Jul - Aug 2004 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

8/9/2019 Jul - Aug 2004 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/jul-aug-2004-trout-line-newsletter-tualatin-valley-trout-unlimited 1/8

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

THE TROUT LINETualati n Val ley Chapter News

July / A ugust 2004 Edi tor : Dav id Il l ig

CHA PTER MEETING, NEWLOCATION IN SEPTEMBER. NEWDAY OF THE WEEK, WEDNESDAY.LUCKY LABRA DOR, MULTNOMA HVILLAGEChapter Meetin gs are held at th e LUCKY LABRADOR onthe second Wednesday of each mont h at 7:00 pm wi th asocial get-together and the formal meeting at 7:30 unlessotherwi se noted in th e newsletter or website. LuckyLabr ador, Mult nom ah Vil lage, 7675 SW Capit ol

Hwy.Portland, OR 97219 (503) 244-2537 (see directions)Board of Directors Meetings held prior to our monthlyChapter m eeti ng at 5:30pm at th e Lucky Lab.

Thu rsday Jul y 8, Mem ber Potl u ckOn Tualati n Riv er . 6:00pm .Instead of our regular m eeting, our July pr ogram is apot lu ck pi cnic at Cook Park i n Ti gar d. Cook Park i s locatedon SW 92 sout h of Dur ham Road in Tigard. It is dir ectlysouth of Tigard High School. Head west j ust past Tigard HSon SW Dur ham Road and tu rn south at t he tr affic lightont o SW 92nd . Foll ow 92 nd about a half mi le as it goes

downh ill and curves to th e left and dead ends into t hepark . We have r eserved pi cnic shelt er #3 which i s at th every end of t he park road just t o the left of t he boat r amp.Thi s is also called the ri verside picnic shelt er. You can'tmiss the picnic shelter. It is the only structur e down t hereby the boat r amp. There ar e paved park in g ar eas.We wi ll have a gril l wi th bur ger s and dogs and bun s. Pleasebri ng a side di sh, and/ or a desser t or salad th at feeds six.Let us k now w hat category of f ood you ’re bringing. Callor email Kevin, a Board Member, Officer, or editor.We have reserved th e picnic shelter #3 f rom 6pm unt il9pm . We hop e t o have ever yone dini ng by 6:30pm .Bri ng y our famil ies and f riends. RSVP if y ou can.Bring your f ly rod if y ou would l ike to share some

casting ti ps or w ant some help.

WEDNESDA Y SEPTEMBER 8 NEWLOCA TION A ND DA Y. Jeff Gott f ri ed. It’sreally happening. If you've ever dr eamed about fishin g inAlaska , don't m iss Jeff Gott fr ied's present ation on his tr ipto the Kisaralek River . As a fly fishing instru ctor,outdoor guide, founder of Educational RecreationAdvent ur es, head of Yamh il l Count y's Forest Edu cati onalProj ect, and as someone who h as taken n in e self-gui dedtr ips in to Al aska's wil dern ess, Jeff off ers a compr ehensive

tour of th is SW Alaska tribu tary of t he Kuskokwim River.Jeff's pr ogram details a 90 mil e fishing and r aftingadvent ur e that i nclud ed 10 species of fish, all caught onflies, encounters with 8 bears, caribou, beautifulwil dern ess, im passible water fall s, etc. He call s it th eult imate wil derness fishing experi ence on a river whereno gui des are allowed t o wor k.

Presid ent ’s Colu m nKevin Connolly

Fir st of all, a huge THANKS to Hank Hosfield f or h isleadershi p and dedi cati on t o th e chapter as President overth e past few year s. His knowl edge of f ishi ng, conser vationand vast n etwork of in dustr y expert s has dir ectly benefit edour chapter i n m any ways. Hank w ill remain acti ve in thechapter and cont inu e to provid e his valuable insight.

Besides Hank, there are a number of people who devoteth eir ti me and effort s on a regular basis to ensure we havean active and robust chapter for all of us to enjoy. Thankyou to all th e board m embers and officers of th e chapter.

As the new pr esident, I’d lik e to focus on in creasing t hechapter members overall kn owledge of fi shingopport un iti es that are available to us in th e Nort hwest. Wehave a large member base to pull from with various levels

of experience and knowledge regarding where, when andhow t o catch specific species in th e r egion. Wheth er it isTrout, Steelhead, Sea Run Cutthroat, Shad, river, lake,special fl ies or wh atever , someone has done it successfu ll y.I encou rage ever yone to conti nu e t o share your localkn owledge so we all can h ave m ore oppor tu ni ti es to have aqualit y fishin g experi ence.

It comes down to h aving f un doing somethin g we all havein comm on – fishin g. I had th e oppor tu nit y to go on acouple fishing tr ips in t he Northwest over t he past f ewmon th s. We caugh t some ni ce fi sh and even got skun kedonce, but t hat’s not th e poin t. What I’ll r emember fr omthose (and other trips) is my friends, camaraderie and

laught er. Have you not iced, ever y ti me someone has a fishon th e end of th eir lin e there is always lots of laughter andexcitement, not onl y for the person catchi ng th e fish, butth eir budd ies who get i n on t he action and watch th eirfr iend h ave a great experi ence. Fishi ng is someth in g t hatcan be shared and the memories treasured for a lifetime.

