Fly Fishing Article From Gary Lewis...
With spring just around the bend, I thought this would be a great article to post.
I like many of you I’d suppose have numerous magazines lying all around the house.
Well, as I was reading this article recently in an old Washington-Oregon Game & Fish, I thought about this blog and how I’d like to letcha all in on it.
Below you’ll find an article written by Gary Lewis and published by the Washington-Oregon Game & Fish magazine in their March of 2002 issue.
Yes, that’s from a few years ago but the information is just as valid in March of 2006 as it was back then.
I always enjoy this type of pool fishin’…Some of my fondest memories are as a kid fishing the headwaters of the Coquille River in Southern Oregon. We hike down to the river and then fish the length of the canyon. As an 8 year old, sometimes it was a struggle climbing over the big bolders but the rewards of catching nice bright rainbows made it always worth it!
Enjoy the article and let me know your comments.
-Duke
==========================
Don’t string your rod until you’ve walked and watched the water for a few minutes. If the fish are there, you’ll be able to see them. According to Gaviglio, the trout move around dependent on water temperature. If your spot isn’t holding fish, move on until you find them.
Fall River is open all year above the falls. Access to the river is good in the area near the hatchery and upstream on the National Forest land. The river below the falls is closed until the spring opener.
METOLIUS
Like the Fall River, the Metolius arises full-flowing from a spring. It is not the easiest place to catch a fish, but the pursuit offers its own reward.
Towering ponderosa pines lean eastward toward the rising sun. Lightening-charred hulks stand rotting alongside their more fortunate brothers. Toppled timber stretches out into the water, providing cover for rainbow trout, browns, and Dolly Varden.
The upper river is calm and placid with grassy runs, gentle riffles, bend pools, and islands. Casting is easy and fish-holding water is abundant. The best access in this stretch is on the east bank from Allingham Bridge, down to Smiling River, Pine Rest and Gorge campgrounds. This is a river managed for wild trout. Native bull trout (Dolly Varden), rainbows, brookies, brown trout and whitefish can be caught in March.
From Canyon Creek down to Wizard Falls Hatchery, the river runs through a canyon, and the brush affords little room for a backcast. The river takes on a different attitude. Yet there are fish to be caught, and the water opens windows into their world.
Seams shift and play with the light. Where riffles and glare conceal the gravel bottom, suddenly the water flattens, smoothing for a moment to disclose the river’s secrets: trout with speckled backs and crimson sides.
As on Fall River, the best time to fish is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. According to Jeff Perin, owner of The Fly Fisher’s Place – (541) 549-3474 – there are five main hatches that occur from mid-February through March. Stock your fly box with Blue-Winged Olives, sized No. 18 - No. 22, cream-colored mayflies in No. 14 – 16, cream midges in No. 22 black stone-flies in sizes No. 14-18, and the Silver-Striped Sedge, also called a fall caddis. Go prepared with 12- to 15-foot 5X and 6X leaders.
Perin recommends fishing subsurface in late winter. Anglers on the Metolius are restricted from using additional weight on their line. So, carry weighted nymphs to explore deeper reaches of the river. Try a No. 10 Orange Caddis Pupa to imitate the fall caddis. Stonefly nymphs are effective this time of year. So are Green Drake nymphs. To match the Green Drake, tie on a No. 10 Big Bird, Dirty Bird or Cadillac.
Bigger flies can also be used in tandem with smaller nymphs to enable the angler to reach bottom-holding fish. Use a heavy stonefly nymph with your primary pattern, a No. 16- 18 Serendipity, No. 14-18 Pheasant Tail, Batman, green rock worms, or egg flies on a 15- to 20-inch trailing dropper.
Streamer fishing is popular for anglers targeting the big bull trout that inhabit the Metolius. These fish average 3 to 15 pounds. Zonkers, lead-eye rabbit hair streamers, and Bunny Leaches can be fished to imitate a forage fish or a piece of decaying kokanee carcass. Use a sink-tip line with a 5- to 6-foot leader to probe the bottom, beneath underwater ledges, submerged logs and heavy brush cover.
Fishing for dollies is best at the Dolly Hole, Canyon Creek and Allingham Bridge. Don’t be surprised if the big fish you hook is one of the big rainbows or browns that also frequent these holes.
