Going the Distance for Casting for Recovery

About 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime; this is a startling statistic. Last year I found a way to help women dealing with breast cancer as a volunteer for the Casting for Recovery (CFR) retreat in my home state of Oregon. CFR is a national non-profit support and educational program for women of all ages and in all stages of breast cancer. It provides retreats at no cost to participants, which allow women whose lives have been profoundly affected by breast cancer to gather in a beautiful, natural setting and learn to fly fish.

At the retreat I witnessed a program that brought hope, gratitude, peace, inspiration, encouragement, and strength to women recovering from breast cancer.  I walked away inspired and fired up to once again use my spey casting skills to raise money for Casting for Recovery and team up with past Spey-O-Rama champion,Whitney Gould .

At the SOR finals, a wind advisor was in effect that day. Gust of 20-35 WNW winds made it far from ideal conditions. Swirling, blustery weather would blow a cast 20 feet back and slam the line on the water. With just 6 minutes to complete 12 casts, it was challenging to have the patience and wait for the “right wind.” It was one of the most interesting competitions to watch.  Despite gusty conditions, both the men and woman made some big cast. Whitney and my combined distance was 265 feet. Based on that, with your pledges we raised over $7000.00 for the CFR Nor Cal and Northern Oregon Retreats. 

 I would like to thank all you that contributed and made this possible. 

   

Simms, Echo, Gary Anderson Custom Rod, Nautilus Reel, Boggs Trail Butter,  Owl Creek Flies , Sage Products  Little Creek Outfitters , Royal Treatment Fly Shop, Fanny Krieger, Judith O'keefe, Rebecca Blair,  The Drake , Gink and Gasoline , Deneki , Roger Grummel, Cynthia Ervin, Eunice Higgens, Chris Deleone, George Olmsted, Stephanie Gould, Blue Ribbon Sales, Mark Seligman, Dylan Rose, Doug Morgan, Judith Brown, Paul Ridgway, Mary and Jim Bast, Glen Foster, Nanaette Rich, Paul Nicodemus, Karen Gould, Richard Harrington, Jeff Howard, Genevieve Long, Douglas Jett, Mike Williams, Darryl Gould, Linda Slater, Andrea Warner, Swing the Fly, Anne Vitale, Rob Perkins, Nick English, Catherine Slaugh, Phil Renner, Sharon Gould, Mark Huber, Cheryl Bell, Scott Humphrey, Suzanne Gulick, Steve Egge, Rob Sims, Clay Krull, James Reid, Lee Lashway, Ram Reagan, Rob Stuart, Kate Taylor, Hal Leavell, Poppy Cummins, Lindsay Vincent, Kristen Kinsman, Summer Run Guide Service, Carla  Lessard, William Swindell, Raging River Sales, Saracione, David Beaudry, Glen McCormick , James Reid, Gene Weber ,Ian Reeves and Robin Wright, Denise Bulwinkel ,Diane Moreel ,Sandi Kushnei ,Joanne Winship

Congrats to Steve Egge who won the fishing trip and Andrea Warner who won the casting lesson.

The raffle items went to:

Simms Backpack - Anne Vitale

Sage Rod - Carla Lessard

Nautilus Reel - Mark Huber

Echo Rod - Mike Williams

Gary Anderson Rod - Glenn Foster

Boggs Trail Butter – Summer Run Guide Service

Owl Creek Flies -  Glen

Wondering about Deschutes Water Temperatures

If you fish the Deschutes you've noticed changes in  the summer water temperatures, the presence of brown algae, unreliable Macroinvertebrates hatches and steelhead runs are later. Like me, you wonder what is going on and what is being done. Deschutes River Alliance (DRA) has been collaboratively working using, science-based solutions to address basin-wide threats that may adversely affect the health and function of the lower Deschutes River and tributaries.  I've asked Dave Moskowitz of Deschutes River Alliance a few questions. 

Can you  tell me the current status of water releasing and how this is effecting steelhead?  

No data has been released from the Pelton fisheries workshops that were held in March.  Our understanding is that results are very poor. What is available are the trapdata at Pelton, and returning numbers are really poor as well for adults.  I'm talking about reintroduction returns for the arts of the river above Pelton-Round Butte. 

 It seems there is more green and brown algae that I would relate to warm water, is this true? What kind of algae is it?  

The green plants you see in many runs are not algae but a plant.  There is the elodea which is dark green, and then there is a bright green plant that grows in many places as well.  Those are not algae.

The primary algae in the lower river are two species of nuisance algae that are more golden brown or dull beige-green.  These are not invasive but are considered nuisance because they are inedible by bugs and snails. Algae is the base of the food chain but not the primary species we are seeing in the lower river.

The algae is not primarily here because of the temperatures.  The flow regime for the lower river begins in January and there is primarily a top release from Lake Billy Chinook (LBC) and it continues through the spring and early summer.  The warm water may help the algae bloom earlier but the top releases are of nutrient laden waters and they are the principle risk to the lower river.

 

Have the hatches been effected ? Later or earlier hatches? 

The bug hatches are continuing to be affected.  Few if any March browns.  Very sporadic PMD and PED hatches with some amazing hatches followed by nothing.  Same with caddies.  Blizzard hatches one day, nothing the next.  No crane flies.  Huge midge hatches.  Timing and density appear to be very variable.  Trout guides cannot count on dry fly fishing and often are nymphing to find fish.

