April started off right with a fishing trip to the Crooked River in Central Oregon put together by Lane Hoffman., who spurred several of us into action with his announcement that he was going fishing on the Crooked and then on to the Malheur during the first weekend in April and anyone that wanted to was welcome to join him. I sent out an email to the club members for Lane and we ended up having an improptu fish a long. It was a great time and everyone caught fish, even some pretty big ones!

I hosted my first Zoom meeting and it went pretty well. Zoom is easy to use but there is still a learning curve. To all that attended, thanks!

We don’t have a speaker lined up for May 18th. If anyone has an idea please email me. If we don’t end up with a speaker we’ll have a get together on Zoom where we can share flies, lies and fishing plans for the upcoming months.

We have a new page on the website for the Fly Fishing Challenge. Check it out and then get signed up. It’s a fun contest plus it motivates you to get out and chase new kinds of fish with a fly.

We are going back to Wilder Lake this Month for the May 22nd Fish A Long, and here’s some great news: everyone who paid to go in March can fish on May 22nd for free. If you are not on that list, the cost is $80 for the day. I’ll get an email out with the details soon.

I’m sending out email updates once or twice a month and most of you are already on our email list. If you’d like updates in real time put your email in the SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL option and you’ll get an email notice every time a new blog is published, which averages 3 to 5 times per month. If you’re on a PC this option is just to the right of this post, but if you’re on a smartphone you’ll need to scroll way down a ways to find it.

If there is anything you want to see on our blog, let me know. Personally, I’d like to see more fly tying stuff but haven’t been able to get that going by myself. Volunteers?

Last month I won a couple of awards for my fishing articles in the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association Excellence in Craft Contest. When I was in school I struggled in English class so it’s really gratifying to win an award for writing.

For local fishing, Summer Steelhead are starting to show in the Clackamas and Sandy Rivers. While the numbers are down, they are being caught and are the very best fish of the year. They will be in ultra prime condition from now until around mid June. Spring Chinook are coming too, but that’s a whole new level of fly fishing insanity but they can be caught in the same water as summer steelhead, especially in the evening. The Oregon Fishing Club lakes will be fishing well and of course, the Deschutes Stonefly hatch is just starting as I’m writing this and will continue to get better. 

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 “May” or “June” and you’ll get all the past reports for that month. 

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. Last month I took this advice to heart and after having a good trip Euro Nymphing on the Crooked I swung by Royal Treatment to buy some fly tying supplies and talk to local expert Josh Linn about this technique. The Cliff Notes version of this conversation is Josh has a handout prepared with a list of his favorite nymphs and leader formula. After this, the next important tip was to finish the forward cast with a high rod tip, which is called a tuck cast, to get the nymphs to sink more efficiently and then keep your tippet as vertical as possible to reduce drag. All this probably falls under the heading of easy to say but hard to do, but I used the technique at the April Fish A Long and it worked great. Thanks Josh!

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner