spey casting

Feb 22nd Fish a long Report

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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

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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 1st 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!

January 25th Fish A Long

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This month’s Fish-A-Long will be held Saturday, January 25th on the Clackamas River. We’ll meet at the lower boat ramp at McIver park at 8am.

Please RSVP to Dave Kilhefner (Dave@kbi-ins.com) so we can get a head count for food.

What- Winter Steelhead Spey Casting plus Winter Whitefish Euro Nymphing

Where- Clackamas River

When- 8am until lunchtime, Saturday, January 25th

Steelhead Spey Equipment-

  • Spey or Switch Rod
  • Skagit Line & sink tips
  • 15lb tippet material
  • flies: bright patterns and dark patterns
  • waders & wading staff
  • rain gear
  • warm, layered clothing

Euro Nymphing Equipment-

  • Euro Nymphing Rod or standard 9’ 3 to 5 weight outfit
  • Small Nymphs
  • I will have plenty of leader material to share

Directions- go to McIver Park. Take the 1st left and drive down the hill. There will be a few turn outs—just keep to the left until you reach the lower boat ramp area.

We will have coffee, donuts and lunch. This fish a long will focus on (1) spey casting and swung fly presentations and (2) Euro Nymphing. Questions; email Dave Kilhefner (Dave@kbi-ins.com). Hope to see you there!

August 2019 CFF Fishing Reports

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From Darryl Huff: I have fished a single hand fly rod for years but had never tried the spey rod. Being a part of the Clackamas FlyFishers gave me the bump I needed to give it a try. My casting needs a lot of work but after a few trips to the Deschutes I was catching fish!

From Carson Taylor: Motivated by an internet article by Chester Allen (who spoke at a club meeting several years ago), I fished for bass on the Willamette close to downtown Portland off Macadam Avenue. Chester is working in downtown Portland and fishes for bass during his noon hour.

Fishing was not red hot, but I caught five bass in three two-hour early morning trips, mostly on leech and woolly bugger flies. It’s nice to fish 10 minutes from home instead of driving for 2–3 hours.

From Dave Kilhefner: In mid August I fished with guide Drake Radditz at Bouy 10 and caught a nice 25lb Chinook.

From Phil Hager: Spent 8 days in central Oregon with mixed results.

Link and Hand lakes, up by Suttle Lake, were slow, with just a few catches of smaller fish. Both East and Lava were suffering the “August doldrums” with only 1 caught on Lava and not even a bump on East.

Hosmer, however, was a different story. Fished the upper lake and it was like I could do nothing wrong! Using my intermediate line I lost count on catches in the first hour both times. My “Brick Leech” and black and grey TMC nymph were getting fish almost immediately with Rainbows, Cutts, and Brookies ranging in size from 12″ to about 24″ and fat and healthy. Right shoulder was tired in about 3 hours and it wasn’t from casting.

If anybody wants to go along I’m heading back up the 9/15 to camp at Lava and fish Hosmer and Lava, then over to Fall River the 19th for 4 nights (TU outing), and will hit Crane the 22nd. From there I plan on going over to the Crooked the 23rd & 24th and down to the Le Page, on the John Day, the 25th & 26th, to see how they are doing.

From Adrian Choate: Spent a week fishing SW Montana. Hit Rock Creek, the “Mighty Missouri “ and the Madison. The fish weren’t easy but managed to raise some big Bows and browns. Am considering a month in Ennis next summer!

February 2019 CFF Fishing Reports

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Greg O’Brien had a decent day float tubing in early February at an Oregon Fishing Club lake. The day started slow but after figuring out the depth and retrieve the fish wanted things picked up. Several rainbows up to 16” were netted and released.

In mid February Trux Dole and Dave Kilhefner fished at Little Tree and Big Tree Lakes at the Oregon Fishing Club. Water temperature was 42 degrees and had a pea green color with 2-3 feet of visibility. The weather was overcast and cold with a light dusting of snow on the ground. We planned to fish from 9am until 1pm. Unfortunately the trout did not start biting until 12:45 so we stayed until 1:30pm and ended up landing 6 nice trout using White Devils and Red Snow Cone Chironomids.

Dave Kilhefner landed & released this “snowstorm steelhead” on the Sandy River the day after the fish-a-long.

Sandy River Fish-A-Long Report

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In spite of winter storm warnings, last weekends Sandy River fish-a-long was well attended. Thank you to everyone that came and once again an extra big thank you to Cheryl Kilhefner for more excellent cooking and hospitality.

The cold weather the last few weeks had the river running very low and clear. The average flow this time of year on the Marmot gauge is 1500 CFS but last weekend the flows were half of that at 700 CFS. Water temperature was chilly 38°

Everyone arrived about 8 AM and we had hot coffee and pastries, enjoying the warmth of the great indoors while we eyeballed the cold winter landscape with a light dusting of snow outside. But we could not stay inside all day so soon we all pulled on our waders, grabbed our fly rods and hit the river.

We did a great job covering the water but unfortunately no steelhead were hooked. We fished until around noon and then enjoyed a delicious lunch of pulled pork chili and cornbread muffins.

Next months fish-a-long is at the Crooked River, a popular and productive fishery. We look forward to seeing you there!

February 19 Speaker: Mark Bachmann

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Mark Bachmann of The Fly Fishing Shop will be CFF’s guest speaker Tuesday, February 19th.

Mark’s presentation will be on understanding Spey Lines. Learn about all the different lines and their uses in Spey Rod fishing for Steelhead and Western Trout. It will be a great presentation you won’t want to miss!

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

The Fly Fishing Shop http://flyfishusa.com/

Sandy River Fish-A-Long Report

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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.

CFF January 19th Fish-A-Long

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This month’s Fish-A-Long will be held Saturday, January 19th on the Sandy River at Oxbow Park. The location is shelter where the Sandy River Spey Clave is held. The wading here is easy and fish have been caught.

What- Winter Steelhead

Where- Sandy River

When- 8am until lunchtime

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- go to Oxbow Park—the address is 3010 Southeast Oxbow Parkway, Gresham, OR 97080; there is a $5 fee to enter the park. Drive approximately 2 miles past the park entrance and look for “Group Picnic Area A” which has a large covered area and an open field on your left.

In the morning we will have coffee, donuts. A hot lunch will also be provided. This fish a long will focus on spey casting with both swung fly and nymphing presentations. We will have a couple of “loaner” spey rods to try out.

Questions; email or call Paul Brewer or Dave Kilhefner. Hope to see you there!

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/2016/07/07/oxbow-brochure.pdf

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/2016/02/19/Oxbow%20Field%20Guide_0.pdf