may - jun 2005 trout line newsletter, tualatin valley trout unlimited

8/9/2019 May - Jun 2005 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

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

THE TROUT LINETualati n Valley Chapter News

MAY/ JUNE 2005 Editor: David Illig

Chapter Meetings are held at t he LUCKYLABRADOR on the second Wednesday ofeach month at 7:00 pm with a social get-together and theformal meeting at 7:30 unless otherwise noted in thenewslett er or website. Lucky Labrador, MultnomahVillage , 7675 SW Capit ol Hw y . Port land , (503) 244-2537.Food and Bev erages avail able.

Board of Dir ector s Meeti ngs held just pr ior to ourmonthly Chapter meeting at 5:30pm at the Lucky Lab.

Th ur sday May 11, Sum m erSteelh eadi ng w it h Mi k e Dul eyBorn and raised in a fly f ishing f amily, Mik e call s himselfa confir med trout f ishing bum. From New Zealand toAlaska, including stops in the Bahamas, if it swims andeats fl ies, Mik e has chased it . He¹s part icul arly fon d ofsteelhead. He¹s had a chance to st udy t hem closelyduring the past11 years he¹s spent guiding on the Deschutes and JohnDay rivers. And f or13 years bef ore he start ed his ownguide servi ce, he worked f or Larry Schoenborn taki ngvisit in g guides who appeared on ³Fishing t he West² outf ishi ng. As you might i magine, he¹s gleaned atr emendous amount ofknow ledge. Thi s guid e¹s guide will show us where andhow to i ncrease our odds of hooking up wi th sum mersteelhead.

Th ur sday Jun e 8, Fish in g CascadeLak es w it h Mar c Will iamsonMarc Will iamson is a noted fly t yer and fl y fi shinginst ru ctor wi th over 40years of experi ence. He's a Prostaff member f or Templ e, Whit ing Farm s andDaiichi ,former guide, and co-founder of the Christian Fly FishingRound-up.And there¹s almost nothing he likes more thansharing hi s fi shing knowl edge. Marc will show us some ofthe bett er f ly f ishing lakes under the shadow of Mt. Hoodto Centr al Oregon, along wit h t he most im portant patternsand tacti cs for still water success this sum mer.

Pr esident ’s Colu m n Kev in Conn oll yThe past 18 mont hs have been a peri od of signif icantchange in m y li fe - I'll spare you the details f or now. But itis necessary f or m e t o step down f rom th e rol e as chapterPresident. Th is h as been a f antastic experience for m e andI greatl y appreciate your support during t his ti me. Thechapter has a solid Board of Directors that care about thefu tur e of our club and the lakes and str eams in whi ch wefish. I urge everyone to continue to support TroutUnlim it ed i n any way you can. Sin ce most people are busyit ’s about m aking the tim e, not having the time. And Iunderstand there are lim it s as I have foun d for myself . Iwill still be acti ve in t he chapter and look f orward to

seeing you at t he meeti ngs and st reamsi de. Now wo uld bea very good time for YOU to think about getting moreinvolved. A nd joining the BOARD is a great way to do it.It’s not very t ime int ensive. It is m ostly a process to bringnew ideas, inspir ations, and creati ve th ink ing, anddiscussion. You also get t o hang out m ore at t he LuckyLab. If you can make just most of the mont hly m eeti ngsyou’re a candidate. That’s how I got start ed. You willenj oy the experi ence. We’re parti cularl y look ing f or newpeople who also know more new people to bring new lifeand blood to a vibrant organization.

One of my largest projects this last year was to pull offanother successfu l BANQUET . And we did it . I think t hateverybody who was t here came away wit h a good f eeli ngabout th e evening. We m ade a nice amount of mon ey f ora rather small scale auction. People had a really goodti me. And we made some new f ri ends in t he process.

Obviously t here are lot s of p eople to t hank and we aregoing to have several web site pages dedicated to thatcompletely at a latter t im e. For now l et me thank all t hosefr om bot h t he TV and t he Clac Chapters who put it




together. Thanks to all of th e donors who gave generouslyto our cause. And t hanks t o everyone who showed up t hatevening f or a f ull house and shared th eir fun makingabilities. Special thanks to those who brought theircheckbooks and credit cards and m ade some wise,brilliant, cost effective buys. Next time we’re going to havesix Native American blankets! I’m not sure why nobodywanted to go t o Manit oba. The biddi ng was hot and heavyth anks t o t he very prof essional aucti oneer, James Kenney.

