jan - feb 2004 trout line newsletter, tualatin valley trout unlimited

8/9/2019 Jan - Feb 2004 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

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To Conserve, Protect, And Restore North Americas Cold Water Fisheries And Their Watersheds

THE TROUT LINETualati n Valley Chapter News

January / Febru ary 2004 Editor: David Illig____________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER MEETINGMethodist Church - Wesley Hall12555 SW 4th St. Beavert on

Chapt er Meeti ngs are held on t he second Thursday ofeach month at 7:00 pm with a social get-together and theformal meeting at 7:30 unless otherwise noted in thenewsletter

Board of Di rector s Meeti ngs held j ust prior t o ourmonthly Chapter meeting at 5:30pm Round Table Pizza,Beaverton.

Thur sday , January 8, Jeff Gott f r iedIf you'v e ever dr eamed about fi shing in Al aska, don'tmi ss Jeff Gott fr ied's pr esentation on his tr ip t o theKisaralek Riv er. As a fl y fi shin g in stru ctor, out doorguide, founder of Educati onal Recreati on A dvent ur es,head of Yamhil l Count y's Forest Educational Project,and as som eone wh o has tak en n in e self-guid ed tr ip sin to A laska's wi lderness, Jeff offers a comprehensivetour of th is SW Alaska tri but ary of th e Kuskokwi mRiver. Jeff's program detail s a 90 mi le fishi ng andraft in g advent ur e that in cluded 10 species of f ish, allcaught on f li es, encount ers w it h 8 b ears, cari bou,

beaut if ul w il dern ess, im passibl e w aterf all s, etc. Hecall s it th e ulti mate wi lderness fi shin g experience on ari ver w here no guides are al lowed to w ork.

Thu rsday , Febr uary 12,Marc Wil li amson Upon attending MarcWilliamson's Crooked River program, one of our membersinsisted that we invite him to present t his to our chapter.Wish granted. Marc Will iamson is a noted f ly tyer and fl yf ishi ng instr uctor wi th over 40 years of experi ence. He's aPro st aff member f or Temple, Whit ing Farms and Daiichi ,former guide, and co-founder of the Christian Fly FishingRound-up. He's also a nati ve Oregonian wh o know s theCrooked l ike we all wi sh we did. He'll share his secret s,patterns and tactics for hooking the big redsides thatyou've only m ostly heard about t hat reside in t his ri chtailwater fi shery.

Presidents ColumnBy Hank Hosf ield

By the tim e you read t his it will mostli kely be 2004, th e holidays will be overand lif e wil l resume its more everydaybreakneck pace. Some of us wil l t ry tomake good on our resolut ions, be thatsome fat-losing madness, or books wemean t o read, or bett er eff orts t o f ixsome part of t he world near t o us. Mostly what I want isto f ind a steady supply of the key lime pie that one of ou

members brought t o our December potl uck. It wasfant asti c. Oth erwi se, my r esolut ions are the same asalways: get out on the water with f riends more oft en, trynot t o kick th e bucket. Im very earnest about the latt erFor the rest of you, maybe your resolutions include morevocal environm ental advocacy, becomin g even m ore acti vin TU, or teaching a chil d how to f ish.

Looking ahead I see num erous opportu nit ies to getinvolved with Tu alatin Valley Chapter acti viti es. Alt hougas yet unpl anned, I can assure you t hat by early spri ngthere will be a f ull slate of m onthl y club outings. In f acttheres a good chance there will be a winter steelheadout ing coming up before then. Were also in t he processof applyi ng f or anoth er Embr ace-A-Str eam grant to domor e riparian enhancement work in the Clackamas RiverBasin. Well need strong backs f or that. Well also beinvolved with some educati onal acti viti es, fishi ng clini csand perhaps even some fundraisin g events. And asalways, th ere will be an int erest ing m ix of guest speakersat our mont hly chapter meeti ngs. Plus the great companof our membership.

So heres to a h appy New Year of good conservati on andeven bett er fellowship. Cheers, Hank

Remember to Sign up New Members toTrout Unlimi ted . Its a great bargain f or what youget. Lots of people arent members who would enjoy it.National has removed t he token we received f or renewal

However, we still get something for new member signupsSo please have people sign up through Erle rather thansome other method.

