Monday, December 31, 2012

right place,wrong time



2 days ago sam and i were finally able to head to the coast to officially begin our winter steelhead season. Days before we had planned a trip but a few mishaps prevented us from making it to the stream of choice during ideal water levels.I knew the best section would be low and clear so the fishing would be tough,but being on the river is better than sitting at home any day.Basically it was a day of showing sam the ropes and showing him the section i like to fish for steelhead.I wasnt expecting any fish but to my surprise sam spotted one in a tailout,so chrome it was almost blue.The fish was in a difficult spot and we fished it for 20+ minutes throwing the kitchen sink,first trying indicator tactics,but the only thing that even slightly interested it was an orange/red marabou tube and even that wouldn't get it to bite.After that letdown we fished around and scouted newly formed spots since the last flood.I think it is obvious at this point that we were on the river at the right place,just the wrong time,knowing this helps though,i know the level it is at is the lowest it is fishable,and being that it is still quite early for this stream the main part of the run hasnt arrived.Now that we have a drought on the way ill stick to playing rugby and tying flies waiting for the rivers to reset. To check out some pictures and recipes for my favorite dead drift indicator winter steelhead flies(shown in the 3rd picture down) go to my fly tying section at the top of the page,it has been updated finally.




Here is Sam dead drifting some egg patterns through the tail end of a run

when the water is at the right level this run holds fish

my favorite winter steelhead flies for indicator nymphing. check out my fly tying page for recipes and more





Sunday, December 16, 2012

off to a slow start

Me and dad took a short half day trip to a small un stocked coastal system to see if any early native steelhead had arrived yet,with no luck. i fished most of the spots i had luck in last season and saw no signs of steelhead.Although we were blanked i think it was good to get out and warm up for the next few months of chasing winter steelhead. generally i wait until after january 1st to start fishing so it is just getting underway







Thursday, November 1, 2012

Long Time,no Post

Well,what can i say?  now busy full time with school and looking for a job i have actually found myself with a lot less time on my hands to do stuff as usual imagine that?. Trout season ended yesterday,and although i didn't fish the last day i had a blast fishing egg patterns for cutthroat in a local creek for a few hours last week,nothing big but plenty of hard takes while tight line nymphing little glo bugs,this time without the indicator,a new trick up the sleeve i learned this year,it comes in handy for small streams.Now i sit inside waiting to head up to the lake tomorrow after doing some homework.

  My life has become somewhat "balanced"  i do a lot of school work and i am learning new skills,and when i work hard enough i am rewarded with enough time to fish with a friend for a day.The new schedule surprisingly is somewhat enjoyable even with the stress. With 2 more films planned from this month through the end of march it will be a busy and eventful winter,so posts may not be as frequent like usual,but i will be around and posting what i can. Right now i am excited,winter steelhead season is about to start and i am on a mission this upcoming season.


In other news,a while back while we were still in an unusual drought keeping most fishing slow. Sam had the idea for a short film to keep us busy while waiting for rain we set out in less than desirable conditions hoping for the best. It was difficult as the valley became windy and the nights grew colder,making the ever so picky bluegill in this pond even harder to catch. i would embed the video,but it doesn't seem to work,so there is a link below



http://vimeo.com/50848306






Brandon




Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Video release and changing of the seasons

Finally,the release of the long awaiting fly fishing short film. Directed,edited and produced by my friend sam,he was able to capture the allure of Oregon's coast range mountains and why we love the area so much,and the gem of a stream we filmed it on,loaded with hard fighting native cutthroat trout that smash dries with no fear! we fished crystal clear cold water for them during the hot days of summer,making it a little challenging but fun.In other news,fall is quickly arriving,with weather ready to cool down trout and late summer steelhead fishing can be excellent in most streams. With people turning attention to fall salmon trout rivers may be empty with plenty of willing fish so it may be the time to get out!!