I woul d li ke to th ank U.S. Represent ative Wu f or m akingan appearance and t alki ng f ish and polit ics wit h l ots ofus. He is very appr oachable and h as th e makings of a fl yf isherm an. Tom Wolf gave an im passioned openingspeech I and others wil l always remember. In f act, youwi ll assuredly be heari ng th e phr ase: “MY HOUSE, MYRULES!” f requentl y fr om p eople who attended. I kn ow mychildren wil l be hearing it at some auspicious moment sothey can tell a simi lar story 20 years from n ow. Tomreminded us that this environment is our s and t hat weneed n ever t ake a backseat to th ose in power wh o don’tremember whose house it i s. And how we must t ake careof i t .

The vast consensus of th ose who att ended was that i t w asa very fun night. It was a large project that took a lotteamwork f rom a lot of people. It was a worth yaccompl ishm ent for both chapt ers. Please add yourthanks to those who made it happen and to the donorswho m ade it possible. Shop i n t heir stor es and u se th eirservices and let t hem know t hat you k now t hey weregenerous and gave to our cause, which i s also t heir cause.

Thanks again. I appr eciate the support . Kevin

Fly of t h e Mon th : Th e X Caddi sDick Rohrbaugh

It won’t be long befor e the caddis start hatching on t heDeschut es and other area ri vers. So now is the tim e t o fi llyour fl y box with caddis patterns. I always go with bothpupa/ emerger pattern s (eit her La Fontain e’s sparkl e pupaor Craig Mathews’ Iris Caddis) as well as adul t s. Unli keMayflies, where emerging stages precede the adult dunson the water, with the hydropsyche Caddis that is soprevalent throughout the West it is the other way around.Adult s are ovipositi ng and f lit ti ng about as soon as theday warm s, but emergences are just befor e dark. That i swhen you should swit ch fr om t he adult to t he emerger.

No doubt the most comm on adult pattern throughout t heWest is Al Tr oth’s Elk Hair Caddis. It is a sim ple fly t o tieand extremely durable (two of my main cri teria when abox needs fil ling quickl y). A slightly m ore eff ectivevariati on, however, i s t he X Caddis d eveloped by CraigMath ews of Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowston e. . Ithas two major d if ferences fr om t he standard Elk HairCaddis. One is th e lack of a palm ered body hackl e. Thi s

allows th e fl y to f loat lower in t he water. It also has atrailing shuck (it is NOT a tail; Caddis flies have no tails)The shuck and th e low-fl oatin g prof ile mi mic an emergingCaddis.This fl y is simpl icit y itself . Here is the recipe:

Hook : Tiemco 900 BL or equivalent – size 16 f orHydr opsyche Caddis

Thr ead: 8/ 0, t anShuck : Tan or grey ZelonBody: Dubbing to match naturals (dark brown

work s well everywh ere)Wing: Elk or Deer hair -- your choice (Deer f lares

bett er and f loats bett er because it i s a bitmor e holl ow. Elk i s mor e dur able)

1. Tie in the Zelon. Make it about the length of thehook shank.

2 . Dub a tapered body.3. Tie in the Elk or Deer hair wing in Elk Hair Caddis

style. It should be no longer t han the bend of t hehook, or perhaps a bit shorter.




Is that simp le or what? To get a lit tl e bett er f lare on thewing, try tyi ng it wit h deer hair rather than Elk. You wanthair th at is a bit hollow, th ough not as much as the typicalsoft, hollow f air used for spinning.

If you are fi shing during t he day, an upstr eam dry-flypresent ation is usually the most eff ecti ve. If Caddis areemerging, however, throw i t i nto t he bott om of rif f leswhere th ey fl att en out in to a pool. That is where Caddistyp ically emerge. Because the patt ern h as no body hackl eand uses a shuck at th e rear i t f loats very low i n t he waterand serves well as an emerger. Late in t he evening, neardark, w hen th e caddi s are emerging everywh ere and t hetrout are going crazy (but you cannot get a take on thesurface), pull the X Caddis under at the end of the float.You will be surpr ised.

