March fishing

March 3 - 10am to 6:30pm - Big Tree / Little Tree Lakes
41 degrees air temp., 41 degrees water temp.
Cold, wet, windy, nasty day. Steady rain.
This time of year is prime chironomid time. The pupae seem to head for the surface when the air temp. reaches 50 degrees. There were sporadic splashy rises, indicative of fish chasing emergers. Unless there is a good hatch going on I prefer to drag or cast streamers (white, brown, or black Bunny Brush Baitfish) and Wooly Buggers (white, black, brown, or olive with a little flash). Tried a new Woolly Bugger color, black with red flash along the sides. Let's just say I need to tie up some more. Caught innumerable fish on Woolly Buggers, all about 17 inches. On successive casts from the fishing platform just south of the pontoon boat launch, I caught a couple of hold over fish estimated to be about 6 and 8 pounds respectively on a white Bunny Brush Rainbow Trout streamer.

March 13 - 10am to 3:30pm - Big Tree / Little Tree Lakes
56 degrees air temp.
Cold, wet, windy. Rain showers, wind, and rough water separated by periods of Sun, no wind, and glassy water.
When the weather was nasty there were sporadic rises and a rising black chiro pupa or #18 Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear worked well. When everything calmed down, the glassy surface of the lake was well covered by a #16 cinnamon colored mayfly. The topwater action was really fun. Later in the day a hatch of chiros joined the cinnamon mayflies. These new participants in the hatch were #20 extremely light blue dun, practically light gray, adult chironomids. The fish had seemed to switch from the mayflies to the chiros. A #20 Griffith's Gnat seemed to be the go to fly.

March 15 - 10am to 4pm - Big Tree / Little Tree Lakes
50 degrees air temp.
Fishing was very tough unless you had exactly the right fly and fishing technique. Nothing else worked except black chiro pupae rising off the bottom. I had one black chiro. I was fishing it below a bead head prince nymph. As the flies headed for the surface a fish apparently came up from under the flies. When I landed the fish I was amazed. Deep in its throat, farther down than I could reach with my forceps without damaging the fish, I saw the prince nymph. Somewhere below that had to be the chiromonmid pupa. Retrieve the last black chiro I had and kill the fish, or cut it loose. Well folks, if you need a black chiro pupa, just catch the right fish. He might be near the south shore of the northern most island.
A fellow club member and fisherman that lives 5 minutes from the lake....wouldn't that be just terrible?.....had the perfect setup and technique for fishing the chiro hatch. Sink tip line and #10 bead head Hare's Ear with a #12 black chironomid trailer. I think the Hare's Ear is there for the weight, getting the chiro pupa down fast. He casts out thirty feet or so and lets the flies get to the bottom. Then he slowly backs his pontoon boat. This causes the flies to rise off the bottom and head for the surface just as the real chironomids are.

Clark Skamania Fy Fishers Tie-ins

On tuesdays at the Washington State Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Clark Skamania has a room reserved for whoever wants to to come in and tie and watch others tie specific patterns. March 11 we tied Muddler Minnows, and March 18 we will be tying salt water flies. A great opportunity to rub elbows with fellow tyers in a relaxed atmosphere and listen to some good fish stories. Several of us also bring in surplus materials to had out to those in attendance.

Clark Skamania Fly Fishermen Fly Tying Lessons

For five or six weeks, usually the last week in february through the end of march, the Clark Skamania Fly Fishing club offers their introduction to fly tying classes on thursdays at 7pm, at Fronier Middle School. Class members get to use club tools and materials. Every week they have a different instructor, so they get to see the techniques taught with a little different twist from each instructor. I generally teach the final class. This year I will teach how to tie a Muddler Minnow and a spun deer hair bass bug. At the FFF NW Expo a pretty young lady sat down at my demo table and said "Hi, Rod!" I had no clue who this was, and I am not senile enough not to remember someone that looks like that that claims to know me. "It's me, Kelly, from the fly tying class." I asked her to turn around and let me see her from the back...the back of her head. She did, and yes, I did recognize her then. You see, I assist the tyers in the fourth row of the classroom. There are a couple of women in the third row, but I had never seen their faces....just the back of their heads. Hence the turn around and then I recognized her bit. We enjoyed visiting, and it turns out she also happens to be a new member of the Stonefly Maidens. She was present at their table for the dinner and auction. She also spent a lot of time talking with Brian O'Keefe.....he is old, but in great shape and dresses well. I think if any flirting went on, it came from Brian....that old dog....I am sooo jealous Brian....insert "lol" here. It is interesting having women taking a fly tying class. We have 5 in our class, I think. Two weeks ago, they all missed class because they were out together getting their hair done. That type of activity is rare in an all guy fly tying class.

