We caught a few dimes
Washout
Colorado from inside the boat. This is the standing wave up close.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A few shots from the Canyon II
We caught a few dimes
Colorado from inside the boat. This is the standing wave up close.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Accidental Giant McKenzie Redside
I went out for an evening session on the Mac. While I didn't get any steelhead, this huge redisde crushed my purple creation on a #2 hook. I taped the fish at just a hair under 23. I've been fishing the McKenzie since I was 6 years old and have never seen anything like it.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Shad are rad, so are steelhead
It's been a while since I posted an update, so I combined a few outings into 1. I had made several attempts at catching some steelhead in the last few weeks with no luck. The water levels had been steadily dropping and I had only gotten a couple of grabs.
We went out last week for an evening drift. I let Simon out of the boat and he proceeded to hook 3 fish in 25 minutes. The first fish managed to wrap him around a rock, the second jumped and spit the hook, and the third managed to find its way onto the BBQ. It was a pretty cool event to watch and not something you often see on a valley river.
Of course, I went out the next morning before work and got skunked. I have been facing a little string on bad luck lately, which finally ended on Monday night. I managed to get a hot little buck to take the purple egg sucker.
In between the steelhead trips I had a chance to go to the Umpqua with a friend who knows the river pretty well. We fished single hand 6 wts with sinking lines and managed to find some Shad. There were no takers on strictly the swing, but once you put a few strips into, the bite was on. I managed a few good ones close in the 3-4lb range, but nothing huge. These fish fight really well and ended up being a good break from the steelhead thing.
We went out last week for an evening drift. I let Simon out of the boat and he proceeded to hook 3 fish in 25 minutes. The first fish managed to wrap him around a rock, the second jumped and spit the hook, and the third managed to find its way onto the BBQ. It was a pretty cool event to watch and not something you often see on a valley river.
Of course, I went out the next morning before work and got skunked. I have been facing a little string on bad luck lately, which finally ended on Monday night. I managed to get a hot little buck to take the purple egg sucker.
In between the steelhead trips I had a chance to go to the Umpqua with a friend who knows the river pretty well. We fished single hand 6 wts with sinking lines and managed to find some Shad. There were no takers on strictly the swing, but once you put a few strips into, the bite was on. I managed a few good ones close in the 3-4lb range, but nothing huge. These fish fight really well and ended up being a good break from the steelhead thing.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
High Water in the Valley, Head East
Well, it turns out you can't outrun the flows sometimes. I did a Friday/Saturday trip last weekend and the Deschutes came up. We're not talking the 14,000 CFS out of Dexter Dam, but still up. Thursday was pretty slow except for late in the day where we found some feeding fish and a treeline.
On Friday, we had better weather and did pretty well all things considered. Caught a few bruisers and saw my backing 3 times. Using 2x and setting the drag heavy made ripping that much line out a pretty strong effort.
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CP laying out some line. He only uses click reels so you know when he's hooked up.
On Friday, we had better weather and did pretty well all things considered. Caught a few bruisers and saw my backing 3 times. Using 2x and setting the drag heavy made ripping that much line out a pretty strong effort.
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CP laying out some line. He only uses click reels so you know when he's hooked up.Monday, May 31, 2010
Fishing with the boss
Actually, my boss' boss and his son...........He knew I was into fly fishing and had suggested we take a trip sometime. Originally, we were just going to float the Mac in hopes that some green caddis would come off and he would catch a few. I glanced at the weather report for Warm Springs earlier in the week and saw that Sunday would shape up nicely. I called the boss and as soon as I uttered "the Deschutes is another option" he cut me off and said "Yes, let's do that".
I warned him the fishing was not always friendly and required some bush whacking. We met on Sunday and launched with the brigade of other boats. The fishing was excellent. I went dry the whole day and landed as many as one could ask for. My boss and his son even got into a few fish. The boss had floated the Deschutes twice before and was skunked both times, so his 6 fish will be an epic memory.
I fished the Chubby C and NWS pretty much the whole day. The Chubby and NWS rose about the same amount of fish, but one thing I did notice was the hooking and landing ratio was much better on the Norm Woods. I think the foam body and the way it sits against the hook shank can sometimes make for a tough stick.
One takeaway I will never figure out:
Why do fisherman continue to nymph when epic dry fly action is going on?
I warned him the fishing was not always friendly and required some bush whacking. We met on Sunday and launched with the brigade of other boats. The fishing was excellent. I went dry the whole day and landed as many as one could ask for. My boss and his son even got into a few fish. The boss had floated the Deschutes twice before and was skunked both times, so his 6 fish will be an epic memory.
I fished the Chubby C and NWS pretty much the whole day. The Chubby and NWS rose about the same amount of fish, but one thing I did notice was the hooking and landing ratio was much better on the Norm Woods. I think the foam body and the way it sits against the hook shank can sometimes make for a tough stick.
One takeaway I will never figure out:
Why do fisherman continue to nymph when epic dry fly action is going on?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
I'm looking for single hand success
It seems that everybody and their mom swinging for flies these days is using Spey Rods. With good reason, they can provide an excellent advantage in tight spots and when throwing tips and big flies.
It doesn't seem that long ago when my "go to" set-up was a 9'6 Sage DS2, a floating line, and a black egg sucking leech. It was a deadly combo, especially from the boat while approaching tailouts on the McKenzie or Willamette. Well, I cast my 9'0 Scott E2 and a purple leech on Monday night, and it felt great! I'm on the newly revived bandwagon of catching steelhead on the single hander.
It doesn't seem that long ago when my "go to" set-up was a 9'6 Sage DS2, a floating line, and a black egg sucking leech. It was a deadly combo, especially from the boat while approaching tailouts on the McKenzie or Willamette. Well, I cast my 9'0 Scott E2 and a purple leech on Monday night, and it felt great! I'm on the newly revived bandwagon of catching steelhead on the single hander.
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