Dick

Fly Ty er ’s Cor nerDick Rohrbaugh

Over the years t yers have accum ulated a lot of creati veideas. In ty in g, li ke everyt hing else, experience is alw aysth e best t eacher. Here is a new set of t ips t o tr y th e nexttim e you tie.

MaterialsIf you tie steelhead or saltwater flies with colored headsyou may want t o thi nk carefully about how you create alacquered head. Most colored lacquers (includi ng thefi nger nail polish I use) are too th ick t o penetrate theth read of t he wrapped head. To get a bett er result , maketh e fi rst coat a th in, clear head cement . That wil l bothcreate a secure head and also make the colored lacquerless likely to bleed into adjacent materials.

TechniqueEver have tr ouble gett ing m aterials to st ay on top

of t he hook as you t ie them on? The thr ead always has atendency to push stuf f to t he far side of t he hook as youtight en it down. This makes learning the “ soft loop” anessential technique for good tying.

The sof t loop is easy to do. Hol d the materi al youare tying in on top of the hook wit h the thumb andfor efi nger of your l eft hand. Then bring the thread up andslide it back int o the pinch between t humb and f orefi nger.Bri ng th e thread down th e same way, pinchi ng it again.Finally, pull straight down on t he thread t o secure themateri al. Voila! Everythi ng stays exactly where you wanti t .

Tools and Equi pm entHead cement th at dr ies up is a perennial pr oblem

for fl y tyers. You can keep adding thinner up to a point,but sooner or later you have to start over. In ord er todelay that event as long as possible, add several marblesto your bott le of cement. By raising the fl uid l evel anddecreasing th e air volume in t he bott le you can m inim izeevaporation. A higher flu id level also helps you get th estuff on your bodkin wit hout making a mess.

Remember t o Sign up New Members toTrout Unlimit ed . It’s a great bargain for what theyget. Especially at the half-off int roductory m embership at$17.50 Lots of people aren’t members who would enjoy it.We sti ll get som eth ing f or new member signups. Newmembers can sign u p at www.tu.org/ intro and enteringcode 63 3 for Tualati n Valley chapter. If they prefer apaper membership application, contact Erle to send it tothem.

Fir st Clu b Outi n g of th e Year i s aHuge Success.

TVTU joins CRTU on the Deschutes.By Hank Hosf ield

The headline above thi s story m ay be the fi rst fi shing lieof t he season. Th en again, success can be a verysubjective thin g. Likewise, each of t he various membersof bot h t he Tualati n Valley and Clackamas River chapt erswho j oined club f orces to descend on th e Deschutes Rivernear Maupin on A pril 17 came to thi s outing wit h his owncrit eri a, hopes and expectati ons. For m e, it was awelcome break aft er an ugly w eek of Tur bo Tax, and t hesad annual account ing i n t he great scorer’s book and m yhard reconciliation about another year passing withnothing m uch to show for i t. But even in good years,fi shing the day af ter rendering m y pound of f lesh hasbecome an annual ritual for me, a thin slice of salvation.So I was all over An dy Andr ew’s out ing in vit e. Oh please,cold wat ers of t he Deschutes: pour over m e and washaway the feelings of anger, shame and frustration--for justa day, at least.

For m any, th e Deschut es River is Mecca. It ’s thi s big

broad-shouldered, brawling northwestern river of almostmyt hic statur e among trou t anglers. As one of an ever-dim inishing breed of native Oregonians who grew u p bothwit h f ly f ishing and the love of t he outdoors, one wouldthi nk I woul d be one of t he river’s biggest f ans. The truthis, I fishth e Deschutes about as oft en as I go to t he dent ist to h avemy teeth cleaned--twice a year or less-- and I greet th eexperience wit h simil ar enthusiasm. I do it m ostlybecause I t hink it will be good f or m e; it wi ll p erhapsmake me a better angler.