.


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Fly of th e Mont h RLBH Ston ef lyAlex Bark ume

This mont hs fly of t he mont h is Randall Kaufm annskiller pattern, the Rubber Leg, Bead-head (RLBH)Stonefly . Thi s patt ern is a specialt y f ly. It was clearlydeveloped for heavy and deep water. I wouldnt use t hispatt ern any ol place, youll probably lose it . But in swif tholes with depth, where you need t o get d own, thi s is yourbaby! While the standard patt ern is heavy, th e BHversion i s a spark pl ug. I seem t o remember seeingsomewhere that this pattern in a size 6 will weigh overone ounce, hence the t erm chuck-and-duck becomes alltoo real. However, on the slot water of ri vers like theDeschut es, Metol ius and t he Rogue, thi s guy wil l get youint o fi sh. Here is the pattern.

Kaufmanns Rubber Leg, Bead-head StoneflyOriginator: Randall Kaufmann

Hook: Tiemco 300 or equivalent sizes 6 and 8Thread: 6/ 0 thread, color to match t he body.Weight: double-wrap of 0.035 lead wi re

fl attened at the thorax.

Tail : Goose biot s to match body.Antennae: Goose biot s to match body.Rib: Swannundaze amber or black to matchBody: Brown or black angora or seal (stoneflymix)Legs: Small black round rubber hackle.Wing case: Thr ee separate secti ons of tu rk ey tail

coated wi th Daves Flexim ent .Thorax: Same as bodyHead: 3/ 16 Gold bead.

1. Thread gold bead on hook and secure against theeye wit h a wrap of t hread.

2. Flare two goose biots and secure on both sides of

the hook at a point j ust above the barb for min gthe tail . Keep the biots short, about t he length ofthe gape of t he hook.

3. Tie in the Swannundaze along the side of thehook. Tie down along the enti re length of t hebody area back to the tail. Tie in wit h therounded side against the hook and wi th theSwannundaze extending out th e back.

4. Tie in the lead wire at the back of the hookbeginning slight ly in fr ont of the barb. Windforward to just behind the bead, then wr ap backover t he top about 1/ 3 of t he way back. Cut orbreak of f t he remainder. Secure the lead withyour tying thread. Wit h pliers slightly fl atten thethorax area.

5. Dub the body with the angora building a quicktaper. Wrap up to the thorax.

6. Wrap the Swannundaze up through the body,spacing wraps relat ively close together. Take anextra wrap in f ront of t he dubbed body.

7. Cut a str ip of glued or lacquered turkey tai land notch. Tie in with t he notch edge facingtoward the back of the hook. Dub a bit m oreangora.

8. Fold two two-inch pieces of round rubber in half .Tie in one set along each side of t he t horax. The

back end should point off toward the back of t hefl y. The fr ont -end legs should face f orward.

9. Repeat step #7 two more tim es working aroundthe legs.

10. Flare two goose biot s and secure on both sid es othe hook just behind the bead.

11. Tie off just behind t he bead head and cement.Then dub a small bit of f ur over t he top of t he tieoff spot, whip-fi nish and tri m t he thread.

12. Pick out some of t he fur in t he thorax area tosimulate legs and provide f urt her motion.

Hints: Put a bead on and wrap your hooks wi th lead pri

to a tyi ng session. Make a bunch whil e watchinTV. Youll find t he ti e takes quit e a bit less timethis way.

Use thin cloth gloves or wash thoroughly afterworking wit h th e lead.

To not ch the tur key feather, fold the inch piecof t urkey tail f eather in half. Make just one 45cut down t oward the folded edge. Unfol d violaa notched feather.

All r ight , I have to admi t it . I reall y have to f orce myselfto ti e thi s patt ern any more. Aft er tying these by thedozen during my tenure as a professional fly tier, I haveto be pretty desperate bef ore I get ou t t he materials.They are too complicated to use unless very necessary (Ialways hate losing on e of these babies and youre goingto lose some of t hese!). Foll owing the hin ts above wil lhelp speed things a little, but dont expect to tie a dozenin an hour u nless you are a spectacular t ier.