We are very pleased to ann oun ce th at we have foun d a newmor e comfort able locati on for our m onth ly meeti ngs. Wewill be meetin g at t he LUCKY LA BRA DOR in MultnomahVillage in t heir u pstair s meeting r oom. We are alsomovin g our meeti ng day to Wednesday in stead of




Thu rsday. This i s logisti call y n ecessary because we couldnot l and th e facility on a long term basis on Thur sday, butalso feel it s tim e to tr y another day of th e week to allowless confli ct wit h ot her m eetings. This new locati on wi ll bemu ch more friendl y and comfort able. You and your f ri endswill be able to sip a cold d ri nk and eat good f ood befor e,dur ing, and after our meeti ngs. This alone shoul d i ncreaseour attend ance. So come on out and enjoy ou r n ewlocati on and day. You’ll li ke it bett er. Eating and dr ink in gis always optional.

Notice later in t he newsletter t here are two oppor tu nit iesfor m embers to help teach fly fi shin g to int erestedstud ents and youn gster . Memb er s in th e past have greatlyenjoyed such volunteer activities so I recommend youcheck out th ese oppor tu nit ies to pass on your love of flyfishin g and t he rivers and l akes we do it in . Chi ldr en areth e fu tu re of fly fi shing and w e need to hook th em as ear lyand oft en as we can. Catch and keep f orever.

The Tualatin Valley Web Sit e is now u p and goi ng. Thistim e it’s for r eal. Check i t ou t atwww.TVTroutUnlimited.com . Josh LaRoche has done agreat j ob with mu ch mor e to come. Its growi ng all t he tim e.I’m sur e he woul d appr eciate any materi al you can sendhim. [email protected] In t he nearfut ur e we will be moving the newsletter t otally to th e webin ord er to save tr ees, paper, and mon ey.

Our last Thur sday meeti ng is this mont h on t he ClackamusRiver f or t he ann ual pi cnic. Come on out and have a goodtim e. It’s not f ancy but is fun . There m ay be some fly r odsth ere and some hi nt s on casti ng mor e effectively. See youon t he ri vers and l akes. I’m glad to be onboard .

Kevin.

LUCKY LABRA DOR MULTNOMAH VILLAGE7675 SW Capit ol Hwy. Por t land , (503) 244-2537

From I-5 going sout h :Take the Multnomah Exit (the second exit after leavingdownt own) Go str aight f or about a half a mile.Hang a right (onto 31st) at the first light. Go one blockTake a left at t he stop sign ont o Capit ol Hwy.We're the big funk y buildin g on t he imm ediate right

From I-5 going nor th:Take the Terwi lli ger exit (stay to th e right so you do n ot goback on to t he hi ghway) Take a left at th e li ght (goin g overI-5). Take a left at the first light onto Barbur. Go straight forabout .7 mi le. Veer ri ght on to Mult nomah (just pastSafeway). Go str aight for about a half a mil e. Hang a r ight(onto 31st) at t he fir st lightGo one block. Take a left at th e stop sign ont o Capit ol Hwy.We're the big funk y buildin g on t he imm ediate right

From 217 going Sout h take t he Al len exit East. Right on SW92 Ave. Left onto SW Garden Home then Left onMultn omah for 1.7 mil e. Left on SW 36. And ri ght on toCapi tol Hwy. 7675 SW Capi tol Hwy. Por tl and, OR 97219

Fly of the MonthHank 's Sim ple Dr agon Hank HosfieldTying m ateri als:Hook:………………. TMC 5263BL #6 (or any 3XL 2X heavy)Thread:………………6/ 0 olive/ brownTail: …………………olive rabbit strip fibersUnderbody base:….deer hairUnderbod y shape:..oli ve poly yarnBody: ……………….large dark oli ve and li ght oli ve

cheni lle, woven d ark on top , lightunderneath

Eyes:……….………. extr a large bl ack pl astic bar bell eyesLegs:………….……. large olive partridge hackle (feel free to

use hen, pheasant r um p, chickabou, orany oth er large, soft h ackl e)

Head:……………….peacock/ black spark le cheni ll e.

I don't k now i f t hi s is th e absolute easiest dr agonfl y nymp hpattern you can tie, but I developed it as an alternative toth e much m ore compl ex and beaut ifu l Derek Ferguspattern spun out of body fur. One of the great th ingsabout Derek's pattern is th at is tw o ton e--light erunderneath like the real bug. Another strength i s that it is

unweight ed and is alm ost neutr ally buoyant. I buil t bothof th ese aspects in to m y design. Don't be scared off by th eweave. Weaving chenil le is pr etty f ast and easy once youfigur e it out. This pattern t akes me ten mi nut es to t ie--lessth an a th ir d of th e ti me it t akes me to t ie the Ferguspattern. And th is pattern is mor e dur able.

