tuesday, March 17th. George Krumm will be talking about the Pacific Salmon Flyfishing Grand Slam: all five species of Pacific salmon on a fly in a single day! It’s a very original subject that’s interesting and informative.

March signals the beginning of spring and many local fisheries are waking up and turning on. Trout in our local lakes get active as water temperatures rise from the low 40’s to the high 40’s. March is the best month for trophy steelhead so keep flinging flies with your spey rod.

Our March 21st Fish A Long will be on the Crooked River (pic above from the Crooked). This has always been a good destination but we haven’t been able to go since May 2022 and I’m excited to go back! Several of us will be camping. If you can come a little early we’ll have our traditional Mexican dinner in Prineville on Friday night.

Here is another reminder that Marty & Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters are resurrecting the Sandy River Spey Clave. Mark your calendars for April 24th & 25th at Oxbow Park.

Here’s some other timely info: If you like fishing the Justesen Ranch Lakes, they are ice free and fishing very well. Also, the Clark-Skamania Fly Fishers is having their Annual Fundraising Banquet, “A Flyfisher’s Folly”, on March 28 at the Black Pearl on the Columbia, 56 S 1st Street in Washougal.  

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a fun way to get ideas for local fly-fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type “March” or “April” and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores. Hope to see you at a meeting or on the water!

Dave Kilhefner

December 2025 January 2026 Reports

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We’ve had some crazy weather the last couple months: a big flood in December followed by a drought. It’s made local fishing a little tough but there are fish to be had, especially for our traveling club members. Pictures are first with the reports below.

From Greg O’Brien: made a trip to Florida for a family birthday and squeezed in a little Scuba diving and a morning of flyfishing. Went with a guide on the Intra Coastal Waterway and got into bluefish and jacks. The Jack pictured was on a popper, all else were on baitfish patterns and an intermediate line.

From Ed Rabinowe: Tom Phipps, Ken Baker and I plus 3 other friends traveled to Campeche Mexico to fish for baby tarpon. Tarpon of any size are great game fish. The lodge, the town, and the company were worth the trip!

From Mark Rasmussen: January fishing was cold and sparse, but had some fun!

From Wayne Hughes: Fished mainly Hagg lake throughout January. Had some good days and bad days as winter trout fishing can be. Landed some nice trout & one rare Kokanee on stripped leech & balanced leech patterns. 

From Dave Kilhefner: the big flood in December set back winter steelhead fishing for me. Rich and I hit the OFC Lakes when the weather was good. Fishing was generally on the slow side but we got a few!

Thanks to everyone for contributing your reports!

Presidents Message February 2026

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After December’s flood the weather has been mostly chilly and dry. This has created tough low & cold water steelheading conditions and also slowed down the winter trout bite. But, you can’t catch fish sitting on the couch and for those that have ventured out, there has been some success!

Our speaker for the February 17th meeting is Kelcee Smith. She is the Chum Salmon Reintroduction Coordinator for ODFW, joining the project in fall 2021. It will be an interesting presentation you won’t want to miss!

Our February 21st Fish A Long will be at my place on the Sandy River for a steelhead school and the pic above is from last year. We’ll have some hands on instruction on Spey Casting, tips how to successfully swing a fly in the winter and also on nymph fishing presentations, which excels in smaller streams. Naturally we’ll have the option to warm up by woodstove and enjoy a good lunch if the fishing is slow, and lets face it Winter Steelhead fly fishing is always slow!

Good news: Marty & Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters are keeping the Sandy River Spey Clave going. Mark your calendars for April 24th & 25th at Oxbow Park.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a good way to get ideas for local fly-fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. I’ve tested it out; type the word February or March in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores. Hope to see you at a meeting or on the water!

Dave Kilhefner

Presidents Message January 2026

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Happy New Year! Hope everyone was able to enjoy good holiday festivities plus have some new fishing stuff to try out.

I’m looking forward to the New Year and have a couple “fishing resolutions” to share. First and most importantly is to fish more this winter, specifically at the OFC ponds and local steelhead rivers. Next is to continue to improve our Fish A Longs calendar. Fishing opportunities continue to change over the years and it’s important to change with them.

Our January 20th meeting will feature a run down of our planned Fish A Longs for the coming year. While we have a schedule, it’s not set in stone so if you have any ideas let me know (call/email/text) so we can discuss them at the next meeting.

We won’t have a Fish A Long this month as I will be out of town. However, steelhead reports are MUCH better than last year so if the water conditions are OK, get out there! We will have a steelhead school for our February 21st Fish A Long. The pic above is from a steelhead Fish A Long several years ago.

Big news: I’m going to be moving at the end of 2026 so we will need a new club president. I’ve been the club president since March of 2020, it’s been fun and rewarding! If you’re interested in talking about this let me know.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a good way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type the word January or February in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

It’s time to think about paying your 2026 membership dues if you haven’t already. Here is the membership link. If you participate in the club I will guarantee you’ll get a solid value for the $35 you pay to be a member.

January is a great month to get good deals after Christmas so get out to your local fly shop buy all the stuff that Santa forgot. Good fishing!