All that being said, t his f ly i s a necessity when deep-watenymphing in fly-only water where you are not allowed tuse spli t shot . Mik e Gorman, expert Rogue guide, has awhole nymph system built around this pattern in bothsizes 6 and 8. I can attest to the system and thi spatt erns ef f ecti veness.

Tie this fly on th e point (the bott om f ly) and about 12above that tie on a Prince Nymph, Hares Ear or Eggpatt ern. Cover the run method ically, start ing close in anworking your line out un til you are at the edge of yourcomf ort z one. Then move down a couple of st eps andstart in close again. Str ike at any dip or movement of t hstrik e indi cator. You never know what youll fin d on theother end. Tight Lines, Alex


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Fly Ty er s Corner Dick Rohrbaugh

Tips for Fly Tyers! Over the years tyers haveaccumu lated a lot of creati ve ideas. In ty ing, likeeveryt hing else, experience is always the best t eacher.Here are a new set of tips to try the next time you tie.

Materials In an earlier edition of thi s colum n wetalked about using organza f ibers f or t he wings of spinn er

patt erns. Heres a ti p for the tails on those patt erns or onany mayfl y pattern in which you use long thin fi bers for adivided tail.

An earl ier generati on used the fi bers f rom spadehackles (large hackles found on t he sides of good qualit ynecks). Many tyers still do and find t hem perfectlyaccept able. In r ecent years, however, many t yers havegone to m icrofi bbets or simi lar arti fi cial f ibers for thesetails. If t hat is your choice, and if you want a lif eti mesupply of them at very lit tl e cost, go to th e hardware storeand buy a nylon paint brush. One brush is all you wil l everneed.

Techniques One of the problems that beginning tyers

struggle wit h is breaki ng the thread in t he midst of acrit ical step in t he tyi ng process. Someti mes it h appensbecause you are concentrati ng so hard on getti ng t hematerials ont o the hook t he way you want t hem that youare unaware of t he tension you are exert ing on the thread.

The next t im e you tie, befor e you get a patt ernstart ed, attach your t hread t o a bare hook in the vise andslowly incr ease tension unti l the th read breaks. Tryi ngthat a f ew ti mes will begin to cement in your m ind wherethe lim it s are.

However, you are not done yet . The breakingstrengths of thr eads from dif ferent manufacturers can bevery dif f erent , even wit h threads of sim il ar diameter. So ifyou have several brands of thread, try it with all of themand comp are the result s. You will l earn very qui ckly t hat

not all 8/ 0 thr eads are the same.

Tools and Equi pm ent Have a problem l osing ordropping hooks at your t ying bench? Findin g them in badlight under the tying table can be tough, especially withhooks t hat are very small. They easil y get embedded inthe carpet and become invisibl e to t he naked eye.

That is why you mi ght want t o keep a goodmagnet on your t ying t able. Use it to m ake a sweep of t hearea under and around your tying table and you will besurprised what you fi nd. If you t ie wit h a waste troll orsimil ar device for catching waste you m ight also want t okeep a small m agnet i n the bottom of it . That way whenyou dump t he waste you will not t hrow out all t he hooks

that m ight have ended up i n t he garbage.A m agnet can also serve another purpose. Runyour scissors over the magnet lightly to magnetize theends of t he blades (dont over do it). That way yourscissors make a great tool for picking up the next hook toput i n the vise. If you tie a lot of 18s and 20s usingmagneti zed scissors to pi ck up the hooks can save a gooddeal of fr ustration. Dick

"Recipes for th e Remaind ers"Jer ry Heppell

In the last issue of "The Trout Line", November/December 2003, our editor promised a foll ow up to mybook r eview on "From Field t o Fly, The Fly T ier's Guide toSki nni ng and Preservi ng Wil d Game". I have threereference books to suggest wh ich are listed wi thoutreview. The fir st helps you identif y your game, the other

two prov ides recipes to prepare it . DISCLAIMER: I havetested none of t he recipes so do not recommend any ofthem, and caution t hat you use them "AT YOUR OWNRISK".

"Flatt ened Fauna, A Field Guide t o Common Animals oRoads, Streets, and Highways" by Roger M. Knutson,Depart ment of Biology, Luther College, Decorah, IA 5210Published by TEN SPEED PRESS, PO Box 7123,Berk eley, CA 94707 in 1987. ISBN 0-89815-186-4 #4.95.