Monday, September 10, 2012

diamond lake trip/conservation news etc

Well,it's been a while since ive posted,but i don't have much to report.as some of you may know this year was a public process year in witch the public,osp and odfw staff have come together trying to form the 2013 fishing regulations.It has been HELL to say the least...politics are not my thing and it has been email after email after email plus angry unethical fisherman throwing every insult in the book at us,in a way our efforts were rewarded with a bait ban on a non stocked section of the mckenzie ,but the regs at crane didn't change much for the better.. sadly.still awaiting a few  proposals at this hour,mainly trying to figure out whether the anti snagging rules apssed to rid a few rivers of snaggers. I want to sincerely thank anyone who has seen my posts on forums and sent in letters of support for these proposals,for the ones that passed you helped the fishery they were for! the new 2013 regs will be available december 1st,so pick one up and read up! the next 4 year period where regulations are revised please be ready with new proposals and be ready to support some!!




  August i took the 4 hour ride to camp at diamond lake   and give my first try  at the lake with the reputation of being a fish factory because it grows fat,thick shouldered,hard running rainbows quickly.  With some helpful info from a friend we headed to the lake,setup camp and headed to the water.It seemed as if  we had things getting in the way even when the trip was in the planning stages,and they continued at the boat ramp. it took us over an hour to get ready and get the tubes pumped up due to my cousin having trouble airing up his tube. After taking 15 minutes to kick out,he realized he had a leak,so i had to escort him back in,then kick back out! after finding a nice channel in the weeds my indicator dipped and the fight was one! my rod was bent and my drag was screaming as the big rainbow gave it's best efforts to escape,jumping 3 times and shaking it's head all over. After a few minutes of battle  a 22 1/2 inch rainbow comes to hand,i took a picture admiring the hefty beast and let it swim away with a smile on my face. After that fish i ended up with 3 more for the morning,all 14-17 inch chunky bows,but since i got on t he water late i didn't have much time before the wind kicked up,slowing the fishing down.As if the road blocks we had encountered the time we were there my dad called me in with an emergency,ending our trip before the first day was even over..it was a very frustrating end to a trip that held so much potential..but it leaves me with a taste of what diamond lake is,a fish factory.





Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Two birthdays +bumps & bruises

 



on friday   we headed up into the coast range to a river that receives  little to no pressure for trout in the summer for a friend's birthday.We hiked a few miles  covering water throughout the day catching plenty of trout,and to our surprise,even 30+ miles inland from the salt we caught  a few chrome fresh sea run cutthroat and saw many more swimming around in the deeper holes.Although we were able to entice a few to bite most remained very selective and spooky,the resident trout really saved the this day.I was really beat up by the end of this trip, the rocks are usually very slippery and can be dangerous even with felt soles,my left shin bone would know after i landed with all of my weight on it.  Also,a friendly reminder to those that wade coastal rivers, spring chinook have spawned in some areas,so watch where you step and make sure not to step on redds.Monday for my birthday was a little slower and seemed to be a rough day.  The fishing location my dad suggested  turned out to be sort of a bust,and i also ended up losing my 5wt rod and fell on my already bruised left shin from friday leaving me limping down a gravel road avoding log trucks in the hot sun...but it could have been worse. caught a few cutthroat and didn't see a single steelhead. I'm ready to wipe that day off the books and go out somwhere i know ill catch trout,then heading somewhere for 3days of stillwater fishing at the end of the month


Pictures










Friday, August 10, 2012

Indroduction and The Big D in the middle of summer

  Hello All, Brandon invited me to be one of his guest bloggers for his great pac northwest fly fishing blog.  A quick introduction of myself.  My name is Michael Wilson.  I am lucky enough to live in fly fishing rich central oregon.  My biggest passion in fly fishing is stalking large trout in stillwaters but i love all forms of fly fishing.  So enough about me and on to the fishing.......

  Mid Summer on the Deschutes
  The mighty Deschutes River is probably the most well known fishery in the Pacific Northwest,especially known for its amazing Salmonfly hatch in late spring/early summer and steelhead in the fall...and of course the rafting in between.  What maybe is not as well known is that mid summer in the upper, lower D can be very good also...With this in mind i decided to make the short half hr drive to mecca(i know 30 minutes away....don't be a hater)  I was shocked by what i found.  I knew that knowone would believe me so i got the proper evidence....Mind you this was on a weekend.

