mar - apr 2004 trout line newsletter, tualatin valley trout unlimited

8/9/2019 Mar - Apr 2004 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

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THE TROUT LINETualatin Valley Chapter News

March/April 2004 Editor: David Illig ____________________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER MEETING

Methodist Church - Wesley HallPresident’s Column12555 SW 4th St. Beaverton

By Hank Hosfield

Chapter Meetings are held on the second Thursday of eachmonth at 7:00 pm with a social get-together and the formalmeeting at 7:30 unless otherwise noted in the newsletter

Thanks to the January snow, for the first timein TVTU history we canceled a meeting. Wesent a cancellation notice to our email list themorning of, but we’ve only heard from oneperson who didn’t see it in time whoventured forth into the icy night to find the church closed. Unti

our TVTU web site is up, you can find current meetinginformation and announcements on the events page onWestfly.com. This is a good place to check for our program andmeeting info.

Board of Directors Meetings held just prior to our monthlyChapter meeting at 5:30pm Round Table Pizza, Beaverton.

Joe Warren Thursday, March 11th

For the rest of you who were merely disappointed about thecancellation of Jeff Gottfried’s ultimate wilderness fishingexperience floating Alaska’s Kisaralek River, you’ll be thrilled toknow that we’ve rescheduled this program for our June 10th meeting.

Joe Warren presents fly fishing for Lahontan cutthroat at Omak

Lake. TVTU members who were in the club ten years agoprobably remember the first time Joe Warren did this program.For many of us, it was our first exposure to these unique, hugedenizens of alkaline waters that are uninhabitable for most livingthings. It was very impressive, and many of us put Omak Lake(and/or its Oregon cousin, Mann Lake) on our hit list. Joe sayshe’s added quite a bit to this program since then—knowledge

gleaned over ten more years of fishing Omak, along with newand improved photos.

More good things on the way include a full slate of outings in2004, starting with a combined outing with CRTU April 23-25 atSouth Twin Lake. This is just after ice-out (we hope) and it thebest time to hook rainbows over 20 inches. Subsequent outingdestinations include the Deschutes in May, Timothy Lake in JunGold Lake in July, East Lake in August, and a week at Fall Rivein September.

On the conservation front, TVTU has partnered with US ForestService, Estacada School District, Portland General Electric andEagle Creek Fish Hatchery on an Embrace-A-Stream grant tofund an educational program titled “Savvy About Salmonids.” approved, this project will introduce salmonids to students in thEstacada School District and involve youth in activities thatimpress upon them the importance of environmental values,stewardship and the wild heritage that is as close as theirbackyards. This project would give students an opportunity forhands-on experience with salmonids utilizing the classroom andfield environments. The students will rear hatchery salmonidsnative to the local Clackamas River in an aquarium to study lifehistories, anatomy and water quality. In the field, students woucollect and interpret water quality, macro invertebrate, fish, andspawning data in Wade Creek (and pond), a tributary to theClackamas River—which is home to a small population ofsteelhead and coastal cutthroat trout. The data from these survewill lay the foundation for future restoration work on Wade

Jeff Morgan Thursday, April 8th

Jeff Morgan debuts material from his upcoming book on

hatches. The standard reaction for anyone upon meeting Jeff or

seeing one of his programs for the first time is wonder at howsomeone so young can be such an expert, and how freely heshares the fruits of his research to advance the pursuit of flyfishing for the rest of us. His first book on fishing the Cascades isalready a classic. The word in fly fishing’s academic circles isthat Jeff’s soon-to-be-released book on aquatic invertebrates hasalready earned the praise of fly fishing’s most renowned bugexperts. Jeff is currently teaching and completing his doctorate atStanford, so this is a rather special opportunity, not only to see

Jeff in Oregon, but to get a sneak preview of this major work.

“To Conserve, Protect, And Restore North America’s Cold Water Fisheries And Their Watersheds”



Creek and promote greater return of federal (steelhead) and state(coho) listed salmonids back to this stream. There will be ampleopportunities for TVTU volunteers to help share their knowledgewith these students. We’ll keep you informed of the projectstatus as the grant process progresses.




After years of training our members to renew their TUmemberships through Erle Norman (TVTU membership chair), inorder to take advantage of chapter rebate offers, we’re sad toreport that TU national is no longer offering this program.Hence, it is now easier for members to renew directly with TU viatheir web site, TU.org. However, you’ll still want to rememberour 633 chapter number when filling out your online renewalform.

