A Tale of Three Steelhead

To bad we have lost a cool water refuge in July, August, September that could ultimately help steelhead in neighboring creeks that need a cool place, such as the steelhead from Fifteen Mile Creek. The efforts going into bringing salmon back above Pelton Dam is doing more harm then good. Just my opinion .

Summer Steelhead

Now Booking Summer Steelhead! Deschutes Grand Ronde John Day Our all inclusively camp trips for Fall Steelhead are very limited and this is your opportunity to get in on one of these amazing multi day adventures for Steelhead. Come see what you have been missing! Groups of 2-4 anglers for 3 to 5 days fully guided on these Wild and Scenic Rivers. Spoil yourself! Deschutes River August 22-24 September 1-3 Grande Ronde River October 22-25 John Day River November 3-7 These trips are truly awesome. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.  Book your trip today!  guides@littlecreekoutfitters.net   www.oregonsteelhead.com

Little Creek Outfitters, PO BOX 343, Maupin, OR 97037

Public Land your Playground

"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." Aldo Leopold

Public lands are my play ground and if you hunt or fish in the west, it’s probably your playground too. 

If you have an adventurous spirit; at your fingertips you can walk for miles in solitude and grace, finding rocks unturned and spectacular views. 

Places wild and free, without judgment.  

It's up to us to give this land the highest standard deserved for fish and wildlife.

It's up to us to protect these special places so our kids can experience wild places like we do.

Cedar on high ground

Find the chukar!

Get involved to protect your Public Lands! 

Winter Steelhead - Secrets to Success

Winter Steelhead Secrets by Marty Sheppard

 Is the choose to be jack of all rivers and master of none or to truly master a river. 

 I choose to have complete confidence in each day, based on thorough knowledge of my surroundings. Conditions are everything, on the west slope of the Cascades Mountains they change each day. So many rivers within a day drive and I have no desire to explore new haunts.  The goal, for me, is to know every water level, each rock, and the subtle changes to the greatest extent. For the entire winter I am faithful to one river. This bleeds confidence and this assurance hemorrhages success.

These are my secrets to success.

When the river is high and has good clarity you should be there, as the fish will be holding in prime lies.  Often in 2-5 of water right in the middle of your swing! Low, cold, and clear river and the fish like 10-20 feet of water. This is when you need to focus on the deep seams and get down.

Early in the morning, late in the day, and especially in periods of high flows the tactic or temptation of fishing heavy sink tips and weighted flies is completely detrimental to success on my chosen waterway. Fishing a tight line through soft flows in 4 to 5 feet of water with un-weighted fly and light sink-tips compensates for most of the steelhead landed throughout a season. Put on ten feet of t-14 and a weighted fly results in being hung so bad right out in the sweet spot that you almost pull the earth off axis trying to free it up, usually breaking it off, with the whole ordeal spooking any fish in the area.

Take the opportunity during those low flows to learn the river. Often the best fishing is at higher flows and the chance to learn rocks, depressions or drop offs, and subtle channels are right under or behind you as you fish these lows flows. Take note. It’s important for next week when the river doubles in size and you can recall what features exist in that soft run. Low and clear is also the queue to fish deep. Time to get down.

Joe Saracione lands a winter hen.

Some simple points for winter steelhead success:

·         Start short and high in the run. Especially in water you cannot see into. Too many people walk out into the top of a run and strip out the head plus 10 feet of running line and completely miss those chrome creatures tucked into the head of the run and laying 5 feet in front of you.

·         Be consistent and turn over your casts. A predictable fly on the swing gets crushed. I believe the cast that gets the fish to eat is not the cast that created this chance. I believe your last 5 casts are the reason that fish ate! The steelhead saw the pattern of your swings and this primed this critters attitude. When you get that hard grab it is because this fish anticipated the swing. It knew where it would land, how fast the swing would be, and the predictability of it all contributed to the fish knowing it was going to be able to crush your fly! Fish through a run erratically and it is tough to convince the fish to grab let alone hang around. It is much more important to fish at a shorter distance unswervingly than huck out bomber casts that result in Helter Skelter crazy swings.

