February 2023 Presidents Message

Currently winter steelhead water conditions are low, cold and reports across the state continue to signal slow fishing. That said, warming weather and rain is in the forcast and since you can’t catch them from the couch, now is the time to get out and start chasing them.

One of the consolations during these slow years is most of the fish you do see caught are bigger than average, so when you do get out there beef up those tippets with at least 12lb Maxima or 15 Fluorocarbon. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard sad stories of big steelhead lost to light tippets.

This may sound strange, but when the numbers of steelhead are below average I would rather fly fish for them. The reason for this is when I’m fly fishing, I expect to work for every fish and this holds true no matter how good the fishing might be, plus fly casting passes the time and relaxes the mind. This helps me settle in for the long haul and enjoy more time on the water, which is what it’s all about.

Last months “steelhead school” Fish A Long went very well so we might do the same thing again this month. Another option would be an early trout fishing excursion. Let me know your preference before Valentines Day and I’ll get an annoucement out. Either way, the Fish A Long date will be Saturday, February 25th.

This months speaker will be George Krumm talking about Lake Billy Chinook Bull Trout Fly Fishing. It’s a fishery many of us have wanted to try so I hope to see you at the February 21st meeting.

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; type the word February or March in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Please remember our sponsors this, 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. Good fishing!

Dave Kilhefner

December 2022 Fishing Reports

At last the December reports are out. The big news was Ed and Lane’s trip to Venice…Louisiana. Pictures are first with the reports below.

From Lane Hoffman and Ed Rabinowe: we had a great trip to Venice LA! Fishing was very good with fish up to 36lbs!

From Rich Harvey: Big and Little tree lakes produced trout on Chironomid emergers. Fishing wasn’t hot in terms of numbers, but Dave and I landed some big ones.

From Mike Shiiki: Schmadeke Pond in mid December with my friend Christian… had some good runs with orange olive half wit… in the afternoon it was slow and then remembered Dave did well with a white leech… caught a bunch including the two XLs on a white half wit.

From Darryl Huff: got a bright winter run from the lower Sandy on a bead.

From Chris Brehm: my brother Santa Steve had a good time on the Sacramento River at Redding.

From Mike Shiiki: went to Ranier Lakes & the middle lake only had this little spot that wasn’t iced over… decided to fish it since I drove all the way there and landed a few nice trout.

From Dave Kilhefner: caught an old native silver on the Sandy while prospecting for steelhead.

Thanks to everyone for sending in your reports!

Presidents Message January 2023

Happy New Year! I hope everyone was able to enjoy some festivities even with the unusually stormy weather. I had my power knocked out for a few days but that didn’t slow me down too much.

I’m looking forward to the New Year and have a couple “fishing resolutions” to share. First is to go on 4-5 cool fishing trips and I already have 3 on the calendar. Second is to use my boat more. I have a pretty cool little boat that is good for chasing Steelhead on the Clackamas and Bass on the Willamette. Lasty, I’m going to make a half dozen fly tying videos & maybe even a few fishing videos.

It’s time to think about paying your 2023 membership fee. However if you joined as a new member in 2022 it will be good for 2023 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. Here is the membership link plus I will be sending membership notices out to everyone. If you participate in the club I will guarantee you’ll get a solid value for the $35 you pay to be a member.

The “big 3” activities our club focuses on are meetings, fly tying and fish a longs (the 2023 schedule is on the website).

Just like last month, everyone that comes to the January 17th meeting at High Rocks will get a free beer on me. The speaker will be Michole Jensen. A couple years ago he gave us a presentation on Kayak fly fishing and he’s also the new communications director for the Deschutes River Alliance.

Our January 21st 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. In the past we’ve had this Fish A Long at Oxbow park but it gets pretty dang cold, so we’re having it at my place so we can warm up by the woodstove if the fishing is slow, and lets face it Winter Steelhead fly fishing is always slow!

As I’m typing this the water conditions are good but the steelhead are little scarce. Still, fish are being caught and nobody can cast far enough to get one from the couch, so you gotta get out there and pound the water! 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; type the word January or February in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

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. 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.

Dave Kilhefner

November 2022 Fishing Reports

We had good weather in November that helped produce some good fishing. Pictures are first with the reports below.

From Lane Hoffman: Buddy is at the Coast catching the first Chum Salmon after the early November rains. Says they are big & mean!

