Waiting For the First

Early mornng on the Willamette with Lee Lashaway

 As the winter steelhead season came to a close in April, I’ve since been eagerly watching the steelhead counts over Willamette Falls to monitor how the summer steelhead season is shaping up.  So far so good!  Over 10, 000 steelhead have ascended the falls as of this writing.  Even divided among 4 rivers, the odds keep getting better, with  200 to 300+ summer steelhead coming over each day as the current pattern suggests.

 

We had a very poor showing of summer steelhead last year, with just shy of 4,000 summer steelhead over the falls for the entire season.  My theory is that the extreme heat we experienced last summer created a thermal block which made it impossible for typical numbers of summer steelhead to make it up to our rivers.  We had weeks of water temps over 70 degrees in my area.   I’ve wondered if some of last year’s run turned around and went back to the ocean due to the extreme heat and may be coming back with this year’s run, bigger and meaner!  It will be interesting to see if more 3 salt steelhead turn up in angler catches this year.

 

I began the summer season with a few casual bank fishing trips to local runs and found no signs of early steelhead around.  I did my first float trip on May 20, 2016 and took my new friend Rick Fielder out in my drift boat.  Unfortunately, I crashed my drift boat into a root wad and sunk my craft on that trip which is a whole other story to tell.  I was fortunately able to recover my boat a few days later and have taken several more floats down the Willamette since, managing to keep my drift boat floating and away from root wads.  This has been an unusually dangerous year for boaters with a total of at least a dozen boats being sunk between the Willamette and McKenzie.  Many trees have fallen into the river and familiar paths to take while floating the river are not too familiar any more.  This, coupled with the high, fast water has even thrown experienced boaters into bad situations.  Fortunately, I have only heard of gear being lost in these incidents thus far.  The take home:  wear life jackets, scout sketchy spots, line your boat through if necessary, and be sure to get info before launching of hazards to avoid.  Better yet, go through with an experienced boater first or a buddy with a sled to get a good read on the lay of the land.

 

The water levels have just recently been dropping into more typical summer levels which makes floating the river a little easier and opens up more water that swings a fly well.  I continue with my method of maintaining one “constant” among all the other variables that come with steelheading.  That is I pretty much fish a skating fly all the time.  I have experimented with other variables, such as floating different stretches of rivers and fishing several new runs.  I’ve also continually tinkered with my gear as I rotate through various set ups on each trip out.  One day I may have a single hander and a switch, other days I bust out the long rods and Delta Spey lines.  A guy knows when he has too much stuff when the decision of which setups to use on a trip causes some stress and anxiety.

 

As each summer season comes along, my goal is always to find out what it takes to get steelhead on the surface and to learn more about the conditions and other factors that promote the kind of steelhead behavior I like to see.  Since I moved to Oregon in 2009, I have noted that for whatever reason, I have not encountered my local hatchery summer runs really starting to come to the top until late mid/late June.  I have wondered if this has to do with numbers of steelhead in the system, water levels, salmon fishing crowds, etc??  Water temperatures are definitely in a favorable range by May, but I have yet to raise one of these local steelhead to the top in May.

 

My recent outings to the river have been pleasant excursions spent becoming reacquainted with my local homewaters.  The fluid grace of  the cast, the hypnotic rhythm of the swing and the intent focus on the cross stream path of my skating fly keep me filled with anticipation of encountering my inaugural surface steelhead of the season.  I will keep the faith as I continue waiting for the first…..

A day spent floating the river alone.

Skater of the Month - June 2016 - The Yellow Stimuwaker

Yellow Stimuwaker

This month's featured color blend on my skater design represents my early earliest version of what has become my standard pattern platform that several other color variations have been based on.  In 2010, my son in law Shaun Frasier began fly fishing for steelhead and of course my influence of fishing dry flies rubbed off on him.  He happened to see some size 6 Yellow Stimulators sitting in my trout boxes and asked if they would work for steelhead and I said "sure, why not, try them".  A short time later, Shaun found himself hooking and landing his first Willamette summer steelhead on the trout pattern.  Shaun would continue to find consistent success with the yellow stimulator and he explained that the steelhead would either take the fly on a short dead drift before going into the swing, during the swing, or on the dangle as the fly bobbed under (no hitch used).

I started experimenting by simply tying more yellow stimulators with a foam lip and those stayed on top and caught fish, but I didin't quite like the look so I kept tinkering.  The idea of a splayed wing version came about and with ideas from other patterns being melded in.  The whole deal with the indicator pieces of foam on top was my idea to enhance visibility of the pattern.  The pattern was borne out of functional necessity.