·         Sharp hooks stick fish. Keep them sticky. Touch a rock? Check your hook. Dull hook? Change or sharpen. It’s a sin to fish so hard all day and finally after all that dedication get grabbed only to come up empty because of a super dull hook that has been ticking bottom on each hang down.

·         Fish hard and fish long. One fish in a day will make it a great day. It only takes one cast to get it done. It could be your first or last cast. Keep positive knowing each one could be the one. If you think your not going to catch a winter steelhead, you likely wont. If you think you are going to catch one you likely will!

Swing the Fly - Going to Print

Marty lands one. photo by Mia

Swing the Fly Going to Print - Only 1 week left to take advantage of the Pre-Sale Pricing!

Our big pre-sale will expire November 1. We need you to subscribe now so we can handle the lofty costs of printing the 1st issue. In doing so, you get the absolute best pricing on the magazine and it is guaranteed for the life of your subscription! 
One more time HERE is where to subscribe.

Here's a few common questions with Zach's answers about the magazine. 

What is happening to the E-Mag?

At this time, we are sorry but we will no longer able to offer the E-Magazine for free. It will absolutely continue to be available but will cost $4.99 per issue. A short preview of each issue and our sponsors will be available before you must pay to view the full issue. Of course, we would prefer you subscribe to the very green, 100% recycled print magazine instead!


If you have trouble subscribing through the software, don't worry. 

To be perfectly honest, the subscription software isn't the most user friendly as we have found out the last couple weeks but it is what we have at the moment. I can tell you it is 100% safe and powered by Stripe which is used by many major companies. If you have a problem, email me (you can respond to this email here!) and I will absolutely take care of it!


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Please email me here using the email you used to subscribe and your full name and I will verify it for you.

Just how sweet is Swing the Fly in Print going to be?!
Really Sweet! I am so excited to share all this great content in print with all of you!

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If anyone has any questions or trouble subscribing please reply here or email me at editor@swingthefly.com

I will personally get back to each and everyone of you as soon as possible.

One more time HERE is where to subscribe.

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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"

One More Pull

A beauty James Reid landed on his Winter Run Bamboo, Doublehand 

The morning sun rises,

reflecting orange and pink skies.

One more session; before we have to leave.

Scurry to put on waders; 

forget the morning coffee buzz, just gotta get in the water. 

One last cast, 

one more pull, one more landed; 

it's never enough.

Swing the Fly - Summer 2015

Swing the Fly - Click Here


Everything Spey - Altantic Salmon, lab's and pointers,  steelhead, trout from Quebec to the where the rivers meet the ocean on the west coast.  

Keep'em Wet

Keepemwet started by Bryan Huskey 5 years ago when he was asked by a local fly club to give a presentation about his trout photography. He outlined anglers' responsibility to be good stewards of the resource and to handle catch & release fish with exceptional care, especially when additional time is taken to photograph fish. He called this portion of his presentation "Keep 'em Wet" that has transended into the hashtag #keepemwet. 

This winter, Native Fish Society  launched the “Keep ‘Em Wet” campaign to increase angler awareness about the negative effects of air exposure to wild fish.

"Don’t take us wrong,  I'm not saying we are purest, we’ve all taken fish out of the water to snap a photo, Native Fish Society staff members included.  But the more we learn about  handling fish we love the more healthy wild fish there will be to catch. 

As an outfitters Marty and I have have practised catch and release techniques from early on, teaching sports how to properly handle fish and how to minimize air exposure when taking photos.   

Even when anglers are taking precautionary measures, like crushing the barb, prolonged air exposure can make it difficult for fish to recover and there are delayed negative effects that may not be apparent even if the fish seems fine when it swims away.

Studies have shown that the longer a fish is exposed to air after exhausting exercise the higher their mortality rates are (Ferguson and Tufts, 1992; Gale et al, 2011).  Even 30 seconds of air exposure reduces a trout’s ability to recover and can provide a significant additional stress even when catch and release fishing (Ferguson and Tufts, 1992).

