June 2020 Fishing Reports

June 29, 2020June 30, 2020 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

The Corona virus situation is still very much with us and it looks like it will be for a long time. Since fishing access has been a little confusing the last couple months, Brad Jonasson contacted the ODFW and put together some great Covid Fishing Info. Thanks Brad!

Also, the Oregon Fishing Club sent a copy of their Covid policy.

With everything going on, June still remains a very good fishing month so club members got out and caught fish while of course maintaining responsible social distancing.

As always, pictures first with the report following below. Enjoy!

Several Club Members traveled Justesen Ranch early in the month, using Maupin as their base camp. Fishing was very good for rainbow trout. Chironomid fishing was the most consistent tactic but the trout were hungry and taking a little bit of everything from stripped streamers to dry flies.

From Greg O’Brien: Fished on the Feather River in CA with my brother at the beginning of the month. Caught tons of Shad on swung fly/trout Spey setup plus a few stripers on stripped streamers; the stripers weren’t large but they were super aggressive.

Also fished the Deschutes, mostly trout speying with streamers and soft hackles. It wasn’t lights out fishing, but got a decent number of tight line takes. Also got a big lazy bass, easily over 5 lbs and a 24”+ squawfish.

Shad fished at a John Day dam from bank and got some, also Hamilton Island at Bonneville where I got a couple Swinging with my trout Spey rod.

From Richard Harvey: The OFC properties produced some big rainbows this month. They were taking larger and larger flies as the month progressed

From Darryl Huff: Been fishing the Deschutes on a weekly basis, doing well with perdigons sub surface and caddis on top. Also fished the Sandy river with spinners and drifted beads , finding an occasional summer steelhead.

From George Coutts and Dave Kilhefner: We fished an Oregon Fishing Club lake late in the month that held bluegill, bass and trout. The surface temperature was 75 degrees, so to find the trout we concentrated on the deeper water creek bed channel where there was cooler water and found some nice trout. Red Chironomids were best, but trout were caught on a variety of flies.Around lunch time the fish stocking truck showed up. It was interesting to see how the lakes are stocked and naturally we tried fishing for some of the freshly stocked trout but didn’t have any luck with them.

From Ron Woodke: Fished at Timothy Lake for 2 days using both fly and spin fishing techniques. Caught 5 the first morning before it got to hot. Started earlier the second morning and caught three over 18 inches float tube fishing out of the Pine Point area.

From Lane Hoffman: Fished the lakes off Century Drive and also East Lake for a few days. The fishing was good but the area was WAY to crowded!

From Kevin Rogers: Decided to check out Frog Lake for the first time and did pretty good. Had on a small orange damsel nymph and tossed at the shore line and along one of the trees. Hooked into a 3-plus pound trout; the rest varied in size. Nice day out on the water.

From Mike Longacre: I want to give a shout out to Korkers customer service! Some of my wading boots studs came loose. They forwarded new new studs at no cost and advised using blue lock tite on the threads would keep this from happening in the future. Thanks again to Mark at Korkers!

Feb 22nd Fish a long Report

February 25, 2020 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This event was lightly attended, so everyone ate VERY well. Cheryl made a delicious lunch of pulled pork & coleslaw sandwiches along with salad and fresh fruit sides.

Water conditions were ideal for swinging flies; water color was a nice emerald green & flowing at 1250 cubic ft per second. We had the river to ourselves.

Originally the weather forecast called for rain, but this Saturday we got lucky with a beautiful clear day.

Zach Epstein from Water Time Outfitters stopped by and generously donated his time & expert casting assistance. Thanks Zach!

Later that day I ran into a gear angler that I know and we talked fishing for a while. He got one earlier that day a few holes downstream from us.

There are some good fishing reports from the lower Sandy but the word is out and the weekend fishing pressure down there was intense.

In an attempt to embrace technology, I made a map with my GPS from the parking area off Hwy 26 to the river. CFF members please email me if you want a copy.

Next months Fish a Long is March 21st on the Crooked River. We have a special treat as Josh Linn from Royal Treatment will be giving his excellent on-the-water presentation on Euro Nymphing.

CFF February Fish A Long

February 19, 2020February 18, 2020 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This month’s Fish A Long will be held Saturday, February 22nd on the Sandy River. The location is Dave K’s place about halfway between Sandy and Welches.