The upper river, from the headwaters to Allingham Bridge, is closed in the winter to protect spawning fish. Forest Road 14 is plowed regularly in the winter to allow travel to Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery. Angler access is good, even in the grip of a snowstorm.
All trout and char caught on the Metolius should be released unharmed. No fishing is allowed from a floating device.
I like many of you I’d suppose have numerous magazines lying all around the house.
Well, as I was reading this article recently in an old Washington-Oregon Game & Fish, I thought about this blog and how I’d like to letcha all in on it.
Below you’ll find an article written by Gary Lewis and published by the Washington-Oregon Game & Fish magazine in their March of 2002 issue.
Yes, that’s from a few years ago but the information is just as valid in March of 2006 as it was back then.
I always enjoy this type of pool fishin’…Some of my fondest memories are as a kid fishing the headwaters of the Coquille River in Southern Oregon. We hike down to the river and then fish the length of the canyon. As an 8 year old, sometimes it was a struggle climbing over the big bolders but the rewards of catching nice bright rainbows made it always worth it!
Enjoy the article and let me know your comments.
-Duke
==========================
Two For Trout
by Gary Lewis
Flyfishermen can always find trout in the clear waters of Oregon’s Fall and Metolius rivers, and that’s where they’ll be going as spring loosens winter’s icy grip.
A stiff wind blew gray clouds across the somber sky, and snow crunched beneath our feet as we broke trail to the river. My destination was a downed tree protecting a little pool and the pod of trout that I hoped lay in its shadow.
Approaching from downstream, I crouched behind a tree and stripped line from my reel, preparing to send a heavy stonefly – my “weight” – and a Hare’s Ear – the dropper – on their way. Working the line through the guides, I sent the flies 20 feet to the head of a pool. The take was immediate.
I saw a flash of silver as the fish moved to the fly, and I lifted the rod, setting the hook into a fat rainbow. It jumped and then ran downstream to the next hole before giving up its fight. I moved back upstream and could see plenty of trout to catch in the little pool. It was a great day to be on the water.
When winter weather has the high lakes in it’s icy grip and western rivers ride high with run-off, two central Oregon streams promise clear water and steady temperatures to fly fishermen: the Fall and Metolius rivers.
These flows have a lot in common. They both are spring-born, welling from the earth amid pine forests to feed the mighty Deschutes. You can fish them at any time of year under regulations limiting anglers to using fly tackle only. Both rivers can provide you with memorable days on the water – and that’s where the similarities end.
FALL RIVER
The Fall River emerges full-flowing from a spring in a grove of lodgepole pines south and west of Sunriver in the Deschutes National Forest. Flowing eight miles east, it empties into the Deschutes between Sunriver and La Pine. The water flows clear and cold year round through calm, quiet bends bordered by tall grass and willows. Downstream, it runs to riffles, rapids and waterfalls.
Submerged logs and channels in the ridged river bottom give cover to trout, while shallow weedbeds in the calm water upstream provide insect habitat. Wild brook trout in Fall River seldom grow beyond 6 inches. Brown trout can be found in excess of 5 pounds, but average 8 to 16 inches. Hatchery rainbow trout averaging 8 to 12 inches make up the bulk of the Fall River fishery.
In the winter and early spring, mid-day is the best time to fish. According to Bob Gaviglio of Sunriver Fly Shop – (541) 593-8814 – winter trout keep banker’s hours. The best time to catch them is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Some of the biggest rainbows and browns are caught on small Baetis patterns. Many of these 6- to 8-pound fish come out of the hatchery area. (Be sure to fish in the river, not in the tanks.) Gaviglio advises fishing the slots in the rocky channel with a two-fly system.
This is clear water and requires light line. Cast a floating line with a nine-foot plus leader and 6X or 7X tippet. Use a heavy stonefly nymph with your primary pattern, a No. 18 Pheasant Tail, Brassie, or Hare’s Ear on a 15- to 20-inch trailing dropper.
Gaviglio also likes to use the Prince Nymph to imitate the abundant caddis larvae found in the gravel. “Caddis larvae aren’t doing much this time of year,” he says. “But they’re down there, and the trout are eating them.”