Tying Steps:1. Lay down a th read base t o bend.2. Tie in a short tuft of rabbit for tail. (Dragonf ly nymp hsdon't have tails, but th ey do h ave thr ee shor t p r ongs onth eir ru mp--lik e the gills on damsels only short er.)3. Tie in deer hair base about 2/ 3 the length of theshank. Use about a 1/ 4 inch hank of deer hair . Cent er thehank of h air aroun d th e shank so the deer hair base

doesn't spin . Tie secur ely wit h th r ead wraps. Deer hair isused for buoyancy.4. Cover deer hair base wi th oli ve pol y yarn. The pol yyarn smoothes th e contou r of t he base and buil ds the bodyshape. Half t he width of nor mal yarn is easier to wor kwit h, so I spli t t he yarn in h alf befor e I wrap. I tie poly yarnin at t he fron t, flat on top of th e deer h air base, th en wr appoly yarn for ward, then back to th e mi ddle to buil d an ovaltaper. Squeeze wi th pl iers to fl atten and make body wid erin th e mid dle.

5. Tie in lightolive chenille onth e far sid e closeto th e hookbend. Tie indark olivechenilleopposite on th enear side.Weave chenillebody over poly

yarn. Star t weave by wrappi ng dark chenil le over th e t opaway from you and loopi ng light cheni lle over d arkchenil le. Hold dark chenil le secur ely while wr apping lightcheni lle und er toward you. Wrap dark chenill e back overtop t oward you and loop light cheni lle over i t. Repeat

http://www.tvtroutunlimited.com/

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.tvtroutunlimited.com/




about f ive tim es unti l you h ave compl eted th e body.Adj ust you l oop poin ts where th e chenill e str ands cross sothat t he dark chenille on t op is slightly m ore prominentth an the li ghter color. Tie off chenille with 4-5 th readwraps.6. Tie in barbell plasti c eyes about 3/ 32 inch fr om hookeye. Use fi gur e eight w raps and secur e. Cem ent wr aps ifyou wish.7. Tie in partr idge hackle next to body and make twotu rn s. Ti e off and trim f eather. Pull most of the hacklefi bers to th e sides.8. Tie in peacock/ black sparkl e chenil le at eye. Make acouple fi gur e eight w r aps to cover barbell eyes and t ie offand tr im.9. Whip fini sh and cement thr ead wr aps.

Dragonflynymp hs can liveund erwater aslon g as fiveyears. Th ey pr eyon other bugsand even t in yfish. They're alsobig meals for t hebiggest tr out , andwhen th ey're

mi grating t oward shore or some dr y structu re above waterto hatch in to adults during th e summ er m onths, tr outshift i nt o att ack mode. Dragonf ly nymp hs are goodswimmers. They pr opel th emselves by jetti ng water outth eir abdomens. This is easily im itated wit h a moderatelyfast, jerky 6-8 inch stri p r etr ieve. Make two or t hr ee str ipsth en pause for a coupl e seconds. Hold on. The str ik es areusually violent . I fish dragonfl y nymph s in l akes and slowstr eam s near weed beds. I alm ost always use an

int ermediate sin kin g line in lakes and f ish th em 4-5 feetdeep. Dragonfl y nym phs li ve on t he bottom , and can befi shed any t im e of t he year . However , tr out are most keyedon them when th ey swim u p to hatch. The rest of the ti meth ey are hi di ng and l ess avail able. But i f you want t o fishone on th e bottom at other t im es, substi tu te lead for deerhair in the above pattern and have at it. Tight lin es.Hank

Fly Ty er ’s Corn er Dick Rohrb augh

Tips for Fly Tyers! Over t he year s tyers have accum ul ated alot of cr eat ive ideas. In tyin g, li ke everyt hi ng else,

experi ence is always the best teacher. Here ar e a new set oftips to tr y the next time you tie.

MaterialsA nu mber of patt ern s call for p eacock qu ill s that

have been str ip ped of th e fl ue (barbul es). Given howfr agile peacock is, gett ing t he flue off wi thou t br eaking th equ il l can be a challenge.The fir st thin g to do if possible is to pick qu ill s fr om nearth e eye of a peacock feat her. They ar e tou gher. Manymethods have been devised to get the flue off, but the twoth at seem simp lest to m e ar e as foll ows:

1. Lay the quil l on a hard surface and hold i t downby str etching it between your thu mb and m iddlefin ger. Remove th e flu e by rubbin g it of f wit h anordi nary eraser.

2. Scrape the flue off by running i t several t imesund er p ressur e between your ind ex fin ger andyour thu mbnail. Go carefully with thi s onebecause th e qui ll s are very easy to br eak.

If you tie such pattern s often or i n quant ity you m ay wantto u se a mass produ ction system. Imm erse a batch ofqu ill s (or a whol e peacock eye) in Clor ox for a min ut e ortwo un til the flu es detach. Then r inse imm ediately wit hwater and a little baking soda.

