Come One Come All to the Clearwater Clave

Boy, how they grow up fast! 2009 Clearwater Clave

Don't Miss it! 

RED SHED FLY SHOP ANNOUNCES

THE CLEARWATER RIVER-IDAHO

11TH ANNUAL SPEY GATHERING-BARBEQUE

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DATE: SEPT.26, 2015

JEDI'S START @ 9:00AM

LOCATION: THE LENORE REST STOP/PICNIC AREA

JUST WEST (DOWNSTREAM) OF THE LENORE BRIDGE

AT MILE MARKER 27.75 ON HIGHWAY 12

9:00am

KLAUS FRIMOR

World traveling Atlantic salmon guide, Loop two hand casting jedi, spey casting tackle 

designer, principle in the Clearwater Steelhead Syndicate.

"Scandi Casting"

9:30am

WHITNEY GOULD

Women's distance champion 2014 Spey-O-Rama, two handed casting instructor, Pacific 

coast steelhead/salmon guide, and Anderson Custom Rods prostaff.

"The Single Spey"

10:00am

BRUCE KRUK

Columbia River spey guide, tackle innovator, member of Gaelforce distance casting team.

"Long Bellies"

10:30am

AL BUHR

Long time PNW steelhead chaser, rod and line design advisor for Sage and SA, head jedi 

for the FFF THCI program, heavy participation in developing the spey line standards for 

the AFTMA.

"Getting a grip on Your Anchor"

11:00am

GREG BENCIVENGA

Owner of Sagebrush Fly Fishing, CCI, THCI, member of Nextcast distance team, chief 

expediter at Nextcast.

"He didn't tell me, but it will be good"  

11:30am

LEE DAVISON

THCI, world class distance caster, spey line designer, owner of Ballistic spey lines.

"Mastering the Snake Roll"

12:00am

LUNCH

Mrs. RedShed and crew. Burgers, hot dogs, beans, macaroni salad, and cookies

1:00am

ZACK WILLIAMS

Owner PNW Spey Guides, founder/editor of Swing the Fly e-mag, two hand casting 

instructor, spey tackle designer.

"Leave No Stone Unturned"

1:30pm

TOM LARIMER

National sales manager @ Fish G. Loomis, product developement and design @ Airflo 

USA, ambassador @ Simms Fishing Products.

"Understanding the Anchor"

2:00pm

BRIAN STYSKAL & BRITTA FORDICE

Brian is a world class distance caster, steelhead spey fishing guide, CF Burkheimer 

prostaff. Britta manages Avid Angler Fly Shop. She guides on Washington rivers and the 

beaches of Washington's coast.

" Tools to improve your fishing and casting with short heads and long lines"

2:30pm

MARK HUBER

FFF CI and THCI, long tine Alaska spey caster, IFFF casting certification board of 

governors, Winston Rods & Ballistic Spey Lines prostaff.

"The Rhythm and Rhyme of Spey Casting"

3:00pm

MIA & TEGAN SHEPPARD

Mia is a Spey-O-Rama champion, PNW steelhead guide, casting instructor, Simms Guide 

Ambassador, owner of Little Creek Outfitters with husband Marty and Tegan's Mom. 

Tegan is a sweet little gal that's spent a good part of her life around some of the best 

steelhead rivers and steelhead fishermen in the PNW. She loves the outdoors and always 

seems to keep thing interesting where ever she is.

"Fish Handling"

Fishy Dog

Clearwater River photo by Mia

Maggie strikes gold, finding a bone on the beach while her person fishes a run on the Clearwater River. Fishing was spotty but the steelhead where there, even a grag felt good and satisfied the itch to catch one.

Clearwater Spey Gathering

LOTS OF COOKIES!!!

THE RED SHED FLY SHOP ANNOUNCES
THE CLEARWATER RIVER-IDAHO 8TH ANNUAL SPEY GATHERING-BARBEQUE

Come join the fun DATE: SEPT.29 2012 at 9:00am
LOCATION: THE LENORE REST STOP/PICINIC AREA
JUST WEST (DOWNSTREAM) OF THE LENORE BRIDGE
AT MILE MARKER 27.75 ON HIGHWAY 12
Look forward to presentations by: AL BUHR, KLAUS FRIMOR, GREG BENCIVENGA,BRIAN STYSKAL, LARRY AIUPPY, LEE DAVISON, BRUCE KRUK, MIA SHEPPARD, GEORGE COOK and world famous scandi casting legend, father of the underhand technique, GORAN ANDERSSON. 
  

 ...and get ready for the distance casting "RED NECK STYLE"  RED-NECK-O-RAMA.

Forget the Ipod and Go Fishing

Photo by Bruce Kruk

Who needs iPods, Smartphones, and mp3 players when you have Bad Company, AC/DC, Queen, and Merle Hagger blaring from the radio so loud, you can’t hear yourself sing or your comrades. These devices come in handy on a daily base but sometimes it’s funnier, just to forget’em once in a while, and go Steelheading .