What- Winter Steelhead

Where- Sandy River

When- 8am until lunchtime, Saturday, February 22nd

Equipment-

Spey or Switch Rod
Skagit Line & sink tip(s)
15lb tippet material
flies, bright patterns and dark patterns
waders & wading staff
rain gear
warm, layered clothing

Directions- take Hwy 26 like you are going to Mt Hood. 10 miles past Sandy, turn left onto Sleepy Hollow Drive (there’s a big sign) and then take the 1^st left. It’s a steep gravel driveway with a black metal gate.

We will have coffee, donuts and a hot lunch. This fish a long will focus on spey casting and swung fly presentations. Questions; email or call Dave Kilhefner. Hope to see you there!

Feb 18th Speaker: Mark Bachmann

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This months speaker is Mark Bachmann from The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches, Oregon. His presentation is called A Brief History of the Sandy River As Related to Fly Fishing.

The Sandy River may be the best kept urban river in the world, flowing into a population center of 1.5 million people, much of its personality is wild.

The Sandy is located half way between the North Pole and the equator, giving this region the perfect climate for trout, salmon and steelhead fly fishing every month of the year. Our Journey begins 12 million years ago as volcanic activity begins building the backbone of the present day Cascade Range!

It will be an interesting and informative presentation you won’t want to miss!

January 2020 Fishing Reports

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

From Tim Morton: Last month I was able to go on a bucket list trip to Patagonia. The Brown Trout is from the World End Lodge, and the Sea Run Trout is from Las Buitreras Lodge. The sea run trout was 13.5 lbs. Didn’t get the weight on the Brown,

Fish a long Report: You can see from the river level screenshot that we had some higher than normal water for our Fish a long. While this didn’t impact our spey casting, it did put a damper on our Euro Nymphing as it was hard to find any decent nymphing water. On the good side, for January we had a surprisingly warm and dry day. This made it easy to set up for morning coffee plus Chef Cheryl’s delicious lunch of homemade soup, Texas toast and salad. Thank you for everyone that came out!

From Ed Rabinowe: Duck season ended and my got a new knee. I think I have a fishing rod somewhere!

From Dave Kilhefner: Got lucky on my first steelhead trip of the year with this 12lb hen; she was a jumper! The following week I fished the Oregon Fishing Club ponds and caught a nice trout dragging a Booby Fly along the bottom. Saw another angler doing OK fishing a woolly bugger under an indicator.

Brad Jonasson and David Hopkins had a good outing to the Deschutes River by Maupin.

From Greg O’Brien: My brother visits once or twice a year to go steelhead fishing and we hire a guide to get to water we normally can’t get to on foot. We fished 2 days on the Sandy, floating from Dodge to Dabney with Travis Johnson of All Waters Angling. Monday was tough with just one solid pull & no hookup. Tuesday was a slow morning but landed a big wild hen around noon, followed by another nice wild fish in the afternoon.

From Darryl Huff: A nice wild steelhead caught just before New Years.

From Greg O’Brien: Hugo and I hit the Deschutes for a trout spey session and I got this nice one. It ate the caddis emerger dropper of a swung 2 fly rig.

From Henry Muehleck: fished the north coast with Gil Muhleman. We were gear fishing and had a great day. I hooked 8 and landed 3. Two of these were 14 to 15 pound natives. Gil is a great guide and definitely goes the extra mile to get you fish!

From George Krumm: Fished the lower Sandy with gear. Landed a couple, a smaller hen and this nice buck. The buck went to the broodstock program.

March 2019 CFF Fishing Reports

March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

Elke Littleleaf, who will be presenting for CFF in the near future, generously gave his time to help introduce youth and families to fly fishing at the NW Steelheaders Family Fish Camp this month.

March speaker John Devoe got out on the water with CFF sponsor Mark Bachmann to enjoy some winter steelhead fishing on our namesake river.

John Warren traveled to Christmas Island in early March, doing well on both Bonefish and Giant Trevally.

Josh Linn of Royal Treatment got in some good Euro Nymphing action on the Metolius River. John will be giving a presentation on Euro Nymphing at our April meeting.

