Water levels have been all over the board as of late and finding quality fishing levels has been difficult. The low waters of earlier in the winter have been replaced by the continuing flush of rain and snow melt. The fish are moving hard now into the North Fork and can finally rest a little, escaping the relentless pursuit of anglers from the main stem. This high water allows fish movement past much of the bait water and hopefully the relative quiet of the fly-water. Timing as always is everything, and being in the right place at the right time when the water drops is crucial. I love the unpredictability of this time of year and love to feel the warmer water and see the big fish that water brings. Its always a roll of the dice but the rewards are worth it.
Reserve your trip today!
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Once again the idea of wild winter fish kill on the Umpqua drainage is on the table. Below is all the info from the Caddis Fly Blog. Get out to a meeting, comment and support a no kill position. We need all ya to get out there and speak. All our voices together will be heard.
ODFW seeks comment on plan for six coastal salmon and trout species
Some of you may recognize the plan outlined below, in an article we ran five years ago. Well, it’s coming to fruition, and now is your chance to comment.
Via ODFW: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host six public open houses in January to solicit public comment on a draft management plan for six coastal salmon and trout species.
The draft Coastal Multi-Species Conservation and Management Plan describes the conservation status of these species and outlines a suite of actions related to harvest and hatchery programs, predators, and habitat to sustain these species and improve overall fishing. The goal is to better balance risks to wild fish populations by being conservative in some areas while also increasing fishing and harvest opportunities in others.
The species and area for the plan include spring and fall chinook, chum salmon, winter and summer steelhead, and coastal cutthroat trout along much of the Oregon coast (from Cape Blanco to Seaside).
The draft plan was developed with input, compromise and consensus from four stakeholder teams distributed along the coast whose members represented recreational and commercial fishing interests, local watershed councils, conservation groups, resource producers, local government and Native American tribes.
In addition, the department conducted an opinion survey of anglers and non-anglers about their general views regarding fishing in Oregon and wild fish conservation, and received informal feedback from other individuals and groups, such as independent scientists and volunteer groups from the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program.
According to Tom Stahl, ODFW’s Conservation and Recovery Program Manager, all of this input was used to help develop the draft plan and the Department is now seeking additional input from the public before finalizing recommendations to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission later this spring.
The dates, locations and times for the public open houses are:
January 16 – Salem – ODFW Headquarters, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem, 6-9 p.m.
January 21 – Tillamook – Tillamook County Library Meeting Room, 1716 3rd St., Tillamook, 6-9 p.m.
January 23 – Newport – Best Western Plus Agate Beach Inn, 3019 N. Coast Hwy., Newport, 6-9 p.m.
January 27 – Roseburg – Douglas County Library Meeting Room, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd., Roseburg, 6-9 p.m.
January 28 – North Bend/Coos Bay – North Bend Community Center, 2222 Broadway St., North Bend, 6-9 p.m.
January 29 – Reedsport – Reedsport Community Center, 451 Winchester Ave., Reedsport, 6 -9 p.m.
“The Coastal Multi-Species Plan is the agency’s first attempt to create a management plan for multiple species that are not listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act and for which the State of Oregon has a fair amount of management flexibility due to the relative good health of the populations,” Stahl said.
The Plan takes a portfolio approach where, for example, a hatchery program change on one stream to protect wild fish could be balanced by an expanded hatchery program on a nearby stream.
“We realize it’s unrealistic to expect that every river will be everything to everybody,” Stahl said. “So instead we are trying to create a portfolio of varied management actions throughout the Coastal planning area, balancing reduced conservation risk to wild fish with increased fishing opportunity in different locations.”
Some key elements of the draft plan include:
-Increases fishing opportunities – for example, total hatchery releases will increase 5 percent.
-Provides more protection to wild fish by clearly identifying areas that will not have hatchery programs.
-Proposes harvest opportunities for wild steehead in three new areas among the 19 basins with steelhead.
-Proposes two new spring chinook hatchery programs in Yaquina and Coos bays.
-Proposes managing wild coho, chinook, and spring chinook harvest on a sliding scale that increases or decreases the number of fish that can be retained based on anticipated returns.
-Calls for anglers and guides to provide more data for use in management through the mandatory return of harvest tags and a pilot program asking guides to keep logbooks of harvest.
-Identifies actions to address the threat that marine mammal, bird and non-native fish predators pose to wild and hatchery salmon and trout, as well as the overall fishing experience.