To say that I arrive at its banks with low expectationscould be an understatement. I have yet to enj oy anybanner ki nd of f ishing day on th e Deschutes. In f act,most of the tim e when I’ve fished here the fishin g has notonly been poor for me, it’s also been m ediocr e at best f ormy f ellow anglers who have had and can recall manybetter days. I menti oned th is possibl e curse work ingth rough m e to som e of th e Clackamas guys who werefi nishing up breakfast at camp whi le eagerly lookingf orward to hungry redsid es and singing reels. But I don’treally thi nk I’m particularly cursed. I just think I ’m out ofmy comfor t zone. And I’m constantly asking everyone toexplain th e allur e of the prospect of breaki ng one’s ass upand down t hat brutal river canyon for mostly 10 to 15-inch fi sh—oft en not even tr out.

http://www.tu.org/intro

http://www.tu.org/intro




Volunteer Opportunities in Town.To register for the activities below please call MelissaHiggins at 503/ 629.6305 x 2953 or emai l atmh iggins@th prd.com . . Pl ea se b r ing a shovel , set o floppers and heavy-duty work gloves, if possible foractivities listed below..

Hylan d Forest Park9am t o 1pm

Satur day, May 7, 2005Join us as we celebrate No Ivy Day by removing English ivyfrom the natural areas of Hyland Forest ParkRefreshments will be provided. Address: We will meet atthe park entrance located on the north side of SW SextonMount ain Dri ve, just east of SW Sexton Mount ain Court.

Cedar Mill Par k9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 7, 2005Join us as we celebrate No Ivy Day by removing English ivyfrom the natural areas of Cedar Mill Park. Refreshmentswill be provided. Addr ess: We wil l meet at the lowerparking lot of the park, located at 10385 NW Cornell Road.

Rosa Park9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21, 2005Join u s as we celebr at e SOLV’s Down by the Riverside byremoving Himalayan blackberry from the ripariancor r idor of Celebrit y Creek. Refreshments will be pr ovided.Addr ess: We wil l m eet at th e park entr ance located on SWRosa Rd., j ust east of SW 196 th Avenue.

Lowami Hart Woods Park9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21, 2005Address: We will meet at the park entrance located

at14895 SW Hart Road, right across from SW DunsmuirLane. Please feel free to park along Dunsmuir Lane.

Hideaway Park9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21, 2005A dd ress: T he p ar k i s l ocat ed on t he east si de of SWOleson Rd., j ust sout h of SW Miles Court .

Beacon Hill Wetlands Park9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21, 2005Address : The park i s located inside of SW TurquoiseLoop. To get there f rom Murray Blvd., go west on SWSexton Mountain Drive and turn left onto SW 154 th Ave.Take a left onto SW Turquoise Loop and a right onto SWTurquoise Court. We will meet at the park entrance off ofSW Turquoise Court.

Jor dan/ Jackie Husen Park s9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21, 2005Add ress: We wi ll m eet at Jackie Husen Park , locat ed at10955 NW Reeves St .

Moonshadow Par k9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21 , 2005Add ress: We wi ll meet at the park ent rance on SW Al denRoad, ju st east of 67 th Avenue.

Florence Point Park9am t o 1pmSatur day, May 21 , 2005Addr ess: We wil l m eet at t he park entrance located on SWPicasso Place. To get there from SW Oleson Rd., take asoft left onto SW 80 th Ave. Take a left onto SW TaylorsFerry Rd.(stop sign) Just after the road starts to curve tothe right, take a left onto SW Picasso Place, which deadends i nt o t he park. Please park along th e street.

Sigh t casti ng f or h uge r ain bow s atFrog Lake. By Hank Hosfi eld

Most of us have driven past Frog Lake many times withouta second thought. Jeff Morgan damned it wit h faintpraise in his book about fishing the Cascades, calling it a

good place to teach someone how to fly fish, butotherwi se unchallenging. I would only add th at it’s alovely spot f or a picnic.

Unless, of course, like m e you also get excit ed about sightcasting to rainbow tr out over ten pounds!

If you’ve never been to Frog Lake bef ore, you shoul d k nowit ’s a shallow bowl SE of Mt . Hood, coveri ng about 11acres and maxing out at about 15 f eet of depth. It ’s alsoheavily stocked with some of the smallest silvery hatcheryrainbows you’l l ever see--along wit h up to 100 very l argebrood trout t ypically r anging 6 to 13 pounds. The hugenumbers of impossible-not-to-catch hatchery fish alonemake Frog Lake incredibly popu lar wit h the masses. Thi sis not someplace where you’ll go for solitude or a quiet,contempl ative f ishi ng experience. No, th is would benothing m ore than some rather pictur esque fi shing hell ifnot f or t he presence of t hose huge rainbows.