While I have come up with many more color combos on this fly, including some that look more like the neon signs in Vegas, the basic yellow stimuwaker still remains a favorite of mine.  With my more natural colored skaters, I tend to omit flash with the exception of the cactus chenielle thorax.

Life has been busy lately and I have several more blog posts in draft form that I need to complete.  The early summer steelhead season has begun on my local water with decent numbers of fish coming over the falls.  I crashed my drift boat into a root wad on my first float of the season a couple weeks ago and that story will be told.  I've also been tying flies to fill orders and I also plan to get a set sent off the FFC.

Wishing all my fishing friends a wonderful summer steelhead season.  The "skater season" has arrived!

Blessings,
Todd

Skater Of The Month - May 2016 - Green Butt Skunk version

Green Butt Wangs, sizes 6 and 8 sitting atop a newly acquired Hardy St. John (ebay therapy)

When I first started tying my skater design, I started off with a yellow stimulator themed version and then began pondering other color options.  Not surprisingly, the colors of the green butt skunk came to mind and when I began tying my skater in these colors, I experienced almost instant success with the pattern.  The pattern was further refined by using red cactus chenielle in the abdomen and red Krystal flash behind the wings and over the tail.  The pink shellback/lip is not a typical color on a GBS, but I tried it on a whim and it provides a good contrast with the rest of the dark fly so I've stuck with it.

Just goes to show, one can't go wrong with a little GBS DNA in a fly pattern.

Skater Of The Month - April 2016 - "The Collaborative"

This month's featured skater is my newest color blend.  I had some purple foam and purple cow elk laying around and finally decided to experiment until I got colors together that make these components pop.  I tied various combos incorporating chartreuse, blue, pink, cerise, etc.   By the time I had these variations done, I had about a dozen flies so I decided to gift them to Dave Fineran, communications director for the Fly Fishing Collaborative,  for his bachelor fishing weekend on the North Umpqua beginning on March 18, 2016.

When Dave looked through the assortment of flies, the purple and chartreuse immediately spoke to him.  The only thing he noted was that the version I had used blue holographic flashabou and he thought using purple holographic flashabou would make the ultimate color blend to his eye.  His confidence colors for summer steelhead tends to be combinations of purple and chartreuse.

When I got home later that day, I decided to tie the fly with the purple holographic flashabou as Dave had suggested and that did it, I realized that I found another color blend that I would stick with where the colors just pop the way I like.  With Dave's input and the incredible work that FFC does, I decided to name this version "The Collaborative", in honor of Dave and the Fly Fishing Collaborative.

April is "tweener time" for me with winter steelhead winding down and summer steelhead just barely starting.  I'm spending some time tying some micro skaters for trout as I transition into spring.

Wishing you all a great spring season.  The "skater season" is around the corner!

Skater of the Month - March 2016: Royal Green

Royal Green Little Wang

Ok, here we go again...
Yet another color combo on my foam skater pattern. I had tried using green floss for the body on the #10 trout skaters I had been tying to imitate the McKenzie Green Caddis. I thought to use peacock herl for the thorax and then realized I had some midge sized purple cactus chenielle laying around that I could use instead. I'd never tried tying a fly using green and purple before and as I looked at the finished fly, I realized that I really liked the result of my "accidental" color blend.

I bought some larger medium sized purple cactus chenielle and tied some larger steelhead sized purple/green skaters on #6 1xl Nymph hooks (Mustad 3906B equivalent) and the fly pictured above is the result.

 I'm sure there are many fly patterns using purple and green, I've probably just been slow on the uptake.

For those interested, here's the material list for this particular fly:

Hook: #6 Mustad 3906B or equivalent - a 1xl nynmph hook, sproat bend.
Tail: Moose body
thread, rear: white 3/0
rib: med copper wire
body: bright green uni floss, separate into single strands (it's made up of two strands that come apart by unwinding a bit)
shellback/lip: tan 2mm foam
thorax: med purple cactus chenielle
thread, front half: 140 denier gelspun
wing: natural cow elk
rear facing post: yellow 2mm foam with V cut into one side
front post: orange 2mm foam

Since this is a smaller more natural fly, I didn't add any flash to the tail or behind the wing. Folks can refer to the SBS elsewhere on my blog for help in tying this one.

A Bit Of Winter On The Surface

A little winter surprise

To say I've had a tough winter season is an understatement....  My friends have gotten steelhead, people on Facebook and Instagram have gotten steelhead, but me, I just continue doing what I do with only leaky waders and casting practice to show for my efforts.  At least I keep my cack handed single spey tuned up so I'm ready for skating in summer, but a fishy interruption in my mundane winter routine would always be welcomed.