From Dave Vedder: got some nice trout in mid November on Rocky Ford Creek drifting scud imitations.

From Dave Kilhefner: caught a couple late Coho twitching jigs on the Icicle River with friends.

From Rich Harvey: hit Big Tree at the OFC just before Thanksgiving. There was a little ice forming on the lake but the trout were active and taking a little green midge pupa about a good under the surface. This got me motivated to finish filling my midge box; 156 patterns! The’ve worked great this fall; caught quite a few big fish on these small flies.

From Lane Hoffman: had good luck for Thanksgiving week Chum & Chinook!

From Mark Bachmann: spent the first half of November in Loreto, Mexico fishing the Sea of Cortez. When the wind laid down we had very good action for a variety of gamefish, especially Roosterfish and Snapper.

From Dave Kilhefner: got a native Coho on the Sandy while prospecting for early steelhead Thanksgiving weekend.

From Darryl Huff: found some late summer steelhead in good shape on the Sandy fishing with beads.

From Chris Brehm: I was able to spend a few days near Florence fishing for Coho in Tahkenitch Lake. A good rain had brought in some fresh fish and as they spread through the fingers of the lake. They often begin to react like Bass & in fact we caught most of them casting Chatterbaits with pink worm trailers near shorelines. My brother Steve and his pal Walt joined us for one day fishing only fly rods but only landed a few small bass.

Got an invite to go Bottom fishing out of Newport. A strong East wind made for a beautiful ocean where we caught some nice Lings and a few other assorted Rockfish. The water was so clear that in some places we could see the bottom in 30′ of water.

Thanks to everyone for submitting your reports!

Presidents Message December 2022

Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving! Fishing in November was pretty good as you’ll see when the the November fishing reports come out next week. Also, I’m feeling excited as once these rains roll thru and the water drops it will be game on for Winter Steelhead.

It’s time to think about paying your 2023 membership fee. However if you joined as a new member in 2022 it will be good for 2023 too; we are on the honor system so please let me know. Here is the membership link plus I will be sending membership notices out to everyone. If you participate in the club I will guarantee you’ll get a solid value for the $35 you pay to be a member.

The “big 3” activities our club focuses on are meetings, fly tying and fish a longs.

Looking forward we are going to have more in-person speakers than we did this year as our members enjoy them. I’ll broadcast the speakers from the meeting room on Zoom when possible but the WiFi signal doesn’t always allow this.

We need to get Fly Tying back on track, and it’s very doable! At this time its limited to monthly fly tying articles but we can get together and tie flies, either on person or on Zoom; email me if you are interested in doing this.

Last year we attemped to expand Fish a longs to include camping but it was harder than it sounds as many campgrounds are booked up very early, especially state parks. Being a steelheader, I’m persistent so we’ll keep trying.

December is shaping up to be decent fishing month with the most dependable fishing available at the Oregon Fishing Club ponds for trout, especially if we have a warming trend. The key to winter fishing is to be ready to fish when a weather window presents itself.

Several coastal streams like the Necanicum and North Fork Nehalem 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 put out the word that I’m open to helping folks with their spey casting and winter steelhead presentation basics. I’ve got 4 people signed up so far so 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 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.

Dave Kilhefner

November 2022 Fish A Long Report

The big news for this Fish A Long started with a forecast for some very cold weather but fortunately, warmer weather rolled in and Saturday turned out to be quite mild with no wind; it was a perfect November day.

The Saturday morning bite wasn’t hot but we all got fish. We broke for an early lunch, regrouped and headed back out. The afternoon featured decent hatches of Blue Wing Olives & Midges…and the fish were on the bite!

Chris and Tim hit the water below the Beavertail boat ramp and had non-stop, lights out fishing on egg patterns early then midge patterns in the later afternoon. Both agreed it was one of their best “numbers of fish” days ever & they doubled up at least 8 times!

Rich and I ventured downstream around the Macks Canyon area and did well, mostly on midge patterns. Rich hooked a couple monsters we never saw that were either big old salmon or late steelhead (or maybe one of each?).