I’d had f ir st heard about t hese lun kers some years ago. Iwasn’t i nterested. And t o this day I don’t know whatinit ially possessed me to go there with m y fl oat t ube. Imu st have reall y been Jones-ing to f ish. I do kn ow it wasearly June, and I had heard t he big f ish had been st ocked.

I dr ove up early befor e sun-up and was on t he waterbefor e 6:30am. I put my f loat tube in at the boat rampand kicked toward the mi ddle where I saw f ish gobblingmi dges on the calm , mi sty surf ace. I quick ly caughtseveral of these shakers, finding nothing much over 10inches, and just as quickly deemed this to be fruitless andmoved away f rom t he schooling mass in hope of f indi ngone of tho se big guys. I pu t on a big sealbugger t hat Ihoped would be too big for the runt s to grab and t rolled itnear t he bottom th rough t he deeper areas of t he lake.Frog Lake is clear enough t o see the bottom , so I f igur edin a small l ake like thi s I should event ually be able to spotwhere the big fish

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are hold ing. I covered that whol e lake once wit hout seeing

anythi ng. Then fi nally, a lit tl e af ter 7am when a lit tl emore sunlight was on the water I saw my f irst br ooders. Iabout wet myself. There were two 6-8 pound f ish cruisingnear t he NW shore in about f our f eet of water. I could seethem quit e well against t he tan silt y bott om.

I could tell you all about how I stalked and eventuallylanded this first fish, or of the subsequent successfultr ips, but i nstead I’m ju st going to cut to t he chase andgive you the rudimentary facts and strategy you need inorder to hook up consistently.

With all of th e gear-chu ckers lini ng t he bank s andtroll ing pow er bait , aren’t the br ooders quickl y fi shedout?No. The trol lers spook the fi sh into hiding and gett inglockj aw. Most of t he day these brooders hang out on t hebott om i n th e deeper areas and d on’t f eed. They’re reall yonly vulnerable during t he early morni ng hours before thesun gets too hi gh over t he water. Thi s is the ti me they’reout cruising for food.

What k in d of food is in th e lak e?The lake bottom i s alm ost entirely silted with lit tl e weedgrowth. It h as a poor insect population other thanmi dges. But t hey don’t call it Frog Lake f or nothi ng. Earlyin t he spri ng th e shorelin e edges are black wit h t adpoles.

Do t he br ooders eat t he tadpoles?

Yes. In th e mor nin g th ey crui se th e shallow fl ats lookingfor something tasty and tadpole-like to come along.

Do th ey eat anyt hin g else?Not consistentl y. They don’t have many choices. Rarelyyou’ll see one snap at som eth ing on t he sur f ace. They’reprobably t aking terrestr ials that get blown i n. There justaren’t many bugs in the water.

What ki nd of gear should you use?I use a G Loomis GLX 5-weight with a Cortland Clear Camointermediate sinking line attached to a 12-foot

fl uor ocarbon leader tapered down to 4x. Fli es: tadpol e,oliv e stil lwater nym ph, olive/ orange sealbugger.

How do y ou fi nd t he brooders?Park yourself in the shallow west end of the lake andwatch for dark shadows moving along the bottom . Mostof the time the water is too rippled to see well underneathat a distance, so you spot the fish by their shadows at thesurf ace. Once you’ve learned to identi f y the fish by th eirshadows you can put yourself in position to lead your castin t he direction th ey’re heading. If it is really wi ndy youcan’t see much of anythi ng, and f ishing is very dif f icult.Bli nd casti ng to them is not of t en successful . The bestconditions f or spott ing f ish are alm ost always presentbetween 7-9am, befor e the wind comes up too st rong.And once the sun is up too high t hese fi sh hunker downin deep water. So you reall y have a sm all win dow of t im ein which to fish.

What t acti cs w ork best?Make long casts t o spots where f ish are heading. Thesebig guys move around in r egular circuits on the fl ats,of ten in groups of t wo or thr ee. Lead them by 15-20 f eet,or risk spooking them when your line / fl y hit s the water.