So, let’s get creative with the way we photograph our wild fish by keeping them wet and in the water.  Here's a few recommendations.  Till May 31st 2015, NFS will be holding a photo contest for the best picture of a wild, native fish from the Pacific Northwest with at minimum its gills in the water."

1. Keep the mouth, gill plates in the water cradling the backside of the fish or hand right under the pectoral fin, not squeezing the fish and  hold the tail with the other hand firmly. 

Wild 2013 photo by Marty Sheppard

2. Hold the tail firmly and lay the fish flat covering the gill plate. 

Winter Buck 2011 by Mia Sheppard

3. If you do feel inclined to take a photo of the fish out the water, quickly lift  for a second or two and then submerge the fish back. If you see there is no water dripping off the fish or its mouth is wide open gasping for air, it's been out of the water way to long. 

How to Enter the Photo Contest

To enter, email your photograph to mark@nativefishsociety.org and we will post it to our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts with the hashtag #keepemwet. The top three photos with the most likes combined will win prizes!

Prizes for the Top Three Finalists

The first place winner will receive a brand new Gary Anderson Custom 12’0” 7wt Spey Rod donated by NFS Board Treasurer Peter Tronquet.  Our two runners up will get to choose between a day of steelhead fishing with Washougal River Steward Steve Lent on the Sandy River and a day of trout fishing with Willamette Valley Regional Coordinator Kyle Smith on the McKenzie River.

The three winning photographs will be published in the Summer 2015 issue of Strong Runs. Let the contest begin, good luck, and Keep Em’ Wet!

- See more at: http://nativefishsociety.org/index.php/conservation/keep-em-wet-campaign-photo-contest/#sthash.GhezXHJO.dpuf

Restoring Juvenile Habitat

The Middle Fork of the John Day River is critical habitat for Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout. Dredge mining severely channelized the riverbed in the 1940s leading to a straightened channel and disconnected floodplain. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs teamed up with the Bureau of Reclamation and a variety of other partners to restore two miles of river. Wonderful to see people working to gether to bring back a river. 

Swing the Fly 2.3 Winter

Steelhead Paradise

The Fly Matter

Brown Trout

Time to Fly South and more ...

Help Prevent the Collapse of Olympic Peninsula Steelhead

The Olympic Peninsula is home to the last great native populations of winter steelhead in Washington State. The fish are unique because of their large size, with some individuals exceeding the rarified 30lb mark.  Although the populations were considered "healthy" by the State of Washington when they were last reviewed, they have experienced a long-term decline in abundance. Declines have occurred despite these populations occupying watersheds containing the most intact habitat on the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.  The populations may be resilient, but their declines necessitate proactive and precautionary changes to management to avoid further declines and listing under the Endangered Species Act.   

The Olympic Peninsula is one of three regions left not listed under the Endangered Species Act but with the current downward trends, it could be listed soon. 

Do your part as an angler and Sign the Petition. 

We ask that the Statewide Steelhead Management Plan that was adopted by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2008 be enacted this year.  Some specific examples might include:

•MSH escapement goals were developed in the 1980’s and included several assumptions that we now know are false—a reevaluation of escapement goals and Olympic Peninsula steelhead population dynamics is needed.

•MSH escapement targets should incorporate uncertainty in run sizes and harvest rates to ensure a high probability of goals being met despite poor monitoring data

•Efforts should be made to test assumptions in measuring escapements and harvest rates to ensure fisheries management reflects actual population biology and is not systematically inaccurate.

•Although MSH is the court-ordered co-management objective, the state is free to do what it wishes with its portion of the catch—Washington should be managing its portion of the catch with conservation as its first objective as is mandated by the mission statement of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

•Mandatory catch and release of wild steelhead in sport fisheries would preserve fishing opportunity while ensuring better conservation of declining wild stocks.

•More widespread use of Selective Gear Rules for both commercial and sport particularly in times and places where few hatchery fish are present, or in where large numbers of resident rainbows and juveniles steelhead are handled, would better protect wild steelhead by increasing the survival of released fish.