Some general info. The water temp was 48 degrees and so the morning bites were a little slow. There were no more spawning salmon around Beavertail but still a bunch down by Macks Canyon. We saw a good herd of sheep on the canyon wall plus a lot of deer in the evenings, including a huge buck. The most unusal sight of the weekend was a seal up at Beavertail, hopefully it was chasing a huge school of steelhead upstream but given the catch reports, that wasn’t likely! The drive over the mountain was snowy with a little ice, but overall not too bad.

Thanks to everyone that made it over to the Fish A Long, it was a good time!

October 2022 Fishing Reports

October is a big fly fishing month and so we have a lot of good reports to share. As always, pictures are first with the reports below. Enjoy!

From George Krumm: Naknek was very good for Bob ‘bows!

From Darryl Huff: Warm Springs grows large white fish. I marked it on my net and measured it when I got back to my truck at 21 inches. When it jumped out of the water I had no idea what it was!

From Mike Shiiki: Nathan and I tried out a couple OFC lake/ponds today: Turner lake near Dallas and Highland ponds near Molalla/Oregon City. We only caught 1 trout all day, this 20”+ Nathan landed at Highland ponds but caught A LOT of bluegills, some bass & landed my first Crappie. 

From Phil Hager: Had some great results on the upper N. Fork reservoir a couple weeks ago. Launched at the store ramp and rowed my Hobie pontoon as far up the Clack as possible and found several large gatherings of Rainbows in the 10”-15” range. The best one was coming back down, across from the gated ramp and pilings, when I tangled with a good sized one that was 32” and fat! I think it was a “holdover” from the steelhead spawn last spring. Everything caught was on my size 10, 3X long, Brick colored mohair leech. Sorry, was by myself and couldn’t get a photos. 

From Chris Brehm: A very smokey morning at Crane turned beautiful with some nice Crane Bows caught on Chironomids and Balanced Leeches. Also had a nice late fall day on Diamond Lake with some fat browns on leeches.

From Mike Shiiki: I recently joined Oregon Fishing Club and have been visiting as many of their spots as possible.  The lakes and ponds are great for float tube/canoe fishing as shown by my son Nathan and my nephew.  Also had a lot of fun on the October Beavertail fishalong trip, we were only able to fish Friday, but it was nice to meet some more members – Dave, Brad & John, and also witnessed Darryl’s steelhead landing. 

From Greg O’Brien: My brother and I went to the Klamath River to fish the Keno stretch in Oregon with a guide.  It was 100% streamer fishing mainly with 2-3” heavy sculpin patterns and floating lines.  The flows were low, the float technical with a couple tough areas where we nearly wrapped the raft.  The fishing was tough in the mornings then really turned on from about 1-3 pm then shut down again.  The rainbows here are chunky and fight hard!

From Chris Brehm: Brother Steve and I fished last Thursday along the road above Beavertail. Never made it all the way to Beavertail. Lot’s of Salmon and pretty good fishing using Darryl’s bead methods.

From Darryl Huff: A friend was camping at Beavertail in late October. Went over in the morning and fished a half day with them. Definetely more trout have moved in to the area. Spawning salmon were everywhere and did well for trout in the 12 to 16 inch range on egg patterns. Here’s a couple of my new creations.

From Dave Kilhefner: Hit the Highland Ponds at the OFC with Rich and Kevin. These ponds were recently stocked and we did OK fishing Chironomids. Best bite was in the afternoon but it died promply around 3:30.

Thanks to everyone that submitted reports!

Presidents Message November 2022 

November is a very good fishing month as we transition from fall into winter. After the unusually dry fall weather we are finally getting some regular & normal rainfall!

When fall rains come often the rivers fill with leaves. When this happens I like to hit the Oregon Fishing Club ponds for trout; the bite is on as the water cools down plus they’ve been recently stocked. If the mountain road conditions are good, trout fishing on the Deschutes is another top option.

It’s time to think about renewing your membership for next year. If you are a new member and didn’t join until the 2nd half of 2022 then your membership will carry thru 2023. Contact me if you have any questions.

On Tuesday, November 15th we’ll have another combination in-person & zoom meeting at High Rocks. I’ll get an email out soon with the speaker details.

We’ll have our Fish A Long Saturday November 12th. The plan is to go back to Beavertail for more trout fishing. It was hoped we might go to the Kilchis for Chum Salmon but the water is extremely low this fall and we have to ”make the call” with enough time for folks to get gear together and plan a day trip out of town. While we are getting some rain, it hasn’t been enough to raise the water level and the ground is soaking it up.