Rick Hafele has over 100 observations loaded on our bug hatch app that is being used by guides up and down the River.  We are excited about a second year of reports.  His report from 2013 is available here.

DRA also helped ODFW with a trout survey this spring - their first trout study since 2001 - and that report will be out this fall. 

 What is Deschutes River Alliance doing ? 

We have been doing things that really require expertise on water quality monitoring (we had 14 people in the field for our water quality tests).  We have been limiting the hatch observations to very skilled anglers who know the difference between caddies species, for instance.  

Water temp data can be gleaned from the USGS sites at Madras and Moody.  We have helped PGE place and retrieve water temp devices for two years and have not been given the results.  

We did our own temp profile of the entire lower 100 miles this summer.  Also took pictures of the algae growth from the air.  We will have a bunch of info by late October.

 DRA is trying to use our money wisely so we do not print up color stuff much. Check the website for more info on what we are doing. 

We will be doing more scientific work in 2015 but we will likely be on to much more.  We are in strategic planning mode right now.  

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 How can people help?

" Please visit our website and get informed about the issues as we have a ton of information about the Deschutes and what we have learned.  The Hafele Hatch Report is a good place to start.  Stay informed, sign up to receive email and alerts and if you love the Deschutes, please make a contribution of any size!"

What Spey-O-Rama is All About

Speyorama from Keith Brauneis on Vimeo.

Flyfish Gaunaja Honduras

Get your March Madness on with a Spey Clinic

Free Spey Casting Clinic

with Brian Silvey, Marty, and Mia Sheppard

Come try out rods and lines by Rajeff Sports and Gary Anderson

At Oxbow Park On Saturday March 22nd from 1pm-3pm at the Boat Ramp. 

Bring your waders and Gear!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

Persistence Pays Off

Bad timing, I doubt it, just persistent.

Chatters of slow fishing are being heard at every river mile, so I’ll fish hard and take what the river hands out.  Just means, work harder, because every cast is an opportunity and every break taken is a missed chance.  I want to be standing in the river when the fishing turns on.  

My body is feeling the effects of casting from morning to night. Aching back and fingers cracking from the hours of striping in line but I don’t give up and whiskey is a great pain reducer. I’ve been fishing a Skagit with a sink tip and decide to change it up and fish something lighter, I put on a Scandi line and tie on a classic fly.

Ahhh… the joy of casting a floating line.  

I fish through a run and feel nothing. I change the fly to a Dee pattern. The fly is dressed in white, fresh out of the box, the hook is sharp, and this is the fly.  I strip out 15 more feet of line to fish the faster outside water.  Ten cast in, a hard grab vibrates the rod and the reel starts spinning and screaming. I tighten down the drag and the pissed off anadromous fish keeps going, cartwheeling out of the water, across the river and 150 feet down from me. I have no control. 

I yell..“what do I do!” A friend yells back “nothing.” 

I feel vulnerable, helpless like a child learning to ride a bike that has just tipped over and can’t get up.

The warrior charges for the log jam downstream; stops… I recover some ground and the battle continues.  

One inch at a time, line is reeled in.

The beauty is connecting with the journey, this brute has traveled the globe to settle down in its home water and hooking one leaves me feeling like a child.

Highlight Reel...

In this photo I'm fighting a fish. The best fish I have EVER hooked...by far.

Before this shot was taken I was standing on dry land rolling out short casts to those small branches sticking out of the water to my left, running a skater into the stumps. In a split moment the single most impressive boil I have ever seen happened! It was insane. At least 25lbs of dime bright thickness rolling in the most violent rushing maneuver only a few feet from me. The fish missed the fly. It was like a crocodile trying to bring down a wild beast. "Mia did you see that." She was just to my side watching. "NO." she says...as I give the fly one more twitch before it swings into the stump, it triggers a second charge from the predator! We both watched the mouth open, suck in the fly and do a complete flip with the only part of the fish to not leave the water the head of the king sized brute! Mia says to me, "I sure as hell saw that!" My reel is screaming with joy. I am in total awe.

10 minutes later after multiple cartwheels, ripping runs across the river, and mega head shaking the most fascinating steelhead I have ever encountered decided to go back to the ocean. I had 20 lb test and cranked my drag to full tilt. I cant even pull it off the reel at this setting! I had Joe tune the drags of our reels before we left for maximum impact. It still went! Pretty soon it was around the corner and my line in the logs. No following from this station. The whole run was lined with a huge log pile. When I quit feeling the throbbing, I just cranked in the line until the fly came home. This is the Dean I had heard stories of. This was the moment that defined my experience. This was my high!

This story, as epic as they all were for us, only tell a smidgen of the tale. The people we met, old friends we shared time with, and local characters made the whole gig complete. We have more stories to tell and hope to share them all.

In time, we will. 

Summer Steelhead Dreaming

Three weeks and three different rivers in Oregon.

 Steve lets one fly.

 Cedar on point. Must be one in here...

 Mark is living the dream.

 Darcy loaded and ready to shoot.

 Lots of skaters skating.

Full Circle. Mia puts an exclamation point on a great time!