Dave Kilhefner

November 2025 Fishing Reports

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November produced some very good fishing! Some of us traveled to warmer climates and some waited for the northwest weather to cooperate, which for the most part it did. Pictures are first with the reports below.

From Joe Warren: Had a blast in Baja and it was the best fishing I’ve ever experienced down there! The marlin fly fishing was epic and fierce; hooked 8 and landed one! It was 115 lbs and took 1 hr and 10 min to land. We fished 4 days for marlin and 4 days inshore for roosters and other species. Inshore, roosters were the best! Learned a lot about the marlin too and can’t wait to go back; 80-85 deg days, gorgeous!

From Lane Hoffman: They still have “Big”Reds” in Louisiana! Landed fish to 25lbs and our last day was the best day with beautiful weather & around a dozen caught. Had some really good takes, gotta love a big Red chasing down a fly in 18 inches of water!

From Greg O’Brien: Hit the coast, the Chum were in and we got a few on flies. A highlight was a pretty hen that annihilated a little beadhead Comet. Had another trip to an OFC lake for bass and trout

From Craig Kershen: Had the best 2 night camping trip with my son Aaron 3 days before Thanksgiving. After a quick stop at the Maupin store then a beer and wings at the Rainbow, we headed downstream. Great weather, empty roads and campsites, stars, campfires, wood fire meals, cocktails and of course big horn sheep. Got a big bonus, my first steelhead on a fly rod! Took and egg pattern down at the Macks launch. 

From Wayne Hughes: spent the first part of the month fishing local lakes. Found some nice Trout & Bass stripping leeches plus under indicators with Vampire balance leeches and Blobs. 

From Patrick Leonard: fished Big Tree at the OFC. There’s an eagle that has been very active lately.

From Mike Shiiki: We had some pretty good days on the Deschutes at Warm Springs, mostly redsides with a few bullies mixed in too!

From Darryl Huff: hooked 11 and landed seven the day before Thanksgiving.

From Dave Kilhefner: Rich Harvey and I had some good trout fishing at Big Tree before the November weather cooled the water and slowed down the trout bite. We also saw a nice rutting buck while driving to the lake.

Thanks to everyone who contributed reports this month!

Presidents Message December 2025

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Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving and was able to get out and do some fishing with friends. Fishing last month was pretty good as you’ll see when the November fishing reports come out next week.

It’s time to think about paying your 2026 membership fee. However, if you joined as a new member in the second half of 2025 it will be good for 2026 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. Here is the membership link. If you participate in the club I will guarantee you’ll get a solid value for the $35 you pay to be a member.

The main activities our club focuses on are meetings and fish a longs.

I’m looking for input on the 2026 Fish A Longs schedule. With the warming trends fishing opportunities are changing. Check out the 2026 fish a longs schedule. The dates for 2026 have been updated so you can mark your calendars. You’ll notice some fish a longs have “TBD” in front of several choices; take a look and let me know your preferences or if you’d like to see any changes.

December is shaping up to be decent fishing month. My crystal ball says the most dependable local fishing will be at the Oregon Fishing Club ponds for trout, especially after a warming trend (the pic above is me with a recent trout from an OFC lake). The key to winter fishing is to be ready when a good weather window presents itself. Several coastal streams are already producing steelhead plus the Clackamas and Sandy get random shots of late summer and early winter steelhead this time of year, plus some late running native coho. Here’s a link to the PGE fish counts so you can see for yourself.

We don’t have a club Fish-A-Long in December or January but I’m open to helping folks with their spey casting and winter steelhead presentation basics. If you are interested in this email me and I’ll put you on the list.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a good way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. I’ve tested it out and it works! Type the word December or January in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Now is the perfect time for Christmas shopping plus don’t forget to get your wish list out so you get all the stocking stuffers you want. Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores.

Dave Kilhefner

November 2025 Fish A Long Report

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November weather is always a crapshoot…but this year we got lucky! After a couple short squalls on Thursday we had nearly perfect fall weather the rest of the weekend.

The turnout was very good. Fishing wasn’t hot but everyone got fish. One reason for the slower bite was the big bright Beaver Moon each night (pics below). Also, the water was up a little and slightly more colored than last month; flowing at 4,355 cfs (last month it was 4,100 cfs).

Egg patterns were the best producer, but we also had action on nymphs, emergers and even dries.

Trout made up most of our catch but when you could find a pod of whitefish, they were cooperative! On Saturday we shared the water with Gills and Gals Pdx organized thru Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters. It was a fun day and before leaving Shannon gave us her leftover gourmet sandwiches which were delicious!

There were not as many sheep running around as last month but we saw a few. It’s always fun the scan the cliffs looking for them.

Thanks to everyone who made the trip over the mountain, it was another fun Fish A Long!

October 2025 Fishing Reports

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October is always a great month and we have reports ranging from Louisiana to Alaska and even Egypt! Pictures are first with the reports below. Enjoy!

From Laura McGuill: Thanks!! Tough conditions for sight fishing… managed to get that slot red in. High winds, overcast clouds, and fair amount of surface chop, hard to spot them!!

