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!
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!
Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving and was able to get out and do some fishing with friends. Fishing last month was pretty good as you’ll see when the November fishing reports come out next week.
It’s time to think about paying your 2025 membership fee. However, if you joined as a new member in the second half of 2024 it will be good for 2025 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. 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.
I’m looking for input on the 2025 Fish A Longs schedule. With the warming trends fishing opportunities are changing. Check out the 2025 fish a longs schedule and let me know if you’d like to see any changes; it’s not set in stone!
December is shaping up to be decent fishing month. My crystal ball says the most dependable fishing will be at the Oregon Fishing Club ponds for trout, especially after a warming trend (the pic above is Rich Harvey with a pig of a trout from Blue Den Lake). The key to winter fishing is to be ready to fish when a weather window presents itself. Several coastal streams 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’m open to helping folks with their spey casting and winter steelhead presentation basics. 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 local fly shops and sporting goods stores.
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.
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!
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 plus has it’s perks too.
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.
Rich and I arrived on Wednesday afternoon. That evening we were greeted by the Harvest Moon, one of two “supermoons” to appear in 2024. While a full moon is great for camping, it’s been known to shut down the daytime fishing. Thus, we expected the fishing might be a little slow and were not disappointed!
After a good nights sleep Thursday morning dawned brisk and sunny. We had some coffee then went to the Camp Sherman store to talk flies & lies at the fly shop counter, check out some premium tackle then get a breakfast burrito. After that we found some unexpected entertainment by watching 18′ to 22″ trout slam Cheetos drifted under bridge. Then we drove into town as the hatch really doesn’t get going until the early afternoon. We got back around 2:30 and a few fish were rising. Fishing was on the slow side and after missing some trout on emerger patterns, Rich decided to throw his Kelly Galloup “Triple Articulated Boogieman Streamer.” A huge bull trout crushed it on the 4th cast and promply broke a 13lb tippet off. We think a sharp rock may have helped it!
Screenshot
I spent Friday morning drinking coffee and organizing flies. I decided to stick with dry flies today. Haven’t done that in a while so it took a while to find the groove. Had about a dozen misses & refusals on drake emerger patterns. By the end of the day I had 3 respectable trout in the 14” range. A very fun afternoon!
Friday evening we had a good turnout that made for fun evening conversation. We couldn’t have fires so we sat around Riches lantern. Not as nice as fire but on the bright side there was no smoke to dodge.
Saturday morning was chilly; the overnight temperature got down into the 30’s. We walked down to the rivers edge by camp and discovered a couple nice trout working under the trees & brush. It was impossible to get a cast in there, but by wading carefully and feeding line into the current it was possible to drift a foam beetle into the zone and a healthy 17” specimen gobbled it down. It was the kind of catch that makes the whole trip worthwhile.
Hatches were sparse today but managed a few whitefish euro nymphing egg patterns. That’s about as down and dirty as you can get and still be fly fishing!
Rich and Dave hit the Bend Whiskey Fest in the afternoon and said it was a lot of fun. Then they fed more trout with Cheetos at Camp Sherman on the way home.
Sunday was another nice day. We had coffee, talked about the fishing then went down to look at the river. That nice trout from yesterday was back under the trees sipping on whatever the current would bring it. It was hungery for everything except our flies. Another time!
Thanks to everyone for coming and making this another great Fish A Long!
Best Flies: Whitefish: #12-14 Red Glo Bugs, #12-14 Olive Hares Ear Resides: #12 Green & Grey Drake Cripples, #14ish Foam Beetle Bull Trout: Big articulated streamers (6” +)
As summer winds down my favorite fishing season, fall, is almost here. It’s the best time of year to be on the water and CFF has some great Fish A Longs lined up the next three months.
Our September 17th meeting is at High Rocks. Our speaker is Spencer Pelham from Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters. His presentation will be about the varied fly fishing opportunities on our very own Clackamas River. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.
The September 21st Fish A Long will be held on the Metolius River. Several of us are planning to go a few days early and camp out.
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 plus has it’s perks too.
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 “September” or “October” in the Clackamas Fly Fishers website search box you’ll get all the past reports for that month.
Hope everyone has been enjoying summer! In spite of the occasionally very hot weather there has been some outstanding fishing opportunities. Recently I was able to land a Ling Cod on a fly out of Pacific City. It was a hard fighting and very good tasting fish!
August is a “bye” month as we don’t have anything scheduled as many members are on vacation or simply can’t make it with all the things on their calendars. Our next meeting will be September 17th.
It’s a good place to point out September, October and November are our most popular and productive Fish A Longs. (click the link for the schedule)
Just because we don’t have an “official” fish a long in August doesn’t mean we don’t have some fishing plans in the works. Personally I like to go after Smallmouth Bass in the Willamette, Rockfish in the Ocean or explore small streams for trout. If you are interested in jumping in let me know.
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 “August” or “September” and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.
If there is anything you want to see on our blog, shoot me an email and let me know.
One of my favorite outdoor programs to watch is Meat Eater for the simple reason that when Steve Rinella has an unsuccessful outing, he still makes the show. You come to realize you don’t have to catch a fish or drop an animal to enjoy the outdoors, just like our July Fish A Long.
The weather over the weekend of July 20th was very hot! Thus, all the lakes up on Mt Hood were very crowded, especially Timothy. The day started with a drive up the Clackamas to Ripplebrook, up the recently opened road to Lake Harriet then on to Timothy Lake. I tried finding some relief on some of the small streams in the area but due to time constrants and the desire to enjoy the air conditioning, mostly I scouted out good spots to try in the future.
Even without a fish to put a bend in my fly rod, it was a good day!
Every year it seems like summer will never get here but once it does it starts flying by! I find myself scrambling to squeeze in all the things I wanted to do once the weather gets nice. This summer I have some good fly fishing plans and hope you do too! These include hitting the Pacific Ocean for Rockfish to chasing trout in Oregon and beyond.
I’ll be giving a presentation on Euro Nymphing at our July 16th meeting at High Rocks. Many of us started Euro Nymphing around the same time and we’ve developed our own styles. The presentation will focus on both traditional and non-traditional flies & tactics. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.
The July 20th Fish A Long will be on the Metolius River at the Lower Bridge Campground. I may not able to attend so Rich Harvey will be hosting this Fish A Long. He’s been having good success on the Met lately.
We have several years of fishing reports logged on our website. Looking back on them is a fun way to get ideas for local fly fishing opportunities currently happening or coming up. Type “July” or “August” 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 you appreciate their support. Better yet buy something or book a trip.