 
  With this fortune i had the river basically to myself.  The rarity of cherry picking my way down stream brought a smile to my face.  My standard operating procedure for summer on the big D is pretty simple, i run a two nymph rig under a indicator.  Personally i am not picky about flies, i like to run a couple of size 16ish nymphs this time of year, usually for me its the old standby's of a pheasant tail and a hare's ear, although i will throw on various caddis nymphs as well for the caddis are thick this time of year.  The biggest part to me is knowing where to locate the fish, and fishing mid morning to mid afternoon on a hot sunny day i focus on relief from the sun, not just bankside shade but heavier riffly water especially, places where the fish can have overhead cover from predators and sunlight and still get a bite to eat....
  It was a typical day with never lights out but plenty of steady action for 12-16" bows such as this.


  Just remember to bring lots of water as it is HOT in the canyon this time of year and watch for snakes....
  Tight lines....


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Guest posters wanted (details,revised)

We are currently taking email applications for guest posters on this blog, we are looking to make the blog a little more diverse and fun.each post will be posted throughout the period of a month.The post that gets the most views  gets picked to  post on the blog whenever they choose,maximum once every 2 weeks (subject to change) until march 2013.


to enter you must live in the pacific northwest (Oregon,Washington,northern California)

all entries  must be at least  1 paragraph long

all entries must contain at least one picture

it must be a fly fishing related post

no dead native fish stories/pictures will be accepted.



 in your entry you must provide your blog post,picture(s),first name and state you live in and an email.., a confirmation email will be sent confirming if you post is accepted or deferred.

all entries must be  received by august 22nd,2012

send your entries or questions to brandon_fig24@yahoo.com 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Central Oregon stillwater fly fishing

This past weekend i was invited to go out on a boat in a very popular central oregon stillwater trout fishery.This Was my first real trip on a real big stillwater lake and i had a blast.We Fished chironomids under a strike indicator/bobber and that proved to be the most successful method,a few fish were also caught fishing attractor patterns and sinking lines. We all got into a good amount of fish and it was considered a good weekend as far as the fishing goes on this body of water this year.The fish in cp have to be the hardest fighting trout ive ever had on my line without a doubt, each fish proved that by bending our rods to the cork and i was also taken into my backing more then ever!  all in all i learned alot more about stillwater fly fishing from two of the best and i look forward to more lake fishing in the future. Not just the fishing but the trip in general ranks in at one of the best ive ever been on easily.I ended up hitting what i consider the crane prairie grand slam (rainbow trout,brook trout and kokanee) and both friends caught alot of fish,including one whopper 8+lber randy caught!!
We  all had some laughs and enjoyed each others company and had a great time. Here are some pictures


                       Here are some pictures of me,including my 24 inch 5.5lb 
          cranebow,a kokanee pushing 20 inches and a chunky brookie








                                       
                    Here is randy with his 25 1/4 inch 8lb rainbow,a few 
                        smaller rainbows and some brookies

        




                                         
                           
                                      

                              Here is john with some brookies and kokes

          









                                                                       Scenery








Thursday, July 5, 2012

a film in the process

I have some very exciting news to share. , My friend Sam and i are in the process  of making our first short fly fishing film with a new camera Sam recently bought..it has a polarized lens,a tripod and the whole deal.He has done a small amount of filming on our most recent outing and will be taking more over a span of 4+ trips to make this film. I have to admit i am very nervous to see my sloppy casts and hooksets on film but its going to be a blast. Sam is the primary camera man and i will be doing fishing most of the time(mainly because i suck at filming)  i have no current release date for when it will be posted on YouTube but i will post it as soon as it becomes available.

anyways,back to fishing. o moday we headed up into the hills after some trout, it was dry flies and pretty native cutties all day long,sadly we had to hustle because we got a late start but we still caught alot of fish and some nice sized ones too.  it was a bit sunny for my liking and the trout were extra spooky but they also seemed quite aggressive.  here are some pictures from monday,this will give you all an idea of the area being filmed.


Sam with a 13 inch cuttie