TechniquesNot all ty ers cement t he heads of th eir f li es (I

rar ely both er except on l arger patt erns, steelhead fli es, etc.On small patt ern s it makes lit tl e difference) but i f you doyou m ay occasionally get cement in th e eye of t he hook.An easy way to get it out is to u se a small hackle feat her(use th e ju nk, not t he good stuff ) from wh ich you haveremoved all but about a half in ch of th e barbu les. Just pul lit th rou gh th e hook eye and th e excess cement wil l begone.

Tools and Equi pm entWant a slick tool f or m aking bull et heads at

min im al cost? Dril l a hole in a poker chip th e ri ght size toslip over the hair you have ti ed in. With th e hair ti ed inand p ull ed back t oward th e hook bend, slip th e poker chipover i t, tie off t he head and remove t he chip . Its sim ple. Ifyou t ie bull et heads in several sizes, dr il l several chip s withdiff erent size holes.

Produ ct Rev iew : Sun Checkers f latsglov es. By Hank Hosf ieldAnyone who has fished with me over the past five yearshas pr obably noti ced t hat I tr y to cover up whenever I’mout on t he water. Unli ke some of th e cowboys I see fi shin gshir tless in t he middle of the aftern oon heat in some of thebett er-kn own d esert ri ver canyons east of th e moun tains, Itr y to mini mi ze my exposure to sun . And by cover u p, Imean I a fu ll body wrap t hat m akes me begin to r esembleth e Invisibl e Man. Thank s to m y fin ger less sun gloves, myfisherman’s tan starts at my f ingerti ps and goes to m y fir stknu ckle. By the end of summ er m y fingers look a lit tl e bitlike a gecko’s, with reddish colored tips.

I don’t kn ow if even t hi s is perhaps too much sun, but I’mdoin g m y best to redu ce my exposur e. I advise oth ers todo th e same. Ski n cancer is a growi ng concer n for all of us,and anglers get an extr a big dose of UV radiati on. Hand sare comm on sites for melanom a. That’s why I wear sungloves all year w henever and w herever I’m on t he water.

The sun gloves I pr efer are Sun Checkers. They’relight weight, str etchy, breath able, nylon/ lycra blendfi ngerl ess gloves th at cover your h ands and wr ists. Youcan buy t hem at most f ly shops for around $13.95.




Before I got i nt o th e glove habit I was concer ned th at th eywould m ake handlin g line rather clum sy. I hated the feelof n eoprene and even w in dstopp er f leece gloves I had u sedwhi le winter fi shing. Thankfu lly, Sun Checkers are thi nenough not t o be any bother at all . They’re actu ally ver ycomfortable.And unli ke before when I was letting t he sun burn holesthr ough th e backs of my h ands and wrists while doing th atlake fishing I love so much, now I come home with softpin k, supp le skin .

Why not ju st wear sun bl ock, you ask? Nothi ng pr otectsbetter t han th ese sun blocker f abrics. But also for m e, sunblock is no longer an opti on. I developed an allergy to it,and now it ju st burns my skin q uit e badly. So if you’refi shin g wit h m e, don ’t f eel you have to share your SPF 45.That’s lik e aski ng m e if I want acid i n m y face.

Anoth er bonus of th e Sun Checkers for m e is th at theykeep m y hands warm in wet envir onments. Befor e Istart ed weari ng t hese gloves, my hands woul d oft en getnum b from being wet fr om strippin g and r etr ieving lineand losin g heat . Sun gloves don’t dr aw as much h eat away,even wh en th ey’re soaked. But t hey don’t stay wet verylong. They dry very qu ickly—unli ke wool or f leece.They’re also sur pr isingly ru gged. I haven’t w orn out eith erpair I own.

As comf ort able and pr acti cal as these gloves are, I’msurpr ised th at more anglers aren’t using th em. A few of

my fr iends have tr ied them and li ke them. I recomm endthem to everyone—especially if you’re going to be doingany lake fishing. And if you’r e going to th e tr opics, th eseare mandator y. These sun gloves are so much easier t hangoopin g you and your gear up wit h sun block. I’m not oneto t r y to sell fol ks on n ew gear, but I swear by SunCheckers. Hank

Rem ember t o Sign u p New Members toTr out Unlim ited . It’s a great bar gain for wh at th eyget. Especially at the half-off intr oductory membership at$17.50 Lots of people aren’t m embers who would enjoy it .We stil l get somethi ng for new mem ber signup s. Newmember s can sign up at www.tu.org/ intro and enteringcode 633 for Tualatin Valley chapter. Contact Erle for apaper br ochure to send t o them. Carry around some in case.

TU Fishi ng Outi ngsJuly 10th and 11th Gold Lak eGold Lake is located off Highw ay 58 on Wil lamett e Pass. Come join

us for a weekend of fi shing and t he incredibly f abulous bar - be -cue on Satur day night. For mor e inf ormati on, contact Andy at 503 -646 - 2375 , or [email protected] ugust 21st and 22nd East Lak eSeptemb er 16t h - 22nd Fall Riv erOct ober 9t h an d 1 0t h Cr ook ed Ri v er

High Lakes Ev olut ion.Eric Thompson

For th ose wh o have stu died t he advance of our species overth e centur ies, you m ay recall some mighty i mpor tant steps.There were some big-ti me event s, such as wh en hu manoi dsbecame bipedal (walk ed upr igh t on tw o legs), harnessedfi re, develop ed opposable thu mbs, and created vocallanguage.