Clearwater Steelhead

photo by Bruce Kruk

Marcy Stone making a sweet cast

It was a quick road trip to the Clearwater for the Redshed Clave, some fishing, and a whole lot a fun! It’s been a longtime since I’ve on road trip without Tegan, dogs, and Marty. I missed the family but must say, we had a blast!

Heading to another run.

Up at sunrise every morning, feeling grungy from lack of sleep, no shower, and a cold but a cup of Paul's coffee got me going every morning. It's good to be surrounded by other diehard fisherman that smell as stinky as I was and live for nothing else but to stand in a river, cast a double handed rod, and swing flies for Steelhead.

Tracy Allen

Alexander Grant

photo by: Mike Kinney

Thank you Poppy and Linda for your warm hospitality!

Clearwater Spey Gathering

Hey Spey addicts, the Clearwater Spey Clave hosted  by the Red Shed Fly Shop is less then a month away. This is a fun time to be on the Clearwater and catch a Steelhead!

Mrs. Red Shed is starting to make cookies!

DATE: SEPT.24, 2011

JEDI'S START @ 9:00AM
LOCATION: THE LENORE REST STOP/PICINIC AREA
JUST WEST (DOWNSTREAM) OF THE LENORE BRIDGE
AT MILE MARKER 27.75 ON HIGHWAY 12

Demos will be given by:

GREG BENCIVENGA,LARRY AIUPPY,TRACY ALLEN

MIA SHEPPARD, MIKE KINNEY, GEORGE COOK, TRAVIS JOHNSON

BRUCE KRUK, LEROY TEEPLE

DAVE TUCKER FROM "DREAMS ON THE FLY" GUIDE SERVICE WILL BE TYING HIS AWESOME SPEY FLIES, AS WELL AS DOING A KID'S FLY TYING CLASS.

IF YOU ARE ON THE RONDE, THE SNAKE, OR ARE ON THE CLEARWATER TO "SKATE ONE UP".

Clearwater Spey Clave

Its that time of year, Mr. and Mrs. Redshed invite you to the Clearwater River, Peck, Idaho September 25th, for a weekend of fun and lots of cookies!



KEN CAMPBELL-ANNOUNCER

9:00am TRACY ALLEN

9:30am LARRY AIUPPY ADAPTIVE SPEY CASTING

10:00am GREG BENCIVENGALONG BELLIES

10:30am TOM LARIMERSHORT HEAD SPEY CASTING

11:00am MIKE KINNEYTHE SKAGIT RIVER GODFATHER

11:30am GEORGE COOK SWITCH RODS & PNW SPEY CASTS

12:00am LUNCH

1:00pm DAN McCRIMMONTHE UNDERHAND CAST

1:30pm LEE DAVISON THE MAGIC IS IN THE MATCH

2:00pm SIMON HSIEH--BRIAN STYSKAL--EVAN JENKINSLINE DESIGN

AND CRACKING THE CODE

2:30pm SIMON GAWESWORTHHE'S SURPRISING US

3:00PM KLAUS FRIMORUNDERHAND CASTING

*LEROY HYATT WILL BE SPINNING HIS DEER HAIR MAGIC*

*DAVE TUCKER FROM "DREAMS ON THE FLY" GUIDE SERVICE WILL BE TYING HIS AWESOME SPEY FLIES*

*THERE WILL BE DRAWINGS FOR DOOR PRIZES THROUGH-OUT THE DAY. PLEASE CHECK THE WINNERS BOARD TO SEE IF YOU'VE WON.*

For a guide on the Clearwater call Ryan at The Clearwater River Company.

home sweet home

The trip to the Clearwater River was great. Mia, Tegan, Cedar, and I enjoyed so many different aspects of the adventure. All the good friends and new ones made shared similar passions. The whole Poppy family and their warm hospitality was nice.

We showed up 4 days before the clave and had the opportunity to fish a bunch, socialize a ton, and see the transformation of the wave of "spey" addicts coming to fish this great river.

Some fine photos from the trip:

A 14 foot rod is short. 90% of people throw 15' 7/8 weights here on the Clearwater. We fished 12 1/2 and 13 footers. This worked to.

• Bruce Kruk bombs one out!

  



• Miriah tying some flies.

  

• Tracy Allen is a really funny man! (good guide too.) He works with Ryan Pitcher who runs a great guide service http://www.clearwaterrivercompany.com/ . Ask Mia about her chrome wild b-run hen!

  


• Greg judges the distance.
• 

• I am a farther caster than Mia by exactly 1 foot according to the the record books of the "redneck" distance casting competition. Glad I don't have to hear about that for the next year. Here is Poppy setting up the course.
  

  
• You can play a nice big Steelhead for two minutes and even get a big jump out of it on a hook with its tip broken off. You have to ask Mia about that one.




• Cookies must grow on trees over there.
  

  
• Tegan loves everyone! Here she rows Molly down the river.




• Mike Kinney is a very good character with innovative instructing ideas that WORK.

  

• George Cooke wants a piece of you!

  


• Redneck casting crew


She's looking like a lefty.

Miriah, Tegan and Josh. Kids Rock!