•Increased monitoring and enforcement for sport and commercial (tribal) fisheries would ensure compliance with existing regulations and accurate data for fisheries management

•In-season management would allow fisheries to be proactively shut down or effort reduced if in-season creel data from sport of tribal commercial fisheries suggested escapement goals were unlikely to be met

•Wild steelhead gene banks need to be established in multiple watersheds—preferably in the largest and healthiest watersheds which have the highest probability of supporting self-sustaining, abundant, and productive steelhead populations into the future.

*Forming public work groups with a diverse group of stakeholders to identify Wild Steelhead Management Zones

*Accountability for gill net by-catch drop out and mortality of kelts and ripe fish.  Must be part of commercial catch quota .

•Establish limited entry or a quota of "fishing from a boat rod days" in certain sections of river for guides and non-guided anglers. ( tag systems in sensitive holding areas)

*Require a special endorsement for guides to limit the extent of guiding on the Olympic Peninsula rivers. 

If we make some changes and sacrifices we can prevent the collapse of the Olympic Peninsula steelhead.  If we don't we can expect further listings under the Endangered Species Act and further loss of fishing opportunity and hard economic hit to rural communities. 

It is essential that the State, the ONP, and the Tribal co-managers work together to come up with a recovery plan that puts the health of these fish populations first. If we all take care of wild fish, wild fish will take care of us.

A River Between Us

The first time I met Jason Atkinson, he was holding a fly rod in one hand and a cold Tecate in the other, resting it on his abdomen.” Minutes earlier he had lodged a rooster fly in his side not due to lack of skill, he will point out it was howling cross winds that afternoon.

“This isn't as bad as the bullet I took to my leg a couple years back.”  He belts with confidence.  Jason has 14 years of Oregon senate experiance and doesn't fit the stereotype.  Currently he is taking a sabbatical from politics to rid the guilt of his grandmother’s request, to restore the Klamath River.     I'm honored to know a former politician that has the guts to put everything on the line to bring diverse stakeholders together to save a river and bring back Salmon.  Check out this video. "A River Between Us"

TU Wild Steelhead Initiative

The passion to catch wild steelhead is a bond that unites anglers young and old, urban and rural, liberal and conservative. Wild steelhead have inspired thousands of anglers to become conservationists. Until now, their conservation efforts have been primarily local, focused on specific rivers and led by small groups of dedicated volunteers. Never before has there been a broad initiative that effectively focuses the ideas, energy, and actions of the large  community of wild steelhead anglers. 

On Nov. 20, Trout Unlimited will launch the Wild Steelhead Initiative, a project to protect and restore the wild steelhead and the fishing opportunities they provide throughout their native range in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The Initiative will address both habitat protection/restoration and steelhead policy and management to align all of the "H's" (habitat (including hydro), hatcheries, and harvest) so that wild steelhead can thrive.

To Kick off the initiative, TU will host simultaneous events on November 20 in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Seattle – Earl Harper Studio 6:30 p.m.
Boise – Enterprise Building, 7:30 p.m.
Juneau – Silverbow Inn, 6 p.m.
Portland – Lucky Lab Taphouse, 6:30 p.m.
Santa Cruz – Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, 6:30 p.m.

Swing the Fly 2.2

Don't miss this issue some great reading on  the history of spey casting, finding a mentor and swinging for trout.

Hello October Steelhead

Made in Montana, hooked in Oregon. Photo by Jess Gibson

With the lack of time to tie flies, I'm thrilled when friends gives me a few of their patterns to fish, especially when the flies are tyed by the person that cuts my waders. A few weeks ago I was gifted this red and black fly by Clay Krull, perfect for Deschutes summer steelhead and it paid off.   Clay is Simms' lead fabric cutter, he lays out Locke's blueprints on his 16-yard-long cutting table. Wearing a metal mesh glove, he guides a fabric saw through various thicknesses of the fabric, cutting along razor-thin lines all designed to minimize waste.

Simms-Made in the USA
photo by Brian Grossenbacher’s

"I think I've cut the patterns for 99.9 percent of the waders we've made over the last seven years," Krull says.

The patterns that Locke prints out and Krull cuts are filled with lines that come within a fraction of an inch of each other. Any waste, which is generally thin strips of fabric, is collected for recycling in a bin simply marked "Gore."