"The Original Road Kil l Cookbook, Featur ing YellowLine Yum mi es" by B. R. "Buck" Peterson. Al so publi shedby TEN SPEED PRESS in 1987. ISBN 0-89815-200-3. $4.9

"How to Cook Road Ki ll , 'Goremet Cooking'" (aka,"Meals f rom Under Wheels") by Richard Marcou.Published by Prographic Publishing Inc., 324-C KeewatinSt reet , Winni peg, Mani toba, Canada, R2X 2R9 in 1986.ISBN 0-9692624-0-X $7.95.Enjoy!

Rogue Riv er Rev iew -Eri c Th ompson

One year ago in t his same newslett er, I author ed a pi eenti tl ed The Steelhead Process, which was about

Steelhead fishi ng on the Rogue River. In t hat arti cle Ioff ered some Steelhead basics and defi nit ions t o aid t hestru ggling f isherperson. Lets see if people can remembethem: Fir st, What are The Thr ee Rules of Steelheading?(answer: You must get (1) Cold , (2), Bored, and (3)Depressed , aft er you f inall y hook and lose the one f ishfor the day). Next, what i s a B-Run? (answer: the reallybad movie you watch back in the motel room about giantants or spiders that devour p eople right d own to the bonin 30 seconds in New Mexico).I hope people rememberedthese basic concepts, so they can now move for ward wit hthe next several defi nit ions:1- What is a f loati ng line?(answer: an account t ied to the pri me rate, whi ch you wineed to dip into to finance your equipment and guide).2-

What is a sink ing ti p? (answer: th e dwindl ing amount ogratui ty you give the guide when you run out of it em #1

Now that you have mastered the foundations of allfi shing, I would lik e to report t o you on the latest RogueRiver trip that Al ex and I took to t he same location at th esame t im e of year wi th the same guide (Mik e Gorm an).Possibly t he fishi ng had im proved, or maybe we hadmastered some of t he above concepts of Steelheading. Itis possible that Mike had pointed out so m any things wedid wrong on the fir st tr ip, that there was nothin g lef t f ous to do wrong on the second. Anyway, we spent twodays of about 8 hours each, making runs of about 8


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mi les per day. On the fir st day, it appeared we wouldhave a good time when one of us l anded a f ive-pounder onabout the thir d cast. Using heavily weighted fli es and 1X(about 12 lb. Str ength ) line, I am astoni shed to report t hatbetween Alex and I we landed 15 fish that day withoutlosing a single one. Thi s is a new world record for peoplenamed Alex and Eri c. Normally, I tend t o lose mostSteelhead, but not t his day. Most f ish were over fivepounds, and some reaching nine pounds. The second dayyou m ight guess we got sk unk ed, but ; no- we also landed15 more of them between us. Weve already got next yearstr ip pl anned. Yep, same place, same ti me,same guide. Eri c

A Vacati on Saved Al ex Barku me

My daughter Raschell e and I had resigned our selves to t hefact that we werent going to be going on vacation this

year. You see, I was one of t he many lucky homeownerswho pu rchased a home that had LP siding inst alled.Oregon weather had taken it s tol l over t he years and i twas time to replace the deteriorating lap siding with cedarand th row some new paint on t he whole deal.

As I had already spent most of my sum mer on t he placeand still had much to do, I was ready to use my vacationto t ake care of t he rest of the work . I even went as far ascanceling my origi nal vacation plans. I was f eeli ng li ke itwas the only way to m ake sure that I f ini shed up beforethe f all rains came. However, thanks to t he urging by mygood fr iend Hank, I reconsidered and thr ew t ogether aquick plan for a fi shing vacation. That turned out tohave been a great decision !