How about a fishing report on the Williamson Rivers andvicinity?Or just send some nice digital pictures you have. We need yourinput, please. [email protected] 296 9050

Internet Resources for the Angler

Rod LundbergOur next big fundraising effort will be a banquet auction in early2005. We are combining forces with CRTU to put this on and willbe calling on TVTU members to join the banquet committeeforming early in the fall.

If you’re like me, you want to know “How’s the fishin’ been?”It’s often convenient enough to call up one of the fly shops, butsay it’s 8 o’clock in the evening and you’re trying to decidebetween a pre-dawn jaunt for coastal steelhead or a trip east forredsides. If you have access to the internet, it is a treasure troveof information if you know where to look. Here’s a few of thesites that I’ve found useful:

Lastly, but most importantly, we are still looking for volunteer(s)to help us design and publish a new TVTU web site. There willbe a budget and some compensation available for this task. Ifyou’re interested, or know a likely candidate, please contact meat [email protected], or 503-228-6553.

WeatherTight lines, Hank

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/ORZ006.php?warnco

unty=ORC067&city=Portland We Want Women!It’s always wise to know what you should wear to the party. Thgives you the Portland conditions and forecast, and you can enta town near your destination to get more local information.

The Tualatin Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited is not an all malefishing/conservation club by design. Approximately one-quarterof the clubs members are women. However, it is unusual to seewoman at our meetings or on outings. If there is a lady memberwho is interested in becoming more active in the organization,please contact any board member for more information. This isyour chapter and we want to hear your voice. Andy Andrews

River Levels http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/rt

Because if it’s flooding, you don’t want to go there. If you’reinterested in Washington rivers, replace the ‘or’ with ‘wa’ in theaddress.

Fly Shops

Remember to Sign up New Members to TroutUnlimited. It’s a great bargain for what you get. Lots of

people aren’t members who would enjoy it.

Creekside Fly Fishing (Salem) -http://www.creeksideflyfishing.com/fishingreport.htm

National has removed the token we received for renewals.However, we still get something for new member signups. Soplease have people sign up through Erle rather than some othermethod.

Creekside’s report covers the northern coastal rivers as well asthe Deschutes, Metolius, McKenzie, North Santiam, Crooked, anFall Rivers.

Welches Fly Shop - http://www.flyfishusa.com/about-our-waters/our-waters-home/river-report.html

.

UPCOMING Newsletter MaterialWelches covers the Sandy and Deschutes.We need material for upcoming issues. We would enjoy having

some other guest FLY-of-the-Month tying and using articles ofyour favorite flies. I would also like some GEAR opinions aboutvarious rods, reels, lines, leaders, gadgets, etc., of fly fishing andwhat you like and dislike. Opinions are all we ask for. It doesn’thave to be scientifically tested, just your experience and opinionsare worth hearing.

There are others, of course, but these sites are particularly reliabwith regular updates on fishing conditions.

General Forecasts

Westfly - http://www.westfly.com/cgi-bin/entryPage?state=OR How about some interesting Salmon recipes? Hatchery of course.

How about an article about some fishing experiences that aresomewhat unique to women? Or how about an article about achild’s fishing experience? Or a mother’s day or fathers daytribute to fishing?

Westfly’s Scott Richmond provides a monthly summary of whato expect on a selection of the state’s most popular waters interms of run timing, hatches, flies, etc.


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.westfly.com/cgi-bin/entryPage?state=OR




mailto:[email protected]



There are many, many other sites out there if you’re interested inhunting them down, but this is a pretty good start if you’re justbeginning your search. Rod




Fly of the MonthAll-Purpose Floating Nymph A.P. Floating Nymph

Dick Rohrbaugh

With the spring Baetis hatches soon to begin on the Deschutesthis is a good time to start filling the boxes with killer flies. Likemany Oregon fly fishers this is one of my favorite times of theyear. If you hit a cloudy day and are on the river in the middle ofthe day, chances are you will enjoy some of the best dry-flyfishing of the year. So our pattern this month is one I cooked upfor just this occasion.

In his masterful book, The Dry Fly, Gary La Fontainedemonstrated that during a hatch you will often catch more fishon a floating emerger than on a full-blown surface dun. That isespecially true in the early stages of a hatch, but often remainsconsistent for the duration. Hatches that produce a lot of crippleslike the Pale Morning Dun or Baetis make this especiallyimportant.

Of course there are dozens of patterns to match this stage of ahatch but I am always looking for patterns that are generic.Generic flies save clutter on both your tying desk and in your flyboxes. If you learn to tie them well all you have to do is vary thesize and color to match a wide variety of hatching insects. If theyare durable and easy to tie, so much the better.