These were all might y i mpor tant th ings, because they ledus to wh ere we are today: where we can dr ive to on e of ourfavori te lakes and go float tube fishin g for tr out. If weweren’t u pr ight we couldn ’t see to dri ve th ere in our Jeep,whi ch uses th at harn essed fir e. And wi th out t hoseopposable thu mbs, ju st you go and tr y tyin g on a #20 sizeA.P. Emerger f ly. No vocal langu age? How wou ld we getinform ation on our cell phone from our buddy who is

fishin g at t he other end of th e lake?

Evolu ti on i s impor tant , because one needs to k eepadaptive-skill s in mind when un dert akin g anything n ew,lik e lake fishin g. I like to learn new thi ngs, figur e I’m awell-rou nd ed per son and such. I‘ve t raveled across th eWashin gton Count y lin e and I’ve r ead books. Figur in g t obecome a more rounded fisherperson, I got interested inlake fishi ng about t hr ee year s ago, and it ’s been qu it e apr ocess learn ing enough t o get t o a point w here thepleasure outweighs th e fr ustr ati on.

Natu rally, the fi rst step was to go with th e experts, and ou rT.U. Tualati n grou p contain s several of th ese. The ini ti alplaces we went on are th e same ones we stil l go to, pl acesli ke Roun d Lake and Timot hy Lake. I not iced r igh t awayth at I needed a mor e comf ort able fl oat tu be, since I had tostay in it for th ree or f our hour s at a tim e (It n eeds to holdenou gh air t o keep you floatin g high, and have lots ofpockets). I also bought a pair of big, stur dy fin s, not t hosestr ap-on kin d that you tie onto your boots. Moreimport antl y, I noticed j ust how di fferent it is than ri verfishin g. I mean, you don’t ju st tie on two heavy flies, th rowyour lin e out t here, and let th e current fool th e fish. Thegeneral idea being th at you have a fly common ly fou nd inth at part icul ar lake, cast i t i nt o a snag-in fested ar ea, andretr ieve it w it h a bunch of strange twi tches and

http://www.tu.org/intro



http://www.tu.org/intro




jiggles designed fool the fish. At f ir st, I had a lot m oreluck j ust tyin g on a fly and towi ng it arou nd t he lake. I wassear ching for fish t hat woul d bit e a steadily movin g bugth at could somehow swim th ree mil es per hour mi le aftermi le and never get tir ed. I noticed th at this method didsometim es pr odu ce r esult s, since at l east my l in e was inth e water and I was hopefu l. I was in for med, however ; th attr olling is just a method for findin g the fish; real lakefi sherman h ave to be always busy a’castin g and r etri evin g.It’s sort of l ike being on job-probati on- you gotta keepbusy. For examp le, I once had th e oppor tu ni ty t o advancein to a job on th e ‘Weyerhauser Woods Crew’ (Translati on:Choker-Setter ). Natu r ally, th is was a step up fr om th egypo-logging outf it t hat I had been emp loyed wi th .Weyerhauser had j ob-benefi ts. They had safety stand ards.They paid on ti me. Probl em was, you had to be on‘probation’ for th e first 90 days, which meant alwayslookin g busy to the crew chief and laughin g at t he staleand awful j okes each day on th e way back i n t he crum my.In a sim ilar vein, you need to l ook bu sy casti ng andstr ippin g in th e line during your fir st 90 days of lakefishing..

I thi nk th e biggest hur dle was not catchin g very m any fi sh,whi le my buddy l ost count of h is (No, not a lack of mathskill s). Sur e, it ’s a ni ce ni che, but being personal fi sh-cameraman ju st did n’t have enough j ob-related perks.Anyway, this is a fru stration th at has taken p sychologicalwork to overcome. Two thi ngs that have helped thu s farhave been:1. Realize that in the first two or th ree years, you just

won ’t catch as many f ish as an experi enced l akefi sher person, so get over i t.

2. Go on two or thr ee tr ips with your expert f r iends, thentake a break fr om th em and go on the next t ri p to th every same place, alone. Thi s allows you to p r acti cewhat’s been learn ed w ith out any pr essur e on your selfto do well or not d o well.

Yes fol ks, I have arr ived. I’ve reached th at high b enchm arkpoint where going lake fishing is actu ally more fun th annot fi shing at all . Qui te an achi evement , a r ealevolutionary step. I actually caught the huge fish below atTimot hy. Why, even ri ght n ow, I’m bu sy applaudi ng m yselfon th is accompli shment (yeah, uh h uh , ri ght . . . . as Ipr epare my gear to go f ish t he Deschut es).