Raschell e and I headed out t o Mont ana to spend t he fir stweek at Sli de Inn on t he Madison. We hooked up wi thfellow TU member (Prof) Dick Rohrbaugh for someexciting fishing both on the Madison and in Hebgen Lake.Dick st ays over i n t he valley every summ er and j ust built abeautiful log home overlooking some of the best water onthe river. Alt hough Dick was busy with d etails around thebuildi ng of hi s home, we didnt have to t wist hi s arm veryhard t o joi n us in som e f ishing every day we were there.The consummate host, Dick never complained a bit while

he rowed us around fi rst t he ri ver, then the lake. What agreat host, t eacher and f riend.The fishin g on the Madison was starti ng to slow when warrived, the summ er hatches were beginning to wi nddown. Al l the same, th ere was some great f ishing yet t obe had. Dick showed us some great water around t heWest Fork. The evenings brought on f air hatches of siz e16-18 caddi s and mahogany dun mayfli es. Good fish,rainbows and browns would start rising as the sun moveoff the water. I had a great tim e watching Dick ply thewaters with his dries. Whil e I did raise fi sh that way,nym phin g proved more reliable f or Raschelle and I. Infact, while Dick and I fi shed dri es over some rising f ish ia gent le curr ent, down -river Raschell e hooked and landedseveral f ish on a pheasant t ail. One was a brown of welover 20 inches. The places she f ished would be tot allyignored duri ng the day, as the water was shallow and r igagainst t he bank. In t he evening however, it was wherethe f ish wanted to be. We also spent an evening floati ngthe river f ishin g grasshoppers against the banks.Raschell e hooked and l ost a very large fi sh t hat wantedher rubber-leg hopper patt ern. We hook ed a f ew small erfi sh as well, but in general we did bett er f ishing of f thebank.

Gulper fi shing on Hebgen was great f un; it s my k ind of

fi shing. Dick t ook us over t o the Madison Arm wh ere wefi shed over cruising tr out t hat looked like steelhead. Itshard f or m e to st ay relaxed when I see a pod of 10 or 12big trout work ing a line straight f or the boat! It wasntlong before Dick had us int o f ish. Small emerger patt eron li ght t ippets were working best f or us whi le we werethere, as the adult Callibaetis werent coming off in greatnum bers yet. Dick , once a cast ing instr uctor , spent a biof ti me working with Raschelle on her stroke. At onepoint during his in structi on, Dick laid out a good cast anas he was handing t he rod t o Raschell e a very nice browninh aled the f ly. Lucky Raschell e did a great job ofhandling a large fi sh on l ight tip pet and soon coaxed t hebig guy in to t he net.

The week in Madison Valley came to an end m uch tooquickly, but we left knowing t hat we had j ust begun theadventure. From Mont ana we headed back t oward homeand then down to southern Oregon. We were heading foShady Cove to fi sh t he might y Rogue with master guideand old f riend, Mik e Gorman. I wanted to f ish the Roguearly i n t he season as I was hoping t hat we could r aisefi sh on a wet f ly swing. Mik e was will ing to give it a tryand we spent the fi rst h ave of t he first day swinging.

I f ished a dry line with m y 6wt Spey rod for a bit wit h ona few trout t o my credit . Mik e dropped us down to a nic


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inside corner rif fl e and handed m e his rod set up wit h atype 2 sinki ng line. I ti ed on a Copper and Black (one ofMikes patterns) and started fishing, lengthening my castwit h each pass. I was close to the end of m y casti ngcomfort z one when I felt a solid take. I wait ed pati entl yas the fi sh seemed to t ake forever t o turn on the fl y. Inreali ty it was probably only a second or two. When it didtake off , it cart wheeled across the water lik e a gymnast onsteroids. Thi s is what we were look ing for.

Raschell e was next up and was surpri sed wh en a f ishgrabbed her Copper and Black on t he second cast. It too,took t o the air and it wasnt long before it becameunpi nned. Thi ngs slowed down a bit as the sun rose highenough to erase the remainin g shade on the water. It wasti me to start nymph fi shing for steelhead. This was newto Raschelle and f rankl y; I was concerned t hat she mighthave tr ouble with i t . But I neednt have worr ied, she is anaccompl ished nym ph f isherman and it wasnt l ong beforeshe was int o fi sh. These were her f ir st steelhead on thefl y and ju dging by her smil e, I think she lik ed it .

