Presidents Message November 2024

October 29, 2024November 3, 2024 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

November is the month fishing transitions from fall to winter. It presents many good opportunities for big trout putting on the feed bag for winter plus it can be the best month to catch a steelhead on a fly rod.

With the holiday season upon us we will have the Fish A Long early on November 9th so it doesn’t conflict Thanksgiving weekend. 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.

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 6 years. 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.

Our November 19th meeting at High Rocks will feature George Krumm talking about swinging flies for Togiak Kings with two handers in Alaska. As always, social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.

It’s time for someone to think about becoming the new club president. I’ve been the club president since March of 2020 and can continue for another year or two, but not forever. If you’re interested in talking about this let me know. Naturally there are some obligations but it’s also alot of fun and has it’s perks too.

Speaking of transitions, Henry M is stepping down after many years as our club treasurer and Tim M has volunteered to take his place. A big thank you to both of them!

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 2024 Fish A Long Report

October 23, 2024October 23, 2024 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This months Fish A Long was well attended. We had good weather, good food but somewhat challenging fishing conditions with a huge full moon (the pic below was taken at night!) and a spike in the water levels. Everyone got fish, but we had to work for them. Here’s a rundown.

On Wednesday afternoon I met Rich at Beavertail. Unfortunately the fire ban was still in effect. Thursday was a nice day but it was very windy in the afternoon. We hit the Macks Canyon boat ramp area and each got about a dozen fish. With the chilly wind we decided to drive into town for dinner.

Friday was another nice day and no wind. Perfect! People started arriving around noon and we hit the river. Then we had a fancy fireside dinner of fried potato’s, chili and grilled steak.

Saturday we got lucky with a second day of no wind. Ken brought delicious homemade egg rolls that we decided to have for breakfast. Since everyone is staying tonight we moved our steak lunch to dinner.

Fishing was good but not hot and we worked for our fish. I had a double on redsides and Rich got a 5lb steelhead down at the Macks Canyon ramp but these fish didn’t cooperate for the camera! It warmed up and the afternoon temp hit 70 degrees.

The bighorns were active in the canyon and put on quite a show. One strange coincidence is that 4 people needed jumps this weekend…lots of dead/dying batteries.

As expected the hot flies were smallish egg patterns in red, orange or pink. Ken had this cool new beadhead pattern called a Shlush Jelly Egg that worked well.

Best tactics were indicator nymphing with standard fly tackle and for euro nymphing drop shot rigs worked best. With the extra current and slippery rocks covering water was challenging but it did pay off.

Thanks to everyone who came and made this a great October Fish A Long!

September 2024 Fishing Reports

October 8, 2024October 8, 2024 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

September is always a good month and this year was no exception. We’ve got some great reports to share; pictures are first with the reports below.

From Lane Hoffman: got this big rainbow sight casting in 3 feet of water below Fontenot Reservoir.

From Chris Brehm: fished Paulina Lake with my brother Stevie and we got several nice trout.

From Rich Harvey: hit the upper Blackfoot River over Labor Day weekend after fishing Rock Creek. Place is very remote. Did well on 10-12” trout in the evening.

From Darryl Huff: Good day on the lower Deschutes. Hooked 10 – six on bead, four on spinners. Landed 5 wild steelhead and one nook.

From Mike Shiiki: Saturday on Lake Harriett… Nathan landed an 18” and 17” brown… biggest we’ve seen there. I landed more browns than rainbows.

From Darryl Huff: We spent a week in the Glacier National Park area. Spent multiple days fishing the Flathead River. Very little aquatic life on the river so the fish feed on beatles, grasshoppers, ants, etc. Quite a few smaller Cutthroat were caught, but only a few in the 12 to 13 inch range. Scenery was beautiful!!

From Matt Baker: Fished Marion Creek on the way home from the fish a long. Great little creek, a dozen fish in an hour. Good times. Got some fly tying help this month too!

From Rich Harvey: got some big bluegill at Howell Ponds in late September.

From Chris Brehm: was able to hit the Bighorn River this month.

From Wayne Hughes: Fished the upper Willamette river for Silvers and found success again this year. Also caught lots of both Largemouth and Smallmouth bass on surface poppers.

From George Krumm: Fished the Naknek River for rainbows then went bear viewing at Brooks Camp.

From Rich Harvey: Fished the Gallatin and the Taylor’s fork of the Gallatin, Upper Firehole and the Gibbon. It was super cool to fish with my brother and nephew again

From Amanda Justesen (Justesen Ranch Lakes): We are now open for fall fishing and reports this week have been good. We are restocking several lakes this week.

Thanks to everyone for contributing reports!

Presidents Message October 2024

October 1, 2024October 1, 2024 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

Summer is officially over and the cooler days of fall are upon us. These are some of the best times to spend on the water and CFF has some great Fish A Longs coming up.

Our October 15th meeting is at High Rocks. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm. We don’t have a speaker lined up yet but I’ll have one soon and let everyone know by email.

This months October 19th Fish A Long will be at Beavertail Campground on the Deschutes River. This is one of our most popular Fish A Longs. It’s become a tradition that several of us go a few days early, camp out and have a steak BBQ. Hope to see you there!

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 “October” or “November” in the Clackamas Fly Fishers website search box you’ll get all the past reports for that month.