Eric

You Can Nev er Go BackRod Lundb er g

I gr ew up fi shin g the East Fork of t he Iron River innor th ern Wisconsin . Or, I shoul d say, I lear ned to f ly fi shon t he East Fork. It’s a pr ett y typ ical small Wisconsin cold-water stream, with resident p opulati ons of a few wi ldbrookies and rainbows, but pr edomi nantl y brown tr out. Mydad bought some land on th e river back in th e early 80’s,

and we fell in love with t he water, the hardwood for est itflowed t hr ough, and th e whit etail deer, wolves and bearth at lived there.

It was reall y a love-hate r elation ship, since we wer e onlystarry-eyed when the river wasn’t busy betraying us bygett ing blown out by the smallest t hun derstorm. (And t obe hon est, whi le th ere ar e health y nu mber s of t he beasts,we never d id see a wolf, and t he howl in g we heard onth ose m oonl ess nigh ts was probably a pack of coyotes.) Wewere plagued by count less unf ishable days followin g anyone of t hese stor m cells. The watershed th at t he East Forkdr ains is a mi x of t im ber and p astur eland fu ll of clay, siltand f in e sands. Basin s only a few m iles to t he east or westare loaded wi th well dr aining coarse sands that allow th eirri vers and cr eeks to ri se slower and fall and clear m orequ ickl y. Even between storm s, water clar it y was neversomethi ng to wri te home about, with enough of th e fin eparti culates staying in suspension t hat visibili ty of 18” wasconsidered extraordi nary. Some quir k of fate (or u tt er lackof planni ng or kn owledge) had landed us in th is litt lefisherman’s hell of a pleasant and pr oductive lit tl e str eamlocated in on e of t he flashiest basins in t he state. But t heri ver w as “our s”, and we were fond of it .

We wer e not a sophisticated bu nch. In fact, for th e fir st 10years or so, our anglin g effor ts wer e pr im arily li mit ed tostr ippi ng streamers and w oolly buggers th rou gh th e slowerri ffl es, runs and pools. On th e oth er end of th e spectru m,

we figured out a few patt er ns that woul d fool a few fishdur ing th e various hatches that m ore often t han notcaught us completely by surpr ise. It’s not th at we weren’taware of other nu tr iti on sour ces on the tr out f oodpyramid. In fact, I would spend hour s standing in thestr eam, pickin g thr ough th e contents of a dri ft n et.

As I fini shed m y college career, my dad int rodu ced m e tonym ph fi shing, somethi ng heard about but never ventu redbecause not onl y were we un sophisti cated, we also werenot experim ental. My parent s ar e Scand in avian andproducts of the post-Depression era, when pragmatism andpracticalit y were the r ule, and a tendency to explorebeyond a sur e th ing could on ly lead one to cert ain doom.

A fellow TU’er had finally t aken hi m t o the chapter’sadopted local str eam and set him straight on th eunwarr ant ed mystiqu e of nym phi ng. I guess we perceivedit as somethi ng t hat was done “ou t West” on t he fabledtr out streams of Montana and Colorado, sur ely n ot apractice th at made sense for th e simp le tr out of Wisconsin.I hooked a few fish du ri ng th at fir st tr ial, and I’ve beenhook ed myself ever sin ce.

Nine years later, circumstances finally allowed a return toth e river of m y youth , arm ed wi th an arsenal of experiencefishing nymph s on various waters with various




techni qu es, patt erns and str ategies. I was giddy at th epr ospect of showing t hose tr out who’s the boss now .

Then, the day befor e we were to head n ort h for my gr andhomecoming, a series of t hund erstorms r olled thr ough th ealready satu rated upp er Midwest and by th e hydrographson n ear by ri vers we kn ew that ou r beloved East Fork h adonce again t ur ned int o somethi ng resembli ng a roi lin gmelted butt erscotch malt .

Crestf allen, we li ngered anoth er day, keepi ng an eye on th ehor izon to see if any mor e bruising stor ms were headedour way, and ult imately decided t hat t he weath er forecastwas prom ising enough th at we’d give it a go and hope th atth e river woul d be fishable later i n t he week.

Thin gs looked pretty gri m up on arri val, though th e waterlevel was not part icularly h igh or roil ing, and m aybe it on lyresembled a watered-down butterscotch malt. VeryScandi navian-like, I started t o t hin k about our pr ospects ina rational way. One of t he th ings that I’ve learned mor eabout i n r ecent years in additi on t o never dependi ng onth e weath er is how fi sh behave un der di fferent w aterconditions.

I knew that with th e sharp ly ri sing hydrograph of a day ortwo before, our fish would have been in survival mode andsought pr otection f rom t he cur rent and would be veryti ght-lipped. I also knew th at aft er th e river peaked, thetr out would begin settl ing back into n ormal holdin gand/ or feedin g areas. Thinki ng about t hi s, I reali zed th ateven thou gh th e river was very m uch off-color and wouldbe for several days, the fish woul d pr obably be willi ng tograb somet hi ng if th ey wer e at l east able to see it andrecognize it. I also realized that even though we couldn’tsee very f ar int o th e water column lookin g down , it washighly pr obable that something lying on t he bottom of thestr eam woul d be able to see qui te a bit m ore, sil hou ettes at

least, looking up against t he back-lit sur face.I was righ t. I convi nced my dad to w ade on i n and westart ed hookin g up im mediately. I tur ned over a couple ofrocks and was sur pr ised by th e number of m ature goldenstone nymphs. We’ve seen a few adults over the years, butnever i n n um bers th at would even r emot ely resemble ahatch. A golden stone nymph was by far the best producer,but I hooked fish on several di fferent pattern s. I landedone fat brooki e that r egurgit ated i ts stomach content s as itcame to hand and it s mouth was ful l of m ayfly nym phs andcaddis larva. They were definitely in feeding mode.