The second day picked up where we lef t of f the daybefore. Nym phing again, we had only landed one f ishwhen Mike dropped us into the honey-hole of the day.Raschell e drew f irst blood when she hooked a nice fish ofabout 5 p ounds that came unpinned aft er a short ru n.Raschelle struck again and this time, applying thepati ence of Job, she landed a beauty, 6 pounds of solidmuscle. A short ti me later I hooked a good fi sh of about8 lbs. that stubbornly stayed out in the deeper water.Every tim e I woul d tr y to ease it up in to t he shallows, itwould panic and run a bit f urt her down the run. Wefoll owed t hat fi sh 75 yards downstream before I fi nallystart ed leaning on the fi sh. It r eacted wit h renewed vigor

and won its f reedom wit h a mi ghty twist . Raschelleinf orm ed me that I wasnt patient enough. Of course shewas right.

We cli mbed back i n t he boat and it wasnt more than acouple of casts before I hooked up again. Thi s ti meRaschell e was going t o make sure I knew how to play asteelhead and coached me all t he way. All I could do wassmi le. The student has become the teacher. Lucky forme, I did l and that f ish, a victory that was shared by all.

And of course, what f ishing tr ip wi th t he Barkumes wouldbe wort h doing wit hout a visit t o East Lake. So Raschell e

and I hopped in t he truck wit h our f loat t ubes, images ofjumping steelhead still coursing through our heads, anddrove on th rough Crater Lake National Park and on up toEast Lake. As soon as we set up camp, we fi ll ed t he tuband headed down to the lake. We only had a couple ofhours of evenin g left , but we were eager t o get on t hewater. It turn s out that Raschelle and I had some of themost out rageous f ishing that fir st evening. Raschell ehandily out-fished everyone (including her dad) landingfi sh alm ost non-stop. The fi sh were coming to callibaetemerger patt erns on an int erm ediat e li ne. We caught allf our species: rainbows, browns, At lanti c salm on andkokanee.

The next day was terri bly wi ndy as a low-pressure fr ontmoved in. It di dnt rain on us, but th e waves werewhipped to a whitecap and t he fish were put down.Unfor tun ately for Scott and Janice Ankenbrand. They habid on a fl oat-tube trip wit h m e, and t he weather h ad shuth ings down. We caught trout , but they came slowly.The next morning was a bit more normal as it was calmand fi sh were rising. All f our of us ran over to the HotSpri ngs hole where fi sh were feeding on calli baeti sspinners. We all swit ched to fl oating li nes and enj oyed

quick action if one could put the dry pattern close to t helast rise. The problem wit h dry fly acti on on East Lake ithat it is rare that you cant tell what di recti on a given fisis working. So, casti ng so as to catch the attent ion of thfi sh is a game of chance. Sti ll, if you stay wit h it, you wbe rewarded about 10% to 20% of th e t im e.

The Mid -Wil lamett e Vall ey Fly Fishers were holding anouting t hat weekend and t hey kin dly i nvited us over t otheir evening dinner. Tur ns out that some of them hadarrived at t he lake the evenin g we had f aired so well andhad wit nessed Raschell e in acti on. Stor ies of her proweshad preceded our attendance at di nner and t hey grill ed hall evenin g unt il she f inally divul ged her secrets. Sheloved it . So did they.

We all fi shed t he next m orning, fairin g well on a midgehatch ju st of f shor e of camp. Soon we had to break camand head f or home. Raschell e and I basked in oursuccess all the way home and we repeatedly thankedabsent friends for a great time as well as convincing me take a break and go on vacati on in t he f ir st pl ace. Thankagain, Dick, Mi ke and Hank, it was spectacular!


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Rate of Retur n Rod Lundberg

We still had three hours until dinner time. Problem was,dinner was about an hour and a half s drive south . Weddone some trout fi shing, and m y buddies would conti nueto m ine that vein wi th t he lit tl e time remaining. We hadhardly hit the jackpot , but Id hooked a few fish and feltsomewhat sated f rom their tugs. Hence, the predicament:continue trout fi shing with near assurance of som e more

action, or break out the spey rod to swing through afavorite run for steelhead with little assurance ofanything.

There was anot her problem i n t hat I would be a guest ofguests for dinner, so I could not be the cause of anylateness on our part. You know, first impressions and all.