They are oft en i n wat er less than t hree feet deep andth ey’re very easy to spook. The tadpole pattern I d esignedis weighted to get to the bottom before these fish arrive,so I can draw their attention t o it by m aking it wiggleaway in an att emp t t o escape as they approach. I’ve hadfish follow my fl y almost to my rod tip. Lifting the rod tipto m ake your f ly dart toward t he surf ace is a good way toincite a following fish to strike.

What r etr ieve work s best?A moderately slow, continuous 8-12 inch pull seems to dothe tri ck. If t he fish doesn’t see it or doesn’t f ollow, stop.Single fish are harder to coax into striking than are two ormore.

What h appens wh en y ou hook one?These brooders are heavy, but th ey’re not th e toughestfi sh to fight. Like most big fish, they stop the fl y on thetake and shake their head f or a sec bef ore they run. I l etthem run as far as th ey want. Usually this isn’t t hat far.These aren’t Crane-bows. They’ll poop out af ter t hree orfour runs then slog it out f or a couple more min utesbef ore givi ng up. Thi s is a shallow lake th at warm s upquickly under t he summer sun. Warmer water takes thefi ght out of t hese fi sh a bit m ore quickly.

What’s so great about catchi ng t hese fi sh?Sight casti ng to big fi sh is a rare kind of t hril l. There’s alot of watching and waiti ng and stalkin g—not a lot ofcasti ng. But i t ’s active and intense. Frog Lake is uniqu ein t hat it s featur es make it much easier t o spot t hese fi shth an do any other p laces I k now wh ere brooders are alsostocked.

How b ig w as the biggest brooder I’v e caught?I caught a hen th at I’m guessing was all of 13 pounds.The Russian guy who I t hought took the picture of m eholdi ng it fail ed to operate my camera. I discovered thi swhen th e fi lm came back wit hout any of t he four shots Ithought he squeezed off . The one I’m hold ing in th e




phot o here is close to 12 pounds. I’ve caught a few othersover10 pou nds.

Why am I givin g up this info?I don’t think it’s for everybody; plus, it’s already crowded.It ’s managed as a put -and-take f ishery. And I don’t t hin kmost f ish could even survive through t he winter in FrogLake. Also, I’ve already got my big fi sh photo. Go havefun.

Tight lines. Hank

Schedu led Out ings – 2005Let’s Go Fishing

Listed below are the Trout Unlimited outings scheduledfor 2005. If you have any questions concernin g the tr ips,please feel free to contact Andy Andrews for moreinf orm ation. Andy ’s phone is 503 – 969 – 2246 (cell ) orhis email address is [email protected] .

May 21 st and 22 nd Metoli us Riv erJune 3 r d, 4 th and 5 th Bull Trout Rendezvous

(conser vati on pr ojecton Lake Creek ).

June 25 th and 26 th Timothy Lak eJuly 23 r d and 24 th TBAAu gust 13 th and14th East Lak eSeptember 21 st thru 28 th Fall Riv erOctober 8 th , 9 th and 10 th Crooked

River

Pri or t o each t ri p t here wil l be a posti ng on th e web pagewit h the details of the schedul ed outi ng. Please joi n usf or a weekend or a day. We wil l be look ing f orward t oseein g you. Andy

West Side of the East CoastFishing Report Scott Border

I visi ted a local est uary in m y kayak yesterday. I lik e th isplace, because it has a large expanse of water that neitherboaters no r w aders can get to. Only th ose in a canoe or akayak can access my f avorit e spot s.

My goals were to get a peacef ul paddle in, and have th epeace rudely in terr upt ed by screami ng dr ag. The peacef ulpart went really well. I paddled out the main branch on asuper low t ide. I took my t im e, because th ere was no way Iwas going to get into the back waters 'til some seriouswater cam e in . I saw 3 or 4 boaters and 1 kayak on t heway out.

A ni ce mangrove shoreline

My target was snook. Our particular species is the"common" snook. There's nothing t o not lik e about snook.They stri ke hard, f ight hard and t aste great. Because of

th e "taste" they are well prot ected by seasons and slotlim it s. Snook are curr ent ly i n season unt il June 1st, whentheir mati ng season begins.