In cold weather, trout metabolisms have slowed down and usually a small fly must come within inches of the fish before it will put forth the effort to eat it. To read the bite and react quickly, a flyfisherman makes strike indicators and polarized glasses essential components of winter’s gear.
Midges and tiny mayflies make up the main hatches on the Fall River in late winter and early spring. These flies are best matched with Griffith’s Gnats and Blue-Winged Olives, sized No. 18 through No. 22.
Fishing with streamers is another winning technique on this river, but it requires a change in tackle. Switch to a sink-tip line and a 5- to 6-foot leader; then tie on a forage fish imitator such as the Zonker or Muddler Minnow. Cast across and throw an upstream mend in the line. Strip it hard when the fly reaches the terminus of its downward drift. Ten- to 15-inch rainbows and browns will chase your fly all the way across the river.
Good fishing can be had from the falls upstream to the headwaters. Sometimes pods of trout will move around in a given section of the stream.by Gary Lewis
Flyfishermen can always find trout in the clear waters of Oregon’s Fall and Metolius rivers, and that’s where they’ll be going as spring loosens winter’s icy grip.
A stiff wind blew gray clouds across the somber sky, and snow crunched beneath our feet as we broke trail to the river. My destination was a downed tree protecting a little pool and the pod of trout that I hoped lay in its shadow.
Approaching from downstream, I crouched behind a tree and stripped line from my reel, preparing to send a heavy stonefly – my “weight” – and a Hare’s Ear – the dropper – on their way. Working the line through the guides, I sent the flies 20 feet to the head of a pool. The take was immediate.
I saw a flash of silver as the fish moved to the fly, and I lifted the rod, setting the hook into a fat rainbow. It jumped and then ran downstream to the next hole before giving up its fight. I moved back upstream and could see plenty of trout to catch in the little pool. It was a great day to be on the water.
When winter weather has the high lakes in it’s icy grip and western rivers ride high with run-off, two central Oregon streams promise clear water and steady temperatures to fly fishermen: the Fall and Metolius rivers.
These flows have a lot in common. They both are spring-born, welling from the earth amid pine forests to feed the mighty Deschutes. You can fish them at any time of year under regulations limiting anglers to using fly tackle only. Both rivers can provide you with memorable days on the water – and that’s where the similarities end.
FALL RIVER
The Fall River emerges full-flowing from a spring in a grove of lodgepole pines south and west of Sunriver in the Deschutes National Forest. Flowing eight miles east, it empties into the Deschutes between Sunriver and La Pine. The water flows clear and cold year round through calm, quiet bends bordered by tall grass and willows. Downstream, it runs to riffles, rapids and waterfalls.
Submerged logs and channels in the ridged river bottom give cover to trout, while shallow weedbeds in the calm water upstream provide insect habitat. Wild brook trout in Fall River seldom grow beyond 6 inches. Brown trout can be found in excess of 5 pounds, but average 8 to 16 inches. Hatchery rainbow trout averaging 8 to 12 inches make up the bulk of the Fall River fishery.
In the winter and early spring, mid-day is the best time to fish. According to Bob Gaviglio of Sunriver Fly Shop – (541) 593-8814 – winter trout keep banker’s hours. The best time to catch them is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Some of the biggest rainbows and browns are caught on small Baetis patterns. Many of these 6- to 8-pound fish come out of the hatchery area. (Be sure to fish in the river, not in the tanks.) Gaviglio advises fishing the slots in the rocky channel with a two-fly system.
This is clear water and requires light line. Cast a floating line with a nine-foot plus leader and 6X or 7X tippet. Use a heavy stonefly nymph with your primary pattern, a No. 18 Pheasant Tail, Brassie, or Hare’s Ear on a 15- to 20-inch trailing dropper.
Gaviglio also likes to use the Prince Nymph to imitate the abundant caddis larvae found in the gravel. “Caddis larvae aren’t doing much this time of year,” he says. “But they’re down there, and the trout are eating them.”
In cold weather, trout metabolisms have slowed down and usually a small fly must come within inches of the fish before it will put forth the effort to eat it. To read the bite and react quickly, a flyfisherman makes strike indicators and polarized glasses essential components of winter’s gear.