In the end, there never really was ever a predicament. I setaside the 3-weight and strung up the 14-footer with a TypeIII sink tip and a bunny leech. It woul d have to be ahurried trek through the boulder-strewn treachery, buthopeful ly it would be worth it and Id end up with someprized steel on my hands.

An hour and twenty-eight min utes later, I saw one of mybuddies walki ng toward m e on the railroad tracks just as Iwas entering int o the really fi shy part of t he run. Therewasnt any arm waving yet, so I pretended not to see himand rolled out another cast.

Wham! My f ly had slowly, ever so slowl y, been m eanderingacross the final arc of it s swing directl y below m e. The flylin e snapped ti ght, di sappearing int o t he boil. Steelheadcan someti mes be so gent le wit h t heir t akes, but t hen oneof t hem comes along and tears my arm off wit h a viciousstrike.

Which, of course, I was hardl y prepared f or, and so wit h

one violent head shake, we part ed company. The fi sh wit hmy f ly in i ts j aw, me wit h my j aw hanging in the water.

So in t he end, aft er hardl y a few seconds of con tact wi thsteel glory, one must ask the question: Was it worth it?

Damn str aight. Rod

Fishing goals for 2004 Kev in Connol ly

It s that ti me of year when I set goals for m yself in m anyareas of m y li f e. Lose some weight, paint the house, work

less/ more, take a class, spend m ore tim e with the fami ly you know what Im talking about. Well, its also time to seta specific fishing goal.

Ive read count less magazi ne art icles and have thought, that p lace looks fantastic, Id love to go there , but donothing about it . For m e, that h as to change in 2004 andId l ike to challenge you t o do th e same. Consider t hefollowing:

Pick one place you woul d l ike to go that you have neverf ished before and begin to research it . Start anywhere,

magazines, Westfly.com, local fly shops, AAA or afriends recommendation. If practical, tie the adventureonto a f ami ly vacation or business tri p t hat is t entativelyplanned. Gather i nform ation on what species of fi sh areavail able, the best t im e of year t o fi sh, what gear do youneed, passports, vaccinations, reservati ons f or camp ing,lodging, travel, guides, cloth ing and anything else you cathi nk of . If it s close to hom e, a possible day trip m ay bein ord er t o scout the locati on.

You will f ind great satisfaction i n gaini ng addit ionalknowledge about fly fishing, the location, meeting newpeople and accomplishing a goal that was fun tocomplete.

"The indispensable fir st step to gett ing t he things youwant out of li f e is th is: decide what you want." Ben Stein

PS: My goal is to f ish t he Willi amson River in SouthernOregon by October 2004.

Kevin Connolly

Kil chi s Fly Fishing for Chu m Salm onDav id Il l ig

Every year there is a small opport uni ty t o catch ChumSalmon on t he fly i n several Oregon Rivers inclu ding theKilchis and Miami. Both rivers, near Tillamook, are aneasy and gorgeous f all d rive when th e suns out . Andtherein l ies the probl em. The two week November seasonis set i n t he calendar of ODFW but neit her the salm on orthe weather gods are inf orm ed of thi s. There is everychance that either t he rains havent come and t he chumare sitting out in the ocean waiting, or the rains havecome and the rivers are chocolate and t here is no chanceto catch f ish on t he day you plan t o fi sh. The best way tohandle thi s f ishery is t o hang lose and not even go unlesyou hear that the conditions are at least in the doablerange. Any day planned long in advance is unli kely t owork. Call thi s emergency f ishing I have to gof ishin g today! Its an emergency!

Consequently, that was my plan this year for the no planHang lose look ing at t he weather and str eam f low andhoping to be able to run over at the last minute whencondit ions were acceptable and I could sneak away. Af tebreaki ng my 8 weight last year on a chum I was ready t ouse the sti ff er i nexpensive 10 weight I h ad picked up onsale. For m uch of the season there was no rain. And n osalm on. But f inall y in t he second week there was a soli drain and t hen a clearin g on Tuesday so I called int o my

nasty boss, me, and t hrew the gear int o the tr uckWednesday mor ning and headed t o the Kil chis in the sunI t ook m y f ishing kayak and stopped to arrange a shutt leat t he fi shing shop on the road to Ti llamook on t heWilson River. Its $13 and n ice people there. The f ood i salso good in t he caf. I pl anned t o put in at the fi shingbridge about 2.7 miles upstream and float to the take outnear t he 101 bri dge.