From Greg O’Brien: Ever since Elke and Alysia gave a presentation at a club meeting a while back I’ve wanted to steelhead fish their waters.  I finally made it happen and was rewarded.

From Lane Hoffman: My friend Lars & I hit the Ham’s Fork of the Green River WY. Hiked down to the river realizing we both left our cell phones in the Jeep! Guaranteed that we would catch a big fish! I landed one pushing 24 inches, maybe the best looking Rainbow I’ve ever caught….then Lars landed one a little bigger than mine. Lost a couple of other’s to the weeds. Beautiful Wyoming weather & scenery! God’s country!

From Rich Harvey: Water really low in Trask and Wilson but landed some nice resident & sea run cutts.

From Kevin Rogers: Had a crazy good day up by Cascade Locks and put over 40 in the boat.

From Dave Kilhefner: Rich Harvey & I hit Turner Lake in mid October. We tried several different things but stripping streamers was the ticket for some good sized trout & bass.

From Patrick Leonard: fished the Klickitat in early October with Hopper/Dropper (egg dropper) and caught a bunch of smaller trout. Hit the Cowlitz for searuns using a Hopper/Dropper and had a blast…and of coarse fished the N Santiam for rainbows which is always fun.

From Rich Harvey: Dave Hopkins got a nice little silver while tossing flies for sea run Cutts on the Wilson.

From George Krumm: here’s a few shots from my annual October trip to the Naknek swinging big flies with two-handed rods.

From Chris Brehm: did some traveling overseas but did get a chance to fish the Nile River below Aswan Dam one day. Got my personal best Nile Perch. A Camel Hair Scarab Beetle Emerger tossed with a 15wt rod was the ticket!

Thanks to everyone for contributing your reports!

November 2025 Presidents Message

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The transition from fall to winter is happened fast this year; one week I’m using sunscreen, the next I’m bundled up and raking leaves!

Our November 18th meeting at High Rocks will feature Garrett Lesko giving a tying demonstration. As always, social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.

With shorter days and holiday season upon us we will have the Fish A Long early on November 8th so it doesn’t conflict with anyone’s Thanksgiving plans. Once again we will be at Beavertail Campground on the Deschutes River. Several of us usually go a few days early and camp out. It can be chilly so bring warm clothes and some extra firewood.

With the last Fish A Long of 2025 rapidly approaching, its time to start thinking about next years Fish A Longs. I’m looking for input. Here’s a rundown of our past trips to give you some ideas:

January: this is a “weather permitting” month. When the weather cooperates, we’ve had a combination Spey Casting/sit in a warm cabin and talk fishing event at my place on the Sandy River.

February: If the January weather is bad, we’ve moved Spey Casting to February. We’ve also had good times at an OFC Lake if we get some warm weather and also camped out at the Crooked River.

March: in years past we used to always head to the Crooked River in March but water conditions have not been favorable the last several years. That said, I’m always ready to go back! Other good options are the Deschutes at Harpam Flats or an OFC Lake.

April: The last few years Schmedeke Lake has been the place to go in April.

May: There are lots of good options with Harriett Lake, the Rainier Lakes, Timothy Lake and the ever popular Crooked River being top contenders.

June: this is the time for our every popular Central Oregon Lakes location. We also had a really good time at Bonneville Dam for Shad.

July: on Mt Hood, Clear Lake and Harriett Lake fish well. The Upper Clackamas River is also good.

September: the Metolius River has been our go-to. Another good option are coastal cutthroat’s on the Wilson or Trask rivers. The last few years the water has been to low and warm.

October & November: this is prime time for the Deschutes at Beavertail.

Several members have asked about Chum salmon fishing on the coast. We used to always go there in November but the unpredictable fall rains or droughts prompted too many cancellations the last 7 years; you’ll notice the report link is from 2017. That said, if you want to catch one of these bruisers in the fly the best option is to head over as close to the November 15th season closure as you can and be ready for crowds. For more info hit one of our local shops or type “Chum Salmon” in the search box to get our past reports and fly patterns.

For several years now we have been posting monthly fishing reports. Looking back on them is a fun way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type “November” or “December” in the Clackamas Fly Fishers website search box you’ll get all the past reports for that month. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

October 2025 Fish A Long Report

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In spite of less than stellar weather predictions, this months Fish A Long was well attended. The weather was pretty good…except around dinnertime! We had windy & wet afternoon weather fronts charge thru the canyon on both Friday & Saturday.

On Friday the fishing was really good on both egg patterns and nymphs. In the late afternoon a weather front made fishing difficult, bringing both high winds and rain. We had our traditional steak dinner but we had to huddle under the trees for shelter so no food pics!

After the front passed thru later in the evening the clouds moved off and we had a beautiful clear skies…at night! In the morning more weather came in and the bite was a little slow.

Even with a slower bite, everyone got fish! One consolation was the trout were better than average size this year. Patrick even picked up a nice bull trout.

The sheep viewing was good and we saw plenty of Rams this weekend. The drive home Sunday featured some snow going over the mountain but fortunately it wasn’t sticking on the highway.

Another fun October Fish A Long is in the books. Thanks to everyone who came and contributed to a fun fishing weekend!