There is nothing especially fancy or new about this pattern, infact there are many patterns tied in this style. I simply adapted itto the Baetis (I also use it in different colors for a PMD emerger)we see on the Deschutes. Since spring Baetis are larger than theirfall cousins, we will tie this one in size 16. Here is how you tie it.

Hook: Tiemco 900 BL or equivalent – size 16Thread: 8/0, oliveTail: Pheasant tail fibersRib: Fine copper wireBody: Pheasant tail fibersWing Case: Gray, closed cell foam (1/8” thick)Thorax: Olive superfine dubbing (or equivalent)Hackle Dark olive (or dark dun)

1. Tie in the pheasant tail fibers, making the tail about thelength of the hook shank. Do not trim the excess. It willbe used to form the body.

2. Tie in the fine gold wire, keeping it out of the way once

tied in. Then wrap the pheasant tail fibers forward toform the body of the fly. The body should occupy nomore than the back half of the hook.

3. Reverse wrap the copper wire for forming the rib.Reverse wrapping is necessary to prevent the wire fromdisappearing into the body fibers.

4. Cut a thin sliver of the gray closed cell foam (a little lessthan 1/8” wide) and tie it in just in front of the body.Tie it in pointing back toward the bend of the hook andleave it there, out of the way, until the final step.

5. Tie in a good quality, dry-fly hackle with the shiny sideof the feather facing forward. The hackle fibers should

be slightly longer than the shank of the hook. Leavethe hackle standing upright and out of the way.

6. Dub the thorax, making it fairly bulky compared to thebody. Be sure to leave yourself room for the head of thfly. Superfine dubbing works well here both because iis easy to dub on smaller flies and because it floatsreasonably well.

7. Palmer the hackle forward (open wraps) over the thoraA few wraps are all that is necessary. Then trim thefibers on top of the hook, leaving only those on the sidand bottom.

8. Pull the foam forward over the thorax forming the wincase of the fly. Let it form a lump rather than pulling idown too tightly. Tie the foam down well and then asyou get ready to trim the excess, stretch the foam a bitbefore you cut it. This way you get a cleaner cut.

9. Wrap a small head on the fly and whip finish. Cementthe head.

10. Finally, trim the hackle fibers on the bottom of the hooleaving only those on the sides.

Fish the fly with a traditional dead-drift float. There is no need grease it because the foam will keep the fly in the surface film.You do not want it floating too high. Will you be able to see thisfly very well? No, but it does not matter. Fish the rise. But dowatch the area in which the fly is floating carefully, because ofteyou will see little more than a flashing side. When tied as a PM(same size, but yellow body and thorax) and fished over thathatch it will often be taken so subtly that no rise ring will appeaThey just suck it down. On Baetis the rises are usually moreapparent. If you are obsessed with wanting to see the fly, tie itwith white closed cell foam. It will make no difference to the fi

Baetis hatches are of course a bit unpredictable. Cloudy days ar

best, though I have occasionally seen them in bluebird days. If is raining, they can be spectacular. I have seen them as early asMarch (the earliest I usually show up) and as late as early June(and, of course, again in the fall). One of the best I ever saw waduring the salmon fly hatch near South Junction. April and earMay, however, are the prime times. If you hit the hatch duringthat time, give this one a try. It will out-fish a traditional dunpattern every time. Dick




Fly Tyer’s Corner Dick Rohrbaugh Tips for Fly Tyers! Over the years tyers have accumulated a lot ofcreative ideas. In tying, like everything else, experience is alwaysthe best teacher. Here is a new set of tips to try the next time youtie.

MaterialsIt is always worth checking your local sewing store for

fly tying materials. A good example is rubber legs. The elasticwaistbands sold in sewing stores can provide a hefty supply oflegs in different colors at very little cost. Some of the rubberstrands in waistbands is very fine and therefore makes excellentlegs on very small patterns. I once found some in black thatprovided me with a lifetime supply of small diameter legs forbeetle and ant patterns. You can even touch them up with apermanent marker if you need legs in a variegated pattern.

TechniquesOne of the hardest things to learn when beginning to tie

is to keep stray hackle fibers from getting caught in the headwraps of the fly. The problem is made worse if you crowd the

head, something almost all beginning tyers tend to do.In the next issue we will share a tip for preventing this

from happening, but for now here is one tip for dealing with theproblem if it has already occurred. Use a hackle guard to coverthe hackle fibers at front of the fly. Allow only the stray, unrulyones caught in the head wraps to protrude. Then singe off thestray stuff with a lighter. The result won’t win you any tyingawards, but the fish don’t care and it will give you unobstructedaccess to the eye of the hook.