2008 Pacific Northwest Sportsmen's Show

A very big show. Tons of everything for hunting and fishing. My favorite item was a $90,000 jet boat. Big enough to live on, with a 5 seat totally enclosed weatherprof cockpit. The cockpit (or bridge) had so much room a person could live in there. That feature is convenient because if I brought it home, my wife would insist that I move out of the house and into the boat. This year O'Laughlin shows had a nice fly tying demonstration area. Room for six featured fly tyers along one side of a 24 person fly tying theater. The theater has guest expert tyers scheduled for one hour demonstrations throughout the run of the show. I had one session in the video theater and the rest of the time I was at a demonsration table showing people how to make and use my fur and feather brushes. I am the only one making and selling them that I know of. The only problem with the brushes is that very few people know how they are used because the product is not just another of a particular type of material that people are familiar with. My brushes are unique to the tying world and once a person sees what they can do they are generally impressed at what can be done with them. Another great opportunity to learn from some of the best tyers around the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

2008 Federation of Fly Fishermen Northwest Fly Tying Expo

There are two fly tying events in the Pacific Northwest that the professional and regionally famous fly tyers love to participate in and the fly tying public can't wait to attend. One of them is this Expo held in Albany, OR at the Linn County Fairgrounds the second weekend in March. Great venue, low cost to attend, and a great opportunity to learn tips and techniques from some of the most innovative tyers in the U.S. as well as from excellent tyers just tying 'fishin' flies". The other event is the Bamboo Rod Fair in Sisters, OR in July, which I will write about in another post. Every fly tyer learns something from the Expo. Attendees should bring a camera, notebok and pencil, and a container to put flies in. The approximately 150 tyers demonstrating their skills are there to answer your questions, show you cutting edge techniques, and in most cases, hand out the flies they tie for you. Pick a fly genre and you will find numerous tyers demonstrating how they tie them. There seems to be more Atlantic Salmon fly tyers every year. Those flies are absolutey gorgeous. It takes years to become an expert, but simple patterns are out there. If given enough time and enough money to buy the exotic materials any experienced tyer can tie one, although there are also special techniques for processing and tieing with these materials that will require you to find further instruction. For those of us that are considered featured tyers the Expo is a chance to renew friendships, shake a hand or two, and exchange hugs (there are some very good lady tyers as well). I got to see most of my fly tying buddies this year. Henry Hoffman (one of the nicest people on the planet), Jim and Donna Teeny tieing the famous Teeny Nymph, Mike Marchando, Joe "bead man" Warren, Don Abing (and his ever-present chihuahua), Steve Brocco, Kieth Burkhart, Lee Clark (Clark's Stonefly), Hal Gordon (atlantic salmon flies), Skip Hosfield, Alec Jackson, Gene Kaczmarek, Harry Lemire, Jackson Leong (realistic flies.....his butterflies have been known to fly away and actually mate), Ronn Lucas, Dave and Katie McNeese, John Shewey, Preston Singletary, Curt Stutzman (tied flies for my shop back in 1977...he is very very old), Gene Stutzman, Marc Williamson (another one of the nice guys....a role model whether he likes it or not), and Rich Youngers.
After the expo is over there is a banquet and live auction. There are always beautiful fly plates, rods and reels, guided trips, and best of all, a membership to the Oregon Fishing Club. At the banquet, at a table of their own, were the Stonefly Maidens, an all female fly fishing club that supports breast cancer survivors and raises money to teach women to fly fish. It seems to be rather easy for them to get fantastic items to raffle off as fundraisers. It never hurts to have a bunch of pretty women as friends, and I am really priveledged to know them. They are pretty good fisherpeople as well. I have the opportunity to spend a few hours on the Metolious River with them. I was invited t sit at their table for the banquet and auction, and we were the loudest table in the room. Good people, lots of laughs.....even if my masculinity was challenged by the aucitoneer for sitting with "the girls"....over the microphone, I might add! A very nice Friday and Saturday, looking forward with great anticipation to next year. All in all, a great tying show. Don't miss it next year.