back on track

Well, i'm on vacation from work and i thought there wouldn't be any better time to get this blog started up again than right now.I've found that being a responsible..well sometimes responsible adult requires me to put certain things off.this blog has unfortunately not been on the priority list.


i'll start with last year which i kinda disappeared from after may.My fishing interests have definitely made a shift,and i mostly enjoy stillwater fly fishing.Namely chironomid fishing. I had a blast last season chasing big strong trout at the cascade lakes,then eventually going for fall salmon and winter steelhead as usual. This year i've done much of the same but the drought has of course limited that.So i think the direction of this blog and the subject of it is going to lean more towards oregon stillwater trout fishing,and winter steelhead for the most part. there will be posts not related to those two of course,but they will be the main focus.The reason being is work and soon more school have me at a time and money restriction that doesn't allow me to go after every fish in all kinds of water. i kinda had to pick my favorites.So,we'll see what the future holds for this website.


keep an eye out for more posts in the near future, i really am happy to be working on this blog again.
Here is some fish porn for you all till next time

The Chironomid Game

Yesterday a friend and i made the trip outside town to a small private lake.

We arrived around 7:45 and launched the boat and headed straight for a spot that produced all of my fish on the previous trip. At the drop of the anchor we got our lines in the water set to 13 ft in 14 ft of water. After 15 minutes of trying it became apparent the fish had moved, which wasn't anticipated though it has been a month since my last trip here.

after no action at all and barely any surface activity we decided it was best to pull anchor and troll until we found concentrations of fish before anchoring and fishing chironomids again.We trolled near the edge of  the weed beds and ended up catching two fish, but spread out unfortunately. Early in the day i had observed fish rising in the upper end of the lake, but i thought that  they had to be warm water fish, because the upper end of the lake (near the inlet) is shallow, but upon getting closer we realized they were trout eating damsels and chironomids.


After realizing there were a lot of trout surrounding us we anchored in 6ft of water to the west of the creek channel and threw bloodworm/pupa combos about half a foot off the bottom, and within minutes we were in to some rainbows in the shallows! steadily for the next few hours we caught fat fish gorging on chironomids anywhere from 14 to 21 inches and length, all were fat and eating very well.we totaled 30 fish exactly between us for the day and did hook a few of the larger fish in the lake, but were not able to land them, A few fish even made it to the backing! it wasn't uncommon for a fish to jump 4 ft out of the water after a blazing run.


Water clarity was still sub par at about 2-2 1/2 ft, but the fish didn't seem to care like last time.Water temp only reached around 61 mid day and didn't stay high for long. Once it reached around 3:30 we pulled anchor and caught a few trolling buggers before  taking out and heading to taco bell for a much needed greasy meal.

it was a great day and was a good stress reliever at the end of the school year.

How to pass time & new url update

The one sucky part about planning a fishing trip in advance? the wait. Coping with the wait ,especially when a week or longer, can kill me. So i decided to make it productive. The trip planned is a stillwater trip with friends for next weekend.A lot of preparation goes into these trips because of the complexity of the rigs used for chironomid fishing. Though simplified, they still aren't your run of the mill tapered 9ft leader and dry fly rig, or anything near that.

Today i spent my time with a tape measure and leader materials making sections for leaders specific lengths, for specific lakes and depths. Though i am not near an expert stillwater angler the experience i do have lets me narrow down leader section lengths, so i don't have to spend my time guessing what lengths i should make out of what size leader.


Still have a mess to clean up from that but now on to putting my strike indicators together and re organizing my fly box. Ive spent quite a bit of time filling the box in the past few days as well trying to help pass the time.


Here are some recent ties, recipes will be available shortly.  On another note, the url of this blog has been changed to be more fitting, i realize this has been an inconvenience for thsoe who commonly view the blog, but strings should all be worked out shortly.Obviously if you are viewing this psot you have already found out, but for future reference  the new url for pacific northwest fly fishing is  linked below



http://northwestflyfish.blogspot.com/

Spring in Central Oregon

     Early this week a good friend and i made the first trip over the mountain to the central Oregon lakes.With high hopes and not knowing what to expect we started the week off at diamond lake.Diamond being a premier stillwater in oregon always gets me excited as i know the possibilities of not only large fish, but great numbers as well.

We started off in the usual depths where fish are usually found, and right off the bat it was bobber (indicator) down! the fish was a year old 12 incher, and a fat one. After that things never really picked up, and we moved a lot covering water only to find a few more fish either chironomid fishing, or trolling with our sink lines from spot to spot.After 6 hours of hard fishing we had only a total of 8 fish, the biggest being the 19 incher my friend landed. After the disappointment of a slow day at diamond we packed up and headed for hosmer, only to find that the road was still snowed over good about 1/8 mile in.