Clearwater Spey Clave

The Clearwater Spey Clave September 26th/27th

Summer/Fall Fishing on the Clearwater, According to Poppy

First let me say that I'm just a guy that has a passion for a chrome bright fish called a steelhead and using spey rods to catch them. I certainly don't consider myself to be any kind of authority on fly fishing for steelhead but in the course of our summer/fall steelhead season I am asked over and over what tackle to use, what is the "Hot" fly, and where should one fish. Maybe I can offer some answers, at least the way I see it. What you will read below may seem over simplified, but I like the "KISS" principle.

This piece concerns fishing the Clearwater between July 1 and Thanksgiving weekend. In that time frame I consider the Clearwater river in Idaho to be a premier floating line river. I didn't always use floating lines here myself but the more I talked with and studied the Clearwater regulars and their methods the more I came to believe that the Clearwater was a great river for floating line fishing in pursuit of steelhead. For me, being successful with the floating line is the ultimate in steelhead fly fishing. Your mileage may vary. So a floating line is what I recommend for fishing here. It can be a scandi, floating skagit, long belly, short belly, mid-belly, whatever. I don't care what head length it has as long as it FLOATS and you can cast it 60' to the fly. For the record I mostly use short head spey lines, but I've also enjoyed fishing other head lengths as well.

The Clearwater is a fairly big river and a longer rod can be of some advantage. Having said that I think it is more important to fish with a rod you are comfortable with. I have customers using 12'6" rods and others using 16'+ rods. They all catch some fish. I like a rod with a traditional bend 14' to 15' in length. A reel big enough to balance whatever length rod you're using and big enough to hold your line of choice and 100yds to 150yds 30lb. backing. 20lb. backing is generally strong enough and will always be stronger than your tippet but I think 30lb. lays on the reel nicer. While I like click drags, "any" reel meeting the above requirements will do the job. The leader should be as long as the rod and 10lb. tippet is a good choice. If you like tying your own, Maxima is the best selling steelhead leader material I know of. Maxima Ultragreen makes great tippets. If you want store bought, Rio, Airflo, Frog Hair, and Jim Teeny all have knotless steelhead leaders from 13' to 15' that work very well.

What is the hot fly? My thinking is this, while the fisherman cares a great deal about pattern, under good fishing conditions (normal flows, clear visibility) the fish don't care. I believe all things being equal if you find a player it will hit whatever fly you're using. Most any of the standard hairwings, wakers, small marabous, and spey flies will work here. PICK A PATTERN "YOU" LIKE AND GET FISHING! Some of my favorites are Street Walker, Nite Dancer, Green Butt Skunk and Purple Green Butt. For wakers I like Steelhead Muddlers and small Rust Bombers. Sizes 4 through 8 seem to be the most popular. Where should you fish?

The Clearwater has over 75 miles of primo water between Potlatch mill and Clear Creek above Kooskia, ID. There is good access from highway 12. Whichever direction you come from, if you visit me you will have passed around 35 miles of river with a lot of good spots to fish. As you travel along the river you will see some spots that will just look fishy. Those are the places I would try first. If that doesn't work for you just note some spots where others are fishing and be there first tomorrow. During July and August I would concentrate between Potlatch mill and the highway 95 split east of Lewiston. By the end of August there will be fish in the Peck hole near the shop and by the end of September there will be fish all the way to Clear Creek. There are not any good maps of the Clearwater with the runs marked and most of the people I know hope there never will be.

I get a lot of calls about the level of the river. Yes the graph shows it running higher then many people want to see it. As I understand it for the last few years the dam has been dumping water during the summer to help push the smolts downstream. This has a side benefit of keeping the Clearwater below Dworshak nice and cool when the surrounding rivers are running pretty warm. While the river level may drop a little, it is usually mid-September before they lower it to it's lowest point. I understand that the traditional spots are under water early on. I just pretend I'm on new water and deal with it. The fish are still in the river, they are just in different spots. The most used methods here are the greased line and the wet fly swing. The riffle hitch is pretty popular. The Clearwater is not a "generous mistress". If you come here expecting high numbers of fish you will most likely leave disappointed. The more time you spend casting and stepping down the better your chances will be.

I don't think it is necessary to have a guide on the Clearwater to have a successful trip. Should you want a guide there are several listed on my "Guides I Know and Like" page. If you are a spey rodder make sure you tell them you want to wade fish, otherwise you may find yourself trying to spey cast from a boat, which while it can be done I don't believe to be the best method. If they won't agree to your wade fishing I would definitely look elsewhere.

Many people ask me about bringing a boat to the Clearwater. I don't believe a boat is necessary here from a fishing standpoint but it will get you to the other side where you may find less accessible shoreline.

If you aren't into spey rods your 7wt or 8wt single hander will work just fine. A wading staff, studded boots, and a decent rain jacket are items you may find useful here.When covering a run step down a couple steps after fishing out each cast. That way others can fish the run behind you. Also, PLEASE don't be a "low holer."There may be those that think the above is a bunch of "BS". To each his own. Have fun and catch a BIG one