Snook generally appr oach l ures and f li es as eit her an all ornothin g propositi on. I don't thin k they ever "study" a flylike a trout might. They either glance and inhale, or turnth eir nose up at i t. I was looki ng for th e glance and slamreaction.

When t he tide start ed t o ri se, I m ade m y way int o a backbay li ned wi th mangroves and dott ed wi th oyster beds andmangrove islands. Alt hough I was looking f or snook, Ialways make some casts around the oysters for redfish,aks red dr um. My plan was to wade and blind cast t hemangrove shoreline wi th a weedless jerk bait call ed a bassassassin. Thi s pict ure shows th e shoreli ne.As I w alked th e shor eli ne I could hear an occasional snookeating. T hat's always a good si gn. However, t he bad newswas that th ey were eating w ay back in th e mangroves. Iwas making m y casts way back i nto t ight l itt le spots thatlooked like thi s pictur e. If I hooked a big fi sh, my chancesof landing it woul d be slim.






A fi shy tight spot

I m ade hundr eds of casts, whi ch I actuall y enjoy. Eachcast has the potential of uncovering a waiting snook, thatI could never spot f rom my angle. On cast num ber 400 orso, I was rewarded, really r ewarded. The second m y l urehit the water a 12 1/ 4 pound snook exploded on it . It wasalm ost li ke he saw it coming.

Landi ng a snook of t his siz e takes some luck . If he headsin the right direction, ie mangrove roots, oyster beds,chances are you are going to l ose th e fish. Th is f ish hadthe choice of running behind an island and causing memajor t rouble, or in f ront of t he island and giving me achance. I gave him all t he coaxing I could and he ended upin f ront of the island.

This f ish m easured 33 1/ 2 inches, a maximum slotkeeper, as t he slot i s 26-34 inches. I d ecided t hat si nce hewas now only 1/ 2 inch from lif eti me amnesty, I'd let himgo. Heck, it t ook hi m years to get t hat size.

I ended up catchin g one more smaller snook and a nice 3p ou nd j ack cr eval le. A ll goal s wer e m et ! Scot t

(Edi tor ’s note. Scott Borders is a resident of Flor ida wh ohas a love affair with Oregon. He got hooked on theDeschutes. His wife doesn’t mind. He currently resides inTampa. A fishing paradise.)

UPCOMING New slett er Materi alWe need m aterial f or u pcomi ng issues. We would enj oyhaving some other guest FLY-of-the-Month t ying and usin garti cles of you r f avorit e fl ies. I woul d also lik e some GEARopin ions about various r ods, reels, li nes, leaders, gadgets,etc., of fl y fi shing and what you li ke and disli ke. Howabout an arti cle about some fi shing experi ences th at aresomewhat unique to women? Or how about an articleabout a chil d’s f ishi ng experience? How about a review of

a great guid ed t ri p showi ng what a great guide does anddoesn’t do? Or j ust send som e nice pictur es you h ave. Weneed your inp ut , please. Dil li [email protected] 296 9050

The pur ple bunny leech strik es again . Herethe smaller of two winter steelhead inexplicably taken onthe Nehalem River by Hank Hosf ield on an un seasonablywarm Friday in January. Is this m ore validation for t heeff ectiveness of Hank's Fly of t he Month, or simpl yanother example of the unfairness of the universe?

Phot o by Rod Lundb erg





Tual ati n Val ley Tr out Unl i m i tedMay / Jun e 2005

r esid ent: Open Posit ionr easurer: Rod Lund berg91-5308 rp lun dberg@hot mail .com

oard of Dir ectors:

ank Hosfi eld228-6553 hank h@im agina.com

r ic Th om pson 297-0718

angli ngeri c@msn .com

ick Rohrbaughb au gh@lclar k .edu 636-3877

evin Conn olly 860-6355Kevi nconn olly [email protected]

A lex Bar k um e - 642-7024 alexbark um [email protected]

Andy Andrews [email protected] 969 2246

Erl e Nor man 293-6006 caddi s2000@hot mail.com

Membership Chair

Jerry Heppell jh eppell@telepor t.com 639-9408

Communications DirectorSeth Isenberg 293-3290

sbisenberg@com cast.net





















may - jun 2005 trout line newsletter, tualatin valley trout unlimited

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