Leaving hosmer we headed for lava lake, and decided to spend our next 2 days there if the fishing was good, and good it was.After my friend located the drop off's on the shoals he hammered the rainbows fishing chironomids, as did i from time to time.During the first day the chironomid fishing was solid for hours until the evening arrived when fish would move shallow, at that time we would pull anchor, and strip flies on sink lines for the aggressive bows'!


On the second day (half day) i got a late start and caught up to my friend on a new area we hand't fished since being there, and it turned out to be the mother load. Anchored up in one spot without moving from about 10:00 to 2:00 the bite was so good all of our rods would get bit within 5 seconds of eachother! my friend would often hook one fish, then another on his second rod! it was such an incredible bite while it lasted you couldn't help but laugh.The fish were all very well conditioned, some even fat, and full of fight,especially on our 4wt rods.


It was an excellent start to the season, and though it will be a low water year, i think fishing will be excellent on some of our lakes.

waiting for a plunge

Can't beat the scenery!

anticipation 

Leeches

Fish on!

A healthy  lava lake rainbow taken on a maroon leech pattern

"Dope On a Rope" (Leech On a Leader)

This spring while fishing a few new to me stillwaters attractor patterns have been the bread and butter when it comes to locating fish.This pattern hasn't only accounted for finding the fish, but catching quite large, and aggressive trout as well.The fly is tied sparse to look lively in the water, and has lead wraps on the front 1/3 of the body to give the fly a distinct leach like "swim"  the bead and dubbing catch light and adds some attraction as well.I also tie this pattern on a curved shank hook in smaller sizes for indicator fishing and it can be just as effective.Also works in olive/orange, and maroon with the same red bead (my favorite). If you are looking for a pattern to use when searching for trout this fly will get the job done, and because it is some simple to tie, and is durable, can be a time saving alternative to tying woolly bugger type patterns with hackle and all of the extras.








Black/red Simi seal leech







Hook: TFS 5263 sizes 8-12
Thread: utc 70, wine
Bead: red silverlined glass
Tail: black marabou (sparse)
Body: Black/red arizona simi seal
Rib (optional) small red ultra wire
Weight: small lead wire (wrap front 1/3 of shank for good action)

Stillwater Sunday

       On Sunday, Sam and i were invited to fish a private trout lake in the hills outside of town. The lake,formerly a bass/panfish fishery, was stocked with trout  last year.It is a healthy body of water with all of the components needed to sustain a trout fishery, but knowing large bass inhabit the lake made me question the lakes potential.We arrived a little before 9 and started fishing from float tubes.Water was murky with 2-3 ft visibility and a muddy tint, surface temp in the mid 50's.Fishing a new lake can always be frustrating because you never know what the fish are eating, and where they are at in the lake.Luckily there was a map showing how deep the lake was, making it easier to find feeding fish.


I started out with a clear intermediate sinking line and a size 10 black/red simi seal leech and worked the shoal area to the east of the channel that runs down the middle of the lake, side by side with jay and his wife slowly trolling our patterns. Not long into the morning we began to hook into some fish but not a ton,action was consistent.After about half an hour of bites and jay still hooking good amounts of fish, i narrowed down an area that seemed to have lots of fish.I anchored in 14ft of water to the side of the channel, and rigged up with a two fly chironomid rig, with a maroon pupa on the point, and a small red bloodworm on the dropper. Almost immediately after my patterns sunk it was bobber (indicator) down! it pretty much remained the same way on and off for the next few hours, with the bite picking up then dropping off for a bit here and there. Depth really seemed to matter, as the fish were cruising a narrow water column about  1-2ft off the bottom.I stayed in the same general area the whole trip with good success, and after lunch sam and jay both joined me for some chironomid fishing and the action continued until we had to call it quits. The day ended with several large rainbows to net for us all. What an excellent day on the water, and more to come as the lakes over eat open up soon.

Filling The Box

       Starting to fill my box as a lot of lakes and streams open in a few weeks like i mentioned before. With school daily ive had to split my tying time up into two segments, but ive been able to get a good amount tied.I am heavily focusing on chironomids for stillwater fishing at this time and will be for the next few days, though nymphs for the favorite stream will have to be a focus because it opens soon as well.Lots of time at the bench ahead preparing for a low water year here in oregon. 18 days and counting