Our first Fish A Long was a big success. It was very well attended and I don’t think we could have squeezed another car into the driveway. The weather was a little on the cold side but the predicted east wind never materialized. We did a little fishing and I’m happy to report as a group our spey casting is getting better! The low cold water had the steelhead sulking but we did see otter working the lower end of the pool.
Expecting cold weather, for the most part we spent most of our time inside enjoying the warm wood stove and then a very good lunch while talking fishing. Good times were had by all. Thanks to everyone that came and made it a fun day!
We don’t have a lot of reports for November & December of 2024 but they are good ones! As always, pictures are first with the reports below.
From Brian Dawson: in mid November I flyfished with a guide on a Lake Ontario tributary in upstate New York. Hooked a couple dozen browns and lost an Atlantic Salmon. Salmon spawn was the major food source & we used floating lines and egg patterns drifted along the bottom.
Lane Hoffman, Ed Rabinowe and Ken Baker traveled to Campeche, Mexico and had a great trip catching mostly baby Tarpon along with other saltwater species.
From Rich Harvey: the Oregon Fishing Club fished well in December. Was able to land over 50 trout over several afternoon trips.
From Craig Kerschen: A buddy & I learned when Washington would dump 100 brood fish in Rowland Lake, so we launched the tubes and caught 7 fish between 8-10lbs. A small minnow like streamer was the hot fly. Nice day, no rain….much better than putting up Christmas lights!
From Chris Brehm: My Winter Steelhead season got off to a good start on a small NW hatchery stream. Both came within an hour of each other on the same soft bead and caught in the same small pocket.
Thanks to everyone for sending in your reports. Happy New Year!
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 (pic above) 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 21st 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.
Our January 25th 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. Last year the weather was cold & wet and it was mostly fishing talk around the woodstove with a good lunch. It was a good time!
As I’m typing this we’ve had heavy rains and the water is a little high. Before this there were a few good steelhead reports and I expect more to roll in this month.
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 2025 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!
