Presidents Message March 2025

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This month marks five years as your club President. I’ve been having a great time running the club and going to all the Fish A Longs. This year, steelhead fishing has been pretty good when the weather cooperates. Now we are finally having good, stable weather and it’s time to get out there and fish hard!

We’ll have a regular meeting Tuesday, March 18th. George Krumm will be talking about float tube trout fishing in the local lakes around Anchorage, Alaska. It’s a very original subject that’s interesting and informative. Also, if you ordered a float tube rod holder he’ll be bringing them to the meeting.

March signals the beginning of spring and many local fisheries are waking up and turning on. Trout in our local lakes get active as water temperatures rise from the low 40’s to the high 40’s. March is the best month for trophy steelhead so keep flinging flies with your spey rod. If anyone wants to get out and chase some steelhead this month I’m an easy mark.

Our March 22nd Fish A Long will be on the Crooked River. This has always been a good destination but we haven’t been able to go since May 2022 and I’m excited to go back! Several of us will be camping. If you can come a little early we’ll have our traditional Mexican dinner in Prineville on Friday night.

Here is some good news: Marty & Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters are resurrecting the Sandy River Spey Clave. Mark your calendars for May 9th & 10th at Oxbow Park.

The Justesen Ranch Lakes are ice free and fishing very well. Also, 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 “March” or “April” and you’ll get all the past reports for that month.

Please remember our local fly shops and sporting goods stores. Hope to see you at a meeting or on the water!

Dave Kilhefner

January 2025 Fishing Reports

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

The cold weather that rolled in put a damper on our fishing efforts but a few of us managed to get out and make some good things happen. Pictures are first with the report below.

From Brian Dawson: A beautiful Chilean Chinook from the Rio Serrano caught by my wife.

From Chris Brehm: Brother Stevie said the Crooked was lights out so we headed out on a sunny but frosty morning. The river was running about 100 cfs. Stevie got busy catching Whitefish doubles while I found a good spot for Rainbows; the largest came on a small black leech. We caught our fill up at Big Bend then decided to go downstream to Palisades. Stevie continued to hammer the Whitefish. While looking for more rainbows I hooked a steelhead. My tippet seemed way too light, so I carefully played the fish for about 20 minutes while yelling for Stevie to come back, help net it and try to get a picture. We got a quick shot as it flipped out of my net. It had taken about a size 16 red and green euro nymph. Stevie starts casting to where I hooked that steelhead and immediately gets a grab that broke off his tippet. I cast back to that spot and a few casts later hooked another one. Apparently there are a few hundred Steelhead in the Crooked system. These had been trapped below the dams and released into Lake Billy Chinook.

From Dave Doble: Purchased my first drift boat in December and got out on my first run on the Clackamas in January. No fish were seen. Conditions were low and clear, but the experience was great and has opened up so many opportunities!! (congrats Dave!)

From George Krumm: Caught this Sandy River buck on New Year’s Day on gear (soft bead). The pic was taken as we were transferring it into the brood stock tank.

From Jan Jacobs: Floated the North Fork of the Nehalem with Gil Muhleman and caught this nice hatchery steelhead.

From Dave Kilhefner: havent been getting out much in the cold weather. Have regularly been seeing Sea Lions down by Milwaukie chasing sturgeon (pictured) and salmon.

Thanks to everyone for contributing reports this month!

Presidents Message February 2025

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

We’ve been having a longer than normal cold snap the last couple weeks and it looks like it will continue for a while. This cold weather & resulting plummeting water temperatures have shut down the fishing in our local waters. For a while at least, we have fly tying weather!

Since we are stuck with Fly Tying weather, this month’s meeting will focus on Fly Tying. Bring your fly-tying stuff to do some tying or feel free to watch our tyers & ask questions. We’ve done this before and it’s a fun meeting!

As we discussed at last month’s meeting, the location for our February 22nd Fish A Long is weather dependent, thus we are still waiting to see what our best prospect will be. Hopefully we’ll get some warmer weather to spark the bite at one of the OFC trout ponds.

Here is some good news: Marty & Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters are resurrecting the Sandy River Spey Clave. Mark your calendars for May 9th & 10th at Oxbow Park.