It turn ed out a good choice. A f ly f isherman at t he bridgehad a fi sh on before I even cleared t he pool.


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Short ly t hereaft er I h ad a busy day of f requent and largef ish. Thr oughout the day I had som ewhere between 35-40f ish on. I l ost count . I managed to land a nice num ber andsoon was quit e glad when a fi sh gave a nice run and t hencame off . Just earl y and easy catch and release. Someof t he battles with f ish almost, but not quit e, becameti rin g. Well , my arms were tir ed but I wasntThese arevery strong f ish. Its th e only tim e that I absolutely cannottell whether I have snagged t he bottom or I h ave a fi sh on.This is the fi rst year t hat I didnt to m y knowledge foulhook a single f ish which is a fr equent p roblem with chumfishing. Snagging one of these fish in the tail or dorsalfi ne is an i nvite to a long, long haul or a broken rod.Several t im es I t hought f or sure I was foul hooked becauseof the amount of resistance and lack of progress only tofind out t hat I had a good hook up in the mouth. Hugefi sh. Alt hough Im not sure of it , I att ribut e thi s lack ofsnagging to not st rippi ng my f ly in l ike I had usually donein t he past. I used a sink tip line wit h a 20lb or 30lb 3-4feet l ength of ti ppet. No taper. I simp ly swung thechartreuse fly with most takes on the hang. No strip.

These fish are strong and often feel like logs until theywake up. Amazing colors. And t eeth t hat scare you. It

would be a very interesting fishery if they werecarni vorous and lik ed raw hum an. My recomm endati onwould be to use a 11 or 12 weight rod j ust so you canrelax more when you hook one so you dont w orry aboutbreaking your rod. That worry buil ds anxiety. Its not thatthese f ish are so huge but they do somehow seem to knowhow to really p ut t heir weight and current to m axim umuse. Maybe it s me because I k now you can catch 100 l btarpon on a 12 weight. These fish do somethi ng dif ferent.They were bright and fr esh.

I k new it was a good day when I was glad to h ave asmall fish on f or a while just t o rest my arm. I f igured itwas a steelhead or large sea run cutt but I never f oundout . I di d see a number of what I beli eved to be sea runsunder bushes but didnt get any takes. The float is safeand easy and gets you away from most people.

All in all a great day on a fine li tt le river on a Wednesday. Isurvived another f ishing emergency.

David

TU Out ingsCheck in wit h of fi cers or Board m embers for Outings thatpop up in Jan/ Feb.

Send stori es and pi ctur es to David Il l i g for th eupcomi ng issues. How about some warm w eath er tr ips?We w ant t o be jealou s. dil li [email protected] and 503 2969050

TV TU Activit iesCom municat ions Set h IsenbergConservat ion Er ic ThompsonMembership Erle NormanNewslet ter David I l l igOut ings Andy AndrewsPrograms Hank Hosf ield

In case you m issed Hank's short presentation on Oregoneven shorter catch-and-release chum fishing season,here's a heft y examp le of wh at you can actuall y f air-hook(note: bunny-leech in upper j aw) and wear yourself outfighting.

OfficersPresident: Hank Hosfield228-6553 hank h@im agina.com

Vi ce-Pr esident Kevi n Connol ly Kevin conn oll y [email protected]

860-6355

Tr easurer : Rod Lundb erg291-5308 rp lun dberg@hotm ail.com

Board of D ir ector s:

Er ic Th omp son 297-0718 anglin [email protected]

Dick Rohrb augh r baugh@lcl ark .edu 636-3877

Seth Isenberg 293-3290 sbisenb erg@comcast .net

A lex Bar k um e - 642-7024alexbar ku [email protected]

Andy Andrews [email protected] 646-2375

Erl e Norm an 293-6006 caddis2000@hot mail .com

Membership Chair

Jerr y Heppell jh eppell @teleport .com

639-9408
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Tualati n Val ley Trout Unlim itedJanu ary / Febr uary 2004

jan - feb 2004 trout line newsletter, tualatin valley trout unlimited

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