Tools and EquipmentHave trouble keeping spools of floss from unraveling all

over the place? The niches cut in the ends of the spools work

fairly well, but they tend to fray the floss and often come undone.You can buy plastic spool covers that will keep things neatly inplace and they work very well. An inexpensive source for lots ofthese is a plastic bookbinding strip that can be found at the localoffice supply store. Just cut the plastic strip into sections and youhave a nice supply of spool covers. The strips are available in anumber of sizes to cover whatever spools you have on hand.

The ’63 RanchAndy Andrews

I have often spoken with fondness of the Livingston, Montana

area to my wife. She took my words to heart and decided that a‘family vacation’ to the area was in order. From the Internet sheselected the ’63 Ranch’, a dude ranch so named as the ranch wasstarted in 1863.

I had visions of fishing the Bolder and Shields River (but wouldpass on the Yellowstone) while my wife and daughter rodehorses. The truth is that I’ve never been impressed with theYellowstone having fished it long and hard with guides, only tobe skunked. Somewhere on the road near Butte, I talked of myfishing plans to my wife and discovered to my dismay, that this

was a ‘family vacation’, I would be required to ‘ride a horse’.Now I enjoy a John Wayne movie as much as the next babyboomer but I’ve noticed that horses are always bigger than I amThey seem to know that I know nothing about them or theirways, and they end up using that knowledge to humiliate me. Oother expeditions, I have left horses at an inappropriate momenand probably uttered a few ‘X’ rated words about the nag that Ihad recently been sitting on. Viewing the animal from theground, they always seemed to be smiling at me. But I could seethat I was again going to have to sit on a biting, foot flattening,constantly moving, flea infested nag over which I would had nocontrol. Oh God, I’m gonna die!

After finding the somewhat remote ’63 Ranch’, we settled in toour cabin. Most of the guests we met had returned year after yeto the ‘63’. A good number of the guests were foreign and seemto be enjoying their first American adventure. My hopes rose thI would not be the only horse - stupid guest in attendance, or thfirst to die.

The next morning after breakfast, all 30-some guests met at thestables to learn about horses. It was later explained that thelengthy introduction to horsemanship was a requirement of theinsurance carrier. Oh Goodie! That piece of information was truencouraging. Shortly before lunch we were introduced to thehorse we would ride for the week. My daughter was given a ligstrawberry colored horse with a flowing golden mane, namedBridger. My wife saddle up a horse akin to her personality nam‘Sassy’. I waited for my tall, steady mount that would surly benamed Sir Winston. Near the end of the introductions, a small,fat, black and white pony was lead from the barn and I wasintroduced to my mount…Bubba! All kidding aside, the folks atthe ‘63’ were very patient, knowledgeable and understandingwith those who were new to horses. I was able to enjoy the little

time I spent on Bubba, who also seemed to understand my plighand built my confidence by never making a miss-step. Now if Icould just learn to enjoy trotting….

When not fishing, Bubba and I accompanied a number of other‘dudes’ in moving cattle from one pasture to another. I truth is, gave Bubba his head and squeezed the saddle horn into a post. was obvious he knew what to do and I was just there to enjoy thview, which by the way, was grand.

I met a guest from the East Coast who invited me on a trip crosscountry to the Bolder River. The day was overcast, windy andsomewhat cool. I did not take my waders to Montana and so I

was wet wading. I had caught number of whitefish but the trouseemed to allude us. After crossing an area that was belly –button deep, I rounded a corner to find I was standing eye to eywith a large black bear. I grasped my fly rod firmly figuring thaif all else failed, I take a shot at whipping the big sucker to deathThe bear looked me up and down, then turned and ambled off. slowly backed away, keeping an eye to the bear. I felt I had mada gallant and dignified retreat. Later a witness testified that Icould have bested his sons track team time for the fastest 50-yardash back to the car.