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 local fly shops and sporting goods stores. Hope to see you at a meeting or on the water!

Dave Kilhefner

January 2025 Fish A Long Report

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

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!

Last 2024 Fishing Reports

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

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!

Presidents Message January 2025

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

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!

Dave Kilhefner

Presidents Message December 2024

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

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.

The main activities our club focuses on are meetings and fish a longs.

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.

Dave Kilhefner

November 2024 Fish A Long Report

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

Our November Fish A Long was well attended. It was more of a camping trip with a good fire to sit around, eat really good food and enjoy good conversation…with a little fishing thrown in. The weather was dry and the wind was down but as you’d expect, it was a little chilly. Fishing wasn’t hot but everyone got fish. Here’s a rundown.

Most trout were taken drifting egg patterns. The salmon spawn was mostly over but good afternoon hatches of small bugs had small nymphs producing action too. Rich did well swinging small size 14-18 soft hackles in the afternoon. These shorter days sneak up on you and the bite was over around 3:30. Fortunately we had a lot of firewood for evening campfires.

We had our BBQ steak dinner on Friday night. Everyone contributed and it was a meal to remember. The moon was down early this weekend which made for excellent stargazing.

Screenshot

Besides fishing the local wildlife was out. There weren’t as many Rams running around as last month but we saw some every day.

Beavertail is always a good fall destination. Thanks to everyone for coming. Until next year!

October 2024 Fishing Reports

/ davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This month we have some really good reports ranging from Louisianna to Alaska and points in between! Pictures are first with the reports below. Enjoy!

From Laura McGuill: Traveled to Louisania in mid-Oct for an amazing hosted trip in the Bayou with Simon Gawesworth of Farbank/Sage/Rio. Landed a beast of a bull redfish after a wild fight. It measured 42″ long, 28 lbs and was taken on an 8wt fly rod.

From George Krumm: visited the Naknek River in early October. The Naknek is a fantastic place to swing big flies with two handers for extraordinarily big & strong rainbows!

From Tanner Kennedy: Fished the Deschutes with Rob Crandall in early October. Put in at Mack’s Canyon and camped 10 minutes down from the boat ramp.  Fishing was on the slow side unti the last day when we got into some good fish, including this beauty!

The Oregon Fishing Club finished its fall stocking in late October. Big Tree fished really well, landed several good fish with the biggest a little over 24“.

Dave Kilhefner: fished the Coeur D Alene and St Joe Rivers in the Idaho panhandle. Did OK on whitefish & cutthroat plus lucked into a big 21″ cutt. Nymphing and dry/dropper tactics worked equally well. Water was very low, clear and cooling off (51 degrees). In the evening there was a great show of the northern lights plus witnessed a school of big spawning Kokanee along the shoreline of Hayden Lake.

From Rhona Dallison: I was traveling home from Sandpointe & texted Dave K. He texted me a pin of a good location on the Coeur D Alene river and I caught a few nice cutts on a little caddis pattern fished damp in the surface film.

From Rich Harvey: Had a very fun day down at the coast & caught 11 cutts; 5 were sea runs. There was a big orange termite hatch and caught them all on a dry. Went back the following week with Lane and we did well.

From George Coutts: Just got back from the Metolius.  The Fall colors are on full display.  Fished for a couple of hours one day but no fish.  The Kokanee are spawning throughout the river and it’s fun to see all the fish, especially while wading.

From Stevie Brehm: fish are still biting at Diamond. First time I ever tried an egg in a lake but got in to some nice brownies.

From Tom Flannery: My son and I spent the day fly fishing the Squamish River, BC, Canada last week. Fished sinking lines with colorful beadhead streamers. The Squamish water was glacial white in color. 
The area we chose to fish was a clear water trough created by a clear tributary. It’s a visually stunning area! We landed 12 coho and 1 chum salmon.

From Ed Rabinowe: got a couple nice coho for the smoker on gear.

From Jay Schrader: Had an epic day at OFC’s Big Tree Lake on larger fish after the fall stocking.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

From Greg O’Brien: My brother and I made it back to Alaska. Big trout all on swung leech & flesh flies using Spey rods. 

Thanks to everyone for contributing your fishing reports!

Presidents Message November 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