As you read we had a dozen members brave the elements and attend the Sandy River fish-a-long. It turned out to be a okay morning with almost everyone spending some time on the water. The company and the lunch were great. Our thanks to Dave and Sheryl Kilhefner for hosting the event. Next we have out sights on the Crooked River in March.
Our Founding Gold Sponsor, Mark Bachmann gave a great presentation on Spey lines and tips to a packed room. He fielded a number of questions and everyone came away with a better understanding of the lines.
In March we will welcome John DeVoe from the Waterwatch organization. John will share information and activities of there efforts to protect our waterways. It should be interesting and informative.
Again, coming up in Albany on 3/8-9/19 is the Northwest Fly Tiers & Fly Fishing Expo at the Linn County Expo Center. Check it out.
Remember our sponsors are 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 outing with them.
In spite of winter storm warnings, last weekends Sandy River fish-a-long was well attended. Thank you to everyone that came and once again an extra big thank you to Cheryl Kilhefner for more excellent cooking and hospitality.
The cold weather the last few weeks had the river running very low and clear. The average flow this time of year on the Marmot gauge is 1500 CFS but last weekend the flows were half of that at 700 CFS. Water temperature was chilly 38°
Everyone arrived about 8 AM and we had hot coffee and pastries, enjoying the warmth of the great indoors while we eyeballed the cold winter landscape with a light dusting of snow outside. But we could not stay inside all day so soon we all pulled on our waders, grabbed our fly rods and hit the river.
We did a great job covering the water but unfortunately no steelhead were hooked. We fished until around noon and then enjoyed a delicious lunch of pulled pork chili and cornbread muffins.
Next months fish-a-long is at the Crooked River, a popular and productive fishery. We look forward to seeing you there!
This month’s Fish-A-Long will be held Saturday, February 23rd on the Sandy River. The location is Dave K’s place about halfway between Sandy and Welches.
What: Winter Steelhead
Where: Sandy River
When: 8am until lunchtime (or later), Saturday, February 23rd
Equipment:
Spey or Switch Rod
Skagit Line & sink tip(s)
15lb tippet material
flies, bright patterns and dark patterns
waders & wading staff
rain gear
warm, layered clothing
Directions– take Hwy 26 like you are going to Mt Hood. 10 miles past Sandy, turn left onto Sleepy Hollow Drive (there’s a big sign) and then take the 1st left. It’s a steep gravel driveway with a black metal gate.
We will have coffee, breakfast snacks and a hot lunch. This fish a long will focus on spey casting and swung fly presentations. Questions; email or call Paul Brewer or Dave Kilhefner. Hope to see you there!
Most reports indicate that steelhead fishing has been less than stellar so far this winter.If things should suddenly turn around and the fishing picks up, hopefully you are stocked up with enough winter steelhead flies to carry you through the season. But as far as Fly Tying Nights go, we are moving on to trout for the next few months.
Our next scheduled Fly Tying Night comes a few weeks before the club’s scheduled Fish-A-Long on the Crooked River in March. If you look at the numbers of fish, this river is one of the most productive trout waters in Oregon. When reading the fishing report from the club’s trip last year to the Crooked River, one thing you will notice is that everyone caught fish! That is a testament to the recovery of trout numbers in the Crooked River after a disastrous die off in the winter of 2015-16 due to a low snow pack and low water flow.The numbers of redband trout per mile was estimated at 8,000 fish per mile by a ODFW survey as recently as 2013.In 2016 the numbers dipped down to 350 fish per mile, while an encouraging survey completed in June,2018 showed that the numbers have bounced back to an estimated 3,500 fish per mile in the 8 mile stretch below Bowman Dam.
If you stock up on zebra midges and blue wing olive patterns you are going to be well prepared for most days in the winter and spring on the Crooked River. I listened to a gentleman named Mike McCoy give a presentation where he talked about fishing the Crooked River.Mike is from Battle Ground, WA and, besides being an avid flyfisher, he owns a highly thought-of company called Snake Brand Guides which supplies guides and reel seats for fly rod builders.Mike’s go-to fly for the Crooked is called a Fall Baetis.In spite of the name “Fall” Baetis, the hatch of blue wing olives (baetis) that we come across on the Crooked hatch is strongest from late winter into early summer.