The day after the fish-a-long Paul Brewer and Dave Kilhefner fished the Deschutes River around Maupin. The water was high, off-color and cold. Trout fishing was tough but a few were brought to hand using Euro nymphing tactics. The hot fly was a San Juan Worm, a high water favorite.

Seven CCF members went on to the Owyhee after the Crooked River Fish-A-Long. Flows were very low and it was a bit crowded. Rain from the previous days caused a creek to blow out and muddy up parts of the river, then the wind picked up; all these things combined to create poor fishing conditions. However, the bugs were out and several members landed Brown trout up to 18″ long. Fish or no fish, everyone did have a good time; new friends were made, lies were told plus lots of education & exploration!

Another great month of Fly Fishing is in the books. Thanks to everyone for sharing their reports!

CFF February Fish-A-Long

February 20, 2019February 20, 2019 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This month’s Fish-A-Long will be held Saturday, February 23rd on the Sandy River. The location is Dave K’s place about halfway between Sandy and Welches.

What: Winter Steelhead
Where: Sandy River
When: 8am until lunchtime (or later), Saturday, February 23rd

Equipment:
Spey or Switch Rod
Skagit Line & sink tip(s)
15lb tippet material
flies, bright patterns and dark patterns
waders & wading staff
rain gear
warm, layered clothing

Directions– take Hwy 26 like you are going to Mt Hood. 10 miles past Sandy, turn left onto Sleepy Hollow Drive (there’s a big sign) and then take the 1st left. It’s a steep gravel driveway with a black metal gate.

We will have coffee, breakfast snacks and a hot lunch. This fish a long will focus on spey casting and swung fly presentations. Questions; email or call Paul Brewer or Dave Kilhefner. Hope to see you there!

Fishing isn’t hot but fish have been caught!

Sandy River Fish-A-Long Report

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

Last weekends Sandy River Fish-A-Long at Oxbow Park was well attended. Thank you to everyone that came plus an EXTRA BIG thank you to Cheryl Kilhefner for her excellent cooking & hospitality. Her pulled pork sandwiches & coleslaw were a highlight of the day.

We met at 8am, had hot coffee and got to work on our spey casting, fishing until around 11:30 then breaking for lunch (no one was late either!). In the morning hours we saw a few boaters go thru but didn’t get any reports of fish hooked. While we didn’t see any steelhead Tim caught a San Diego Steelhead (a sucker) swinging at the top of the run. Tim wouldn’t tell us what the hot fly pattern was, however. Some things are best kept secret!

The weather was better than forcast and while it was cloudy and cool it didn’t rain on us after Friday nights downpour. The the sudden rise in water level made for tough fishing conditions plus as the day progressed there were more leaves and drifting debris in the water. The water color was brownish with low visibility. On the “Sandy River at Bull Run” guage the water height was 12.24 feet, flowing at around 7,000 cfs.

In addition helping with Spey Casting, Dave gave a presentation on indicator nymph fishing for steelhead.

March 20th Speaker Todd Alsbury

March 12, 2018February 28, 2018 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

Todd Alsbury of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife will be CFF’s guest speaker Tuesday, March 20^th.

Todd’s presentation will briefly cover Bull trout reintroduction, high lake trout stocking, sea lion predation, and Christmas tree placement. Then he’ll discuss the population status of fish runs in the Sandy, Clackamas, and Molalla rivers. He will also give out some secrets on how to catch more winter steelhead in local rivers.

Meeting details: https://clackamasflyfishers.org/meetings-events/

ODFW Fishing Resources http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing/

CFF February Fish-A-Long

February 20, 2018 / davekilhefner / Leave a comment

This month’s Fish-A-Long will be held Saturday, February 24^th on the Sandy River. The location is Dave K’s place about halfway between Sandy and Welches.

What- Winter Steelhead

Where- Sandy River

When- 8am until lunchtime, Saturday, February 24^th

Equipment-

Spey or Switch Rod
Skagit Line & sink tip(s)
15lb tippet material
flies, bright patterns and dark patterns
waders & wading staff
rain gear
warm, layered clothing

We will have coffee, cinnamon rolls and a hot lunch. This fish a long will focus on spey casting and swung fly presentations. Questions; email or call Paul Brewer or Dave Kilhefner. Hope to see you there!