The Shield River was very good to me in the number and size oftrout, while the Yellowstone was producing few fish for anyone.But my most memorable fish came whilefishing a small creek on the ‘63’ property. I was given directionsto the creek by the ranch hands and later parked the car in thelocation they described as productive. After walking a few feet inthe creek, I started looking for the film crew from ‘America’sFunniest Video’. This waterway was twelve feet across andinches deep. Trees hung overhead and on both sides. Casting a 9-foot rod was going to be a challenge. I finally came across a smallpool and my first cast back cast was rewarded by hanging up myfly in one of the finest little alders you ever seen. This was goingto be tough! I finally did develop a few techniques and managedto pull a good number of native cutts in the 12-inch range. As Istood casting into the tail - out of a larger pool, a good size fishsucked down my Adams Irresistible and sped downstreambetween my feet, which were in less than 8 inches of water. As Itried to step back over the line with my right foot, my left footlost contact with the bottom and I ended up sitting on my butt inthe middle of the creek, holding the rod high still fighting thefish. America’s Funniest missed a good one there. I soon netted avery pretty 15 - inch native brown that I quickly returned to thepool from which he had come..The meals at the ‘63’ were very good and there was always plentyof food. Meals were served family style with 6 or 8 people at atable. In the evening there was entertainment. In a coveredoutside arena, bands would play, or there were country /western signers. One night while trying to learn a few squaredance moves from the staff (most of who were Polish), mydaughter got up and started teaching line dancing to the guests!My daughter, a closet line dancer! Who knew? If you found theentertainment boring, there was a pool table, or there was a cozyroom loaded with books covering a variety of interests.

At some point, we made the decision to return one day to the ‘63’.And if the type of vacation I described appeals to you, you willfind that spending a week at the ‘63’ to be well worth your timeand money. Andy

Fishing Outings

April 23rd, 24th and 25thSouth Twin Lakes (Deschutes County)

May 15th and 16th Deschutes River(Trout Creek)

June 26th (and 27th) Timothy Lake

July 10th (and 11th) Gold Lake

August 21st and 22nd East Lake

September 16th - 22nd Fall River

October 9th and 10th Crooked River

Pesticides, Farmers, Salmon, and the EPAA recent court ruling restricted the use of 38 pesticides near

salmon streams and required point-of-sale warnings on produccontaining pesticides that may harm salmon.The Judge ordered the EPA to consult with the National Oceaniand Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to establishpermanent restrictions needed to protect salmon from 54pesticides, over a two and a half year timeline.

The court’s ruling puts in place no-spray buffers of 100 yards foaerial applications and 20 yards for ground applications, withexceptions for certain uses that are unlikely to pollute water. Thcourt order also requires warnings for products containing sevepesticides that have polluted urban salmon streams. Farm intergroups have been crying foul about what economic impact thiswill have on them and society. Even being sympathetic to farminterests, it’s a little hard to understand how they can supportpouring pesticides into rivers. Surely there is a model of farmsuccess that doesn’t require poisoning the rivers. It makesfarmers look bad if that’s their position.

However, the decision did not go without response. Nine dayslater, the Bush administration issued regulations to cut wildlifeagencies out of the loop on EPA decisions regarding pesticideuse, a move that threatens endangered species and their habitatCurrently, the EPA must consult with the federal fish andwildlife agencies to assess the effect of new pesticide use onendangered wildlife prior to approving their use. The newregulations eliminate that requirement, leaving endangeredwildlife impact assessments up to the EPA, which has a horribletrack record of protecting species from the harmful effects ofpesticides.

The new Bush regulations will do the following:* shut fish and wildlife experts out of endangered speciesprotection by allowing EPA to assess the impacts of pesticides oendangered species alone* allow outdated science to be the basis for determining howendangered species should be protected from pesticides* give the chemical industry special participation rights notshared by the public.

The EPA has repeatedly failed to protect endangered species suas salmon. For example, the EPA continues to authorize use ofpesticides such as diazinon that fish and wildlife agencies havefound can harm endangered species.

Members of Oregon state boards and commissions are vitalparticipants in policy making, regulation, advisory and advocacefforts for a wide variety of issues affecting all Oregonians.Governor Kulongoski makes direct appointments to




approximately 200 boards and continuously recruits qualifiedapplicants.The website for executive appointments ishttp://www.governor.state.or.us/exec_apnts.htm. The siteincludes a summary of the appointment criteria for all boards andcommissions, a vacancy list and an expiration list, and a list ofwebsites for boards and commissions.




1

Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited March/April 2004

fficersPresident: Hank Hosfield228-6553 [email protected]

Vice-President Kevin [email protected]

860-6355

Treasurer: Rod Lundberg91-5308 [email protected]

Board of Directors:

Eric Thompson [email protected]

Dick [email protected] 636-3877

Alex Barkume - [email protected]

Andy [email protected] 646-2375

Erle Norman [email protected]

Membership Chair

Jerry [email protected]

639-9408

Seth Isenberg [email protected]

mar - apr 2004 trout line newsletter, tualatin valley trout unlimited

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