Midges and tiny mayflies make up the main hatches on the Fall River in late winter and early spring. These flies are best matched with Griffith’s Gnats and Blue-Winged Olives, sized No. 18 through No. 22.
Fishing with streamers is another winning technique on this river, but it requires a change in tackle. Switch to a sink-tip line and a 5- to 6-foot leader; then tie on a forage fish imitator such as the Zonker or Muddler Minnow. Cast across and throw an upstream mend in the line. Strip it hard when the fly reaches the terminus of its downward drift. Ten- to 15-inch rainbows and browns will chase your fly all the way across the river.
Don’t string your rod until you’ve walked and watched the water for a few minutes. If the fish are there, you’ll be able to see them. According to Gaviglio, the trout move around dependent on water temperature. If your spot isn’t holding fish, move on until you find them.
Fall River is open all year above the falls. Access to the river is good in the area near the hatchery and upstream on the National Forest land. The river below the falls is closed until the spring opener.
METOLIUS
Like the Fall River, the Metolius arises full-flowing from a spring. It is not the easiest place to catch a fish, but the pursuit offers its own reward.
Towering ponderosa pines lean eastward toward the rising sun. Lightening-charred hulks stand rotting alongside their more fortunate brothers. Toppled timber stretches out into the water, providing cover for rainbow trout, browns, and Dolly Varden.
The upper river is calm and placid with grassy runs, gentle riffles, bend pools, and islands. Casting is easy and fish-holding water is abundant. The best access in this stretch is on the east bank from Allingham Bridge, down to Smiling River, Pine Rest and Gorge campgrounds. This is a river managed for wild trout. Native bull trout (Dolly Varden), rainbows, brookies, brown trout and whitefish can be caught in March.
From Canyon Creek down to Wizard Falls Hatchery, the river runs through a canyon, and the brush affords little room for a backcast. The river takes on a different attitude. Yet there are fish to be caught, and the water opens windows into their world.
Seams shift and play with the light. Where riffles and glare conceal the gravel bottom, suddenly the water flattens, smoothing for a moment to disclose the river’s secrets: trout with speckled backs and crimson sides.
As on Fall River, the best time to fish is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. According to Jeff Perin, owner of The Fly Fisher’s Place – (541) 549-3474 – there are five main hatches that occur from mid-February through March. Stock your fly box with Blue-Winged Olives, sized No. 18 - No. 22, cream-colored mayflies in No. 14 – 16, cream midges in No. 22 black stone-flies in sizes No. 14-18, and the Silver-Striped Sedge, also called a fall caddis. Go prepared with 12- to 15-foot 5X and 6X leaders.
Perin recommends fishing subsurface in late winter. Anglers on the Metolius are restricted from using additional weight on their line. So, carry weighted nymphs to explore deeper reaches of the river. Try a No. 10 Orange Caddis Pupa to imitate the fall caddis. Stonefly nymphs are effective this time of year. So are Green Drake nymphs. To match the Green Drake, tie on a No. 10 Big Bird, Dirty Bird or Cadillac.
Bigger flies can also be used in tandem with smaller nymphs to enable the angler to reach bottom-holding fish. Use a heavy stonefly nymph with your primary pattern, a No. 16- 18 Serendipity, No. 14-18 Pheasant Tail, Batman, green rock worms, or egg flies on a 15- to 20-inch trailing dropper.
Streamer fishing is popular for anglers targeting the big bull trout that inhabit the Metolius. These fish average 3 to 15 pounds. Zonkers, lead-eye rabbit hair streamers, and Bunny Leaches can be fished to imitate a forage fish or a piece of decaying kokanee carcass. Use a sink-tip line with a 5- to 6-foot leader to probe the bottom, beneath underwater ledges, submerged logs and heavy brush cover.
Fishing for dollies is best at the Dolly Hole, Canyon Creek and Allingham Bridge. Don’t be surprised if the big fish you hook is one of the big rainbows or browns that also frequent these holes.
The upper river, from the headwaters to Allingham Bridge, is closed in the winter to protect spawning fish. Forest Road 14 is plowed regularly in the winter to allow travel to Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery. Angler access is good, even in the grip of a snowstorm.
All trout and char caught on the Metolius should be released unharmed. No fishing is allowed from a floating device.
posted by The "Duke" at 4:53 PM
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