We fi shed tw o days, and h ooked several doz en fi shbetween u s, almost all brown s. I lost m ost of min e, tryin gto yard them in and release them before they were ready tobe hand led. Most were in t he 7- to 11-inch r ange, wit h afew 12 to 13’s, and I hooked on e br own t hat was probably14 or 15 in ches, a very r espectable fish f or t hi s str eam .They mu st have been h appy to see us retu r n because theywere jum pin g all over th e place, th ough m aybe they were

just tr ying to shake the hook.

It ju st goes to show that wh ile it may be tr ue that you cannever r eall y go back, someti mes you sort of can, and ifnot hi ng else a visit is always nice. Rod

South Tw in Lak eBy A ndy A ndrews

Most of the fishermen in TVTU have been around longenough th at t hey would thr ash anyone with in an i nch ofth eir lif e if th ey even absent ly m ind ed suggested a fishin gtr ip on openin g day. Years ago I stu pidl y comm itt ed suchan act and th e glares I r eceived caused m e to wond er if Icould make it t o the door alive. The fever and r ush ofopening day has caused any number of broken body parts,up to and i ncludi ng a near death experience.

It was wit h such tr epid ati on th at a few members vent ur edforth on a joint t rip of the Tualatin Valley and th eClackamas Chapt er t o Sout h Twin Lake in Deschu tesCoun ty. I had tr ied for several years to arr ange such a tr ipwit h our brethr en f rom Clackamas and since th ey hadmembers who knew th e lake and h ow to f ish it , TVTUaccepted t he challenge of vent ur ing f ort h on opening day.

Fort un ately, the Clackamas boys were able to arr ive earl y atth e Sout h Twi n Lake Camp grou nd and stake out a fewcamp spots. When I arr ived on Fri day, th e ‘Camp grou ndFul l’ signs were prom in ent ly displ ayed. The ar ea was not

as crowed as I could have imagin ed, with spaces wellseparated fr om on e – anoth er. There was not a lot ofyellin g and chainsaw acti vit y and if th ere was a gener atorarou nd, it was kept very quit e. I noticed one point ofpotenti al problems and t hat was wit h a large famil ygathering with one of the largest motor homes I’ve everseen. The pr oblem was not t he motor h ome, but t henum ber of ‘family members’. I couldn ’t und erstand how somany p eople coul d get alon g in such a small area as acampgr ound. Maybe th ey found r eligion or somethi ng?

I foun d t he Clackamas chapter and th ey had ind eed save usa spot, whi ch I pul led int o and set u p my camp. In theevenin g we start ed talk ing about our plan for attackin g the

lake on opening m orn ing. Matt , th e youngest m ember ofour gr oup, decided to launch h is drif t boat t hat eveni ngand not to wait till m orning ru sh. He did not put on bootsas he said he could launch t he boat f rom th e trailerwithout entering t he water. He later return ed, wet t o theknees. His stor y was th at th e laun ching was going wellunt il he noticed a commotion i n the center of th e lake.Two boys, ages about 10 and 12 had t ur ned over a smallskif f and th e oldest h ad start ed to swim to shore. Mattyelled for th e swimm er t o retur n to th e overt ur ned boatand he would pick th em up . It was at that point t hat Mattgave up tr ying to stay dr y duri ng the launchin g. Aft ergett ing t he two youn g boys int o hi s boat, he rowed back t oth e shore wit h th e skiff i n tow. One, very angry fathergreeted th e boys who claim ed to be Boy Scouts, and saidth at they had tr ained for th is type of an event . Whathappened t o tr aini ng to pr event t his sort of event?

Satur day mor ni ng dawned cool at 30 degrees. At t he fi r stview of th e lake, someone exclaim ed, “My God, it ’s a boathatch” . At on e end of t he lake, well, it was hard t o see anywater for t he boats. Fort un ately we were gui ded to a partof th e lake that was less busy. The big fish for th e day inour group was about 26 inches, with m ost r unni ng in theneighbor hood of 10 –16 in ches. Everyone caugh t at l eastseveral fi sh and t he weath er was pleasant , so I thi nk ourparty had a nice mor nin g on the lake.




Dur ing th e afternoon in th e campgr ound , we heard someyellin g from the direction of the family group and theword soon came down t hat a few fists had fl own and somefir st aid had been requir ed. Not long aft er that, the ‘familyreunion’ motor home roared thr ough the campgroundtowards th e exit in what appeared to be an attempt towiden th e road to twice it s present w idt h. With th e exit ofthe m otor home, the campground activities retur ned tonor mal. Well, so mu ch for the reli gion theory.