-Provides guidance on how to prioritize habitat restoration and protection efforts, but relies on local groups to continue working under the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds to identify the necessary projects and best areas to work in their local basins.
Members of the public will find the draft plan on the ODFW website at: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CRP/coastal_multispecies.asp, and can comment on the plan at a public open house, or by sending written comments to ODFW.CoastalPlan@state.or.us by February 10, 2014.
There will be additional opportunity for public comment when the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission considers the plan at two future meetings: March 7 in Tigard and April 25 in North Bend.
Via ODFW: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host six public open houses in January to solicit public comment on a draft management plan for six coastal salmon and trout species.
The draft Coastal Multi-Species Conservation and Management Plan describes the conservation status of these species and outlines a suite of actions related to harvest and hatchery programs, predators, and habitat to sustain these species and improve overall fishing. The goal is to better balance risks to wild fish populations by being conservative in some areas while also increasing fishing and harvest opportunities in others.
The species and area for the plan include spring and fall chinook, chum salmon, winter and summer steelhead, and coastal cutthroat trout along much of the Oregon coast (from Cape Blanco to Seaside).
The draft plan was developed with input, compromise and consensus from four stakeholder teams distributed along the coast whose members represented recreational and commercial fishing interests, local watershed councils, conservation groups, resource producers, local government and Native American tribes.
In addition, the department conducted an opinion survey of anglers and non-anglers about their general views regarding fishing in Oregon and wild fish conservation, and received informal feedback from other individuals and groups, such as independent scientists and volunteer groups from the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program.
According to Tom Stahl, ODFW’s Conservation and Recovery Program Manager, all of this input was used to help develop the draft plan and the Department is now seeking additional input from the public before finalizing recommendations to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission later this spring.
The dates, locations and times for the public open houses are:
January 16 – Salem – ODFW Headquarters, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem, 6-9 p.m.
January 21 – Tillamook – Tillamook County Library Meeting Room, 1716 3rd St., Tillamook, 6-9 p.m.
January 23 – Newport – Best Western Plus Agate Beach Inn, 3019 N. Coast Hwy., Newport, 6-9 p.m.
January 27 – Roseburg – Douglas County Library Meeting Room, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd., Roseburg, 6-9 p.m.
January 28 – North Bend/Coos Bay – North Bend Community Center, 2222 Broadway St., North Bend, 6-9 p.m.
January 29 – Reedsport – Reedsport Community Center, 451 Winchester Ave., Reedsport, 6 -9 p.m.
“The Coastal Multi-Species Plan is the agency’s first attempt to create a management plan for multiple species that are not listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act and for which the State of Oregon has a fair amount of management flexibility due to the relative good health of the populations,” Stahl said.
The Plan takes a portfolio approach where, for example, a hatchery program change on one stream to protect wild fish could be balanced by an expanded hatchery program on a nearby stream.
“We realize it’s unrealistic to expect that every river will be everything to everybody,” Stahl said. “So instead we are trying to create a portfolio of varied management actions throughout the Coastal planning area, balancing reduced conservation risk to wild fish with increased fishing opportunity in different locations.”
Some key elements of the draft plan include:
-Increases fishing opportunities – for example, total hatchery releases will increase 5 percent.
-Provides more protection to wild fish by clearly identifying areas that will not have hatchery programs.
-Proposes harvest opportunities for wild steehead in three new areas among the 19 basins with steelhead.
-Proposes two new spring chinook hatchery programs in Yaquina and Coos bays.
-Proposes managing wild coho, chinook, and spring chinook harvest on a sliding scale that increases or decreases the number of fish that can be retained based on anticipated returns.
-Calls for anglers and guides to provide more data for use in management through the mandatory return of harvest tags and a pilot program asking guides to keep logbooks of harvest.
-Identifies actions to address the threat that marine mammal, bird and non-native fish predators pose to wild and hatchery salmon and trout, as well as the overall fishing experience.
-Provides guidance on how to prioritize habitat restoration and protection efforts, but relies on local groups to continue working under the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds to identify the necessary projects and best areas to work in their local basins.
Members of the public will find the draft plan on the ODFW website at: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CRP/coastal_multispecies.asp, and can comment on the plan at a public open house, or by sending written comments to ODFW.CoastalPlan@state.or.us by February 10, 2014.
There will be additional opportunity for public comment when the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission considers the plan at two future meetings: March 7 in Tigard and April 25 in North Bend.