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; type the word November or December in the search box and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Here’s a couple announcements:

The Orvis Lake Oswego Store is looking for several part time sales associates through the holidays. The commitment can be as little as 1 shift a week (6-8 hours), starting as soon as possible and going through mid-January. Seasonal help gets the amazing 50% off Orvis discount! 

If you are interested, you can apply through the Orvis.com website: https://www.orvis.com/careers.html and this link will take you directly to the Lake Oswego positions: https://us63.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/orvis?q=Oregon

Columbia Sportswear has created a new access day for Sporting License holders.  All current license holders for hunting, fishing, clamming and crabbing are invited to show their license on Monday’s for access to the Columbia Employee Store. 

Please remember our sponsors this fall, they are the lifeblood of the club. It’s not too early for a little Christmas shopping or putting together your wish list. Stop by their shops and let them know your appreciate their support. Better yet buy something or book a trip.

Dave Kilhefner

October 2022 Fish A Long Report

This fish a long report could be summed up on one sentence: lots of whitefish but not many trout! Still, we had some great highlights. A good number of us camped out, enjoying nice weather while it rained on the west side. It was possible to have campfires and with clear nights and a dark moon the stars were nothing short of spectacular. While trout fishing was a little slow, several nice trout were caught and Darryl even landed a steelhead.

The water conditions featured prime 54 degree water temps, stable flows and good clarity. On Sunday the White River threw a little color at us but not enough to dampen our confidence.

For the most part the wind stayed down until the afternoons, but by then most of us had flogged the water enough and it was time to relax, enjoy happy hour & snacks before dinner around the fire.

The road had been freshly graded all the way to Beavertail but it was rough going further downstream. And of course, the word was the fishing was better 7 miles downstream at Mac’s Canyon.

On the drive home it was good to see a layer of fresh snow on Mt Hood.

Thanks to everyone for coming! Next month our fish a long will be on November 12th. We will try to hit the Kilchis River for Chum Salmon but if the water conditions are poor (like they have been the last 5 years!) we will come back to Beavertail as everyone enjoys this location this time of year.

CFF September 2022 Fishing Reports

September had some big wildfires in Oregon but we had some good fishing too! As always, the pictures are first with the member reports below.

From Chris Gardiner: Spent 3 days on the Metolious with a couple fishing buddies. There were a ton of hatches going on, including Green Drakes and October Caddis. Caught a fair amount of decent sized Whitefish and a few healthy Redsides. We definitely put in the work to get the hook-ups. Lots of hiking and crawling in and out of the river. My buddy flew his drone for a few minutes just for fun. Pretty cool view of the Met from above.

From John Silkey: Did my first float of the Deschutes where I was behind the oars. Drifted a slow two nights from Buckhollow to Mack’s with a friend from AZ. He was targeting trout, I was after Steelhead. Neither of us did much of anything, yet it was still a gorgeous journey. The one trout we pulled in was on my spey rod (gobbled up a redneck revenge.) Didn’t see a lot of bug activity on top of or under the water. Reports from other anglers echoed our slow performance but did hear of at least 2 steelhead landed on that stretch.

From George Krumm: Pretty much all I did this month was hover fish for salmon. Fishing was good! Spent a lot of days in Drano lake and at the mouth of the Klickitat. One evening in Drano Marcus and I caught 17 kings!

From Chris Brehm: Fished three days on the lower Umpqua for Coho & only netted two. (No Pics) Lots of jumpers but few biters. My friend went back the following week and did well.

Tried to fish East Lake but the water was too low to get my boat in, so I Fished Paulina Lake twice and caught mostly small Rainbows on Baetis Nymphs plus a nice Brown on a Beetle.

Finished the month with two days at Diamond Lake. Fishing was slow overall but got a few very nice Browns on Leech Patterns, and my very first Tiger Trout on a Chironomid.

From Darryl Huff: did well on steelhead in the lower Deschutes, including my biggest hatchery steelhead to date; it weighted 16lbs.

From Dave Kilhefner: Inspired by a report from Chris Gardiner (see the June reports) I hit northern Idaho and had some good fishing for West Slope Cutthroat & Whitefish on the St Joe River by Calder.

Thanks to everyone for providing these reports!