We will be tying up some quill body baetis flies following Mike McCoy’s recipe.The pattern has that characteristic segmented segmented body that looks so good on flies. The quills we will be using are stripped peacock quills, which have a flattened shape and a unique color shading that helps to produce the desired segmented body appearance. At our Fly Tying Night we will be discussing which parts of a peacock feather you can use for these flies and how to strip them, as well as sources of commercially prepared peacock quills.For those tyers that find using the quills a little frustrating there will be a chance to learn alternative ways to achieve a segmented look on the bodies of these small flies.
Careful wrapping of the quill results in a beautifully segmented body.
Join us at the Royal Treatment Fly Shop in West Linn on Wednesday, February 27 for our next Fly Tying Night where we will be learning to work with peacock quills to tie up some quill body flies.They will be perfect for the club’s outing on the Crooked River but will also be effective on all waters where blue wing olives are present. (And that is everywhere!)We’ll be starting at 6:00 pm sharp.Hope to see you there!
Announcing one of our most popular annual auctions! A steelhead trip hosted by Mark Bachmann of the The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches.
You are bidding on one (1) seat on a guided steelhead trip on the Sandy River with Mark Bachmann. The trip will be scheduled by agreement of the auction winner, the raffle winner, and The Fly Fishing Shop. NOBODY knows the Sandy like Mark and the folks at The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches! This is usually one of our most popular and competitive auctions of the year.
The other seat will be raffled off at the February CFF meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19. So… you can take your chances then OR ensure your seat by winning this auction!
Click on the AUCTIONS link above. You must be a paid up member of CFF to make a bid.
DETAILS:
This auction is open to members of CFF only.
The auction closes at 5 p.m. on Monday, 2/18.
Payment can be made through PayPal.
Good Luck! Let me know if you have any questions. Email me at bartschp@gmail.com.
Mark Bachmann of The Fly Fishing Shop will be CFF’s guest speaker Tuesday, February 19th.
Mark’s presentation will be on understanding Spey Lines. Learn about all the different lines and their uses in Spey Rod fishing for Steelhead and Western Trout. It will be a great presentation you won’t want to miss!
Several of us have been chasing steelhead on the Clackamas River but no fish were brought to hand. Several of these reports are on the new Member Forum page. Check it out!
This is the face you make after your boat motor starts on the 2nd pull after a long rest in the garage. For those of you that have nearly torn a rotator cuff pulling a starter cord for 20 minutes, you know this is good news!
While the slow steelhead reports are potentially discouraging, you can’t catch steelhead from the couch! Zack Epstein of Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters got out on the water and guided Phil Salomon into this nice steelhead.
We are off and running for a new year. Certainly like to start seeing more rain and not such a cool drier winter. Anyway we can still get out and go fishing.
The last fish-a-long on the Sandy river at Oxbow Park as well attended with about 12 members making the trip. A couple of fish(not saying what kind) were even caught and the lunch was great. Also a number of members assisted others with casting pointers.
We are back on the Sandy this month, but gathering a little farther upriver at Dave Kilhefner’s place. Again we will enjoy a hot lunch and maybe even find a willing Steelhead. More information to follow.
There was a good turnout for our January meeting and the speaker Brian Marz gave an interesting presentation on winter fly fishing opportunities. In addition we had a special silent raffle of a number of items recently donated to the club by the widow of one of our members. We would like to thank Mrs. Wayne Sparks for her generous donation of the fly fishing equipment of her late husband. We will miss Wayne.
The February speaker is our one and only Founding Gold Sponsor, Mark Bachmann from the Fly Fishing Shop in Welches, Oregon. Mark is an annual speaker and always has a interesting and well prepared presentation. In addition Mark has donated a float trip on the Sandy River and we will be auctioning one seat and having a raffle for the other seat at the meeting. You do not want to miss this one.
There are a couple events coming up one of which is this week and that is the annual Pacific Northwest Sportsman Show 2/6-10/19 at the Expo Center in Portland. Next is the Northwest Fly Tier and Fly Fishing Expo 3/8-9/19 at the Linn County Expo Center, Albany, Oregon.
Remember our sponsors are 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 outing with them.