As din ner - tim e app r oached, I assembled t he ‘Road KillGr il l’ and cookin g was soon un derway. Din ner consisted ofsalmon, chicken and steak from the grill, accompanied bysalads, ri ce and a variety of f in ger f ood. There were freshbrow ni es for desser t and a selecti on of adult beverageswere also avail able. Many w orl d pr oblems were solved asthe campfir e conversation conti nued till late in th e night.The night was clear and th e heavens tu rn ed out all th estars for us to enjoy.

Sund ay m orni ng was anoth er day on th e lake wit h p ossiblymor e boats than th e mor nin g before. However the fish hadbecome a lot smart er and were laying low. The morn ingsfishin g was tough wi th few reward s. But ti me has taughtme that a successful fishin g tr ip does not depend on ‘thecatchi ng’ of fi sh. A good meal, good fri ends and a goodtim e are th e tr ue measure of a tr ips value. And y

UPCOMING Newsletter MaterialSend art icles, pict ur es, annou ncements to David Ill ig.Dil li [email protected] 296 9050. Try it. You’ll enjoy theexperience.

Teachin g Fly Fishi ng t o Ki ds. Chanceof a li f eti m e. Hy dr omani a-YMCA

There are two opp ort un it ies coming up to pass on yourlove of fi shin g to new generations. The fut ur e is in yourhands. Volun teers h ave really enjoyed t hi s in th e past.

One pr oject i s part of Hydromania . The HydromaniaProgram is a sum mer science camp p rogr am design ed t oin crease science lit eracy amon g child r en, and to f oster newskill s in science teachi ng amon g local element ary t eachers.Special emp hasis is pl aced upon r eachin g young wom en,und errepresented mi nor iti es and di sadvant aged stu dents.The activities are designed to build self-esteem through afun and excitin g science learn ing environm ent f or student swho would otherwise have difficulty accessing suchprograms.

Students will explore the lifecycle of salmon, watershedhealt h and electri city th rou gh hands-on experi ments in anoutdoor , inqui ry-based science curr iculu m. In addit ion,children will be introduced to science professionals such asbiologists and medical professionals, who will encourageeach youn gster to aspir e to science-related career s. Thi sfeature addresses a well-documented need for bilingual,bicult ur al persons in th e sciences, parti cularly t he healthsciences, to addr ess th e grow in g Latin o popu lati on. Fin ally,youngsters will also enj oy sti mu latin g field tr ips to FernHill Wet lands, th e Join t Water Treatm ent Plant , JacksonBott om Wetl ands, Rood Bri dge Park, culm in atin g in a field

tr ip t o Hagg Lake on th e last d ay of camp . This last d ay iswhere TU could most easily fit r ight i n.

One opportun ity is August 12 . This is Th e “Cap Ston e”day@ Hagg Lake, Au gust 12 The larger gr oup w oul d di vid eint o small gr oups of 11 or so & rotate thr ough 1)macroi nvert sur vey @ Scoggin s Cr eek; 2) fishin g w/ TUvolun teers; 3) canoe tri p w/ Tualati n Riverk eepers.Probably about 45 minutes to an hour in each group. We’restill workin g on th is with the partn ers to figure out t heday, so if a TU member wou ld l ike to be part of t hediscussion, let me kn ow.

Apr il Olbrich Tualati n River Watershed Council503-846-4810 [email protected] .

YMCA The oth er opt ion is wit h t he YMCA. Classeswould be taught at the Van Raden Community Center atWestside. They are t hi nk in g of a possibl e Father and Sonclass (once a week for 4 weeks) or Father and Daughtertoo!! The fi nal class could be a "field tr ip" out somewheremaybe wit hi n an hou r d ri ve fr om h er e. Satu rdays wouldwor k for t he sum mer , or even Sun days. And we of cour sealso have th e Tualati n River r ight i n our backyard . Kind ofhard to access is some ar eas but possible. The contact f orthi s project which is still i n th e planni ng stages is:Katie Dav is 885-8576 x 112

Successfu l Owyh ee May tr ip f or big br owns.







Tualat in Valley Tr out Unli m it edJuly / August 2004

OficersPresident: Kev in Connolly 860 6355

Kevi nconn olly [email protected]

Tr easurer: Rod Lundberg91-5308 rp lun dberg@hotm ail.com

Board of Di rectors:

Hank Hosfield228-6553 hank h@im agina.com

ri c Thom pson 297-0718anglinger ic@m sn.com

Dick Rohrbaughrb augh@lclar k .edu 636-3877

A lex Bar k um e - 642-7024 alexbar k um e@com cast.net

Andy Andrews [email protected] 646-237

Er le Nor man 293-6006 cadd is2000@hot m ail.com

Membership Chair

Jerry Heppell jheppell @telepor t.co

639-9408

Seth Isenber g 293-3290 seth.b.isenber g@bigf oot .com





















Jul - Aug 2004 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited

Documents

Transcript of Jul - Aug 2004 Trout Line Newsletter, Tualatin Valley Trout Unlimited