It’s no secret that Fly Fishing in 2023 has been a little challenging so far. We have low steelhead numbers plus the cold weather has made both the fishing and the drive over to the Deschutes challenging. Never-the-less I’m optimistic it will get better; it always does if you keep casting!

We’ll have a regular meeting March 21st at High Rocks. Our speaker is Michole Jensen, owner of KayakFlyAngler.com. He’s also the communications director for the Deschutes River Alliance.

This month marks three years as your club President. Over the past few years local fishing has been in a constant state of change, so it’s more important than ever to be flexible, roll with the punches and be ready when a window of opportunity opens.

Adapting to changing conditions is more important than ever and has become “the new normal.” For example, in years past the Crooked River was our go-to fish a long destination in March, but due to the low water fish kill last year we’ve had to shift gears so and go to the Deschutes around Maupin. There’s good camping & restaurants nearby plus it will be good to bend a rod after this year’s super slow winter steelhead season.

March signals the beginning of spring and many local fisheries begin to wake up and turn on. Trout in our local lakes will begin to get active as water temperatures rise from the low 40’s to the high 40’s. The Deschutes will have good fishing if water levels are stable & warming. Last but not least, March is the best month for trophy steelhead so keep flinging flies with your spey rod.

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 sponsors this, they are the lifeblood of the club. Stop by their shops and let them know your appreciate their support. Better yet buy something or book a trip. Good fishing!

Dave Kilhefner

Currently winter steelhead water conditions are low, cold and reports across the state continue to signal slow fishing. That said, warming weather and rain is in the forcast and since you can’t catch them from the couch, now is the time to get out and start chasing them.

One of the consolations during these slow years is most of the fish you do see caught are bigger than average, so when you do get out there beef up those tippets with at least 12lb Maxima or 15 Fluorocarbon. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard sad stories of big steelhead lost to light tippets.

This may sound strange, but when the numbers of steelhead are below average I would rather fly fish for them. The reason for this is when I’m fly fishing, I expect to work for every fish and this holds true no matter how good the fishing might be, plus fly casting passes the time and relaxes the mind. This helps me settle in for the long haul and enjoy more time on the water, which is what it’s all about.

Last months “steelhead school” Fish A Long went very well so we might do the same thing again this month. Another option would be an early trout fishing excursion. Let me know your preference before Valentines Day and I’ll get an annoucement out. Either way, the Fish A Long date will be Saturday, February 25th.

This months speaker will be George Krumm talking about Lake Billy Chinook Bull Trout Fly Fishing. It’s a fishery many of us have wanted to try so I hope to see you at the February 21^st meeting.

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 sponsors this, they are the lifeblood of the club. Stop by their shops and let them know your appreciate their support. Better yet buy something or book a trip. Good fishing!

Dave Kilhefner

Happy New Year! I hope everyone was able to enjoy some festivities even with the unusually stormy weather. I had my power knocked out for a few days but that didn’t slow me down too much.

I’m looking forward to the New Year and have a couple “fishing resolutions” to share. First is to go on 4-5 cool fishing trips and I already have 3 on the calendar. Second is to use my boat more. I have a pretty cool little boat that is good for chasing Steelhead on the Clackamas and Bass on the Willamette. Lasty, I’m going to make a half dozen fly tying videos & maybe even a few fishing videos.

It’s time to think about paying your 2023 membership fee. However if you joined as a new member in 2022 it will be good for 2023 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. Here is the membership link plus I will be sending membership notices out to everyone. 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 “big 3” activities our club focuses on are meetings, fly tying and fish a longs (the 2023 schedule is on the website).

Just like last month, everyone that comes to the January 17^th meeting at High Rocks will get a free beer on me. The speaker will be Michole Jensen. A couple years ago he gave us a presentation on Kayak fly fishing and he’s also the new communications director for the Deschutes River Alliance.

Our January 21^st Fish A Long will be at my place on the Sandy River for a “steelhead school” with some hands on instruction on Spey Casting plus swung fly and nymph fishing presentations. In the past we’ve had this Fish A Long at Oxbow park but it gets pretty dang cold, so we’re having it at my place so we can warm up by the woodstove if the fishing is slow, and lets face it Winter Steelhead fly fishing is always slow!

As I’m typing this the water conditions are good but the steelhead are little scarce. Still, fish are being caught and nobody can cast far enough to get one from the couch, so you gotta get out there and pound the water! 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 January or February in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

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. Please remember our sponsors, they are the lifeblood of the club. Stop by their shops and let them know your appreciate their support. Better yet buy something or book a trip.

Dave Kilhefner

Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving! Fishing in November was pretty good as you’ll see when the the November fishing reports come out next week. Also, I’m feeling excited as once these rains roll thru and the water drops it will be game on for Winter Steelhead.

It’s time to think about paying your 2023 membership fee. However if you joined as a new member in 2022 it will be good for 2023 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. Here is the membership link plus I will be sending membership notices out to everyone. 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 “big 3” activities our club focuses on are meetings, fly tying and fish a longs.

Looking forward we are going to have more in-person speakers than we did this year as our members enjoy them. I’ll broadcast the speakers from the meeting room on Zoom when possible but the WiFi signal doesn’t always allow this.

We need to get Fly Tying back on track, and it’s very doable! At this time its limited to monthly fly tying articles but we can get together and tie flies, either on person or on Zoom; email me if you are interested in doing this.

Last year we attemped to expand Fish a longs to include camping but it was harder than it sounds as many campgrounds are booked up very early, especially state parks. Being a steelheader, I’m persistent so we’ll keep trying.

December is shaping up to be decent fishing month with the most dependable fishing available at the Oregon Fishing Club ponds for trout, especially if we have a warming trend. The key to winter fishing is to be ready to fish when a weather window presents itself.

Several coastal streams like the Necanicum and North Fork Nehalem get good early runs of steelhead. The Clackamas and Sandy get random shots of early winter steelhead too plus this year there are a good number of native, late running 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 but I put out the word that I’m open to helping folks with their spey casting and winter steelhead presentation basics. I’ve got 4 people signed up so far so 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 sponsors, they are the lifeblood of the club. Stop by their shops and let them know your appreciate their support. Better yet buy something or book a trip.

Dave Kilhefner