It doesn't help my odds that I fish a dry line all winter and that I even fish a skater a fair amount, but I have come to accept my fate with my self-imposed limitations and non-negotiable conditions with my chosen methods.  I am the poster child/role model of insanity....

I hit a favorite winter river today with my regular winter fishing partner Craig Coover.  With a break in the rains, the river was in fine shape and we happily found our favored starting spot open.  Craig gears up quicker than me so he bolted to the water while I finished tinkering with my gear.  I was setting up two rods, my JM Reid 8'5" 9wt cane single hander and my high end Cabela's 11'6wt TLr.

When I arrived on the run, Craig had decided to hit the top, so I got in the middle.  It was a mild day and as I suspected, water temps were also mild, with 49 degrees reading on my thermometer as I dipped it in the winter river.  I knew what I was planning to do even before lowering my thermo in the drink, it was time to skate!

As usual, I continually tie as many of my foam skaters as possible so I have extras on hand for gifting friends and I've even sold a few dozen on Speypages to help fund a much needed set of Simm's G3 waders.  I also completed a few dozen to donate to the Fly Fishing Collaborative, but last week, I decided to tie one for myself - a size 4 "yellow stimuwaker" version.  I tied this fly for myself out of nostalgia as I got my one winter steelhead on the surface while fishing this same fly nearly three years ago on this same river.

I was fishing my yellow skater down this prime run and enjoying the rhythm of casting my bargain stick and watching the bright post of my strange fly coming across on each swing.  As I was stepping down the run, I reminded myself that I wasn't just searching for "a" fish, but that I needed to find "my" fish.  In other words, I knew not every winter steelhead will come to the surface, even in the mild conditions, but only a chosen one may be willing to come up to the top to grab a piece of foam.  As such, I moved through the water fairly quickly, looking for my player.

As I got to the lower section of the fishable water, I turned back to Craig and jokingly remarked "I'm not sure if I'm getting deep enough".  Somehow, even in unlikely conidtions, I am still able to muster up enough confidence and commitment to stick with an improbable method.  The swings felt good and the anticipation of a grab, and the appreciation of being where I was were satisflying enough.

I was doing what I always do, casting like I always do, and swinging/twitching like I always do when a sudden rise came to my skater as it settled into the beginning of it's swing.  The brisk surface commotion was followed by some headshakes and a jump, then my line went slack as this little gal ran towards me.  I stripped in line as quickly as I could and when I caught up, the fish was still on.  I eventually managed to reel up all the loose line into my antique JW Young and this miniture steelhead made a few more runs and then another jump.  I was able to lead the steelhead near shore and had the opportunity to admire and photograph a beautiful little hen steelhead of about 21-22".  I noted that her belly was soft and her vent distended so she had done her business and was quickly on her way out of here, hopefully to return next year.

As I was getting set for one last photo, the steelhead decided she'd had enough and with a flop and turn, she got loose of the hook and returned to the river, all in one motion.  As she swam off, I pondered over her life history and thought that due to her small size, she must be bred to utilize a certain habitat niche.  Perhaps she just came from a small feeder creek, one where only small, one salt steelhead can utilize for spawning.

I am reminded of what Bill McMillan wrote about in Dry Line Steelhead about a small tributary on the Washougal where one salt steelhead were perfectly suited to traverse the skinny sheet of water flowing over what he initially throught was an impassible barrier for anadromous fish.  Bill also recently wrote about some of the small creeks near his home on the Skagit that steelhead use for spawning.  I was amazed that he found that some steelhead even utilize some of the smaller creeks that run dry by summer.  I am reminded of how amazingly diverse and resilient wild steelhead are.

While my little prize was not exactly a slab, she more than made up for what she lacked in size by the exciting rise and frisky battle she put out.  The sense of wonder I was left with after being blessed with encountering this little gem was definitely worth the price of admission.

I took this active little steelhead as a good omen for the remainder of the day, but Craig and I didn't manage to hook any other winter ghosts by day's end.  I did encounter what looked like a 4-5lb steelhead that appeared to have risen to blue winged olives a couple times in one of the other runs I fished.  Of course I optimistically put my skater over what I assumed was an active fish, but that steelhead would have nothing to do with a foam mutant.  Craig had one quick pull at another spot and that was it.

Experiencing a winter day when a skater "outfishes" other methods is definitely a rarety!  I guess I managed to find "my" fish...

Yellow "Stimuwaker" does it again.

FFC Fundraising banquet - Let's Pack the House!

Seats still available, to purchase tickets online:
http://flyfishingcollaborative.org/banquet

 Banquet invite:
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/518ff6b3e4b0cf61a012d1dd/t/56b3ab7db654f91b9f118624/1454615425012/FFC+Banquet+Invite+Card.pdf