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I just wanted to share some beautiful wood working with you all. A good friend has been making these portable fly tying boxes and nets for awhile and they are first rate. Boxes are alder or fir and inner storage trays are African mahogany and cedar. The nets are 59 1/2 inches long with a 56 inch hoop and are Jatoba,hickory and ash and are done with the rubber fish friendly ghost netting material. Net depths of 18 and 24 inches can ordered. They will hold a steelhead!
I have had one of the fly tying boxes for a few years and love it. Holds a ton of stuff and the fold out table supports a vice. Great for the campsite or back of the pick up tailgate. When you need to whip up a few flies in a pinch along side the river, this is the ultimate answer.You could easily hold most anything you would need to tie winter or summer flies anywhere,anytime.
Boxes and nets are both priced at $210.00
If anything interests you please email me at dryfly@bendbraodband.com or leave a comment below and I can get you in contact with the maker for further details and pricing.
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Isa 9:2--The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that
dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light
shined.
Isa 9:6---For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Zack swings a fly through the Green Room on a chilly day
Merry Christmas to you all, and tight lines and screaming reels in 2014
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Photo by-Marty Sheppard
The Take
The cast unfurls with precision and power, delivering the
line across the pool. The line releases
its energy to the leader and finally the fly which turns over completely,
gently touching down at the far end of the shady lie. In an instant the fly is fishing, riding the
subtle river currents, probing and searching for a willing fish. The rhythm of the fly swing is automatic. Rod, line, fly and angler are one. The dry fly swings lazily across the pool,
leaving a V-wake in its path. The ripples
from the waking fly spreads ever outward behind it and are soon enveloped by
the tumultuous rapids at the bottom of the tail out. The fly swings through the heart of the run
now, appearing to float on air as it dances through the crystal clear water, tethered
to a gossamer thread.
Then it happens. An
almost imperceptible bulge of water appears behind the fly and the unseen fish
tracks it for a few feet. The silver
body twists in the current, tail pumping to intercept this object that has
peaked its curiosity. Weather the fish
moves to the fly out of instinct, hunger, territorial reasons or just
playfulness we will never know for sure. But in that instant, that brilliant instant
when the fish moves to the fly and finally eats, it is as if there is nothing
else going on in the world but what is happening right now, right here. The push of water is the first visual queue,
then the flash as the fish turns. The
fish has grabbed the fly in a vicious sideways slash and has now bolted for his
earlier lie.
Time stops as what
has happened at the end of the line transfers back down the line to the rod, then
through the rod and to the angler who stands with shaking hands, the recipient
of what can only be described as high voltage electricity. The angler who is holding barely a pound of
total tackle in his hands is now directly connected to something that weighs
over 10 times that weight. This is pure,
anadromous rainbow trout, straight from the ocean, rested, strong and built for
speed. The rod now throbs and bounces to
life as the fly has found perfect purchase in the corner of the fish’s mouth.
The reel barks loudly in short staccato bursts as the fish rolls and tumbles
trying to escape from his newly found predicament. The fish launches itself
into the air, valiantly trying to shake the hook to no avail. Seeing no hope in playing the short game, the
fish now heads for the far end of the pool. The reels sound goes from the short
burst bark to a steady whir. The steady whir is soon replaced by another noise
altogether as the pitch of the pawls riding inside the gear increases to a
howling scream. The fish peels line from
the reel, searching for the back door of the pool and hopefully freedom,
testing the limits of tackle, gear and fisherman.
Again the fish goes airborne; sometime in the air the fly
pulls free of the writhing silver fish and quickly the line goes slack. Immense
wavelengths from the release of tension travel the length of the fly line back
to the angler and it is over. The fish is gone in an instant; the angler is
left with only the sound of the final splash of the fish and his loudly beating
heart echoing across the now serene and glassy tail out. His stance on the rock
perch is wavering and unsteady. The adrenaline from the brief encounter courses
through his body. The feeling of this experience plays over in his mind as he
slowly winds up the line. Taking a seat on a river side rock, he puts the rod
down, the fly still dangling in the water.
He lays back and looks at the sky letting the moment wash over him. As his quickly beating heart returns to
normal rhythm, his breathing comes easier now.
He suddenly feels as alive as he has ever been. The need to land the
fish was secondary; the encounter itself was the primary focus. There is no way
to know when that next 45 seconds of pandemonium will happen again but he will
be ready, he will always be ready and searching for The Take.
Ephesians 6:17- And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
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