Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving and was able to get out and do some fishing with friends.

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 2024 membership fee. However, if you joined as a new member in 2023 it will be good for 2024 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.

I’m looking for input on the 2024 Fish A Longs schedule. With the warming trends and low steelhead returns, fishing opportunities are changing. Check out the 2024 fish a longs schedule and let me know if you’d like to see any changes; it’s not set in stone!

Last year we expanded Fish a longs to include camping. It’s not always easy as many campgrounds are booked up very early, especially state parks. But we did have some very successful camping/fishing outings, especially on the Deschutes, Metolius and Oregon Fishing Club.

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 this 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 Wilson 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 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 fishing transitions from fall to winter. It presents many good opportunities and can be the very best month to catch a steelhead or catch good numbers of trout & whitefish getting ready for winter.

With the holiday season upon us we will have the Fish A Long early on November 11th 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. We will have a BBQ steak lunch again as we still have steak from last month. Gotta love the Chef store!

Several members have asked about Chum salmon fishing on the coast. We used to always go there in November but the unpredictable fall rains prompted too many cancellations the last 5 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 21st meeting at High Rocks will be a “flies and lies” format. We did this last year and it was a great time, so bring your fly tying vice to tie some flies & tell fishing stories. Also, I recently acquired 79 dozen flies from a closed fly shop. They are available to members for $1 each. As always, social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.

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. 

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. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

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.

Our October 21st meeting is at High Rocks. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.

This months October 21st Fish A Long will be at Beavertail Campground on the Deschutes River. Historically, this has been a very popular Fish A Long. It’s become a tradition that several of us go a few days early and camp out.

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. 

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. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

Summer is winding down and 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 19th meeting is at High Rocks. I’m hoping to have Josh Linn do a presentation angled towards fly fishing the Metolius River. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm.

The September 23rd Fish A Long will be held on the Metolius River. Several of us are planning to go a few days early and camp out.

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. 

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. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

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. The picture above was taken last week from a Dory trip with Connect Outfitters. George & I got our limit of Black Rockfish before 8am then spent the rest of the day chasing silver salmon. We hooked about a half dozen, most of which we lost. It was a great day on the ocean.

Our July 18th meeting is at High Rocks. I don’t have a speaker lined up yet but will let you know when I do. Social hour starts at 6pm and the program at 7pm. 

The July 22nd Fish A Long was scheduled to be at the north arm of Timothy Lake. However, hot weather and warm water have put the damper on this fishery so we will go to Harriet Lake instead. 

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 “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. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

Every year it seems like summer will never get here but once it does it starts flying by! Then I find myself scrambling to squeeze in all the things I wanted to do once the weather gets nice.

We don’t have a speaker for the June 20th meeting and instead will have a swap meet. I’ve got quite a bit of stuff that has been donated, mostly fly tying materials, books and other odd & ends too. 

We have a GREAT Fish A Long lined up this month. Chris B has generously offered to host a multi day fish a long at his place between Sunriver and LaPine. I will get an email out with the details; heres a link to last years report: https://clackamasflyfishers.org/2022/07/27/july-2022-fish-a-long-report/

Also, this weekend is Free Fishing Weekend in Washington and it’s a good time to try for Shad. Here’s a link to the past report from 2021 where we did pretty well: https://clackamasflyfishers.org/2021/06/13/june-2021-fish-a-long-report/

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 “June” or “July” 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. 

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

My apologies for the late presidents message. April went by so fast that its hard to believe May is here. Just like last year, crazy weather unsettled the local lakes and melting snow has the rivers flowing high. Still, there is good fishing around, but you have to be flexible, do a little research plus pay attention to the river gauges & weather reports.

Our speaker for our May 16^th meeting will be Micole Jensen. His website is  www.kayakflyangler.com and thus he’ll be talking about Kayak Fly Fishing. Also, he has some new cool kayaks to talk about and I’m looking forward to his presentation and hope to see you there.

Our May 20^th Fish A Long will be at the Rainier Lakes, an Oregon Fishing Club property out past Vernonia. Just like last month, several of us will be camping. It will be a good time!

As soon as the Deschutes drops a little it should be game on. The big bug action isn’t happening just yet but nymph fishing is always dependable this time of year. Lane fished Rocky Ridge Lakes recently and had a good day. Lake Billy Chinook is producing good to excellent action for bull trout; this is the first time I’ve reported that. The point is, everything is changing these days and it’s important to be on the lookout for new fly fishing opportunities. They are out 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 “May” or “June” 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.  

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

This year has me asking the question “is 2023 the worst steelhead year ever?” It’s been a very tough season! In spite of this, we will have a few good steelhead photo’s in the March fishing reports. However, when April rolls around my mind shifts to trout fishing. The OFC lakes are beginning to come to life as the water warms up plus the Deschutes and other local streams will pick up too. We have above average snow pack this year so remember to check the water flows before you head out, plus be stocked up with some high water patterns like squirmy & san juan worms.

Our April 18^th meeting at High Rocks will feature Garrett Lesko as our speaker. He’ll be talking about stillwater fishing and of course, will bring lots of his great flies to check out. I’m looking forward to his presentation.

Our April 22^nd Fish A Long will be at Schmedeke Pond. We went there last year at this time and everyone had a great time and some big fish were caught.

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 “April” or “May” and you’ll get all the past reports for those months. 

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.  

Good fishing! 

Dave Kilhefner

It’s no secret that Fly Fishing in 2023 has been a little challenging so far. We have low steelhead numbers plus the cold weather has made both the fishing and the drive over to the Deschutes challenging. Never-the-less I’m optimistic it will get better; it always does if you keep casting!

We’ll have a regular meeting March 21st at High Rocks. Our speaker is Michole Jensen, owner of KayakFlyAngler.com. He’s also the communications director for the Deschutes River Alliance.

This month marks three years as your club President. Over the past few years local fishing has been in a constant state of change, so it’s more important than ever to be flexible, roll with the punches and be ready when a window of opportunity opens.

Adapting to changing conditions is more important than ever and has become “the new normal.” For example, in years past the Crooked River was our go-to fish a long destination in March, but due to the low water fish kill last year we’ve had to shift gears so and go to the Deschutes around Maupin. There’s good camping & restaurants nearby plus it will be good to bend a rod after this year’s super slow winter steelhead season.

March signals the beginning of spring and many local fisheries begin to wake up and turn on. Trout in our local lakes will begin to get active as water temperatures rise from the low 40’s to the high 40’s. The Deschutes will have good fishing if water levels are stable & warming. Last but not least, March is the best month for trophy steelhead so keep flinging flies with your spey rod.

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 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

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 21^st 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